Author: Parker

Thunderbirds are going!

Posted on by Parker

Launched in 2016 to mark 50 years since the end of the classic TV show, there’s only a limited amount of time left to snap up stylish pop art prints from Art & Hue’s Thunderbirds collection before it ends on the 30th of July.

No fewer than 22 art prints are available in a choice of 19 colours and 3 sizes, printed on museum-quality archival card of 310gsm, made from 100% cotton, using pigment inks for longevity.

From a modernist secret island base of mid-century architecture, that looks as if it was designed by Richard Neutra or Frank Lloyd Wright, Jeff Tracy and his sons listen out for distress calls to swoop in and save the day using their iconic craft, cleverly launched from within the island itself.

Ubergeek engineer Brains and the Tracy brothers may be all-American but Britishness is elegantly represented from Creighton-Ward Manor and FAB 1, the pink Rolls-Royce, thanks to London Agent Lady Penelope, along with her loyal and ‘umorous butler Aloysius Parker.

Jet over to Art & Hue before the 30th of July!

 

UK: Farewell, Forces TV

Posted on by Parker

On 30th June 2022 we’ll say goodbye to Forces TV, which in recent years has become the home to much classic British television, including UFO and Space:1999.

Forces TV was originally a military-themed factual channel but in time its primetime schedule has become the home of such comedy classics as Bless This House, Sorry! and Oh No It’s Selwyn Froggitt, and dramas including CHiPs, Doctor Who and Return Of The Saint.

Together with the bizarrely-named Horror channel, Forces TV has also broadcast Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s UFO and Space:1999 numerous times in recent years.

Forces TV is closing as the frequency spectrum used to broadcast it and other channels is being handed over to the expanding 5G mobile network. You can read more about this here.

A statement from BFBS (the charity that runs Forces TV) says:

“We are very sad to go but, as a military charity and media organisation, we’re focusing our resources on our core mission: to entertain, inform, connect and champion our UK armed forces, families and veterans.”

Farewell, Forces TV, it’s been great knowing you.

Win a Zavvi exclusive vinyl singles boxset!

Posted on by Parker

Silva Screen Records and Zavvi have announced a newly remastered limited edition Anderson 7” singles box set,  featuring music from the extensive Barry Gray soundtrack catalogue. Gray’s partnership with Gerry and Sylvia Anderson was one of the most successful of its kind in TV history, forever linking the iconic Supermarionation imagery with the composer’s distinctive orchestral themes.

Due for release on 31st August, this exclusive box set contains the soundtracks to some of the Andersons’ most popular Supermarionation shows, including Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet And The Mysterons, and also includes the soundtrack to live action series Space:1999. This limited edition 7” singles box set is the perfect addition to your vinyl collection.

One lucky club member will win one of the new boxsets – see the first issue of FAB-lite (working title) soon!

Previously a staggered release by Silva Screen from 2012 in time for 2013’s Record Store Day, the new boxset includes The Cass Carnaby disc on shocking pink vinyl (the 2013 was a clear flexidisc), five exclusive art cards and is limited to just 500 units worldwide.

Track Listing:

Thunderbirds 7” on blue vinyl

Side 1

    • Thunderbirds – Main Theme (1:36)
    • Dangerous Game (1:40) (Vocals: Jack Clegg)

Side 2

    • Thunderbirds Are Go! (4:28)

Captain Scarlet 7” on red vinyl

Side 1

    • Captain Scarlet – Main Theme (1:33)
    • The S.H.E.F. March (2:35)

Side 2

    • White As Snow (3:12)
    • Captain Scarlet – End Titles (1:28) – Performed by The Spectrum

Joe 90 7” on yellow vinyl

Side 1

    • Century 21 Sting (0:08)
    • Joe 90 – Main Theme (1:58)
    • The Most Special Agent (3:19)

Side 2

    • Splashdown (4:44)
    • Joe 90 – End Titles (1:20)

