Month: February 2022

UK: Space:1999 on London Live

Posted on by 1266 Nick Williams

Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s second live action sci-fi series, Space:1999, returns to the UK’s local London Live channel from Sunday 20th February 2022.

Space:1999 will be shown:

  • Sundays at 19:00
  • Fridays at 17:00
  • Saturdays at 09:00

London Live is available in the UK on Freeview/YouView 8 (from London transmitters), Sky 117 or Virgin Media 159.

If you know of an Anderson production being broadcast, anywhere in the world, please email details to fanderson.org.uk@outlook.com so we can share the news!

UK: UFO on Forces TV

Posted on by 1266 Nick Williams

Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s UFO is showing again on Forces TV in the UK from Saturday 26th February 2022.

The series is being shown as double-bills at 22:00 on both Saturdays and Sundays, with repeats as single episodes on weekdays around 22:00.

Forces TV is available in the UK on Freeview/Youview 96, Freesat 165, Sky 181 and Virgin 274.

If you know of an Anderson production being broadcast, anywhere in the world, please email details to fanderson.org.uk@outlook.com so we can share the news!

Posted in UFO

Another great new Space:1999 book? Really?

Posted on by 1266 Nick Williams

Hot on the heels of To Everything That Might Have Been and Space:1999 The Vault, Powys Media’s Earthfall is proving it’s a bumper time for Space:1999 books!

A hellbroth born of the Earth’s atomic waste and the Universe’s own fury propels the men and women of Moonbase Alpha into a dimension where the familiar is torn away and the unimaginable awaits. Newly-assigned Commander John Koenig must lead the orphaned colony as they seek to adapt and survive with little hope of ever finding a new home.

Originally published in 1977, then reprinted by Fanderson in 2002, Powys Media is adding E.C. Tubb’s re-imagining of the cataclysmic event of September 13, 1999 and its consequences to their extensive Space:1999 range of books.

Here, the Moon and its inhabitants not only leave Earth’s orbit, but time and space are shifted towards the fantastic. In the new dimension where they find themselves, a single flinch can cost a man his life, lunar caverns hold a secret as mysterious as the pyramids of ancient Egypt, and the Alphans must face the reality that the greatest threat to their continued existence may come from within.

And looming above, a great black void pulls them and a new generation of Alphans into the maw of what may be their very destruction.

Powys Media’s Earthfall can be ordered here.

2022 Annual General Meeting: Voting now open!

Posted on by 1266 Nick Williams

Fanderson’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) is a chance for the committee to report on the club’s status and respond to members’ questions, thoughts and suggestions.

All club members are welcome to join the AGM and, to give as many members as possible the opportunity to be involved, Fanderson’s next Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held virtually, at midday (GMT) on Saturday 5th March 2022.

The deadline for questions or registering to attend the AGM is Saturday 26th February 2022. For security purposes, if you’d like to attend please email fanderson.org.uk@outlook.com, including:

  • your full name
  • your Fanderson membership number
  • your post code

We will send you a link to the AGM by reply to your email, after 26th February. Members will have the option to not appear on camera. The meeting will be minuted, as usual, but not recorded.

Voting on the following proposal is now open online until 26th February 2022, in order for results to be verified and available at the AGM:

  1. Various amendments to the club’s Constitution, mainly for clarity purposes.
    1. Click here for the proposed version with changes shown.
    2. Fanderson members can vote here.

UK: The Footage Detectives look at the work of Denise Bryer

Posted on by 1266 Nick Williams

Talking Pictures TV is a British free-to-air vintage film and nostalgia television channel. Their regular Footage Detectives slot on 6th March 2022, looks at the life and career of Denise Bryer. Denise was, amongst many others, the voice of Twizzle in The Adventures Of Twizzle, Martha Jones in Four Feather Falls, Mary Falconer in Terrahawks and Dr Julie Sigmund in GFI (of which only one episode is known to have been completed and still exists). Beyond Anderson productions, she voiced Makara in Star Fleet, The Junk Lady in Labyrinth, Kiki the frog in Hector’s House, and more.

In each episode of Footage Detectives, producer/editor (and founder of Talking Pictures TV) Noel Cronin talks all things film with musician and disc jockey Mike Read. Also in the 6th March edition will be a look at Torquay in the 50s/60s, a plea to help Nettlefold Studios and a look at the studios history, viewers’ letters about the Humphries Film Labs short film, viewers’ findings from a No Hiding Place ‘Jigsaw’ and an ‘unknown reel’.

Talking Pictures TV is available in the UK on Freeview 82, Freesat 306, Sky 328 or Virgin Media 445, and they’ve recently launched their Encore streaming service too.

If you know of an Anderson (or Anderson-related) production being broadcast, anywhere in the world, please email details to fanderson.org.uk@outlook.com so we can share the news!

