On April 16th, some 2000 Gerry Anderson fans – many of them, it must be said, of a very specific vintage – gathered at the Symphony Hall in Birmingham to enjoy a unique experience. This reviewer, squeezed into a very fetching Thunderbird 2 T-shirt, was amongst their number, by the way… Stand by for Action: Gerry Anderson In Concert was the first time the music from Anderson’s Supermarionation and live-action shows – from The Adventures of Twizzle in 1957 right through to 2005’s CGI reboot of Captain Scarlet (Gerry’s last production to hit the screen) – had been performed live on stage with a full orchestra (all of them clothed in costumes based on characters from the Anderson canon) bringing the music, mostly by the late Barry Gray, to life and hosted affably by comedian and impressionist Jon Culshaw.
If the live concert itself was a shot of pure, undiluted nostalgia – and it was – then this new Blu-ray release is a permanent reminder of a very special event, a very special occasion. Anyone brought up in the Sixties who enjoyed the heyday of Gerry Anderson and Century 21 Productions can’t help but be transported effortlessly back across the decades to a simpler, kinder and more optimistic world by Stand By For Action. The concert itself is as cheerfully homespun as the shows it celebrates, with Culshaw enthusiastically introducing each section and unable to resist the temptation to drop in the odd impression from Boris Johnson, Patrick Moore, the Third and Fourth Doctors from Doctor Who and, at one point, UNIT’s Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. It’s all good-natured stuff and it’s great fun to see the trio of backing singers giving their all as they sing the refrain to Torchy the Battery Boy and later bring the themes to Captain Scarlet, Stingray and Fireball XL5 to life with gusto. Anderson fans all have their favourite shows and their favourite music, of course, but there’s no denying the power of the classic Thunderbirds March and, of course, the frenetically-exciting theme to the brilliant UFO. In the second half of the show composer Richard Harvey takes to the stage to conduct the superb orchestra through a rousing suite of music from Gerry’s “comeback” show in 1983, the oft-derided Terrahawks. The show itself may divide audiences but it again demonstrates its creator’s ability to match thrilling, heart-stopping music to his shows, realising that if you grab the audience from the off with a powerful and memorable theme and title sequence, half the battle is won.
We will most probably never see a genius the like of Gerry Anderson working on British TV again and Stand by For Action is a wonderful warts-and-all reminder (the odd orchestral bum note and stumble from Culshaw left intact) of an event that was exciting, joyously life-affirming and, now and again, a bit emotional. Here’s to the next one… the Thunderbirds T-shirt is ready, even if it seems to have shrunk a bit since its last outing…
Standby For Action is available now on Blu-ray and DVD from Anderson Entertainment
