Attack of The Alligators! - Production

Production

Inspiration for this episode came from H. G. Wells' 1904 novel The Food of the Gods and How It Came to Earth, in which animal resizing is a significant theme, and the 1927 horror film The Cat and the Canary and its 1939 remake, which concern stalker figures and a "haunted house" premise. Although script editor Alan Pattillo had wanted to direct as well as write the episode, the director role passed to David Lane. The episode underwent filming between October and November 1965, overrunning its month-long shooting schedule and forcing the production personnel to work well into the night on more than one occasion to finish the recording. A shot of a stormy sky, seen at the start of the episode, later formed the opening to the titles of the ITC television series The Prisoner.

Although co-creator and producer Gerry Anderson originally intended to shoot with real alligators, AP Films ultimately requisitioned juvenile crocodiles from a private zoo to appear as the giant alligators on the scale model sets. The crocodiles measured three feet (0.9 m) in length with the exception of one five-foot (1.5 m) specimen, which proved to be too aggressive to be removed from its container. Production members kept the on-set water tanks heated at an appropriate temperature and used electric shocks to produce movement from the crocodiles. The frequent appearance of the animals in both puppet and scale model shots resulted in a closer-than-usual collaboration between the puppet and special effects departments.

Objecting on the grounds of animal welfare, director of visual effects Brian Johnson, along with others, refused to participate in the production. While camera operator Alan Perry has no memory of ill treatment of the crocodiles, series supervising director Desmond Saunders recalls that more than one died of pneumonia after being left in an unheated water tank overnight. David Elliott, although occupied with directing another Thunderbirds episode at the time, remembers an incident in which one crocodile dislocated a limb after receiving an unexpected jolt from the electric shocker. Of the production, Saunders states, "It was scandalous. It was one of the great episodes. Nevertheless there was a price to be paid for it."

We started filming and I got a call from the operator to say that an RSPCA man had turned up ... He said, 'It's been reported that your boys are giving them electric shocks,' and I said, 'Well, I didn't know that, but let's go on to the stage and have a look.' So we went on to the stage and he was very, very grave and terribly concerned, but then he saw one of the puppets and he said, 'You're not filming Thunderbirds are you? Oh, God, that's my favourite programme.' ... He ended up taking his annual leave and coming to the studio to work for us, and he was personally giving the crocodiles electric shocks.

Disagreements on the subject of alleged mistreatment led to notification of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA). Initial tests with electric shocking had been unproductive, necessitating an increase in voltage to coax movement out of the crocodiles, as Anderson recalls: " Derek Meddings explained that his team were laying the crocodiles down and they weren't doing anything. They were just lying there. The RSPCA man said, well, they would, because of the warmth of the lamps. So Derek said, 'We've been giving them a touch with an electrode just to make them move.' The guy asked what voltage they were using and Derek said it was about 20 volts, and the guy said, 'Oh, they've got terribly thick skins, you know. If you want them to move, you'll have to pump it up to 60.'"

Filming with the crocodiles often proved to be hazardous. During a publicity shoot for "Attack of the Alligators!", one attacked the Lady Penelope puppet while it was positioned for a shot with two of the animals, eating one of its legs. For the filming of a scene in which alligator chases a boat, Meddings was guiding the creature forward on a leash when it was found that it had slipped loose and was swimming unrestrained inside the tank, forcing the special effects director to jump quickly to safety. Puppeteer Christine Glanville has said that the shoot must have been an unpleasant experience for the episode's "guest stars", once commenting, "The crocodiles must have had an awful time of it, lying in the studio tank, which was filled with all sorts of dirty paint water, oil and soapy water to make it look swampy."