 Thunderbirds is generally considered the Andersons ' most popular series and their greatest critical and commercial success . In 1966 , the show received a Royal Television Society Silver Medal for Outstanding Artistic Achievement and Gerry Anderson received an honorary <unk> of the British <unk> , Sound and Television Society . In 2007 , Thunderbirds achieved 19th place in a Radio Times magazine reader poll to determine the best science @-@ fiction TV programme of all time . It is ranked fourth by the 2013 Channel 5 list show 50 Greatest Kids ' TV <unk> . 
