Gerry Anderson, Thunderbirds creator, diesFor someone my age, Gerry Anderson's series were the highlight of my childhood days. Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlett, UFO, Space 1999, I got a model of the Stingray from my Grandfather when he was visiting Japan. I still have a die-cast model of Thunderbird 2 with Thunderbird 4 in it's payload pod.
I remember being out to lunch with friends from work one day at the local (late) Ground Round. They had a projection screen that ran a eclectic selection of videos from early CGI pieces to clips of Thunderbirds. I quipped once when they were runningt a Thunderbirds clip that it was the future as I remembered it.
I can't talk about popular British Science Fiction without tipping my hat to Gerry Anderson. To me his body of work was as important as Doctor Who, Blake 7 or Quatermass. And I am sad at his passing.