Author: 1266 Nick Williams

ITC Entertained The World Podcasts

Posted on by 1266 Nick Williams

Fans of the wider ITC catalogue beyond the Anderson productions are sure to be interested in the ITC Entertained The World podcast.

Host Jaz Wiseman is joined by Rodney Marshall and Al Samujh to discuss a single series or film in each issue. Each lasting around an hour, there are 11 in the series already, featuring The Baron, Danger Man, Gideon’s Way, Hammer House Of Horror, Man In A Suitcase, The Persuaders! The Saint, Strange Report, The Zoo Gang and the feature film The Tamarind Seed.

They’re all available from the link above, or you can subscribe at either iTunes or Google podcast store.

Plenty to enjoy on Gerry Anderson anniversary

Posted on by 1266 Nick Williams

As the anniversary of Gerry Anderson’s birthday (14th April) draws near, broadcasters and streaming services in the UK are planning to celebrate!

On the day itself, BritBox in the UK will offer Gerry Anderson’s Greatest Episodes. This will apparently include Gerry’s favourite ten episodes of his own productions, including linking material by the man himself. The episodes are:

  1. Stingray Pilot
  2. Thunderbirds Trapped In The Sky
  3. Thunderbirds Terror In New York City
  4. Thunderbirds Attack Of The Alligators
  5. Captain Scarlet And The Mysterons The Mysterons
  6. Joe 90 The Most Special Agent
  7. UFO A Question Of Priorities
  8. UFO Reflections In The Water
  9. Space:1999 Breakaway
  10. Space:1999 Black Sun

Surprisingly, the selection doesn’t include Gerry and Sylvia’s least known series – The Secret Service – which Gerry had told fans on many occasions was his personal favourite of all his series (and is also available on BritBox). Keen Fanderson members will know that all these episodes have been on BritBox since January, although the linking material will be new to the platform. Normally costing £5.99 per month, if you sign up to BritBox now you get a free 7-day trial.

Network Distributing are offering another of their popular Night In experiences from 14th April via their streaming platform. At just over 4½-hours, Gerry Anderson’s Night In includes Supercar False Alarm, Fireball XL5 A Day In The Life Of A Space General, Captain Scarlet And The Mysterons The Inquisition, Joe 90 The Birthday, UFO A Question Of Priorities, Space: 1999 Black Sun, Terrahawks Close Call and New Captain Scarlet Dominion in high-definition (all already available on Blu-ray Disc). Each episode has a special introduction, and special features include “some Supermarionation commercials advertising everything from Sugar Smacks to… er, more Sugar Smacks….”. All for just £4.99 for 7-day access!

The UK’s Forces TV (Freeview/YouView 96, Freesat 165, Sky 181, and Virgin 274) is inviting UFO fans to choose their favourite episode from the pre-selected shortlist of Mindbender, Sub-Smash, A Question Of Priorities, Reflections In The Water and The Cat With Ten Lives. Voting closed on 10th April. The winning episode will be broadcast at 10pm on 14th April (repeated on 17th April at 9pm), accompanied by some “never before seen on TV” footage including Gerry giving a very special introduction to the winning episode. UFO fans immediately expressed their dismay at the seemingly arbitrary episode selection, which would appear to be geared to those for which it was possible to create an introduction by the man himself.

Shout! Factory are also holding a 24-hour marathon of Anderson productions on the day for viewers in territories with the Shout! Factory TV streaming service.

Bachmann reboxes Aoshima Thunderbirds kits for Europe

Posted on by 1266 Nick Williams

Adventures In Plastic (part of the renowned railway modeller Bachmann) has recently launched a series of Thunderbirds models to the European market. The range of 11 models (essentially reboxes of the highly-regarded Japanese Aoshima kits) includes the main five rescue vehicles, plus fan favourites FAB 1, The Mole and atomic airliner Fireflash.

Completing the range is a launch bay for Thunderbird 1, which includes a model of Thunderbird 1, a very cool Transparent Thunderbird 2 with an assortment of mini rescue vehicles and a launch bay for Thunderbird 2, which includes Thunderbird 2, 3 pods and a further assortment of mini vehicles.

www.bachmann.co.uk

Virtual AGM – 27th March 2021

Posted on by 1266 Nick Williams

Fanderson’s 2021 Annual General Meeting (AGM) is today.

You can hear the facts and figures right now in a special podcast, in which host Ros Connors is joined by Fanderson chairman Nick Williams and designer/FAB co-editor Mike Jones to also get answers to members’ questions.

The club committee will also be available live on the Fanderson Forum today 12:00-13:00 UK time to answer any further questions.

 

 

 

The Fanderson Forum is back!

Posted on by 1266 Nick Williams

We’re delighted to announce that the Fanderson Forum is back! You can get to it using the link above, or under to “Social” button on the menu bar.

For a decade, the Fanderson Forum was an online place where club members could share their news, views and ideas. Unfortunately, due to insurmountable technical issues, the Forum closed in 2019.

