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.
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:
Our standard terms and conditions apply, plus:
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.
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:
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.
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.
It’s been five years since the last full-weekend Fanderson convention – and it was certainly worth the wait. We look back at The Future is Fantastic! – an event featuring unforgettable guests, mouth-watering merchandise, beautiful puppet and model exhibitions, heart-warming reunions and new friendships and that damned Saturday night quiz…!
When fans reflect on the whole weekend, many will say that the highlight was undoubtedly Sylvia Anderson’s first-ever appearance at a Fanderson convention. She received a standing ovation and a film-star-like entrance, with camera flashes going off for several minutes as the interview started.
In a wide-ranging interview with Ian Fryer, Sylvia spoke about the early days of working for Roberta Leigh, the financial troubles of AP Films that culminated in Lew Grade bankrolling their productions, and overhauling Ed Bishop’s dress sense for UFO! She also talked about her relationship with Lew Grade, and the great man’s softer, humane side, which came to the fore as her personal problems developed. According to Sylvia, Lew was honest – he didn’t understand scripts, and wanted to see finished the finished production before making a judgement about it. He trusted the team to deliver them and make the creative decisions. The only advice he ever gave Sylvia about Lady Penelope was not to make her too posh!
Before this, the Tracy brothers were reunited for a highly entertaining interview with Marcus Hearn. Voice artists Shane Rimmer, Matt Zimmerman, David Graham and Jeremy Wilkin talked about wrangling with Polgram for Thunderbirds royalties, why modern actors can’t speak their lines properly and the new Thunderbirds Are Go! series. Incredibly, Matt and Jeremy also discovered that they had appeared in the same production of Twelfth Night back in the 1950s…This was just the kind of oddity to come out of a Fanderson convention!
The weekend also saw the launch – or imminent launch – of several exclusive new pieces of merchandise. Fanderson’s very own 3-disc CD soundtrack of Captain Scarlet was flying off the shelves, as well as the third installment in the club’s successful sweet cigarette card book series. Fanderson and Robert Harrop ran a sales presence all weekend on the ground floor of the hotel, while a separate dealers room was run upstairs. In particular, fans were wowed by Robert Harrop’s Parker and Light-Fingered Fred, commissioned exclusively for the convention and limited to just 150. Meanwhile Modiphius demoed their Thunderbirds Co-Operative board game, which is due out in December, and Alan Shubrook was selling signed copies of his Century 21 FX Update book, which was inspired by a trip to the old Century 21 film studio on the Slough Trading estate, prior to its demolition.
Alan also ran two presentations over the weekend to celebrate Thunderbirds’ 50th anniversary, and to share his experiences of revisiting Stirling Road. The new books didn’t end there. Marcus Hearn and Mike Jones provided fans with an overview of their stunning, lavishly illustrated new history of Thunderbirds, The Vault, as well as the 50th anniversary bookazine. The Vault in particular was full of photographs of rare merchandise and never-before-seen production stills. By showing slides of the finished book, they let the pictures tell their own story.
Mike Trim and Brian Johnson discussed model and special effects, while Mary Turner and Judy Preece revealed some of their puppeteering secrets from their work on the Supermarionation series and Terrahawks respectively. The Terrahawks theme continued on Saturday afternoon with modelmaker John Lee talking about his favourite model on the series – the Overlander, a replica of which was on display.
The headline attraction of Sunday was arguably Marcus Hearn’s interview with Keith Shackleton, head of AP Films (Merchandising) Ltd, and responsible for the licensing of merchandise for the Anderson series during the 1960s and 70s. Making his first ever appearance at a convention, and with his wife Gwyneth in attendance, Keith provided some great insights into the business decisions behind some of our favourite shows, including the setting up of the SuperCar Club, which received 70,000 members in its first three weeks, and the creation of TV21, which he regarded as one of his proudest achievements. He also spoke movingly about the deteriorating relationship between Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, his resistance to selling AP Films to Lew Grade, and his disappointment at the failure to secure a network deal for Thunderbirds in America. Keith’s appearance proved so popular that an episode of UFO was cancelled to extend the interview.
Earlier, Terry Adlam (writer/director of Dick Spanner) helped to shake off a few well-deserved hangovers from Saturday night with his memories of starting off in the film industry. His first job – on Raiders of the Lost Ark – saw him confronted by a python and come away with Steven Spielberg’s autograph. He was followed by Anderson super-artists Mike Noble and Graham Bleathman, who discussed the challenges of rendering complex models such as the Eagle Transporter with Mike Jones. Dust clouds help to reduce the need to draw elliptical wheels on the SPV, apparently!
The Sunday interviews ended with a Space:1999 theme. Supported by Ian Fryer, writer and story consultant Christopher Penfold provided a live commentary on one of the show’s most sophisticated episodes – Black Sun. This was followed by an interview with actor and stunt artist Roy Scammell, who regaled fans with his memories of a young Sean Connery, horrific injuries to his stunt colleagues and a future film project.
In the best tradition of Fanderson conventions, plenty of other things going on away from the main features room during the whole weekend.
The model exhibition room was something really special this time, outdoing previous Fanderson conventions. Co-ordinated by Derek Eaton, Chris King and Chris Trice, but with contribution of many talented model makers, the exhibition featured many highlights, including an original Stanley Unwin puppet, a veritable fleet of Eagle Transporter craft, a host of replica and original puppets from Captain Scarlet and Joe 90, and beautiful reproductions of the Thunderbirds craft.
Expertly co-ordinated by Katie Bleathman, there was also a packed programme of workshops that allowed fans to explore more specialised aspects of the Anderson universe, including learning puppetry techniques, hearing from a wide range of professional Anderson artists and discovering how to ‘dirty down’ your models.
With so much going on, there was also a separate screening room was running throughout the weekend for anyone who wanted a quiet moment away from the main features area.
As usual at a Fanderson convention, Saturday night was a chance for everyone to unwind with food, prize-giving, some friendly competition and a few drinks! A raffle was drawn by the irrepressible Matt Zimmerman, followed by a buffet dinner and a fiendishly challenging quiz compered by chairman Nick Williams. Some people made a special effort to dress the part, while Lady Penelope, Grandma Tracy, Marina and Captains Scarlet and Magenta were also in attendance!
Throughout the weekend, fans donated generously to the cub’s two convention charities, Children In Need and The Alzheimer’s Society. Thanks to a host of puzzles, raffles, a blind auction, buying anniversary stickers and other donations, an incredible £1,278 was raised, to be split equally between both charities.
Phew! So there we have it. Nick Williams’s closing speech helped remind us just how many people have played a part in making this convention possible. Without your contributions – large or small, this weekend or six months ago – the future wouldn’t have been quite so fantastic. Thank you!
Thank you to Mark Simpson Wedge, Sharon Ankin and Mike Burrows for use of their photos in this report.
