Two Geeks Two Beers

Our second episode sees Morgan teach Tom all about 1980s cartoon series Thundercats!

Discover all about how Jagar is like Alec Guinness, Mumm-ra is definitely not Skeletor and Brad Pitt makes the perfect Lion-o.

Based on characters created by Ted ‘Tobin’ Wolf, Thundercats launched in 1985, with animation provided by the Japanese studio Pacific Animation Corporation.

As Morgan explains to a confused Tom (who somehow didn’t watch it as a kid), ThunderCats follows the adventures of a team of heroes, cat-like humanoid aliens from a planet called Third Earth.

The series begins with the dying planet Thundera meeting its end, forcing the ThunderCats to flee their homeworld. The fleet is attacked by their enemies, the Mutants of Plun-Darr, but spare the flagship hoping to capture the legendary mystic Sword of Omens. Oooh…

The flagship contains Lion-O, as well as Cheetara, Panthro, Tygra, WilyKit and WilyKat, and, sigh, Snarf.

Developments since episode: In 2020, a new show launched called Thundercats Roar, on the Cartoon Network. Featuring far more comedic and lighthearted animation and stories, which was met with a backlash from some fans of the original series and the 2011 reboot.

In our first episode, Tom teaches Morgan about Gerry Anderson‘s 1980s sci-fi puppet series Terrahawks.

Discussions include Tiger Ninestein being a dick, Captain Scarlet being a rubbish agent, Fireball XL5’s awesome theme tune and other random tangents.

Created by Gerry Anderson and Christopher Burr, Terrahawks was Anderson’s first in over a decade to use puppets , and also his last. His previous puppet TV shows included the iconic Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet.

Set in the year 2020, the series followed the adventures of the Terrahawks. A taskforce responsible for protecting Earth from invasion by a group of androids and aliens led by Zelda. Not that one.

It also had a kickass theme tune, humorous characters such as Stu Dapples and the Zeroids, and was ahead of its time in many ways.

The show ran for three series from 1983, and has since returned in audio form for three more series by Big Finish in 2014.

It even spawned a hit single, where ‘Kate Kestrel’ released her song ‘SOS’ from the show, and it was a bit of a banger:

Developments since recording: 

– In 2019, it was announced that a new series titled Kate Kestrel and the Terrahawks was in development by Anderson Entertainment, produced by Two Geeks friend and Gerry’s son Jamie Anderson and Stu Gamble.

Ten-ten!