"The Hexpert" is the 20th episode of Thunderbirds Are Go!. It was broadcast on 12th December, 2015.
Plot[]
Professor Alice Lungren accidentally locks herself inside a vault which is being used to store unstable matter. There is only one person who has successfully broken into a vault like this - Parker. Colonel Casey of the GDF recruits Parker for the job, but the safe cracker ends up locking himself and Lady Penelope inside as well. Virgil and Scott transport the vault to an isolated area on Thunderbird 2, where Parker and Penelope must try and free themselves and the scientist before the anti-matter explodes.
Cast[]
Regular Cast[]
- Scott Tracy: Rasmus Hardiker
- Virgil Tracy: David Menkin
- Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward: Rosamund Pike
- Parker: David Graham
- Colonel Casey: Adjoa Andoh
Guest Cast[]
- Professor Alice Lungren: Christina Kowalchuk
- Professor Callaway: William Hope
Quotes[]
- Parker: "Dual chambers, reinforced terillium outer shell, biometric scanners, independent power source.. When it comes to this, I'm quite the 'hexpert' m'am."
- Lady Penelope: "I, however, am not."
- Colonel Casey: "It's a state of the art containment vault. Scientists at Hudson University are using one for their antimatter research. At the moment, one of them is stuck inside."
- Lady Penelope: "And what does any of this have to do with Parker?"
- Colonel Casey: "We need him to open it. Apparently Parker is the only person who have ever sucesssfully broken into this kind of vault."
- Lady Penelope: "Parker?"
- Parker: "Allegedly broken in, m'lady, there was never any proof."
- Colonel Casey: "We could've gotten these things anywhere."
- Parker: "First of all, Ma'am, it's my lucky kit. Second, no, you can't get these things anywhere. They don't even make this flavor of gum anymore."
- Parker: "I'm not proud of my past, you know."
- Lady Penelope: "That was a long time ago, Parker."
- Parker: "Your father gave me a second chance away from my life of crime, and he trusted me to protect his most valuable possession. You, m'lady."
- Lady Penelope: "You've always lived up to his trust in you, Parker."
International Rescue Equipment Used[]
- Thunderbird 1
- Thunderbird 2 (Module 3)
- FAB 1
- Electromagnetic Pod Grabs
Non-International Rescue Equipment Used[]
- Global Defence Force Quadjet
Gallery[]
Hudson Univeristy
Professor Alice Lungren at work
The two roomed containment vault where the anti-matter is housed
Prof. Lungren tries to adjust the levels to avoid an implosion
The anti-matter goes out of control
The Professor becomes trapped inside the inner vault
Lady Penelope is talking to the Prime Minister
"Did the PM say anything about an armed escort?"
"No"
"I didn't think so"
"No"
"I didn't think so"
The GDF who are tailing FAB1
"Actually Lady Penelope, it's not you we need. It's Parker."
"Me?"
"When it comes to this, I'm quite the 'hexpert' m'am."
"We need him to open it. Apparently Parker is the only person to have ever sucessfully broken into this kind of vault."
The GDF flyer landing outside Hudson Univeristy
Colonel Casey lets Prof. Lungren know that they will get her out of the vault
"One slight hitch, I'm going to require some highly specialised equipment to do this job"
GDF flyer having to make a special stop at the Creighton-Ward Manor to pick up Parker's tool kit
"They don't even make this flavour of gum anymore"
"We have a slight problem M'lady. Seems they've fixed the defect that allowed me to break into this kind of vault before."
Colonel Casey & Parker tell Scott about the situation
Virgil suggests dropping the vault down a nearby mineshaft once they are clear to minimise the implosion
"Do you have any idea of how heavy this vault weighs? You'd need something incredibly powerful to lift it."
"Oh don't worry, I've got that part covered"
Parker uses his earpiece to create a distracton for the outer vault to think it's 'businness as usual'
"I'll let you know when the GDF has sucessfully evacuated the entire facility"
"I hope I haven't kept you all waiting"
"I always thought cracking vaults involved oh, I don't know... a vault?"
"It's not what's in it, but what's on it"
"Chew, M'lady?"
The gum is used to lift the professor's fingerprints off the bottle to use on the scanner
The outer vault opens
Scott is cutting away the roof so they can lift the vault free of the building
TB2 starts to pull away the roof
Penny and Parker are now trapped inside the outer vault
"When they built these vaults, they always assumed anyone who tried to break in would take the high-tech approach"
Parker marks the door in chalk
Penelope kicks the door where Parker has marked it
The inner vault opens
TB2 lifts the vault free of the building
Parker redirects the biometric scanner to inside the outer vault
Scott uses the gum to key in the password to access the outer vault
TB2 reaches the mine
They all make a jump for saftey
The vault gets dropped into the mine
The anti-matter implodes
Parker is a little sad he's lost his lucky kit
Lady P tells Parker the Prime Minister has a hidden stash of his fave gum as it's her favourite too
Parker now thinks it's never too late to go to the PM's charity ball
Trivia[]
- The Hexpert is a modernisation of the classic Thunderbirds episode Vault Of Death.
- The password that must be entered to unlock the vault (3-0-0-9-1-9-6-5) is a reference to the original broadcast date of Trapped in the Sky, the first episode of the original series (30/09/1965).
- In the original draft of the script, two scientists, implied to be a couple, were trapped in the vault. One would have pushed the other out the door, becoming locked in the vault in the process. This script was cut, however, for a script involving Lady Penelope and Parker.
- This is the first appearance of the exterior of Creighton-Ward Manor.
- Professor Alice Lungren shares the same last name as Professor Lundgren from the classic Thunderbirds episode Lord Parker's 'Oliday.
- The voice of Marion Van Arkel from Crosscut can be heard during the evacuation of the University.
- This is the first time Scott is seen onboard Thunderbird 2.
Foreign titles[]
- Dutch: De h-expert
- French: L'expert
- Spanish: El Experto
- Japanese: 伝説の金庫破り (Legendary Safecracker)
- Arabic: الخبير