Pit of Peril

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For a detailed overview of this episode, click here.

The army seeks the help of International Rescue when the Sidewinder falls into a deep pit.
Original UK broadcast date: October 7th, 1965

Contents
1) Synopsis
2) Notes
3) Errors


Synopsis

A new army weapon called the Sidewinder completes its tests in the jungle. But as it leaves the jungle, the ground under it opens up, causing it to fall 300 feet into a deep pit. General Peters sees what has happened, and has the Sidewinder's relief crew fly in so they can try and figure out what to do. The Sidewinder's crew consists of three men, who have survived the fall, but the temperatures are very high in the pit. As the Sidewinder weighs 500 tons, and them being so far away from civilization, doing anything is going to be difficult. From Thunderbird 5, John picks up on the army's transmissions, and relays what he can hear back to Tracy Island. Jeff decides to wait until the army ask for their help, and puts Scott on standby in Thunderbird 1.

Mead, one of the relief crew, is lowered into the pit to try and figure out what shape the Sidewinder is in. He manages to see that the Sidewinder is on its side, but then has to be pulled out of the pit, suffering bad burns from being down there for so long. The other officers decide to try and attach a line to one of the Sidewinder's legs, and then pull the Sidewinder over with a helicopter. Reynolds, the other man in the relief crew, is then lowered into the pit. He is able to attach a line to the Sidewinder, but then also suffers from terrible burns and has to be pulled out.

The relief crew are flown back to base hospital in their helijet, whilst Peters tries to pull the Sidewinder out with his helicopter. However the attempt fails when the line comes off, resulting in the Sidewinder falling back to where it was before. Knowing they have no other hope, they contact International Rescue. John contacts his father, and he has Thunderbird 1 take off immediately.

Thunderbird 2 also takes off, bringing pod 5 with it. Scott lands Thunderbird 1 and deploys a remote control camera, which enters the pit. Thunderbird 2 arrives, so Scott heads over to it. He, Brains and Virgil watch the camera's footage, and come across some old wreckage which has the words "US ARMY" written on it. Brains figures out that this pit was a dumping ground for military equipment during the Second World War. The pit was filled in, and over the years a new crust of topsoil has formed. Spontaneous combustion caused a slow, smoldering fire which consumed the dumped equipment. The weight of the Sidewinder caused the thin crust of topsoil to collapse at its weakest point. Brains believes they need to remove the remainder of the crust so the Sidewinder can be dragged up the side of the pit. Virgil wears a protective suit and is lowered into the pit, where he sets several charges.

Scott then pilots a machine called the Mole, which drills through the ground. Virgil then finishes placing the charges and enters the Mole, which withdraws. The explosives are detonated, and Virgil then drives out in a recovery vehicle, along with a second remote control recovery vehicle. These recovery vehicles fire electro-magnetic grabs at the Sidewinder. They then move back, and eventually manage to pull the Sidewinder out of the pit.

The Sidewinder crew are all saved, and Scott briefly talks to them before they are flown out in another helicopter. Peters also thanks Scott, and says what he wouldn't give to have the International Rescue guys in his force. Scott takes off in Thunderbird 1, and heads back home.

Notes

-Scenes added to turn this episode from filling a 30 minute slot to a 60 minute one include the army's attempts at getting the Sidewinder out of the pit. I imagine the opening live action footage of animals running away was also something added to fill time.

-This episode has the smallest number of regular characters appearing in it, with only 5 showing up -Scott, Virgil, Brains, John and Jeff.

-The puppets for Sweeney and Frank were used in the previous episode for Hanson and the Fireflash copilot.

-The production and broadcast orders of the episodes get very different from the next episode and onwards. They won't realign until much later on in the season.

Errors

-During this shot, there is some kind of massive mark across the sky backdrop.
-The Sidewinder is seen falling on its side and back, but the control room is always shown as being the right way up -the crew should be on the ceiling!
-When Frank says "right", his left eyebrow is missing.
-When John contacts Jeff for the second time, there is a shot taken from the previous episode showing Jeff turning on his communicator. The problem is he's wearing a completely different outfit during this shot compared to what he's wearing throughout the rest of the episode.
-When Brains says "Fine, Scott. Ready to detonate explosives on your instructions" his lips don't move at all.
-As the Mole gets back to the surface, the footage is being played in reverse -watch the dirt at the bottom, it can be seen moving upwards.
-When Thunderbird 1 takes off at the very end of the episode, one of its jet flames can be seen setting a tree on fire.