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The Netherlands is a country in North-Western Europe. It is sometimes called Holland.

Thunderbirds on Dutch television

TV listing for Sep 15 1965

Dutch television occupies a unique place in the history of Thunderbirds in that it was the first in the world to air an episode of the series. The first episode, Trapped in the Sky, was aired in the Netherlands on Wednesday, September 15, 1965, at the improbable hour of 9pm local time. This is 15 days before the show's UK television debut.

Initially, the episodes were broadcast in black-and-white, as colour television did not exist in Holland at the time. The first episode to be broadcast in colour was Path of Destruction on September 25, 1967. The first 12 episodes were also dubbed into Dutch. After that, they were in English with Dutch subtitles.

The show was aired by the public broadcasting association AVRO, who decided to make it a monthly show. Because of this, only 3 episodes were aired in the Netherlands before they first aired in the UK: Trapped in the Sky, Terror in New York City, and End Of The Road. It also meant the show ran for three television seasons, the last episode airing nearly 33 months after the first. Even so, when broadcasts ceased in August 1968, only 29 of the 32 episodes had been aired. (The final three broadcasts were repeats.) Television viewers had to wait well over 20 years for an opportunity to watch the remaining three (The Mighty Atom, Attack of the Alligators!, and Atlantic Inferno.)

First Television Run

Ep. # (NL)	Ep. # (UK)	Title (UK)	Title (NL)	Original Air Date (UK)	Original Air Date (NL)	Production #
1	1	Trapped in the Sky	Gevangen in de lucht	30-09-1965	15-09-1965	1
2	4	Terror in New York City	Paniek in New York City	21/10/1965	13-10-1965	13
3	9	End Of The Road	Einde van de weg	25/11/1965	13-11-1965	14
4	7	30 Minutes After Noon	12 uur 30 precies	11/11/1965	08-12-1965	18
5	8	Desperate Intruder	De wanhopige indringer	18/11/1965	01-01-1966	17
6	11	Sun Probe	De zonnespiegel [?]; De kwestie met het zonnestof	09/12/1965	29-01-1966	4
7	2	Pit of Peril	Kuil vol gevaar	07/10/1965	26-02-1966	2
8	12	Operation Crash-Dive	Operatie "noodlanding"	16/12/1965	26-03-1966	8
9	10	The Uninvited	De ongenodigden	2/12/1965	23-04-1966	5
10	6	Day of Disaster	Operatie marsraket; Een enorm transport	04/11/1965	21-05-1966	15
11	15	City of Fire	Stad in vlammen	06/01/1966	30-09-1966	3
12	18	Cry Wolf	Een gevaarlijk spel	27/01/1966	29-10-1966	21
13	17	The Man From MI.5	De geheime agent	20/01/1966	23-12-1966	20
14	25	The Cham-Cham	Cham-cham	24/03/1966	20-01-1967	25
15	22	Brink of Disaster	De dodenrit	24/02/1966	17-02-1967	11
16	21	The Duchess Assignment	Opdracht voor een hertogin	17/02/1966	17-03-1967	23
17	19	Danger At Ocean Deep	De kokende zee	03/02/1966	14-04-1967	22
18	24	Martian Invasion	Invasie van Mars	17/03/1966	12-05-1967	10
19	3	The Perils of Penelope	Lady Penelope in gevaar	14/10/1965	17-06-1967	12
20	28	Path Of Destruction	[No Dutch title]	09/10/1966	25/09/1967	28
21	5	Edge Of Impact	Sabotage	28/10/1965	30-09-1967	16
22	30	Lord Parker's 'Oliday	De zonsopgang	23/10/1966	20-10-1967	30
23	31	Ricochet	Ruimteredding	06/11/1966	26-11-1967	31
24	32	Give or Take a Million	Geef of neem een miljoen	25/12/1966	23-12-1967	32
25	16	The Impostors	De bedriegers	13/01/1966	20-01-1968	19
26	13	Vault Of Death	Kluis des doods	23/12/1965	17-02-1968	7
27	29	Alias Mr. Hackenbacker	Alias Mr. Hackenbacker	16/10/1966	13-04-1968	29
28	20	Move And You're Dead	Beweeg en je bent dood	10/02/1966	11-05-1968	9
29	26	Security Hazard	Veiligheidsrisico	31/03/1966	08-06-1968	26

Second Television Run

Since the first run was incomplete, an overview of the second run is shown below. Note that it too had only 29 episodes in it. The last episode, Atlantic Inferno, finally aired on September 12th, 1992, almost exactly 27 years after the first.

