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				Brains designs a futuristic airship for the New World Air Corporation but is forbidden to join its maiden voyage by Jeff who insists that he design a Thunderbird 6. Meanwhile, Lady Penelope, Alan and Tin-Tin take a trip on Skyship One unaware that its crew have been replaced by enemy agents... At the New World Aircraft Corporation, a secret meeting is being held between some of the greatest aircraft designers in the world, chaired by James Glenn, the NWA President. They are here to listen to a design from Mr. X, the greates designer in the world. Mr. X is in fact Brains behind a screen, for security reasons. Glenn wonders what the new vehicle will be, but Brains takes them all aback by suggesting an airship. All the men present burst into laughter. At Tracy Island, some time later, Jeff reviews the five Thunderbird machines with Brains before telling the scientist that they need a Thunderbird 6. Brains wants a specification as the last time he designed something without one he was laughed off. Jeff reminds him that his airship, Skyship One, was built. Jeff has forbidden Brains to go on the airship's maiden voyage so that he can design Thunderbird 6, and is sending Alan, Tin-Tin and Lady Penelope in his place. Alan has nearly finished painting something in Thunderbird 2's hanger. Jeff refuses Tin-Tin permission to join Alan in his 'dangerous' method of transport to England and tells her to go by scheduled airline. Most of the Tracys go to the cliff house to see Alan off but Tin-Tin is missing. What emerges from the cliff is a tiny bi-plane, the Tigermoth. Alan takes off in it as Brains watches sadly. Back in his lab, Brains finds a note from Tin-Tin explaining that she stowed away on the Tiger. Alan and Tin-Tin do a series of dangerous stunts. At the Creighton-Ward Mansion, Penelope and Parker are wearing period costumes to celebrate the revival of the airship. Penelope sees Alan and the two of them head onto the roof. Tin-Tin ducks out of sight and continues to fly the plane. Alan ejects onto the roof next to Penelope and Parker during a low swoop. Parker is the only one worried about the plane which is apparently flying by itself, especially when it flies right over him. As it comes into land, Penelope tells Parker that Tin-Tin is flying it. Later Parker eavesdrops on them making fun of him. When he enters, they all drink to their coming voyage. At the New World Aircraft Corporation terminal, Glenn briefs the staff of Skyship One. The presence of International Rescue will be good for publicity and so security must be maintained. Parker drives Penelope to the airport in FAB 1 while Tin-Tin and Alan fly overhead in the Tigermoth. Scott and Virgil arrive to escort them in Thunderbirds 1 and 2 and the four vehicles travel in formation. On board the stationary Skyship One, Captain Foster takes a register of the crew. Suddenly a man arrives and shoots them all dead. He tells his accomplices to take their clothing quickly. The forces of International Rescue arrive at the airport. FAB 1 drives on board the airship and Penelope invited Scott in Thunderbird 1 to the ball room (a room themed around spherical shapes). Behind the bar, Parker serves them all champagne. The murderer, who has assumed the identity of Captain Foster, promises an excellent trip. The bogus Foster tells his men that as everything is automated, the only way their cover will be blown is if something goes wrong. The countdown reaches zero and Skyship One lifts into the air, using anti-gravity technology developed by Brains. Thunderbirds 1 and 2 head back to base. Dinner is served in the bottle room. Foster reminds Penelope that everything, even the drawing of the curtains, is automated. She is looking forward to a lovely holiday. However, as Skyship One crosses the Atlantic Ocean that night, the bodies of the original crew are all thrown out of a hatch. Lane, using the codename White Ghost, contacts his mysterious boss, the Black Phantom and reports the situation. The Black Phatom is apparently none other than the Hood. Operation Ambush is now underway. Foster has the ship bugged and Carter mans a tape recorder in the gravity compensation room. They are planning to record everything Penelope says so that they can piece together a bogus distress call from her. Foster will try to steer the conversation towards the appropriate lines as much as possible. The next morning the International Rescue representatives enjoy breakfast over New York but Penelope accidentally says one of the lines the crew are after. Back on Tracy Island, Brains has constructed a model of his proposed Thunderbird 6 design. It can drive up to a burning building where its operator can be hauled up a plastic hose supported by a helium balloon, thereby saving anybody inside upper part of the building. Jeff is unhappy, though, as it would provide only one means of rescue and tells Brains to come up with a new design. Brains angrily destroys his model. As Skyship One approches the Grand Canyon, Foster makes up a story about being lost in the area once apparently giving the wrong coordinates of the canyon. Penelope is tricked ito telling him the 'correct' coordinates written on the map which are intended to be part of the message. The skyship continues its round the world voyage stopping at many famous landmarks while the crew continue recording parts of their message. One stormy night Parker tells Penelope that he does not think the crew know as much about the ship as they should. She radios Alan and he claims to have noticed that the conversations usually seem to lead towards International Rescue. Air turbulence knocks over a lamp in Penelope's room revealing a bug. Realizing that the crew can hear what she says she closes the conversation with Alan by saying that there is nothing to worry about, putting the worried Foster back at ease. Later she meets Alan with the shower turned on to cover their voices and they agree to be an the alert. After rejecting another of Brains' designs, this time an aircraft, Jeff receives a message from John in Thunderbird 5 in which his son passes on a coded message from Penelope reporting the situation. Scott wants to alert the police at Skyship One's next destination but Jeff fears that the crew are working for a larger criminal organization. Meanwhile the ship has landed in India where Penelope is having her fortune told, Parker witnesses a snake charmer playing a strangely familiar tune and Alan buys Tin-Tin an expensive ring. After dinner over the Taj Mahal, Penelope, Alan and Tin-Tin meet near the shower