You have to bear in mind that not every household had a television. in the mid 1970's I had to go 5 miles to my grandparents to watch Dr Who on their (colour)television. Divorce of my parents caused financial hardship, so a TV wasn't my mum's priority. I had friends who had colour TV's, but it wasn't convenient to go round theirs when i wanted to watch programmes.
The Clangers set the scene for the Anderson's sci-fi.
Stop/start animation such as Noggin the Nog and Ivor the Engine were other ways to produce cheaper television without the cost of actors or studio time.
I found the toys from the Andersons stuff a tad disappointing. They weren't nearly as good as the stuff they showed on the TV, and they were a bit pricey. My FAB1 pink Rolls Royce quickly had various mechanical failures due to robust handling. The canopy cracked and broke, the spears which fired by the rear suspension stopped activating, and the Lady Penelope and Parker figures were either lost or stolen by friends. I still have a Thunderbird 2 and 4 from collecting Weetabix tokens in the 1990's. Nostalgia makes people do stupid things.
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