Ep. # (NL)	Ep. # (UK)	Title (UK)	Title (NL)	Original Air Date (UK)	Air Date (NL)	Production #
1	1	Trapped in the Sky	Gevangen in de lucht	30-09-1965	1-7-1991	1
2	2	Pit of Peril	Instortingsgevaar	07/10/1965	8-7-1991	2
3	15	City of Fire	Stad van vuur	06/01/1966	15-7-1991	3
4	11	Sun Probe	Gevaarlijke koers	09/12/1965	22-7-1991	4
5	10	The Uninvited	Onwelkom bezoek	2/12/1965	29-7-1991	5
6	14	The Mighty Atom	De geheime foto's	30/12/1965	5-8-1991	6
7	13	Vault Of Death	De doodskluis	23/12/1965	12-8-1991	7
8	12	Operation Crash-Dive	Operatie duikvlucht	16/12/1965	19-8-1991	8
9	20	Move And You're Dead	Wie beweegt is dood	10/02/1966	26-8-1991	9
10	24	Martian Invasion	Invasie van Mars	17/03/1966	2-9-1991	10
11	22	Brink of Disaster	De laatste redding	24/02/1966	9-9-1991	11
12	4	Terror in New York City	Paniek in New York City	21/10/1965	16-9-1991	13
13	3	The Perils of Penelope	Levensgevaarlijk, Lady Penelope!	14/10/1965	23-9-1991	12
14	9	End Of The Road	Einde van de weg	25/11/1965	5-10-1991	14
15	6	Day of Disaster	Een rampzalige dag	04/11/1965	12-10-1991	15
16	5	Edge Of Impact	Op het randje na dood	28/10/1965	19-10-1991	16
17	8	Desperate Intruder	De gevaarlijke indringer	18/11/1965	4-7-1992	17
18	7	30 Minutes After Noon	30 minuten na twaalf	11/11/1965	11-7-1992	18
19	16	The Impostors	De oplichters	13/01/1966	18-7-1992	19
20	17	The Man From MI.5	De man van MI 5	20/01/1966	25-7-1992	20
21	18	Cry Wolf	S.O.S.	27/01/1966	1-8-1992	21
22	19	Danger At Ocean Deep	De kokende zee	03/02/1966	8-8-1992	22
23	21	The Duchess Assignment	De opdracht van de hertogin	17/02/1966	15-8-1992	23
24	23	Attack of the Alligators!	De krokodillen vallen aan	10/03/1966	22-8-1992	24
25	25	The Cham-Cham	Gevaarlijk vermaak in Paradise Peaks	24/03/1966	29-8-1992	25
26	26	Security Hazard	Een veiligheidsrisico	31/03/1966	5-9-1992	26
27	27	Atlantic Inferno	Brand op de oceaan	02/10/1966	12-9-1992	27
28	28	Path Of Destruction	Een weg van vernietiging	09/10/1966	19-9-1992	28
29	29	Alias Mr. Hackenbacker	Alias mr. Hackenberger [sic]	16/10/1966	26-9-1992	29

Gevangen in de Lucht (Trapped in the Sky - dutch titles)

Opening and closing titles of Trapped in the Sky as broadcast on Dutch TV

Gallery

Map of Holland at
Dunsley Tracker

Spijkervaas

Dutch VHS Video Tapes

This series of tapes was released by SMV Enterprises in 1993.

Ongenode Gasten
(The Uninvited)

Het machtige Atoom
(The Mighty Atom)

De Bedriegers
(The Impostors)

De Man van MI.5
(The Man from MI.5)

"Sea of Fire"
(Atlantic Inferno)

"Invasion from Mars"
(Martian Invasion)

"Panic in New York"
(Terror in New York City)

"Race Against Time"
(30 Minutes After Noon)

"Drowned Treasure"
(Desperate Intruder)

"No Way Back"
(End of the Road)

"Tanker in Distress"
(Danger at Ocean Deep)

"Parker's Holiday"
(Lord Parker's 'Oliday)

"The Kidnap"
(The Duchess Assignment)

Two Episode Tapes

In 1994 SMV issued another series of tapes, each containing two episodes. The exact number of tapes in this series is unknown.

(1) "De Cham-Cham" and "Spoor van Vernieling" (Path of Destruction).

(2) "Kluis des doods" (Vault of Death) and "Vals Alarm" (Cry Wolf). This tape was produced exclusively for the Dutch toy store chain - Intertoys.

(3) "Naderend Onheil" (Brink of Disaster) and "Stad van Vuur" (City of Fire)

(4) "Alias Mr. Hackenbacker" and "Gevaarlijke Diepte" (Pit of Peril [source])

The Cham-Cham and Path of Destruction

Cry Wolf and Vault of Death

Brink of Disaster and City of Fire

Alias Mr. Hackenbacker and "Pit of Peril"

Dutch DVDs (Carlton)

Vol. 6. Back cover and spine

Overseas Territories

• When the Thunderbirds Are Go (film) was playing in cinemas on Curacao, local papers ran an ad claiming the movie was about a journey to the bottom of the sea, "where you have never been before".
• In 1971, TV viewers on Aruba could watch a Thunderbirds episode on Saturdays, and a Captain Scarlet one on Sundays. Both series were aired by the local TV station Telearuba.