Gerry Anderson Associated Television (ATV) boss who offered to buy the show. This began a long friendship and a very successful professional association between the two men. The new series, "Supercar", (1960–61) was developed by Gerry & Sylvia Anderson and Reg Hill based on a story written by Sylvia Anderson and marked several important advances for APF. Sylvia Anderson took on a larger role and became a partner in the company. The series was also the official debut of Supermarionation, the electronic system that made the marionettes more lifelike and convincing on screen. The system used the audio signal from pre-recorded tapes
Thunderbirds (TV series) considered the Andersons' most popular series and their greatest critical and commercial success. In 1966, the show received a Royal Television Society Silver Medal for Outstanding Artistic Achievement and Gerry Anderson received an honorary fellowship of the British Kinematograph, Sound and Television Society. In 2007, "Thunderbirds" achieved 19th place in a "Radio Times" magazine reader poll to determine the best science-fiction TV programme of all time. It is ranked fourth by the 2013 Channel 5 list show "50 Greatest Kids' TV Shows". For Peel, "Thunderbirds" is "without a doubt the peak of the Supermarionation achievement". Suggesting that the series is