1993: Make your own THUNDERBIRDS TRACY ISLAND | Blue Peter | Childhood Nostalgia | BBC Archive

In 1992, repeats of the classic 1960s puppet show Thunderbirds on BBC Two led to an unanticipated surge in demand for Tracy Island play sets in the run-up to Christmas. With retailers and manufacturers unable to meet the demand, Blue Peter stepped in to help, resulting in arguably the most famous and ambitious 'make' in the show's history.
Here's Anthea Turner to show you how to make your very own Tracy Island playset out of a variety of common household objects (and sawdust).
For a full list of all the material you will need, and step-by-step instructions, you can consult this handy Blue Peter factsheet: www.bbc.co.uk/...
Originally broadcast 7 January, 1993.
Blue Peter is still going strong, with new editions of the show broadcast live on CBBC and BBC iPlayer every Friday at 5pm: www.bbc.co.uk/...
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[@laurenlong3169]

I was 8/9 when this aired. I wrote in to the show asking for instructions on how to make it. They posted them out to me. Remember sitting & making this, I was so proud of it ☺️😂 Always loved a bit of sticking & gluing 😂

[@Mr_Kenneth]

Possibly the greatest project ever conceived by Blue Peter.

[@deanrussell2224]

No that would be the fire hazard 4 candle and tinsel coat hanger thing that hung from the ceiling that they trotted out every year ….

[@andytraill]

Easily is, just is.

[@eleanorhogan8643]

Problem is though what about the vechicles?

[@johnking5174]

I remember watching this when it originally aired on Thursday 7th January 1993. I was 7 years old. I remember at Christmas 1992 the demand for Tracy Island was HUGE. Our local Woolworths sold them, and my parents were one of the rare ones in our city who managed to buy one for me for Christmas 1992. I was first introduced to Thunderbirds by the BBC 2 repeat run starting in September 1991, it was a huge teatime TV hit for BBC 2.

[@scottyunitedboy2925]

Same! I was 7 when I first caught those Sept 91 repeats on BBC2, they smartly followed it up with Stingray, Captain Scarlet and Joe 90 and the whole Gerry Anderson craze was reborn for the 90s. We made Tracy Island but I was able to get a fully functioning Captain Scarlet Cloudbase in late '93.

[@eleanorhogan8643]

I was only 2 years old then so I only had toddler safe toys particularly toddler safe ones I could bite on.

[@mattwoodgate3507]

I dont wish to brag but i had the real thing. My mother travelled far to get it and had to phone 100 shops. Best Christmas ever. Thanks mum.

[@eleanorhogan8643]

"John! What's this pile of junk doing in the airing cupboard?" "Oh that's not junk mom, that's my tracy island I am working on, I put it in there to dry"

[@Majorhappysaccount]

"You're not using that much Foil, it's expensive!" - Everyone's Mum 1993

[@sirhaydn-1]

Was aluminium that expensive, oh right the uk was experiencing an economic recession.

[@Yandarval]

Or the children moaning at mum for not buying washing- up liquid etc, in the correct shaped bottle for a BP build.

[@utterutternutter]

Legendary. I was lucky enough to receive the actual toy from Father Christmas in ‘92 but still wanted to make this.

[@iandeeley9033]

The BEST Blue Peter make EVER! FAB!

[@bostonblackie9503]

All the kids would want to make this! PS: Think of the poor sod who had to make all these models.

[@SammyGarnett-m3j]

This was my first Tracy island and I’ve just recently bought a brand new 1990’s Tracy Island.

[@beherenowz]

This got a lot of publicity (on BBC of course). Nobody in my school even watch the Thunderbird repeats, although I was only 11 when this aired, so maybe I was too old by then. It was on when I was younger in the 80s but nobody watched it apart from when bored waiting for mum to finish cooking tea!

[@eriknieuwenhuijzen4072]

really nice and sick, that trace island from thunderbirds is really genius too, i like it!.. home made trace island so to speak lol!.

[@southlondon86]

Wow I remember this! We sent off for the plan

[@Nihilanth1982]

Legendary. When I think of anthea turner this springs to mind. I miss my childhood. 1992 was the peak of it. I then started secondary school in 1993.

[@ForestKicks]

This kind of ingenuity won us the Battle of Britain

[@universal70]

Yes if only the Nazis knew that most planes had been made from toilet rolls..

[@mechakraken]

​@@universal70funnily enough that kind of actually happened, they used paper mache tanks in ww2 to trick the enemy

[@kevinprior3549]

Probably the best thing Anthea Turner did on telly. Making up Tracy Island with junk!

[@TALKCalgary]

Everybody said they were going to make it, few tried, and nobody I knew completed it. Although years later I did make a few movie models that became rather popular. Perhaps I owe it all to Blue Peter although I never got a badge :(

[@gothamite27]

I gave it a good go! I had the basic layout of the island completed but I never painted it. If I remember correctly, the box I used to house Thunderbird 2 was a bit too small.