Space:1999 7” on white vinyl

Side 1

    • Space: 1999 Year One – Main Titles (1:10)
    • Breakaway Suite (4:39)

Side 2

    • Black Sun Suite And End Titles (5:52)

The Cass Carnaby Five 7” on pink vinyl

Side 1

    • This Is The Twist (1:40)
    • Formula 5 (1:23)
    • Let’s Play Ad Lib (2:56)

Side 2

    • Spoke City Jazz (1:39)
    • Until Midnight (2:22)
    • Double Agent Entertainment (2:02)

USA: New postage rates

Posted on by Parker

Club members in the USA will notice that we are introducing a new price band for our products and services especially for them.

For many years the postage cost differences between the USA and other destinations outside Europe has been negligible, so we have had a ‘rest of the world’ price band that includes them alongside Canada, Japan, Oceania and other territories. Unfortunately, postage to the USA has risen sharply recently, to the extent that in many cases it is now more expensive to mail from the UK to the USA than it is to mail to Australia!

The Fanderson Sales leaflet mailed with FAB 100 details all the new prices.

It will take a short while to add the new option to all of our products in the Shop. If you’re in the USA and we haven’t yet added the US price to an item you want to buy, please select the RW (rest of the world) option for that item.

We’ve popped FAB 100 in the post (and no renewals needed!)

Posted on by Parker

It’s been a long time coming, but we’ve reached a momentous milestone as the 100th issue of our club magazine, FAB, has been mailed to all members worldwide.

As members will read in the magazine, we’ve got big plans to make some important changes so no memberships expire with this special celebratory issue – despite what it might say on your envelope, there’s no need to renew your membership right now.

With FAB 100 we’ve now mailed our Music From The 21st Century By Barry Gray CD to everyone eligible for a copy (it’s been mailed to members renewing their memberships in time for FAB 98, 99 and 100 mailings). The music license for this disc means we can only give the disc away, so we will never be able to sell copies.

Unfortunately, in the UK we’ve got a four-day weekend coming up to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s platinum jubilee so, with no post deliveries for UK members this Thursday or Friday, the timing could have been better!

Do let us know (on social media, by email, or even a letter!) when the postie pops FAB 100 through your slot, as it helps us understand just how good the postal services are around the world right now.

For anyone who missed the FAB 99 mailing, this also means that FAB 99 is now available in the Shop to buy as a back issue.

AUS: 20% off at Imprint

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Imprint, the boutique, independent, Australian based DVD label which recently released the excellent Space: 1999 The Complete Series Ultimate Edition, are celebrating their first two years by offering customers 20% off their Imprint catalogue*, until Friday 3 June.

Just enter code ‘TWOYEARS’ at checkout, at imprintfilms.com.au.

*This offer excludes all pre-orders and also excludes April and May New Release titles.

Spring Spend & Save – extended for May

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Beat the price rises and save now with our Spring Spend & Save promotion!

Rising costs across printing, manufacturing, storage and postage means that we will have to increase prices on some of our range of exclusive merchandise, effective from FAB 100.

As always, we look to make every economy possible before increasing prices. Spring Spend & Save is designed to help you make economies too.

Filling your basket with a range of merchandise is much more economical to package and post than, say, ordering a single sticker, book or embroidered patch. So, until the end of May we’re ofering a ‘spend and save’ discount:

  • spend over £50 in a single order* and enter coupon code SSS50 at checkout to save 5%
  • spend over £100 in a single order* and enter coupon code SSS100 at checkout to save 10%

Our standard terms and conditions apply, plus:

  • members must apply the appropriate coupon code at checkout – the discount cannot be applied retroactively.
  • *offer excludes memberships, our Stingray soundtrack boxset (on another great offer for May), events and Silva Screen products
  • we reserve the right to amend or withdraw this offer at any time.

Where is FAB 100?

Posted on by Parker

Please accept our apologies, but FAB 100 is extremely late!

