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Stingray and The Secret Service added to Britbox

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Britbox (the digital video subscription service created by the BBC and ITV) has recently added Stingray and The Secret Service to the streaming platform in the UK.

The first series to go before the cameras in 1963 at AP Films’ new studios in Stirling Road, Slough, Stingray was also the first British television series to be filmed wholly in colour.

The Secret Service was the final Supermarionation series to be produced by Century 21 Productions (as AP Films had by then become) and was Gerry Anderson’s personal favourite of his productions.

With Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet And The Mysterons on the platform since last summer, Joe 90 is now the sole colour Supermarionation series to be left out of the ‘box’ (The Most Special Agent notwithstanding!). Hopefully, Britbox will remedy this before too long.

Virtual Annual General Meeting 2021

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

Fanderson’s next Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held on Saturday 27th March 2021. Once again, due to the ongoing pandemic and to give as many members as possible the opportunity to be involved, the 2021 AGM will be held virtually.

The deadline for any questions or proposals is Sunday 31st January 2021. Please check our Constitution for the criteria by which proposals should be submitted for member voting.

This year the club committee will be responding to as many members’ questions as possible in a special Fanderson podcast, and members are encouraged to record their questions for that:

  • Send your name, postcode/zipcode, club membership number and email address to fanderson.org.uk@outlook.com no later than Sunday 31st January 2021.
  • Podcast host Ros Connors will contact you after 31st January to arrange a convenient time to record your question(s)
  • Your question(s) will be answered by a committee member as part of the special AGM podcast

If you don’t want to record your question for the podcast, you can still write in to fanderson.org.uk@outlook.com no later than Sunday 31st January 2021, and a committee member will respond as part of the special AGM podcast. Just remember to include your name, postcode/zipcode, club membership number and email address with your question.

Voting on any matters raised that require a vote by the membership will be open early in March, to enable results to be presented as part of the AGM.

Details of the AGM itself will be confirmed nearer the date.

Fireball XL5 soundtrack CD, vinyl and 7″ single from Silva Screen

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Taken from their upcoming Fireball XL5 album, Silva Screen have released a teaser 7″ single in transparent orange vinyl!

The disc features two tracks from the upcoming album: Fireball (Don Spencer and the XL5) on side 1 is accompanied by Zero G (Barry Gray and his Spacemakers) on side 2. Don Spencer’s original 7” single release on His Masters Voice in 1962 reached number 32, remaining in the UK charts for twelve weeks (the original B side was another Don Spencer track, I’m All Alone Again, replaced on this release with Zero G).

The full soundtrack album follows in January, and you can pre-order it on CD or transparent orange vinyl right now! Produced in association with Fanderson, the album has 61 minutes of diverse tracks that give a flavour of Fireball XL5 and show Barry Gray’s musical ingenuity.

You can find a link to the Fireball single, along with lots from other Anderson productions, in our new non-club merchandise section.

Enter Fanderson’s FAB 40th Quiz

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As members will see with FAB 96, we’re running a competition to be in with a chance of winning a special prize.

Click here to submit your answers.

  • This competition closes on 31st January 2021.
  • The competition is open to members of Fanderson only.
  • Entries for which the membership name, number and postcode do not match our membership database will be discarded.
  • In the case of any member submitting multiple entries, the last entry only will be included in the draw and the others discarded.
  • Entries with the highest number of correct answers after the closing date will go into a draw to win a ticket to Fanderson’s 40th Anniversary event in 2021.
  • Marks may be given if a member suggests a ‘correct’ answer to a question, albeit not the one the judges are looking for.
  • The judges’ decision is final.
  • The winner’s name and answers will be published shortly after the closing date.

UFO on Forces TV

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Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s UFO is now showing again on Forces TV in the UK on weekdays at 21:00, repeated on weekends at 23:00.

You can get Forces TV on:

  • Freeview/Youview 96
  • Freesat 165
  • Sky 181
  • Virgin 274
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Replica Captain Blue coming soon

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Big Chief Studios was founded by Mark Andrews and Tony Leetham in 2011 to manufacture high-end figures and collectables, and have worked with Fanderson club members to ensure their Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet characters are as accurate as possible.

Figures currently available for pre-order include:

And coming soon, to accompany their previous Captain Scarlet figure will be Adam Svenson himself – Captain Blue!

Big Chief’s full range includes characters from Star Wars, Doctor Who, Lord Of The Rings and more. Check out the whole range here.

Silva Screen soundtracks

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Whilst Fanderson strives to provide club members with the most complete soundtracks to Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s series, we’re also working with Silva Screen Records to make cut-down versions of the soundtracks available to non-members.

You can find the best deals (that we’re aware of) on our Non-club merchandise page.

 

New UFO and Space:1999 models on pre-order

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Sixteen 12, which has long specialised in high quality reproductions of models from Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s Thunderbirds, UFO and Space:1999 is now taking pre-orders for new models, including:

UFO Alien saucer

Space:1999 War Games

Space:1999 action figure collection

Space:1999 electronic stun gun and commlock

You can see all the pre-order items here. Check out their retro range too, to bring back memories of those odd-coloured Dinky toys of the 70s!

Happy 39th Birthday, Fanderson!

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39 years ago today, representatives from clubs Anderpup and the Century 21 Appreciation Society, the Fanderson 81 convention and ATV Licensing met with legendary TV and film producer Gerry Anderson at Pinewood Studios.

Together, they pooled their ideas and talents to form the world’s only official appreciation society for the work of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson.

On behalf of all Fanderson members, a big THANK YOU to Gerry Anderson, Pam Barnes, Mark Jones, Barbara Kitson, Chris Leach, David Nightingale, Phil Rae, Keith Shackleton, Brendan Sheehan and John Williams for giving our club such a great start.

39 years on and the club’s going stronger than ever, so thanks to all Fanderson members – especially the committee members over the years and those who have made a significant contribution (recognised as a Friend Of Fanderson or Life Member).

Join us in celebrating today with something bubbly, and you can read more about Fanderson’s beginnings here.

 

Celebrate 50 years of UFO!

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What better way to celebrate 50 years of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s groundbreaking series UFO than with a great read – the long-awaited UFO Annual 1972!

Like most Anderson series there was a UFO Annual produced to accompany the broadcasts, but just the one volume for 1971. Exclusive to Fanderson is this follow-up book, full of features about the series and SHADO, two brand new stories starring your favourite UFO characters and three new exclusive cutaways.

Whilst reading the Annual, why not relax with Barry Gray’s cool soundtrack, courtesy of our 4-CD boxset. And we’ve got lots of other UFO items in the Shop too!

We’re expecting stock of the UFO Annual 1972 in time for the series’ 50th anniversary on 16th September 2020, and you can sure to be among the first to get your copy by pre-ordering from 1st September.