Menu
Search   |

Author: Parker

UPDATED: New Stingray and FAB 1 coming soon

Posted on by Parker

UPDATE 22nd May :

Fanderson member Lee Elliott sent us these photos of the pre-production samples on display at the UK Slot Car Festival, held over the weekend at the National Motor Museum Warwickshire.

Hornby Hobbies has announced two new iconic craft from Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s productions, for release in 2024.

Scalextric’s 1:32 scale (22cm long) FAB 1 will soon be racing around slot-car tracks, and can be pre-ordered now.

Corgi has released initial images of their upcoming die-cast Stingray, also for 2024, which includes a high metal content and will feature firing Sting missiles!

RIP Ray Austin (1932-2023)

Posted on by Parker

Ray Austin – stuntman, actor, director, producer, screenwriter and novelist – died on 17th May.

Ray worked on many cult British TV series, including The Avengers, Department S, The New Avengers, The Professionals, Randall And Hopkirk (Deceased), Return Of The Saint and The Saint.

To Fanderson members he will probably be best known for directing the Space:1999 episodes All That Glisters, Alpha Child, Collision Course, End Of Eternity, The Exiles, Missing Link, Mission Of The Darians, Ring Around The Moon, and The Troubled Spirit.

You can read more about Ray’s amazing career on his website, and we’ll have an obituary for him in FAB Express 104, due this summer.

Easter Egg Hunt auction and raffle winners

Posted on by Parker

Thanks to everyone who enjoyed the freebies and offers in our Easter Egg Hunt over the last couple of weeks, and to everyone who bid in the charity auction, or bought tickets in the charity raffle.

We’re delighted to report that Kouichi Miyazaki bid the highest for the Terrahawks soundtrack CD, and Mrs LM Jones has won the Thunderbirds ‘Hackenbacker’ watch.

Both prizes will be on their way to the lucky winners in the next few days.

[UK] Space Precinct upscaled to HD on ITVX

Posted on by Parker

ITV Content Services has upscaled Gerry Anderson’s 1994 series Space Precinct to high definition for their ITVX Premium streaming service. The series will also be available to BritBox subscribers too.

Space Precinct was filmed on Super16 film, and a true remastering to high definition would be both time-consuming and quite costly, so a way of using artificial intelligence has been used to create detail that is not there in the Digital Betacam masters that are now available.

ITVX Premium is available for £5.99/month or £59.99/year, though a free 7-day trial is available.

UK: Fanderson to again sponsor Anderson On Film

Posted on by Parker

Fanderson is the proud sponsor once again 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 goodies on 11th June 2023 – all on the big screen and all shown from 16mm film – includes:

  • Thunderbirds The Uninvited
  • Joe 90 See You Down There
  • Terrahawks Expect The Unexpected – extended version, only previously seen as part of the compilation feature presentation

The popular Southend Film Festival has been running for fourteen years in two parts – as well as the main festival, the Film Festival Fringe encourages various venues around Southend to put on film screenings. The festival’s patrons are actors Ray Winstone, Vicki Michelle and Phil Davis, and you can see more at www.southendfilmfestival.com (the website is in the process of being updated for 2023).

Fanderson is delighted to be able to support fan-organised events such as this. If you need help or support with your Anderson event, please drop us a line at fanderson.org.uk@outlook.com.

35% off Network Blu-ray Discs

Posted on by Parker

Network are offering 35% off a selection of their high definition titles on Blu-ray Disc in their latest HD35 promotion.

The selection includes loads of classic British TV and film, and for Anderson fans the titles of most interest are likely to be Fireball XL5 A Day In The Life Of A Space General (colourised), Joe 90, UFO, Ultimate Space:1999, Terrahawks, and New Captain Scarlet,

The promotion ends at 16:00 on Tuesday 18th April, so go shopping now by clicking this link to see all titles in Network’s HD35 promotion.

Captain Scarlet to run London Marathon!

Posted on by Parker

Captain Scarlet, AKA Lloyd Scott, from Theydon Bois, Essex, will run the London Marathon on 23rd April.

Lloyd, who famously took six days to complete the London Marathon in a deep sea diving suit, said he chose the ‘indestructible’ hero from his childhood after twice beating cancer – in 1989 and 2022. “To me, cancer is a menacing unseen threat, like the Mysterons,” he says.

The prolific fundraiser, who has raised more than £5m in five decades of charity runs, challenges and feats, said the race will be his last. His other costumes have included The Iron Giant, Indiana Jones, Brian the snail from The Magic Roundabout. Lloyd was diagnosed with synovial sarcoma in April 2021 and underwent radiotherapy that summer. The cancer returned in June 2022 and he endured an operation lasting more than 13 hours – and emergency follow-up surgery in August, which he described as a “close-run thing”. He’s also survived leukaemia after a diagnosis in 1987, and a bone marrow transplant in 1989.

“The costume has a personal connection because I used to watch Captain Scarlet And The Mysterons when I was a kid, who would always take part in various missions,” Lloyd says. “I feel kind of like him because I’ve sort of done different missions through the marathons, despite things that I have gone through as well – so he definitely struck a chord with me.”

UPDATED: Lego Thunderbird 2 for summer review

Posted on by Parker

UPDATE 22nd March 2023: Read all about Andrew Clark and his creation in this Lego Ideas interview.

Andrew Clark’s Thunderbird 2 Lego Ideas project is included in the third review of 2022, with the result due this summer.

Thunderbird 2 gained the magic 10,000 supporters in October and so will go forward to be considered as an official Lego set, along with 35 other projects!

The Lego team carefully assesses each project to ensure it meets their stringent build and playability standards, doesn’t clash with any official sets in development, as well as considering any licensing requirements. The licensing team at ITV has in the past been extremely positive and excited at the prospect of such a tie-in with Lego, though as the company becomes more commercially-focussed the fees being asked have put some potential licensees off.

After 57 years, Thunderbirds remains incredibly popular worldwide, with high concentrations of Fanderson members particularly in the UK, Japan and Australia, so we can only be hopeful that Lego and ITV can work together to make this happen!