We knew earlier in the year that FAB 100 was going to be a little late, which is why we changed plans and mailed the 40 FAB Years album and the final set of picture cards a few weeks ago (they were planned to be mailed with the magazine).

FAB 100 is finished and now with ITV for approval. Once we get that we can send it for printing, and then we get it mailed just as quickly as we can. As soon as we know it’s in the post, we’ll publish it as a news story here on the club website and share it on our social media. Hopefully, that’ll just be a few weeks.

Rest assured that we haven’t forgotten the hundreds of members who are still owed the Music From The 21st Century By Barry Gray CD (this year’s membership gift). We’ve been mailing them to members for the last two issues of FAB, and the final batch will be mailed with FAB 100.

If you renewed your membership too late to be included in the FAB 99 mailing, any stock of that we have left as FAB 100 is published will become available to buy as a back issue. We can’t make it available until then as we need them to send to new club members.

Sorry again, and thanks for your understanding.

UK: Fanderson to sponsor Anderson On Film!

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Fanderson is the proud sponsor of the Anderson On Film presentation as part of the Southend Film Festival, enabling fans to enjoy Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s work with other fans this summer… on film!

In this digital world it’s easy to watch programmes on your phone, to stream, or even to watch from DVD or Blu-ray Disc. This year’s Southend Film Festival gives Anderson fans a chance to have that collective experience of watching with fellow fans, thanks to the beauty that is celluloid film!

This year’s programme of Anderson programmes on 29th May 2022 – all on the big screen and all shown from film – includes:

  • Four Feather Falls Trouble In Yellow Gulch and Indian Attack
  • Space:1999 War Games
  • Thunderbirds Pit Of Peril

The popular Southend Film Festival has been running for thirteen years in two parts – as well as the main festival, the Film Festival Fringe encourages various venues around Southend to put on film screenings throughout May. Over 50 films were screened during last year’s festival. The festival’s patrons are actors Ray Winstone, Vicki Michelle and Phil Davis, and you can see more at www.southendfilmfestival.com

When the club announced that Supercelebration would be our last full-weekend convention we offered to help smaller events around the country to ensure fans of Gerry and Sylvia’s work could continue to get together. That help might be financial (such as seed funding to secure a venue, or advertising, or sponsorship) or it might be more practical (such as liaising with guests, or logistical help).

If you need help or support with your Anderson event, please drop us a line at fanderson.org.uk@outlook.com.

Supercelebration – what a weekend!

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Anderson fans flocked to the Holiday Inn Maidenhead last weekend to mark the 50th anniversary of The Secret Service, Doppelgänger and UFO and to raise money for charity The Silver Line, a free 24-hour helpline for older people.

Incredibly, a combination of events over the weekend and the sheer generosity of fans meant that over £8,000 was raised in total.

 

A great turn out

With around 250 fans coming from all over the world to be at the convention, Stuart Drummond and John Wilkinson had their work cut out on the registrations desk when the convention officially opened on Friday afternoon.

Guests

There was a huge range of guests throughout the weekend, covering all aspects of the Anderson productions and eras, appearing on the main stage and signing autographs.

There were no less than three UFO-themed two-hander interviews over the weekend. Penny Spencer partnered fellow SHADO operative Georgina Moon to talk about their experiences of acting and living in the 1960s, while Gary Raymond and Christian Roberts reminisced about their guest appearances in The Man Who Came Back and The Long Sleep respectively. Finally Susan Jameson and Michael Jayston talked about their memories of acting together as brother and sister on The Sound Of Silence.

Andrew Skilleter, Graham Bleathman and Steve Kyte spoke about their work on Alan Fennell’s Fleetway comics in the 1990s, as well as their memories of the original TV21. Mike Trim presented a fascinating slideshow covering his work as an illustrator after Century 21, and also teamed up with Dominic Lavery to talk about their experiences of designing for the Andersons 35 years apart.

