Amazon Places Four Season Order for ‘Thunderbirds Are Go’

Amazon has placed an unprecedented four season order for children’s animated series “Thunderbirds Are Go,” which will offer a new take on the decades-old “Thunderbirds” franchise. The quartet of 13-episode seasons will feature the five Tracy brothers of the International Rescue squad who go on missions spanning the globe and into outer space. Featured will be Rosamund Pike as Lady Penelope, who was voiced by Sylvia Anderson in the original series and portrayed by Sophia Myles in the 2004 live-action film. The first season, which originally aired on ITV in Britain and Australia’s Nine Network in 2015, will debut in the U.S. on Amazon Prime later this year, followed by the U.K., Germany and Austria.

The original “Thunderbirds” series debuted in 1965, and a film also titled “Thunderbirds Are Go” was released in 1966.

“Thunderbirds Are Go,” produced by ITV Studios and Pukeko Pictures in collaboration with Weta Workshop, will incorporate a mixture of CGI animation and live-action model sets. The series is distributed internationally by ITV Studios, a unit of U.K. broadcaster ITV.