Author: 1266 Nick Williams

Christmas TV – not EastEnders again!

Posted on by 1266 Nick Williams

At a loss for some quality seasonal television from the broadcasters this Christmas? Why not dig out the TVTimes special that we mailed with FAB last year (and again recently for new members)?

Surround yourself with some treats and a little something to wash it all down, then feast out all day on the very best seasonal Gerry and Sylvia Anderson entertainment (and remember, Stingray A Christmas To Remember is just one of the many programmes now available in high definition).

PS – Obviously, but just in case anyone thought otherwise, in the supplement the 40th Anniversary Quiz closed on 31st January 2021, and Six-Five Special offers were valid until 14th February 2021!

Space:1999 helmet from Sixteen 12

Posted on by 1266 Nick Williams
Sixteen 12, the diecast models and collectibles specialist, has announced the summer 2022 release of their replica Space:1999 helmets.

Limited to just 200 copies worldwide, the full-size scale replica features:

  • hinged visor
  • handmade in fibreglass, with authentic details and fully lined interior
  • display stand
  • aluminium plaque featuring unique individual edition number
  • Koenig, Russell, Carter or Maya labelling

RRP is £299.99, but early-bird ordering opens on 14th January 2022. See more at www.sixteen12.com

Stingray coming to Blu-ray Disc in 2022

Posted on by 1266 Nick Williams

Network have finally confirmed what we’ve been hoping for (and they’ve been hinting at) for ages. Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s groundbreaking underwater series Stingray is being remastered in high definition for a release on Blu-ray Disc in 2022!

The series will be offered in two limited edition boxsets. For £80, the Deluxe edition includes:

  • Exclusive, limited edition deluxe packaging
  • Brand-new Stingray comic
  • Brand-new Stingray book by archive television historian Andrew Pixley
  • Gerry Anderson commentaries on the pilot and Stand By For Action
  • The Reunion Party – HD remaster of the Japanese Stingray presentation footage
  • Give-a-Show projector image gallery
  • Sylvia Anderson interview part 2
  • Walton home movies
  • Image gallery (5 mins)
  • Stingray WASP pilot license and badge
  • Brand-new mini adventure CD
  • Stingray ephemera wallet
  • Lincoln toy advert
  • Lyons Maid advert
  • Des O’Connor Show sketch
  • Ad bumpers
  • French end credits
  • Century 21 Tech Talk: Stingray
  • Stingray TV21 audio adventures
  • Remastered and reconstructed Super Space Theater films The Incredible Voyage Of Stingray and Invaders From The Deep (to be shipped separately in summer 2022)

For an extra £30, the Super-Deluxe edition adds:

  • Super Deluxe edition box
  • Luxury hardcover memorabilia album
  • Replica Stingray pressbook
  • Two bespoke art prints
  • Stingray aqua blue 7″ vinyl EP

Both sets are expected to be released in April 2022, and can be pre-ordered now at Network.

In the meantime, to whet your appetite A Christmas To Remember is available to stream, free of charge, until 18:00 on Sunday 26th December.

Have A Christmas To Remember!

Posted on by 1266 Nick Williams

Following hot on the heels of their recent You’ve Never Seen These night, Network are offering fans a chance to watch another episode of Stingray in high definition!

From 19:00 on Wednesday 22nd December, Network will be streaming their remastered A Christmas To Remember episode, free! And, from the teaser preview, it looks in even better quality than Treasure Down Below, which they showed previously.

The episode will then be available to watch over and over again, free, until 18:00 on Sunday 26th December! Don’t miss out – register for your free Network On Air account now!

UPDATED: David Nightingale RIP

Posted on by 1266 Nick Williams

It is with great sadness that we report that David Nightingale, one of Fanderson’s founding members and biggest personalities, has died.

David created Supermarionation Is Go! magazine in 1981 and it was to be the bedrock of the club when Gerry Anderson worked with fans to create Fanderson. The quality of SiG was exemplary for a fan magazine, and continued in SiG’s successor Century 21 and the classic television magazine Timescreen. David’s quality ethos was to spur him on to open not one but two Thunderbooks stores, and then to embrace online trading by opening Star Trader. His most recent work for the club brought him full circle as he worked with Mike Jones on the SiG 21 anniversary special.

Larger than life, with a great bubbly, friendly personality, David was a huge fan of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s work. He was a regular fixture behind a merchandise table at conventions, where he made many friends.

We will have a full obituary for David Nightingale in FAB 100.

UPDATE 7th December: You should be able to join the live stream of David’s funeral at https://www.blackpoolfunerals.live/

UPDATE: David’s son Stephen advises that the funeral will be held at 12:15 on Wednesday 15th December at  Lytham Crematorium, Regent Ave, Lytham Saint Annes FY8 4AB followed by the wake at Blackpool Cricket Club, West Park Drive, Blackpool FY3 9EQ.

The family would like to thank everyone for their kind words and would love to see as many faces as possible at the funeral but understand not everyone can make the day. With that in mind, they have arranged for the funeral to be streamed (details to follow).

