A childhood favourite brought up to date

A sunday afternoon growing up will always be for me Thunderbirds on BBC 2. Yes, it might have been a re-run in terms of viewing but for me, it was a first time (add to that the Friday night viewing of The Simpsons & either Stingray or Captain Scarlet...) So early this year when the first images of the reboot for Thunderbirds (or as this is known, Thunderbirds are Go) appeared, I admit that I did jump on the 'no please don't do this' given what I deem a failed attempt at reboot Captain Scarlet a number of years ago.

I'm not going to lie. I have been pleasantly surprised by what they have done. Whilst yes it has been brought up to date with the CGI (so things can be done that the puppets couldn't) there are some nice nods to the original series. Let's start with the obvious: music. The original countdown by Peter Dyneley (who voiced Jeff Tracey in the original) has been maintained. It is sort of synonymous along with the familiar theme song. Occasionally, there's even the odd original music moment.

The vehicles:They are more of less the same designs as the old, maybe a few tweaks to modernise them but then, don't they do that to vehicles anyways? And they have also maintained how the vehicles leave the island too (although, there has been some redesigning on the pool. It's no longer a yoghurt pop, more of a margarine tub (this will make sense to those of a certain age!))

Characters: More of less the appearance of the puppets have been maintained. As I said, the CGI allows them to do things the puppets couldn't. Although, I do miss the bobbing that they used to do when walking. I love that the Parker is voiced by his original actor () although I'm not entirely sold on Roselind Pike as Lady Penelope.

The sets: yes I'm calling them sets. Not all the action is CGI. WETA, the team behind shall we say, the magic of The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings, have also had a hand in the show. There are points where CGI & miniatures collide and they do so wonderfully (we wouldn't expect anything else from them, would we?)

It's been loving updated version of the show that does pay homage to the original making it accessible not only to older fans, but also to children.