AUS: Captain Scarlet And The Mysterons on DVD

Posted on by 1266 Nick Williams

Australia’s cult and classic film and television label Via Vision is following up their historic Joe 90 DVD release with Captain Scarlet And The Mysterons.

For AU$59.95, this Complete Series box set includes all 32 episodes across 6 discs, plus special features:

  • Gerry Anderson Commentary on 2 episodes
  • five TV21 audio adventures
  • Character identities
  • ITC publicity
  • Original TV adverts
  • Stills galleries and more

Via Vision’s Joe 90 release was historic as the package is labelled as “Gerry And Sylvia Anderson’s Joe 90″ – the first time since the early 1990s that Sylvia has been credited as such and so prominently for her co-creation. We’re delighted that Sylvia’s contribution to Captain Scarlet is again recognised so prominently on this release.

How long before other licensees catch up?

Another new ‘must-have’ Space:1999 book on the way!

Posted on by 1266 Nick Williams

Another must-have book, coming soon from Signum Books, is “the first fully illustrated book dedicated to Space:1999”.

Space:1999 The Vault, by Chris Bentley, is a deluxe, full-colour 208-page hardback which includes many rare and newly discovered images from the 48 episodes of what is considered to be Gerry Anderson’s greatest TV series.

The lavish science-fiction drama Space:1999 has captivated audiences around the world since its debut in 1975. The series starred Martin Landau and Barbara Bain, and was created by legendary producers Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. The ambitious premise exceeded the scope (and budget) of many of the era’s disaster movies – following an accident that blows the Moon out of Earth’s orbit, the stranded crew of Moonbase Alpha embark on an epic interplanetary quest for a new home. This definitive and fully authorised book includes a wealth of previously unpublished images – including new shots of original studio models and vintage merchandise.

Author Chris Bentley is a former Fanderson chairman and the author of The Complete Book of Thunderbirds (2000), The Complete Gerry Anderson: The Authorised Episode Guide (2005), The Complete Book of Gerry Anderson’s UFO (2016) and Captain Scarlet: The Vault (2017).

Other Signum Books’ Anderson titles include Captain Scarlet: The Vault and Shane Rimmer’s autobiography From Thunderbirds To Pterodactyls.

Prices vary, but at the time of going to press Amazon are listing the book at £24.59 including free postage, whereas some specialist sellers are charging £29.99 plus postage!

Celebrating 40 FAB Years (albeit a year late!)

Posted on by 1266 Nick Williams

It seems quite remarkable now, but Fanderson has been a part of all our lives for 40 years.

It’s grown from quite humble beginnings, when producer/writer/director Gerry Anderson recognised the need to bring together various disparate groups into a cohesive club for all fans of his work.

Nowadays, when many other media-related clubs have closed down, gone online, or been taken over by the production companies involved, we’re a rare breed. A club created and run by fans, for fans.

Now, 41 years later, we’re celebrating this milestone (we’d planned to do it in 2021, but Covid-19 and travel restrictions put paid to that!).

40 FAB Years is not a convention, but a relaxed party. The perfect occasion to catch up with friends you’ve made through Fanderson over the years, and some special guests will be celebrating with us. We’ll have a barbecue and, like all good birthday parties, there’ll be music, drink and (of course) a cake!

We’ve got space for just 100 Fanderson members to join us at the Pinewood Hotel, a little way down the road from the world famous studios in Buckinghamshire. We’ll be there from 14:00 on Saturday 20th August 2022.

See more and book your place here.

Help your Anderson favourite become a Lego set!

Posted on by 1266 Nick Williams

There are seven Anderson-inspired projects on Lego Ideas right now that need your support to become reality!

Lego Ideas was set up so that budding Lego set designers could see their design made into sets that we could all buy. Fans can click to support the designs they like and, if a project gets over 10,000 supporters, it goes on to be assessed by the Lego team as a potential set.

Since Lego Ideas was set up in 2010 (as Lego Cuusoo), 49 sets have been produced on a wide range of topics.

Andrew Clark has been luckier than most budding designers, as his Doctor Who and The Flintstones sets were both chosen to become reality. He currently has three projects on the Ideas platform:

You’ll also find:

See all these designs and thousands more at the Lego Ideas website.

Bob Bell studio drawings for auction

Posted on by 1266 Nick Williams

On 12th February 2022, specialist collectables and memorabilia auctioneers Excalibur will be offering the second part of late author Simon Archer’s collection, including six drawings by series art director Bob Bell.

Bob worked on many of the Anderson TV productions and was art director and supervising art director on Thunderbirds Season 1 and 2 respectively, as well as on the Thunderbirds films.

The series of six pencil and watercolour sketches (lots 547 to 552) represents the evolution of the Supermarionation technique and featured in Gerry Anderson’s lecture tour in the 90s. Estimate is £200 to £400 for each lot.

The auction includes much, much more, and the full catalogue can be seen here.