h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Thunderbirds Are Go.

There are some television programmes that are so much a part of me that if they were remade, the producers would have to do something incredibly heinous for me to dislike it.

The BBC and David Nobbs remade the Reginald Perrin story. The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin was something I watched all three series of and loved. I even bought the books! I rewatch the series usually once a year. When they made the new series, just called Reggie Perrin, with Martin Clunes I approached it with trepidation, but I like it almost as much as the original now. It was very well done. Changing Elizabeth's mother to her father and adding Reggie's mother, and then having them, er, get it on was a stroke of genius The Wellness Person was a nice counter to Doc Morrisey, and I adored Reggie's secretary, Vicky, even more than Joan. A definite thumbs-up for me

I never saw the new Doctor Who until quite recently. The hour-long ones, starting with Christopher Eccleston. My first ever Doctor Who was The Keys of Marinus, which was story five from series one, in 1964. I watched it avidly from that moment on, all the way through Hartnell, Troughton and Pertwee, and a good deal of Baker, until I got to the point where I was working my Saturday job and didn't get home on Saturday evening until after it had finished. From that point on I sort of lost interest, and never saw any of the subsequent ones, with Davison, the other Baker and Sylvester McCoy, but it was always an important thing to me.

A year or two back I decided to give the new ones a go, starting with the Paul McGann movie, at the insistence of a co-worker and friend at the Drafthouse who is a huge Who fan, although too young to remember all of the original series but who knows them better than I do because he has them all on DVD, and he has the fanaticism of, well, a fan. I enjoyed it, especially the Tennant years. I wasn't overjoyed with most of the companions though. In fact Martha was the only one I really had any time for. Rose had her moments I suppose (and Rose's mum was a bit of alright ). Matt Smith had a certain charm I guess, and I'm just starting on the Capaldi episodes. Those are going to take some getting used I think, but once again, a thumbs-up from me for the overall production, despite the dramatics often being a bit much.

And then there was Thunderbirds. I'd already been entranced by Supercar, Fireball XL5 and Stingray by the time Thunderbirds was first broadcast (and Space Patrol, which has a Thunderbirds connection in the person of Roberta Leigh who worked with Gerry Anderson on Torchy the Battery Boy, and The Adventures of Twizzle), and I was the perfect age for it - exactly the kind of audience they must have been aiming at. I was all over it like a rash. Bought the bubblegum cards, bought the toys, had an International Rescue hat; didn't make the Blue Peter Tracy Island.

I only heard about this new production a week or two back, and I saw preview clips of it on YouTube. I didn't much like what I was seeing, and tonight my fears were confirmed.

Bearing in mind this is one of the most loved and appreciated British television shows for kids of all time with a potential for huge viewing figures from baby boomers like me if done well, I thought they might have thrown a bit more money at some decent CGI, if CGI is the way they wanted to go. It looks like a video game from a decade ago, and you know how quickly video game effects and rendering improve.

The thing about Thunderbirds was that the tension built and built, and was released in the manner of a last-moment rescue seconds before calamity struck. With the new version there's no such build-up and release - the action comes fast and furious and is all too matter of fact. One of the aspects that made Thunderbirds believable was that there was a sense of each rescue being something difficult, not a walk in the park.

The characters have no gravitas. And that goes double for Lady Penelope. She was refined and cultured. I don't get that same feeling from the new Penelope. And she has a lapdog I'm very pleased to find out though that David Graham is still providing Parker's voice

The script is peppered with too many ghastly buzzphrases along the lines of "Way to go", "Let's kick some butt"; you get the idea

On the plus side, as well as David Graham, I like that they've used some real-life props, the way the original Thunderbirds would sometimes use real hands. There were a few nice nods to Gerry Anderson - a clip from Stingray, and the undersea lab (a bit like the one in The Abyss) they had to rescue people from had a part that looked suspiciously like the front of an Eagle from Space 1999. Another rescue was a straight copy of the one from Lord Parker's Holiday - that's the episode where a huge dish is damaged and is going to focus the sun's rays onto a small town once the sun comes up in the morning, except in this case it's (supposed to be) Taipei.

Grandma's voice is supplied by Sandra Dickinson - Trillian from the Hitchhiker's TV series, and married to Peter Davison (who was both Doctor Who (after Tom Baker), and the Dish of the Day at Milliways). And the original 5-4-3-2-1 is liberally sprinkled throughout the programme.

But overall a definite thumbs-down. I shan't be watching any more of them. It just looks cheap. It was very, very bad.

I was so sorely disappointed with the Captain Scarlett that I haven't gone near Thunderbirds (I had the hat, a sash, a Scott Tracy doll and a Thunderbird 2 with Thunderbird 4 inside - in the days when toys were made of metal)

Thunderbirds was a Must See event for me. But... nah. I'm not even going to look at this.

I'm glad you're enjoying Doctor Who. I loved the Christopher Eccleston version. Rose wasn't too bad in that, and her mother and Mickey were really rather good.

Tenant was good, Rose was annoying and I couldn't wait for her to go. Martha was my favourite (and that Shakespeare ep, fantastic work) and I liked Donna (and her Grandad was just... probably one of the best support characters in any Who).

Didn't partlularly like or dislike Matt Smith - loathed Amy after about the 3rd ep but loved Rory. So much love for Rory.

Loathe Capaldi. Really really seriously disappointed because he is the doctor that has killed it for me.

Of the others, I started off with troughton I think, in black and white, and went as far as Tom Baker then didn't really get to see much of the others, although I remember liking Peter Davidson. Loved Tom Baker though, I think he is my favourite.

I quite enjoyed Captain Scarlet, but steered well wide of Joe 90. I came back to Gerry Anderson in a big way though with UFO. Man, how I loved that series. I watched them all again last year for the first time in decades. They've dated, and some of it is a bit difficult to watch because it wouldn't be made like that now (I mean the dialogue), but it stirred some wonderful memories.

And it was nothing to do with Nick Drake's sister or Brandybuck Crimblescrunch's mum. Oh no, not at all

Did you know that Commander Straker's secretary, Miss Ealand, was played by the same actress (Norma Ronald) who played squeaky-voiced Mildred in Men From the Ministry?

I didn't know that.

my love for Captain Scarlett had NOTHING to do with his square jaw and piercing blue eyes. Oh no sireee

Nor, I expect, that his voice was provided by Francis Matthews

Oh, and I'm definitely with you on Amy. I didn't much care for Rory either to be honest, and I couldn't wait for Donna to sling her hook, although that meant losing Bernard Cribbins too.

And then there's Clara British people aren't like that, Stop it. Stop it now.

but the thing about Clara is that she is so unutterably beautiful.

I've never thought of her that way. Pretty, certainly, and there have the occasional moment when I've uttered a 'phwoar'. Eye of the beholder I guess.

she reminds me a bit (in the facial department) of my #1 Gruesome