The club’s Facebook group has continued to be a great place for Anderson fans to share their thoughts and ideas. But members have repeatedly asked when the Forum is coming back, as it offered the ability to put and follow threads in discrete spaces (modelling, fan fiction for example) rather than the stream of consciousness that is Facebook.

It looks a bit different now, and you’ll need to log in to your Fanderson account to post anything (as you do to buy merchandise or renew your membership). Your old Forum log in will not work and, sadly, we haven’t been able to recover any of the old Forum conversations.

As it’s part of your online membership account, you can be sure that you’re talking with other club members on the Forum. Although this also means that when your membership expires you’ll lose access to the Forum.

It’s a new, blank canvas. Come in and join the conversation.

 

 

Podcast 8 – Space:1999 special

Posted on by 1266 Nick Williams

Click here for Podcast 8.

THIS EPISODE: By popular demand, a Space:1999 special!

Christopher Penfold (Space:1999 Story Consultant and Scriptwriter) joins Ros, along with writer/journalist/editor David Hirsch and author Robert E Wood in a Space:1999 special. Plus more from the archive with Barry Morse recounting his time on the series.

There’s a link to all the podcasts in the menu bar above, or click here.

You can also subscribe to Fanderson podcasts at the iTunes and Google podcast stores.

Thunderbirds in 4:3 on Britbox

Posted on by 1266 Nick Williams

Britbox (the digital video subscription service created by the BBC and ITV) is replacing the widescreen versions of Thunderbirds with the original, full-screen, versions!

Fanderson members based in the UK were delighted when ITV added Thunderbirds, along with other Anderson productions and cult TV, to the streaming platform in August. They were less than happy, though, when they learned that they were the same 16:9 widescreen versions already on Blu-ray Disc. Although there is occasionally a little more picture to the left and right, about a third of the picture has been ‘cropped’ off the top and bottom. You can see the difference in the images below. The UK version also has the incongruous sound effects added for Carlton’s DVD releases in 1999, and on every UK release since.

Fans in Germany, Japan and the USA also have Thunderbirds on Blu-ray, but their versions are all in the ‘square’ 4:3 format that the series was created and first broadcast in, and with the original sound.

Now, at last, fans in the UK can enjoy the fantastic world of Thunderbirds in high-definition and in the sound/picture format as it was produced. All episodes should be available on Britbox in the new format from 1st March.

16:9

4:3

Whatever happened to FAB 1?

Posted on by 1266 Nick Williams

In Thunderbirds, it’s assumed FAB 1 met a fiery end during the crash of Skyship One. Sadly, real life is proving to be just as shocking!

Fanderson members will remember the full-size replica FAB 1 built by Melvin Jarvis, which was a star attraction at the club’s Countdown To Disaster convention in 2005 (pictured above) and was also at Gerry Anderson’s funeral in 2013. Recently, Melvin has been dealing with serious personal issues including a suspected arson attack, culminating in FAB 1 being pretty much completely burned out.

 

The good news is that Melvin’s already been able to get FAB 1 sandblasted (below) so she’s in a fit state to be rebuilt, after which he’s determined she’ll be “better and more film accurate than before”. He’s planning to share the story online soon, complete with monthly progress videos, which we’ll of course share just as soon as that happens.

Vinyl soundtrack albums now available in the Shop!

Posted on by 1266 Nick Williams

We’re delighted to announce that Silva Screen’s wonderful (and growing) collection of vinyl albums is now available for Fanderson members to buy in the Shop!

Until now, you’ll have only found products in the Fanderson shop that we’ve produced exclusively for our members. Products that we’ve had complete control over in terms of design, production and quality.

However, as Fanderson members have been so closely involved in the production of Silva Screen’s latest Anderson soundtrack releases, we’re proud to offer them to club members too!

Of course, for those who prefer CDs, we still have our own extensive range available in the Shop as well. Pop over to Soundtracks now to add the vinyl albums to your basket.

NOTES:

  • Vinyl albums will be despatched separately to other items you may buy in the same transaction.
  • UFO is due to be re-pressed at the end of the month, but we are taking orders now and will ship them as soon as we have stock.
  • Supercar is currently out of stock, but we’ll have it in the Shop just as soon as stock is available.

Martin Roberts on Celebrity Mastermind this Saturday

Posted on by 1266 Nick Williams

Television presenter Martin Roberts will be one of the contestants on the BBC’s Celebrity Mastermind quiz this coming Saturday.

Martin is the proud owner of the policeman puppet Slim from the Thunderbirds episode Martian Invasion. He was a surprise guest at Fanderson’s The Future Is Fantastic! convention in 2015, where he mingled with hundreds of other Anderson fans and was thrilled to meet Sylvia Anderson.

Perhaps not surprisingly, Martin’s specialist subject on the quiz will be Thunderbirds!

Celebrity Mastermind will be on BBC One on Saturday 6th Feb at 7pm, and available afterwards on BBC iPlayer.

[picture: Thunderbirds fan Martin Roberts at Fanderson’s The Future Is Fantastic! convention in 2015 with Martin Roberts fan, Lynn Simpson]