In "Ricochet", the Tracy brothers rush to save an astronaut DJ and his technician after the destruction of a malfunctioning rocket damages their pirate radio satellite and causes it to fall out of orbit.
In 1967, Century 21 released a 21-minute audio adaptation on vinyl EP record (catalogue number MA 126), narrated by voice actor David Graham as the character Brains.
[2] Following a second stage separation failure, Sentinel Base aborts its newly-launched Telsat 4 rocket at orbital coordinates designated safe by International Space Control (ISC).
As KLA starts to break up, ISC informs Virgil and Brains that the satellite's descent puts it on a collision course with the Middle East oil refinery A'Ben Duh.
Reluctant to shoot down O'Shea, but aware that the destruction of the refinery would cause much loss of life, Virgil and Brains move beneath KLA and initiate a roll, catching the satellite on Thunderbird 2's wing in an effort to change its trajectory.
The closing scene is accompanied by the song "Flying High"; performed by Gary Miller with a group of backing vocalists that included Ken Barrie, this was intended to be the series' ending theme until it was replaced with "The Thunderbirds March" two weeks before the premiere of the first episode.
[9] Ian Fryer, who makes a similar connection to MTV, views "Ricochet" as arguably the series' "most direct reference" to real-world events, describing the episode as "[updating] the British craze for pirate radio stations in the mid-to-late 1960s to the space age."
He adds that a scene in which Jeff Tracy voices his disapproval of KLA as an unlicensed broadcaster echoes contemporary objections to offshore radio vessels on the grounds that they posed a hazard to shipping and interfered with emergency service communications.
He highlights the episode's "sophisticated" visuals, noting the "moody" lighting and angular sets of the Sentinel Base scenes (which he believes may have been inspired by the production design of Dr. Strangelove and the James Bond films) as well as the "NASA-style" Telsat 4 rocket.
Coldwell also praises the script for leaving O'Shea's fate ambiguous until the closing scene, and thus maintaining the suspense: "By keeping us in the dark on this score until the very end of the episode, Barwick ensures we remain exactly where he wants us – on the edge of our seats."