Brains (Thunderbirds)

Brains
Thunderbirds character
First appearance	"Trapped in the Sky" (1965 episode)
Last appearance	Thunderbirds (2004 film)
Created by	Gerry Anderson
Portrayed by	Anthony Edwards (2004 film)
Voiced by	David Graham (1960s episodes and films)
Information
Aliases	Hiram K Hackenbacker Mr X
Gender	Male
Occupation	Engineer
Family	Deceased
Children	Fermat Hackenbacker (2004 film)
Nationality	American

Brains is a fictional character in the 1960s British Supermarionation television series Thunderbirds, its sequel films Thunderbirds Are Go (1966) and Thunderbird 6 (1968), and the 2004 live-action remake film Thunderbirds. Brains was born 14 November 2040 and was orphaned when a hurricane struck his family's home in Michigan, United States. He was later adopted by a professor at the University of Cambridge. Jeff Tracy discovered Brains while he was giving a lecture in Paris. The puppet was voiced by David Graham in the television series and the first two films, while Anthony Edwards assumed the role for the live-action film.

Brains is a scientific genius, employed by International Rescue as their engineer. Characterised as a classic nerd, he speaks formally (albeit with a stutter), wears oversized, horn-rimmed, blue spectacles, and has the intense focus of someone with Asperger syndrome. A highly-valued if somewhat socially maladroit member of the team, he designed the Thunderbird machines and other vehicles and facilities used by International Rescue and its agents – indeed, much of its hardware and infrastructure. He also constructs a chess-playing robot called Braman (which fortuitously served as a spare computer in the episode "Sun Probe"). Brains's technical expertise is occasionally required in the field, in which case he usually accompanies the more glamorous Tracy brothers on their missions in Thunderbird 2.

Brains has occasionally designed vehicles for organisations other than International Rescue. These include Skythrust (in the episode "Alias Mr. Hackenbacker") and Skyship One (in the film Thunderbird 6). These commissions are built under strict security to maintain the secrecy of International Rescue.

Aptly nicknamed "Brains" by the other members of International Rescue, his real name is never revealed in the series. While working on external projects, Brains adopts an alias to protect his identity. For example, he uses the alias "Hiram K. Hackenbacker" while working on the Skythrust project, and the board that commissions Skyship One knows him only as "Mr X". In the 2004 film, his real name is Ray Hackenbacker.

Appearances

Thunderbirds episodes

• "Trapped in the Sky"
• "Pit of Peril"
• "Terror in New York City"
• "Edge of Impact"
• "Day of Disaster"
• "30 Minutes After Noon"
• "Desperate Intruder"
• "End of the Road"
• "The Uninvited"
• "Sun Probe"
• "Operation Crash-Dive"
• "Vault of Death"
• "The Mighty Atom"
• "City of Fire"
• "The Man From MI.5"
• "Cry Wolf"
• "Danger at Ocean Deep"
• "Move - and You're Dead"
• "Brink of Disaster"
• "Attack of the Alligators!"
• "The Cham-Cham"
• "Security Hazard"
• "Atlantic Inferno"
• "Path of Destruction"
• "Alias Mr. Hackenbacker"
• "Lord Parker's 'Oliday"
• "Ricochet"
• "Give or Take a Million"

Thunderbirds films

• Thunderbirds Are GO
• Thunderbird 6
• Thunderbirds

Popular culture

Alastair Campbell, press secretary to former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Tony Blair, nicknamed Labour politician David Miliband "Brains" after the Thunderbirds character.

In May 2008 a new television advertisement for Drench spring water was launched featuring a puppet Brains dancing to the song "Rhythm is a Dancer" by the band Snap, with a slogan proclaiming "Brains work best when hydrated". Gerry Anderson deemed the advert "brilliant" and said that the writer should have been awarded for the pun "Good for Brains".

British news magazine The Economist used an image of Brains for a poster advertising campaign.

External links

• www.fab1.co.nz - Thunderbirds Characters