- "Prepare for Operation Earth Enslavement! Begin weapons testing program!"
— Alien Leader
For a contemporary (or at least in the 1990s) audience, Thunderbirds underwent a repackage, redub, and rebroadcast as part of FOX Kids' Saturday morning line-up. With a modification in title, The Uninvited: Alien Attack (named after the ITC edit of another Anderson series) was the fourth story released on VHS, though third to be broadcast. The episode first (and last) aired on July 16th 1994 at 9:30am.
As opposed to accompanying stories (which consisted of compressed retellings of the original plots), Alien Attack underwent a major rewrite. For example, the enigmatic Zombites were changed to extraterrestrial beings (who speak fluent English no less) using a pyramid as cover for an Earth enslavement operation.
One of the major plots of the original episode (consisting of Scott being shot down by Zombite jets, crashing in the desert, and later rescued by Wilson and Lindsey) was cut entirely. However, the episode's 'teaser' portion of the opening credits still retains footage of Thunderbird 1 plummeting, hitting the sand, and Scott knocking his head against the ship's controls, Many of the deleted plots, including the above example, were restored for Turbocharged Thunderbirds.
Two versions of the story exist; one saw home video release, while another shorter edit was broadcast.
Trivia[]
- In an attempt to bolster the craft's technology, Thunderbird 2 is mentioned to have Deflectors designed to detonate missiles long before they are in range. The device is never seen nor mentioned in the series after this episode.
- As was the norm with many FOX Kids programs at the time, all dialogue of the characters mentioning death was significantly downplayed. For example, Lindsey's "Stop the truck before you kill us!" was changed to "Stop the truck before you flip it!". Later, his "We're gonna need water or we'll die!" became "We're gonna need water or we're through!".
- Despite this mandate, the footage of Wilson and Lindsey finding the skeleton in the chamber was left unedited.
Goofs[]
- As the story begins with establishing the Aliens and their base, Scott, Lindsey and Wilson can be seen inside the pyramid before they find it.
- Due to the reuse of footage, the 'test target' attacked by the Aliens looks suspiciously identical to the pyramid their base was located under. Both even explode exactly the same way.
- The entire subplot of Alan relieving John on Thunderbird 5 was cut. Due to its removal, Scott entering Tracy Villa via the craft's settee doesn't make any sense. The same error was later used in The Lost Pyramid.
- As a result of sharing the same voice actor, Jeff Tracy sounds exactly like Virgil when calling to ask Scott if he's okay.
- When the Alien Leader orders to launch missiles at Thunderbird 2, his voice comes from the Alien Controller's mouth.
- The final fates of Wilson and Lindsey are never revealed. The pair are last seen running alongside Scott in the pyramid, but neither are seen or referred to again (the episode ends with Scott and Virgil cheering as they head back to base). Even Turbocharged added a voiceover of Scott saying he managed to get the pair aboard Thunderbird 1 before the pyramid exploded.
Polygram Video USA[]
The fourth and final in a series of videotapes, The Uninvited: Alien Attack was released by Polygram Video in the United States on August 9th 1994.