The largest interview of the weekend was a Terrahawks mega panel consisting of Kaye Main, Terry Adlam, John Lee, Steve Begg, Judy Preece, Peter Tilbe and Gary Tomkins. Peter Hitchcock shared his memories of working on the Supermarionation heydays at the Slough Trading Estate, while other interviews included Steve Begg, Brian Johnson and Mark Woollard, and Dee Anderson joining puppeteers Mary Turner and Judy Preece.

 

Special screenings

Among the guest interviews, there were two special screenings of recorded interviews with Anderson grandees who are now sadly lost to us. Producer Jeff Smart provided a never-before-released audio commentary by the recently departed Shane Rimmer for Zeke’s Blues, a The Protectors episode that he both wrote and starred in. To further mark The Secret Service anniversary, fans were also treated to a filmed interview with Stanley Unwin from the Fanderson Archives.

Model room and art room

Away from the Features Room, there was a huge range of other things for fans to get involved in. The Art Room featured an incredible amount of original Anderson artwork from Frank Bellamy, Mike Noble, Ron Embleton, Frank Hampson, Graham Bleathman (who also organised the display) and many others.

The Model Room run by Chris King had a constantly shifting rota of original and reproduction puppets, vehicles from across the series, original props and costumes, and even a model of the AP Films studio building. The exhibition also extended to downstairs, where Ben Westenend’s impressive 6-metre studio scale replica of the Thunderbird 2 hanger, runway and launchpad was on display.

There was also a Music Room, where attendees could relax and complete a colouring-in sheet and potentially win a prize, and an Episodes Room holding all-day screenings.

Workshops

The ever popular programme of Workshops, run by Katie Bleathman, included subjects as diverse as the digital music restoration for Fanderson’s soundtrack CDs, Anderson artwork and a chance to try your hand at puppetry. This year also saw a slot in which fans could ask Fanderson committee members Lynn Simpson and Nick Williams questions about the running of the club.

Fanderson sales

Run by Stephen Brown and Lynn Simpson, Fanderson Sales always pulls some exclusive goodies out of the bag at a convention, and this year was no exception. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Secret Service, two commemorative tea towels went on sale. In terms of new books,  Super Space Theatre examined the compilation releases of the Anderson series and included a set of 13 artwork prints. The latest edition of the much-loved ‘FAB Book of…’ was also on sale, looking into the world of Anderson bubble gum cards. And there was exclusive news of a new upcoming soundtrack CD: an expanded re-issue of UFO!

Convention book 

Designed and edited by Mike Jones and Dave Nightingale, the convention book was styled as the ‘next issue’ of the original SIG, the ground-breaking commercial Anderson magazine of the early 1980s that ran for 20 issues and paved the way for modern fan publications such as FAB. It was a beautiful touch of nostalgia for all older fans, some of whom couldn’t believe it was a brand new issue!

Evening entertainment

Friday evening began with a glass of bubbly and a screening of the final episode of The Secret Service in the Features Room. This was followed by ‘Lord Parker’s Bingo’, hilariously compered by Mike Jones dressed as the eponymous butler from Lord Parker’s ‘Oliday.

Fast forward to Saturday night, and fans were treated to a ’70s and ’80s themed disco that ran until midnight.  It gave some people the chance to wear their very best Anderson-themed fancy dress and win a prize…

Raffles and auctions

A number of raffles and auctions (both live and ‘blind’) were held over the weekend, with all proceeds going to The Silver Line. Some highly desirable Anderson memorabilia became the subject of intense bidding wars, with the highest winning bid for an International Rescue plaque, produced by Virgin Trains to commemorate their unveiling of the Scott Tracy engine by Gerry Anderson in 2002. It sold for an eye-watering £1,500!

Thank you to everyone who contributed and attended

In an emotional closing ceremony, Fanderson chairman Nick Williams thanked everyone involved (below).

As previously announced, this was the last full weekend Fanderson convention (though we’ll continue with smaller events, and hope to support others staging events), and things certainly went out with a bang! It was a true Supercelebration that will live long in the memory.

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