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 near the Poland–Russia border and settled in London; his name was changed to "Abrahams" by an immigration official upon his arrival in 1895. Anderson's Jewish mother Deborah changed the family name to "Anderson" in 1939. At the start of the Second World War, Gerry Anderson's elder brother, Lionel, volunteered for service in the Royal Air Force; he was stationed in the United States for advanced training. Lionel often wrote letters to his family, and in one letter described a US Army Air Forces air base called Thunderbird Field, the name of which stayed in his younger brother's memory. On 16