"Heist Society" is the 17th episode of Thunderbirds Are Go!. It was broadcast on November 21st, 2015.
Plot[]
It's nighttime on Tracy Island, Gordon, Brains, Virgil and Scott are in the living room, and when Alan shows up, they tell him that Brains old friend, Professor Moffat is heading for a GDF facility in Iceland, escorted by Lady Penelope and Parker. She's carrying Centurium 21 - a particle created from the disaster at the Supreme Hadron Collider. Brains explains that as the particle won’t work at high altitudes, it must be transported below sea level.
On an underwater train, Professor Moffat, Lady Penelope, Parker, and Sherbet are all riding in the train together, and when they reach the tunnel midpoint, John calls and checks on them. Everyone and everything is doing fine and John notifies them that the GDF will await their arrival. Outside the tunnel, the Hood approaches in a submarine. He uses explosives to blow the tunnel open, but the bulkhead seals just in time. Another explosive damages the tunnel, causing water to flood in. The Hood cuts comms with John and the driver with an electromagnetic pulse.
Scott, Virgil and Gordon set off for the danger zone with Thunderbirds 1, 2 and 4, while Brains stays behind to help from the lab. When the Thunderbird craft arrive at the tunnel, Brains advises that TB2's cables are too short to reach the depth of the tunnel, and TB4 lacks the lifting power - before assembling 4 remote airbag-pods, and then TB4 is launched. Inside his sub, the Hood disguises himself as Professor Moffat, before dealing with the original counterpart and meeting Penelope; and Parker finds the ladder to the sub. When TB4 arrives at the tunnel, Gordon checks the damage before spotting the Hood’s sub. He fires a conductive amplifier at the tunnel, re-establishing comms. Gordon explains to Penelope about the heist...and the Hood could have disguised himself as someone on the train. The Hood's disguise unravels, when Sherbet attacks him! He grabs the case containing the Centurium 21 and escapes with Parker and Penelope in pursuit, but he avoids Parker and makes it back to his sub. Penelope throws a tracking beacon onto the case, before the sub detaches and the tunnel floods.
The airbag-pods clamp onto the tunnel, and three of them inflate. The driver cuts power to the train’s maglev system, and FAB 1 exits the tunnel in its submarine mode to go after the Hood. The Hood’s sub appears above it and drops a transonic depth charge, which explodes near the car and damages its turbines. Parker lands the car on a rocky outcrop, and fires the engines again. Brains tells Gordon that one airbag’s pump has a blockage, which he can’t unblock remotely. Gordon unblocks it, and the tunnel section is hoisted to the surface. Meanwhile, FAB 1 fires torpedoes at the Hood’s sub, disabling its life-support system. Gordon hooks a cable from TB1 onto the hull of the sub, and Scott hoists it up to the surface. Cursing them, the Hood flees in an escape pod, before the sub rips apart, and he loses the Centurium 21.
Back on Tracy Island, Penelope and Parker explain that the Centurium 21 was successfully delivered to the GDF facility. Professor Moffat insists that Brains would like to show her his lab before they exit the lounge; Gordon sniggers, and they turn back at him.
Cast[]
- Rasmus Hardiker as Scott Tracy and Alan Tracy
- David Menkin as Virgil Tracy, Gordon Tracy and Hugo Hallgren
- Thomas Brodie-Sangster as John Tracy
- Kayvan Novak as Brains
- Rosamund Pike as Lady Penelope
- David Graham as Parker
- Andres Williams as The Hood
- Teresa Gallagher as Professor Moffat
Quotes[]
Gordon: "You remember Brains' girlfriend Moffy from our energy collider adventure?"
Brains: "Er, colleague, Gordon. Professor Moffat and I are simply old friends."
Gordon: "Sure, Brains. Like nobody can feel all that nerd-trino energy with the two of you in a room together."
John: "You planted a tracker on The Hood?"
Lady Penelope: "My emergency locator. Never underestimate a Creighton-Ward."
Lady Penelope: "Strong fix on The Hood's signal, Parker?"
Parker: "Like a regimental tattoo, m'lady."
Lady Penelope: "Perfect. Then let's go fishing."
Parker: "Come on, you steaming pink heffalump!"
Lady Penelope: "Shall we blow him another kiss?"
Parker: "Happily, m'lady."
International Rescue Equipment Used[]
- Thunderbird 1
- Thunderbird 2 (Module 4)
- Thunderbird 4
- Thunderbird 5
- FAB 1
- Remote Airbag Pods
Non-International Rescue Equipment Used[]
- The Hood's submarine
Pre-production Gallery[]
Episode Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The existence of this episode was confirmed by writer Peter Briggs, shortly before the series premiered in April 2015. He described it as a sort-of sequel to Heavy Metal.
- Professor Moffat returns in a plot directly tied to the events at the particle accelerator in Heavy Metal.
- The bombs planted by the Hood on the exterior of the underwater tunnel were previously used as his earthquake generators, in Ring of Fire.
- The Centurium-21 in this episode is a reference to the 1960s-era production company, Century 21.
- This is the first time The Hood assumes the guise of a main character (Professor Moffat), in order to steal the Centurium-21.
- After the tunnel's support towers were destroyed, John makes a reference to the Spectrum satellite detecting the explosion. This is a reference to the 1960s Supermarionation series - and successor to the original Thunderbirds - Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons.
- This is the first time in this series, that FAB 1 is shown in its underwater mode.
- This episode marks the first time the Hood's ship is destroyed.
Foreign Titles[]
- Dutch: Aanval Onder Niveau (Low Down Attack)
- French: Le Club du Casse (The Robbery Club)
- Spanish: Sociedad del Crimen (Society of Crime)
- Japanese: 海底急行の危機 (Crisis of the Seabed Express)
- Arabic: مخطط السرقة