Sylvia Anderson first episode of a series then sharing the work according to their strengths. Gerry tended to specialise in special effects and hardware, and Sylvia in character, voices, costume, dialogue, and plotlines. In this way, Anderson contributed plot development and voice work for a series of half-hour shows including "Supercar", "Stingray" and "Fireball XL5". However, she felt the half-hour format was insufficient to fully develop characters and stories, and she persuaded the team's TV producer Lew Grade to extend their shows to a full hour. In the early 1960s, the Andersons co-created the series "Thunderbirds", and Sylvia created the characters. She
Gerry Anderson made as an affectionate "Thunderbirds" pastiche (with Anderson co-producing), and by Lady Penelope and Parker appearing in a successful series of UK advertisements for Swinton Insurance. In 1991 Gerry asked journalist and author Simon Archer to write his biography, following an interview by the latter for a series of articles for "Century 21" magazine. In September that year in the UK, BBC2 began a repeat showing of "Thunderbirds", which rivalled the success of its original run a generation before. This was also surprisingly the series' network television premiere, having never been shown nationally by ITV. It became so popular in