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
Gerry Anderson Anderson was working with Daniel Pickering and Annix Studios on a new project named "Christmas Miracle", a children's CGI animated feature. In June 2012 it was publicised that Anderson had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Anderson died in his sleep on 26 December 2012 at the age of 83 after a diagnosis of dementia. The news was announced on his son Jamie's website, who wrote, "I'm very sad to announce the death of my father, Thunderbirds creator, Gerry Anderson. He died peacefully in his sleep at midday today (26th December 2012), having suffered with mixed dementia for the past few