Thunderbirds creator's novel is go! Unfinished book by Gerry Anderson to be published following his death

Puppet master unable to finish due to rapidly worsening Alzheimer’s disease

The creator of Thunderbirds, Gerry Anderson holds Thunderbird 2 on the 40th anniversary of the Thunderbirds in 2005 (PA)

The adventures of a new group of heroes devised by Gerry Anderson, the creator of Thunderbirds who died last year, are to be turned into a novel.

Anderson, whose much-loved shows included Captain Scarlet and Stingray, developed and wrote Gemini Force One for four years until he was no longer able to work.

His estate plans to release a completed work in August next year, to tie in with the 50 anniversary of Thunderbirds, which entered TV production the same month in 1964.

Anderson began writing the Gemini Force One (GF1) in 2008 but was unable to finish due to rapidly worsening Alzheimer’s disease, which stopped him from working on projects in 2012.

GF1 follows a secret organisation that carries out rescues, avert disasters and foil terrorist attacks.

The Gerry Anderson Estate plans to turn his plans into a series of books, and then hope they can adapt the adventures into a film or television series.

Anderson’s younger son Jamie has brought in author MG Harris to complete the first book and he plans to self-publish the work.

Harris, a lifelong Gerry Anderson fan, is a bestselling science fiction author whose work includes The Joshua Files series.

Jamie Anderson plans to turn to fans of his father to raise the money, using crowd funding platform Kickstarter to back the first run, pay the author and cover marketing costs.

Tributes poured in after his father died in December at the age of 83. He had worked in television as a producer, director and writer for more than six decades.