Jamie Anderson tells What’s On about Stand By For Action! 2: Tunes Of Danger, a second concert celebrating his father Gerry’s pioneering and numerous television series (think Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet and Stingray, to name but a few), the music for which has become as iconic as the shows themselves...

In the spring of 2022, Jamie Anderson - the son of legendary TV producer Gerry, creator of Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet, Joe 90, Stingray, UFO, et al - took an International Rescue-style risk by putting on a one-off concert of music from his father’s shows at Birmingham’s Symphony Hall, performed by a 55-piece orchestra.

It was a calculated leap of faith, of course, as not only do the Anderson shows - primarily sci-fi adventures featuring puppets - enjoy a devoted cult following, but the music, largely composed by Barry Gray, has developed a fanbase all of its own.

Not surprisingly the concert was a runaway success. So, two years later, it’s back - but bigger and better than before, according to ever-affable producer, writer & director Jamie, who, as managing director of Anderson Entertainment, acts as custodian of his father’s work. 

“The first show was one of those complete unknowns,” he says. “There had been an Anderson-related concert a long time before ours, but it was definitely unknown territory for us. It went really well, which is why we’re doing it all over again.” 

Mindful of that last sentiment, Jamie is quick to point out that this year’s concert won’t be a carbon copy of the original show, which provided a chronological showcase of all his father’s work. But he is just as quick to allay any fears that fans’ favourites will be ditched to make room for new elements.

“We really want to elevate it from last time. It’s not about more of the same - it’s bigger, better, more exciting, more varied, and I think people are gonna love it.” 

When he talks, he gushes with the enthusiasm of one of the many fans of his father’s work, even though he’s at least 20 years too young to have seen any of the shows when they first aired in the 1960s and 70s. 

“I don’t want people to see ‘different’ and think ‘they might not play all my favourite tunes’, because they will all be there,” he says, warming to the task of describing this year’s approach. 

“Rather than do a history of all the Anderson shows, we’re looking at the different ways the composers paint a musical picture based on what’s going on thematically. 

“I looked across the whole catalogue and put together a bunch of suites and medleys that are more about places across the universe and types of Anderson action. So we’ll see music clustered by spies and thrills, Martian menaces, the distant reaches of space, under the sea, on land, massive machines… those kinds of things. It’s another way to experience the Anderson universe - and not doing it chronologically will keep people guessing too.”

Jamie says that as well as the suites and medleys, which are being arranged by Daniel Whibley, there’ll be plenty of ‘heavy hitters’ - the big marches and opening titles - in the second half of the show. The latter will also include a couple of fan-inspired choices that didn’t make the cut last time, including a tune from Anderson’s only wholly live-action series.

“The two things that were most requested were the Zero X theme from the Thunderbirds Are Go movie, and - the surprise contender,  which I really wasn’t expecting - Avenues And Alleyways, the closing song from The Protectors, originally sung by Tony Christie.”

The tune is arguably more memorable than the TV show, which starred Robert Vaughn, Nyree Dawn Porter and Space: 1999 alumnus Tony Anholt. Jamie admits that the iconic puppet and sci-fi shows almost certainly wouldn’t have been as successful without Barry Gray’s musical input either.

“It almost feels counter-intuitive to have music on that scale when the shows it’s accompanying are so small. There’s a risk that epic music with a huge orchestra, in the bombastic way that Barry did it, could further shrink the puppets and miniature models that were on camera. But because they had such grand ambitions, and wanted the visuals to look as filmic as possible, Barry’s stuff works to further elevate that ambition. 

“It’s a perfect combination - but if you took Andy Pandy and put Barry Gray’s score on it, it wouldn’t work.”

The 2022 concert certainly worked, and was memorable not only for the performances but also the genuine sense of fun in the auditorium; most of the orchestra were decked out in costumes from the shows, to match the cosplay on display in the audience. Comedian & impressionist Jon Culshaw added to the entertainment as the evening’s host, and he reprises his duties this year, as well as having a role in a one-off performance of a new Stingray story that will take the form of a staged radio play. It’s an element of the concert that Jamie is especially excited about. 

“The reason we’ve called the show Tunes Of Danger is because this year is Stingray’s 60th anniversary, and it’s a nod to an episode called Tune Of Danger.

“Obviously there’s lots of action, peril and danger in the music anyway, but for the 60th anniversary year we’re doing a multi-platform story called Deadly Uprising, which will be told across books, audio books, comics and at the concert, with a live, dramatic performance with a full cast and live orchestra playing along with them.”

Called Deadly Concerto, the live drama’s ensemble includes Solihull-born actor Mark Silk as the hero, Troy Tempest, as well as a ‘top secret’ guest role for Culshaw, which, Jamie assures me, isn’t Lady Penelope’s butler from Thunderbirds in a Marvel multiverse-style Anderson crossover.

“It’s definitely not Parker - this is pure Stingray! But it’ll definitely be an unexpected role.”

‘Expect the unexpected’ is one of many Anderson catchphrases, but ‘anything can happen in the next half hour’ is clearly more apt for the Stingray play. Jamie admits it will be a challenge (“I wouldn’t want to be conductor George Morton trying to get the actors to come in at the right moment”) but is confident it will prove to be one of the highlights of the night.

“There’s something about the Stingray story that people won’t be expecting, and I think that ‘reveal’ will be a lovely moment in the room; something very special to be a part of.
“It should be really fun and a completely one-off thing. We’re not going to repeat the performance, so it’s really a case of be there on the night or that’s it.”

Stand By For Action! 2: Tunes Of Danger takes place at Birmingham’s Symphony Hall on Saturday 13 July.

by Steve Adams