The family have discussed donations (“My dad wasn’t a flower man, he was more into his Thunderbird puppets”) and ask that any donations go towards his grandson’s tour with Foxhall Under 11s football team:

  • account: Foxhall Juniors FC
  • sort code: 201003
  • account: 33535924
  • swiftbic code: BUKBGB22
  • iban: GB90 BUKB 2010 0333 5359 24

30% off in Network’s To Santa promotion

Posted on by 1266 Nick Williams

Four Feather Falls, Terrahawks volumes 1, 2 and 3 and Dick Spanner DVDs are all available with 30% off in Network’s To Santa promotion.

Also included, and of interest to Supermarionation fans, is The Adventures Of Rupert Bear complete series DVD. This is the series Mary Turner and John read made for ITC once the Century 21 puppet stages had closed.

Network’s To Santa promotion ends at 16:00 on Thursday 9th December 2021.

You’ve Never Seen These, 25th November

Posted on by 1266 Nick Williams

 

Network has announced another Anderson-themed night of programmes on their streaming service.

The trailer for the free You’ve Never Seen These event on 25th November gives little away of the content other than promising “four complete early Gerry Anderson programmes”. The trailer is full of clips from Supercar and Fireball XL5 (both released by Network on Blu-ray Disc) and You’ve Never Seen This – a light-hearted 1955 documentary series for Associated-Rediffusion and previously screened at Fanderson conventions.

UPDATE: The line-up consisted of the sole known surviving episode of You’ve Never Seen This, Supercar Pirate Plunder and Fireball XL5 The Granatoid Tanks in ‘Supercolourisation‘. Finally, after playing Stingray Treasure Down Below in HD, Network confirmed that it’s working on a full HD release of the series with the cryptic “Anything can happen in the next half-year”…

PRE-ORDER: Space:1999 Super Space Theater Blu-rays!

Posted on by 1266 Nick Williams

Network have announced a superb new Super Space Theater Blu-ray Disc boxset!

In the late-70s/early-80s ITC (capitalising on the success of Star Wars) edited episodes of several Gerry and Sylvia Anderson productions to create what would ultimately become thirteen full-length movies for cable and home video under the banner Super Space Theater. The four made from episodes of Space:1999 – Alien Attack, Journey Through The Black Sun, Cosmic Princess and Destination Moonbase Alpha are being released in a Blu-ray Disc boxset from Network.

All four movies can be watched in their original 4:3 aspect ratio or in a new 16:9 widescreen special edition. Extra features include (dependant on the film) original episode or movie soundtrack, trailers and original titles. The boxset also includes Spazio 1999 – the Italian cinema edit, eschewing the original Barry Gray score for one by Ennio Morricone.

With delivery expected from 31st January 2022, the boxset is available for pre-order now for just £40 (rising to £50 in January).

FAB: Incoming on runway 99!

Posted on by 1266 Nick Williams

Have there really been 99 issues of FAB magazine? Yep, we’ve popped FAB 99 in the post today!

In this issue:

  • Inspecting Morse – Ian Fryer’s examination of Barry Morse’s seven decade career
  • Love it? Hate it? Chris Drake is affected by the lambda variant as he takes a look at Space:1999 The Lambda Factor
  • Alistair McGown goes back in time to Blackpool in 1977 to recover Gerry Anderson’s Space City exhibition from his personal memory bank
  • John Wilkinson takes a trip round the UK to see when Anderson shows were first seen in colour in the various ITV regions
  • Jonathan Baxter loves Lady Penelope so much that he surrounds himself with her various Tracy Lounge portraits
  • club members give their views on Joe 90 Project 90 in our regular Timelash column, with an exclusive cutaway painting of the Darota Clinic by artist Graham Bleathman
  • Alistair McGown looks at the life and career of Joe 90 Project 90‘s director – Peter Anderson
  • the fifth part of our exclusive Thunderbirds Are Go photo-strip by Jonathan Baxter
  • obituaries to Shaun Whittacker-Cook and George Gibbs
  • take a look through Lady Penelope’s wardrobe in our competition
  • plus FAB news, FAB Mail and more

With this FAB we’ve mailed a third set of our 40 FAB Years picture cards. Stick with us and by the end of the year you should have a full set (and an album to put them all in – photo corners/Gloy gum not included)!

FAB 99 also sees the second wave of deliveries of our 2021 membership gift – the oft-requested 7″ Barry Gray EPs from 1986 and 1988, together on our exclusive new CD! We can only give this CD away as part of our membership package, so if you get a renewal notice with FAB 99, make sure you renew by the date given on it so that you don’t miss out!

This mailing also includes your 40th anniversary badge, which we stupidly missed out of the FAB 98 mailing!

If you were late renewing your membership, and so haven’t been included in the FAB 99 mailing, we haven’t forgotten you. Your membership will re-start with FAB 100.

Mail is still being affected by the pandemic, so please be patient whilst your FAB 99 wings its way to you. Amazingly, we know from experience that members living in the same town can receive their packages days apart! Nonetheless, if you’re worried your package might have gone missing in the post (having allowed a reasonable amount of time), please check our Shipping And Returns page before contacting us.

Anyone who missed FAB 98 can now buy it as a back issue, and last year’s membership item – Century 21 Complete Puppet Catalogue – is also now available to buy in the Shop.

How to get FAB magazine? Join Fanderson!

FAB magazine is available exclusively to Fanderson club members – we usually publish three times a year, and do our very best to make each issue a joy to read for every fan – regardless of your favourite Anderson series!