having discovered that only places Penelope goes are bugged. Skyship One arrives at the pyramids and Penelope reads a newspaper about a plane crash out loud, unaware that this contains the last phrase Foster needs. Photographs from the trip and a letter from Penelope arrive on the island. Scott and Brains, who is smarting from another failed design, decode the letter, getting the latest information from Penelope. The final port of call is Switzerland where Tin-Tin and Alan go skiing while Penelope, Parker and Foster travel in FAB 1 which has its own inbuilt skis. That night they dine at the Whistle Stop Inn where model trains travel around the tables serving food. Meanwhile, Parker secretly slips back to Skyship One in FAB 1 and spies on Carter who is doing more editing in the gavity compensation room. He returns to pick the others up as they have to be back on Skyship One before its automatic take-off. Parker reports that all of the bugs have been removed and that he saw Carter link the tape recorder to a radio. Fearing that the crew's plan is nearly complete, Alan issues the guns. Foster broadcasts the distress call which John receives in Thunderbird 5. Soon Thunderbirds 1 and 2 are on their way to the co-ordinates given - none other that that of the Hood's airfield hideout. The arch-criminal tells his accomplices to shoot the pilots if they offer any resistance. On Skyship One, Alan suddenly realizes what the crew were up to and Penelope hurriedly radios Tracy Island and informs Jeff. The Thunderbirds arrive at the airfield and are covered by the guns of the Hood's men who are hiding in the buildings. Suddenly, both Scott and Virgil fire at the buildings from inside their machines, completely destroying them. Penelope's warning came just in time. The Thunderbirds take off, planning to rendezvous with Skyship One. Foster and his associates prepare to round up the International Rescue members but Alan has snuck into the gravity compensation room and begins a gunfight. Leaving Tin-Tin to keep in contact with the boys, Penelope and Parker rush to his aid, shooting Hogarth. The fight continues but a bullet misses Carter and hits a vital piece of machinery, causing the motors to cease operating. Alan issues Foster with an ultimatum to give himself up. However, Lane has captured Tin-Tin and now holds her hostage. With no gravity compensation, Skyship One is now slowly descending. Thunderbird 1 catches up with it and Scott is puzzled with its low height. Soon disaster looms in the form of a missile base near Dover with a series of tall radio masts. Skyship One ploughs through the masts before becoming entangled with the final one. It teeters on top of the unstable tower, threatening to drop onto the base. Foster refuses to join forces with International Rescue and forces everyone on the ship to go onto the roof. Virgil approaches the ship in Thunderbird 2 hoping to lower an escape unit but Scott orders him to pull away when it becomes apparent that the thrusts are upsetting the delicate balance. The authorities arrange the evacuation of the missile base. Gordon has an idea of how the rescue could be pulled off. Thunderbird 2 temporarily leaves its vigil near Skyship One to pick up a mysterious cargo from the NWA terminal. Scott fires a line from Thunderbird 1 to stabilize the ship. Thunderbird 2 lands in a nearby field and from Pod 5 emerges the Tigermoth piloted by Brains. The two craft take off and when near, Thunderbird 2 also attaches a line onto the skyship. Brains tries to land the tiger on the roof of the craft but it is too short and he is only narrowly able to pull out of a crash dive into the base. The tiger makes a second attempt at landing but this time Scott activates Thunderbird 1's thrusts and their power forced the tiger to slow down. Foster holds Brains at gunpoint and forces him to dismount. On Foster's orders, Penelope sits in the front cockpit with Foster himself in the rear. He forces the others to turn the plane around. As he prepares to launch, Foster reveals that he is not planning to come back, even to rescue his associates. Alan shoots him and everybody hangs onto the wings as the tiger takes to the skies with only Penelope in control. As Penelope struggles to control it, the remaining Skyship One crew try to take over in a gunfight. They are killed by Alan but two bullets accidentally hit the fuel tank, causing a leakage. Soon the tiger approaches the under construction M104 motorway and Penelope manages to touch down on it but the throttle jams preventing them from slowing down. Instead she is forced to pull the craft back up into flight, narrowly missing several bridges and later a chimney. The evacuation of the missile base is completed. Scott and Virgil release their cables to Skyship One leaving it balancing on its own once again. The mast collapses bringing down the skyship with it. The resulting explosion starts a chain reaction, consuming the entire base in fire. Alan directs Penelope into flying the tigermoth in a loop-the-loop, dropping Foster's body. Alan climbs into the rear cockpit himself and takes control. Penelope realizes that Parker is missing when in fact he is clutching to the undercarriage but the more pressing concern is that they have run out fuel. Alan makes an emergency landing in a field. The tiger crashes into the trees at the end but no one is hurt. Scott and Virgil land in their Thunderbirds nearby in time to discover Parker suspended in a tree, having fallen during the landing. Some time later on Tracy Island, Brain unveils his new Thunderbird 6 to the surprised Tracys, claiming that it has already been built and tested. The craft turns out to only be the tigermoth with 'Thunderbird 6' painted upon it. Verdict: If there's a problem with this film it's that it takes far to long to get going, but when it does it becomes a highly suspenseful tale and one of the highlights of the series. With the aid of a higher budget, it is a triumph in every department, with the imaginative Skyship One set designs, the variety of worldwide music, the impressive destruction of Skyship One at the end and Captain Foster (my favourite Thunderbirds villain!). The new Thunderbird itself is a bit of a disappointment for those who prefer the futuristic machines (and its revelation is somewhat predictable) but at least it provides a thrilling finale. All-in-all, a great end to the series. Broadcast information: Sadly, due to rights problems, this film is unlikely to be repeated in the near future. DVD availability: On Thunderbird 6: The Movie. VHS availability: On Thunderbirds Six: The Movie.