Yes folks, this is a quiet Friday and it is Strange Photographs by Brian time.
This time, what we have is a fake Thunderbird rocket, which has been temporarily installed in Trafalgar Square in honour of the new Thunderbirds movie, which opens in London around now. I took the photos yesterday.
There have been all kinds of ideas floating around about what objects to put in Trafalgar Square, next to Nelson, and (I think) Havelock, and the lions. I think this is one of the better ones.
Here is the general context, which means lots of tourists clambering about on the lions and photographing one another:
Here is the one where the rocket is dwarfed by an earlier and more famous erection:
Here it is looking a bit like a rival church. What this also shows is that actually not much attention was being paid to the thing, because it is actually rather small:
And here is the Samizdata friendly shot:
Apparently quite a few of the scenes in the movie are set in London, and feature many of London’s famous landmarks, old and new, including the new local politician hutch that London has just recently had inflicted upon it.
Gerry Anderson had nothing to do with this travesty, which he refuses to see. It includes a Ford instead of a Roller for Lady Penelope and American zombie actors instead of British supermarionettes. A murrain on it!
Why the Thunderbird 3?
Isn’t Thunderbird 2 everyone’s favourite?
dum-dum-DI-dum….
TB3 is upright, whereas TB2 lies on its belly. Thus, it probably would not fit easily in the Square.
Just as well it was only a “fake Thunderbird rocket”. I’d hate to imagine the cost of repairing any ‘real’ Thunderbird rocket after any clambering-tourist-related damage. 🙂
Quite near your rocket and the lions are some statues of Brigadier Generals whom no one remembers. In fact, no one remembers the wars they were in. Their presence in Trafalgar Square appears largely the result of quick-witted sergeants-major having extorted money from the lower ranks for their erection. Surely it would be a good idea to purge one of these monuments here and there, instead of always adding others. Or, to keep the existing symmetry, it would be time to add a hero from the Falklands War. (I’d keep Lord Nelson and the lions a little longer, in any case.)
Brian, just me being odd, but was that headline a reference to ‘A Nightingale Sang in Berkely Square’, or to ‘The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway’?
Bah. Havelock and Napier are the generals. The other statue is of an old king, George the 4th I think, though thats just a guess.
As for what they did… Havelock was involved in the Relief of Lucknow during the Sepoy Mutiny. The relief of Lucknow being a dashing tale of Imperial bravery!
And I didnt even look it up! honest. (The above is probably all wrong as a result, of course)
Well, it’s not as if the thunderbirds aren’t involved in acts of bravery, just not the Imperial kind.
I only wish they put that much effort in promoting this long awaited movie in Australia. I have the perfect spot for TB3 in my backyard, the only place my wife won’t complain of TB props…