[@elizabethgibson5116]

I remember making this but without the tin foil as it was to expensive to buy and we didn't eat yoghurt or cheese spread so had to improvise with cardboard for the hanger and pool and for the grass we used rice, my dad spray painted the rocks and grass too

[@leonwilks4114]

Fantastic comment😊tough times the 90s but definitely the best ever🎉I was born 84

[@BOABModels]

A couple of my friend's dads made one of these for them. I don't think I knew anyone who had the official toy.

[@leeriches8841]

I had it! It was bloody brilliant although I still wanted to make this model. Never did though.

[@ImDrawty]

Couldn’t get the Island when it came out in Toys R Us, sold out everywhere. Was only 6 at the time. But this came on TV & literally every kid at school and their parents were trying to make this… don’t think anyone ever completed one 🤣 Trying to find all the components was more of a challenge than getting the real thing 😂 By that point Power Rangers had landed on our screens that year!

[@mch2007uk]

What's that bloke doing on the floor behind anthea

[@snufkin84]

Probably John Leslie 😁

[@elizabethgibson5116]

It's the props guy, you can see her hand down the items to him also when the camera does a close up of the island he will put the other things on the table, as when the camera pulls back you can see more items have appeared on the table, you can see in one part where his hand is in shot above the table for about a second and quickly disappear when he realised the nation could see his hand lol 😆 Blue Peter was a live show so there would be no editing

[@Jabberstax]

All of those bits that went into making that would cost more than £35!

[@reservoirfrog1]

£71.50 in todays money 😜

[@adammercer6004]

People were offering upwards over £100 for the actual Tracy Island toy back them so making it for over £35 for the Blue Peter mod would have been more than acceptable to not have your child uber disappointed!

[@christophermorton914]

Peak television, this was.

[@universal70]

My mother made me a Tracy island Birthday cake!

[@kevinprior3549]

Probably the most famous catchphrase from Blue Peter "Here's what I made earlier"

[@elizabethgibson5116]

It was "sticky back plastic" that did it for me, I never understood why they never called it sticky tape lol

[@scottyunitedboy2925]

@@elizabethgibson5116they couldn’t call it sellotape because that’s a named brand and would violate the BBC’s policy on advertising. Perhaps sticky tape was too confusing?

[@willman85]

The whole 17 minute video is available on KZbin too, entitled 'Blue Peter Makes a Thunderbirds Tracy Island Complete VHS'.

[@caesar7734]

It’s going to be hard to recreate this today due to shrinkflation

[@universal70]

Looking forward to the episode Build your own Playstation 5

[@KubaSkrzyn09]

How is this continuity tracy island got blown up however the thunderbirds were on tracy island and how did they survive?

[@Yandarval]

The £35 price back then, for the real deal. It is £73.69 with inflation.

[@RcNerd]

The things works for blue Peter.

[@pamelamarch933]

£34.99 was alot of money back then. Dread to think how much now

[@southlondon86]

Exactly I remember it being expensive.

[@jamesphillips7100]

By the power of the internet £62 😂

[@pamelamarch933]

@@jamesphillips7100 I would get it

[@reservoirfrog1]

£71.50 in 2023 money

[@reservoirfrog1]

@@jamesphillips7100 £71.50 now. Bloody inflation!

[@chrisschurke4151]

This episode spawned the original version of the Homer Simpson Barbeque meme. "Thats a mighty fine Tracy Island... Why doesn't mine look like that???"

[@KemiHall]

The joke is that buying these items in 2024 will cost way more than £34.99

[@comoyoko]

Remember laughing my head off with my mum at the time how CRINGEWORTHY this was! But more power to you if you enjoyed making one. Give me Captain Scarlet any day 😂

[@rajnirvan3336]

I made 2 1 for myself and my cousin all went to plan

[@p0p0s]

3:04 That's What She Said

[@letsgocamping88]

Somehow they managed to include the authentic tube TV power supply whistle!

[@snowdonmark]

Hold on, there's a person in the floor behind the desk!

[@grimplays3781]

Why do you think anthea sounds so happy making this model?

[@MeiGunner]

Funn stuff

[@DavidMarfe]

Anthea Turner what a women

[@bellerophonchallen8861]

Imagine the evenings you could spend making things out of flour paste, loo roll tubes and yoghurt pots with her.....

[@elizabethgibson5116]

Brains looks like Elton John lol

[@hieronymus..bosch8532]

Didn't know Elton John was a marionette

[@partyup210productions7]

That's Brians

[@0thediamondsea0]

Please upload making the doll swimming pool in the 90s :)

[@TheWeardale1]

she looks hot af

[@PaulLindsay-p1i]

And by the time youve bought all the pots and bog roll and at least 4 different types of paint You will have spent more than the actual real toy tracey island.This is why i didnt watch blue peter.All the gimps did.All the cool kids watched grange hill

[@Greenhouse_Co.]

Artic monkeys brought me here

[@madcommodore]

Flour + water paste = mouldy toy in a week lol wallpaper paste probably better.

[@forthrightgambitia1032]

I can confirm this. I made a papier-machier motte and baley castle for school once and within a week it had a distinct odour and had to be chucked in the bin.

[@sophieboult310]

Looks like area 51

[@sofnaji]

Bare effort

[@Somfinfishy]

Memories of being a kid building this😅

[@Instasamps]

I’m still waiting for the plan 🙄