Brains (Thunderbirds)
| Brains | |
|---|---|
| Thunderbirds character | |
 |
|
| First appearance | "Trapped in the Sky" (30 September 1965) |
| Created by | Gerry and Sylvia Anderson |
| Portrayed by | Anthony Edwards (2004) |
| Voiced by |
David Graham (1960s) Kayvan Novak (2015) |
| Information | |
| Full name | Unknown (1960s) Ray Hackenbacker (2004) Hiram (2015) |
| Aliases |
Hiram K. Hackenbacker (1960s) Mr X (1960s) |
| Occupation | Engineer, inventor, scientist |
| Children | Fermat Hackenbacker (2004) |
| Nationality | American (1960s/2004) Indian (2015) |
Brains is a fictional character introduced in the British mid-1960s Supermarionation television series Thunderbirds, who also appears in the sequel films Thunderbirds Are Go (1966) and Thunderbird 6 (1968) and the 2004 live-action adaptation Thunderbirds. The puppet character was voiced by David Graham in the TV series and the first two films, while Anthony Edwards played the role for the live-action film. Brains is voiced by Kayvan Novak in the CGI remake series Thunderbirds Are Go!, which aired in 2015.
According to series co-creator Sylvia Anderson, Brains was conceived as "yet another version of our regular boffin-type characters who had appeared in all our previous series". She compares the character to Professor Matthew Matic (of Fireball XL5) and George Lee Sheridan, nicknamed "Phones" (of Stingray). Brains has also been viewed as an updated version Dr Beaker (of Supercar), an eccentric scientist who similarly stutters. The likeness of the Supermarionation puppet was influenced by the appearance of American actor Anthony Perkins.
Voice actor David Graham did not base Brains' tones on any person in real life. He explains that Brains' stutter – which he devised himself, without direction from the Andersons or scripts – was a natural evolution of his characterisation: "It seems that with clever people the mind works faster than the mouth can speak." It is likened by Simon Archer and Marcus Hearn, writers of What Made Thunderbirds Go! The Authorised Biography of Gerry Anderson, to logical positivism, whereby "the mind recognises only unquestionable facts and often appears to work faster than the voice." Graham also interpreted the character as being "innocent and unsophisticated", and possessing qualities of "absent-mindedness" and "vagueness". Anderson expresses similar views, describing the role as that of "a young man pre-occupied and confident with his work and experiments, yet socially unsure of himself".
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