Michael Foreman: TV shows endure on the web

You can tell when a TV show has reached cult status when: a) the repeats are called a revival; b) the stage show/computer game appears, or c) the available merchandise runs to special edition fascias for mobile phones.

Thunderbirds, for example, the British science fiction puppet series dating from 1965 but set in 2065, meets these criteria in spades. With an estimated audience of 100 million people in 66 countries, the series also enjoys a healthy following in cyberspace, the new hallmark of any self-respecting cult programme.

Thanks to the BBC deciding to rerun all 32 episodes (now digitally remastered with full stereo sound) a new official site, Thunderbirds Online has been launched.

This Flash-powered site includes the plot outlines of each episode, the lowdown on the International Rescue cast, production history and of course the vehicles — did you know that the top speed of Thunderbird 1 was 24,149 km/h while TB2 could only manage 8046 km/h?

Also worth a visit is Fanderson, which is devoted to creator Gerry Anderson and his other credits including Supercar, Fireball XL5, Stingray, Captain Scarlet, and Space 1999.

Good starting point for cult TV site searches are portals such as Cult-television.com and the Cult TV Net Directory, which lists sites under categories such as space cadets (Logan's Run to Lost in Space), weirdness (The X-Files to Xena: Warrior Princess), lawmen (Hawaii Five-O to Homicide).

It's worth remembering that a cult programme doesn't have to be especially good, witness Wonder Woman at the WW WWW page.

Inane plots like Wonder Woman's can help to restrict audiences. That's important, as a series may lose its cult appeal if it becomes too successful.

Star Trek, for example, with several generations of TV series and movie sequels to its name, has arguably passed into the mainstream. Trekkies naturally have a galaxy of websites to choose from but, while we are on the subject, a good locally produced one is Lloyds Star Trek home page.

On the other hand, The Avengers remains the quintessential cult phenomenon despite being screened in a record 120 countries. We are not talking about the disappointing 1998 Warner Brothers movie here, whose site dominates the search engines. Forget also the 1970s incarnation, The New Avengers starring Gareth Hunt and Joanna Lumley.

Avengers purists will insist on the original series made between 1960 and 1969 when Patrick Macnee as John Steed wore the trousers, and the bowler hat. Good sites covering this period include Originalavengers.com and The Avengers Forever!

However, real hardcore fans believe that only the 50 out of 161 episodes featuring Diana Rigg as Emma Peel are worth watching — see Diabolical Masterminds and Extraordinary Agents.

As well as being sexy as hell, Emma Peel epitomised the new, liberated woman of the sixties — she was the first woman on TV to show what would now be called attitude.

Links

Thunderbirds Online

Fanderson

Cult-television.com

Cult TV Net Directory

Wonder Woman

Lloyds Star Trek home page

The Avengers

The New Avengers

Originalavengers

The Avengers Forever!

Diabolical Masterminds and Extraordinary Agents

Michael Foreman