When Alan wins a car race, his two jealous competitors strand him and Grandma on a bridge with a bomb that will explode if they move and steal Brains' new car. Can International Rescue save them before the bomb is exploded by its timer mechanism?

Alan is standing on a girder of a bridge over a ravine. Grandma is next to him sitting against a vertical column. A car drives away from beneath them. A metal box sits between them and another device is clamped onto the bottom of the girder. Alan reminds Grandma that the slightest movement will detonate the bomb. Even if they don't move, the bomb will go off at 1 pm.

Slowly, Alan moves his arm in an attempt to use his telecom watch, much to Grandma's concern. However, his gamble pays off and he is able to contact Tract Island. Alan explains the situation to Jeff who instantly dispatches Scott in Thunderbird 1 and Virgil and Brains in Thunderbird 2, taking Pod 1.

Jeff locates the Bridge of San Miguel on a map and relaizes that it won't be open to the public for another two months; the area is well and truly deserted. He hopes that Alan and Grandma can hold out. On the bridge Grandma passes out but merely falls onto the column. Jeff and Tin-Tin urge Alan to keep concentrating so that he does not fall. Jeff tells Alan to recount the whole story of how he came to be on the bridge. Alan begins...

Virgil and Tin-Tin are flying Alan to the Parola Sands racing track in Thunderbird 2. Alan is getting some leave in which he will test a new car designed by Brains in a race. Thunderbird 2 arrives in the desert and he drives the car out of Pod 5 and along a dusty track. Over the radio Alan assures Virgil that the car is working well and so Virgil and Tin-Tin leave in Thunderbird 2.

Alan drives the car into the Parola sands automobile park and onto a platform. A man in a control box engages the machinery which lifts the car up and places it on a 'shelf' at the top of the building. Alan steps out and an anouncer tells him to meet his old mechanic friend, Kenny Malone, in the bar.

Alan and Kenny discuss old times. Alan sees his old rival Victor Gomez and his partner Johnny Gillespie seated at a nearby table. Gillespie is worried that Alan is back racing again as otherwise they had the entire race fixed in their favour but Gomez assures him that all will go well.

The next day the race gets off to a violent start as two cars hit each other and explode. Alan is in the lead but Gomez is close on his tail. A sharp corner causes the driver in third place to crash. Alan still manages to keep in the lead. As he approaches a cliffside road, however, Gomez manages to come up along side him. The two drivers battle it out to stay in front. Gomez tries to force Alan off the road and over the cliff but Alan's steady driving still enables him to negotiate the final hairpin. Kennu watches in excitement as Alan returns and crosses the finish line with Gomez following hot on his heels.

Gomez and Gillespie are angry at the result but the latter plans to fix him once and for all. The Tracys watch on TV as Alan is awarded the trophy.

Alan is finding it increasingly difficult to stay conscious. Jeff forces Alan to tell him what happened after the race.

Alan and Kenny drive the car to the automobile park. Kenny stacks the car while Alan goes to make a telecall. Gomez sneaks into the control box and knocks the controller unconscious. Alan contacts Grandma and arranges to pick her up unware that Gomez is trying to use the stacking equipment to drop a car onto the telecall booth. Gomez sees another car enter the park and makes a hurried getaway. Alan finshes his call and walks away from the booth just as the car falls and destroys it.

Alan heads to Grandma's house. Grandma is excited about coming to live on Tracy Island. She reveals that the press have visited her because of the race but she has told them nothing they didn't know. Together they go out in the racing car to the rendezvous point. The road is deserted but Alan is worried nontheless. They come to a fork at which the left road is blocked. They take the right, not noticing the sign for the Bridge of San Miguel.

Suddenly Gomez appears on the road with a gun, forcing them to stop. Grandma recognises him as one of the reporters she met this morning. Alan tries to reach his own gun but Gillespie, returning from rearranging the barrier, spots him. Gillespie forces Alan to drive onto the bridge.

Jeff switches Scott through to Alan. Scott tells Alan that he is not far away.

Alan denies having the plans for the car to give to Gomez. Losing patience, Gillespie forces Alan and Grandma to climb on the girder on the bridge, taking the motion sensor with them. Gomez has already fixed the bomb beneath the bridge. He takes the ladder away and drives off with Gillespie, switching the apparatus on by remote control.

In Thunderbird 2, Brains examines a picture of the bridge found by Tin-Tin. He doesn't want to go too near the bridge for fear of upsetting the ultrasonic waves. Grandma hears Thunderbird 1 landing by the side of the ravine. Scott tries to get Alan to tell him how localised the waves are but Alan cannot respond. Jeff reminds Alan of International Rescue's code.

Thunderbird 2 lands on a nearby ridge. Brains drives the Neutralizer Tractor out of the pod. He aims its dish to the motion sensor and manages to deactivate it. Next Virgil drives the Jet Air Transporter onto the bridge, just beneath Alan and Grandma.

He activates an upward air current just as Alan falls downwards. The current prevents Alan from hitting the floor. It is getting ever nearer to 1 pm. Virgil shouts for Grandma to jump onto the transporter and she too is saved. The transporter clears the bridge just as the bomb is detonated, destroying it completely.

Gomez and Gillespie are driving their new prize along the race track when Thunderbird 1 appears behind them and starts firing. Gomez realizes that they are being warned to pull in. He tries to stop but Gillespie fights for control. The car plummets over a cliff and explodes, killing both men.

At Tracy Island, Virgil warns Alan not to move as he tries to finish a painting of Alan holding his trophy. Virgil has nearly finished and Scott is very impressed with it. Virgil shows it to the room but it turns out to be a bizarre piece of modern art. Alan is not amused and, as Scott and Virgil are standing near the sofa, he sends them on the Thunderbird 3 launch sequence. Tin-Tin is just relieved that the real Alan is still around.

Verdict: Unusual episode with some good ideas, not least the use of the flashbaack. Alan's starring role allows his character to be developed more. It is, however, unlikely that the villains would try to kill Alan in such a bizarre way (although this is what drives the plot) and it becomes a little dull in places.

Broadcast information: Broadcast on BBC 2 on Tuesday 24^th October 2000 at 6:00 pm and on Saturday 28^th October 2000 at 1:00 pm.

DVD availability: On Volume 5 and the Complete Box Set.

VHS availability: On the Pod 2 Box Set and the Complete Box Set.