'70s Chill

The ‘70s was a rather rainy time in Britain. Sure there was politics and sport going on in the 9 o’clock news, but Britain’s children didn’t care, because all throughout the ‘70s, kids were looking forward most of all to when their favourite Supermarionation series airing on TV. There was Fireball XL5, Stingray, Captain Scarlet, Joe 90 and of course, the most legendary Supermarionation series of all, Thunderbirds. Thunderbirds aired Saturday mornings on ITV in 1976 at the time, so for me, Brains, Alan and Tin Tin, who are managers at ITV at the time.

On rainy days like this, we would escape the downpour by running into the building as fast as we possibly could, quickly closing our umbrellas or holding the latest edition of The Times over our heads. We’d run to the counter, dripping wet, and the counter lady would look at us and say, “Oh dearie me, you lot are dripping wet. Let’s get you into your marvellous little clubhouse you wanted to be on.”

And that was it - it was our special room. A room which allowed Thunderbirds to be made possible on such a channel as ITV. The floors were patterned with fluffy red velvet carpet, and there was an orange, red, pink and dark blue beanbag lined up in a circle around a giant lava lamp. The walls around us were white and patterned with orange, pink and red flowers with bright yellow middles.

Just nearby was a wardrobe full of beautiful clothes - T-shirts and trousers and socks and hair accessories and knickers and pants - everything we needed when we got out of our wet, soaking work clothes.

10 MINUTES LATER….

Look at us now! We were dressed for work in black uniforms, Alan and Brains wearing bowler hats and Tin Tin wearing a beautiful blue cocktail dress, but now we’re dressed in groovy ‘70s attire. First, check out how Alan looks. His hair had been slit back, and he is wearing a comfy orange T-shirt and brown comfy jeans. The socks he wears are a beautiful shade of red. Brains has snazzier green glasses, he has a sparkling blue jumper on, his boring denim jeans have been replaced by sparkling purple trousers and he was wearing sneakers and blue socks. If you listen very closely, you can hear him making kung fu action hero noises as he poses for us all to see, only to fall over onto his bottom again as we all laugh with him. I just scoff through my laughter, “Brains!” and help him up again.

And Tin Tin looks even beautiful in her ‘70s attire. Her dripping wet cocktail dress has been exchanged for a brown jumper, and she is wearing some rubber bracelets on both wrists. Her wet trousers have been replaced with cool red sparkling ones, and she is wearing the comfiest high heels no girl had ever worn before. Her hair had been done up in a ponytail, and there are three hairclips on each side of her hair - on one side, there are two green clips and one orange clip, and on the other, there are two pink clips and one purple clip. She now has the smell of elegant rose perfume, making her attractive to Alan.

And me? Well, you should check me out. I am wearing a comfy pink T-shirt decorated in daisies, loose orange trousers, red and blue converse boots and, just like Tin Tin, I have clips in my hair - except they have glittery butterfly wings on them. I now have orange perfume on, and I smell as beautiful as an orange tree in an orchard.

Speaking of which, Uncle Orange, one member of Applejack’s family who almost took Applejack in to learn her city ways, was a teenager at the time, and came to see us and accompany us in our room. We both smelt beautifully of orange perfume, and Uncle Orange’s real name at the time was Bob Symphony Orange. He was falling for another girl at the time, a teenage filly named Amelia Harmony Orange, and no matter how many times he tried to get her, she just turned her head away and stuck her pony nose up in the air.

Bob had been depressed over not getting the girl he wanted for quite sometime, but luckily Alan, Brains, Tin Tin and I invited him into our club. Bob and Alan spent most of the time at the table, playing board games and sipping orange juice - you know, because orange juice is Bob’s favourite beverage - while Tin Tin gave me piggyback rides around the room, and Brains just relaxed on the bean bags. We were in complete harmony in this room, because we were free from the loud noises and thuds and screams that made ITV shows like Coronation Street and Emmerdale possible.

Meanwhile, over in another room, Amelia Orange was hanging out with her friends Robert and Zoonie. This was the Fireball XL5 room, and she enjoyed it here as much as she spent time in either the Stingray, Captain Scarlet and Joe 90 rooms with Marina, Destiny Angel or Joe, even before Henry from Angelina Ballerina came along in 2001. Amelia would often play tag with Zoonie, and then chill out with Robert and listen to the latest reggae pop hits. And whenever Robert emerged from the bathroom after a toilet break, oil dripped from his bottom onto the floor.