Getty ImagesFilm cans containing unseen footage from the Thunderbirds TV show were found in a garden shed.
The canisters – light-tight containers used to hold film – were discovered in a shed in Buckinghamshire by a family whose father was the show’s editor and had recently died.
Stephen La Rivière of Century 21 Films, who received the 22 old cans, said the cans mainly contain Thunderbirds material from the 1960s, including alternate versions of episodes that never aired.
It is hoped that the footage, filmed at Slough Trading Estate in Berkshire, will be shown to the public next year as part of the show’s 60th anniversary.
21st century movies Mr. Larivier said his family contacted him last year.
He said it was difficult to identify them because of their condition, but “clearly most of them were ptarmigans”.
The only way to properly view the material was to convert it to digital form, so a “very, very slow” scanning process began.
“It took weeks, little by little,” Mr. Larivier said.
“Every night I get a link to download the latest version that’s been scanned… you never know what you’re going to get.”
21st century movies Much of the material is identical to what was aired.
“Finally, one night listening to … the show came out and it was different than what was on the radio,” Mr. Lariviere said.
He said it was another cut of an existing episode that included a scene that had never been seen before.
Mr Larivier said the film canister had been damaged and its contents exposed to the elements, so some restoration work would first be required on the material.
But then he hopes the painting will be shown to the public in 2025, 60 years after it “had been lying around waiting to be discovered.”
