A Fanderson convention is coming and…

The Future is Fantastic!

The Future is Fantastic! And 2nd – 4th October 2015 is going to be a particularly special time to be a fan of Gerry Anderson. Start counting the days: Fanderson will be holding its first full-weekend convention in five years in 2015!

Scheduled to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Thunderbirds and soon after the launch of the new series, there’s never been a better time to attend a Gerry Anderson convention. It’s a chance to catch up with old friends and make new ones. These events are all about making great memories and celebrating with your fellow fans, so we thought we’d share some of our favourite convention snaps to get you in the mood!

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The Future is Fantastic offers fans an entire weekend of entertainment, including:

  • rare screenings
  • special guest appearances and talks
  • displays of models, puppets and artwork
  • exclusive merchandise
  • interactive workshops
  • games…

…and a few little surprises!

We’ve selected the Holiday Inn Maidenhead as the venue for the event following extremely positive feedback from attendees at Expect the Unexpected, where we celebrated the 30th anniversary of Terrahawks last year.The hotel is a short drive from the AP Films, Century 21 and Pinewood studios, and a vast number of filming locations just waiting to be explored.

Getting there

Maidenhead is just over half an hour on the train from London Paddington, and the hotel is conveniently located near the M25, M4 and M40 motorways, as well as Heathrow Airport for anyone planning to come from overseas.

Registrations

Registrations for The Future is Fantastic will open soon, so save the date (2nd – 4th October 2015), and stay tuned to www.fanderson.org.uk for more details!

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Francis Matthews has died

Fanderson is saddened to hear of the death of Francis Matthews, aged 86. Francis was an accomplished actor who starred in Paul Temple and appeared in several Hammer films. Yet he will always be remembered by fans and the general public for voicing Captain Scarlet, where he deployed his amazing Cary Grant impersonation to great effect. Francis attended Fanderson’s Sector 25 event in 2006, where he was interviewed alongside Cy Grant and Matt Zimmerman.

Leave your tributes and memories on:

Fanderson’s Facebook Group
The anderson Forum

By coincidence, the next issue of FAB, shown  below, becomes a fitting tribute to Francis. He will be sadly missed.

FAB - Franics Matthews tribute

 

 

Listen out for Barry Gray music at Glastonbury!

Barry GrayRenowned music conductor Charles Hazlewood has revealed that he will conduct a 45-minute suite of Barry Gray music at Glastonbury this year. The performance will take place at 1pm, on Sunday, June 29th on the Park Stage.

The Charles Hazlewood Allstars will be playing, featuring musicians from Goldfrapp, Portishead, Get the Blessing and Loose Tubes. Francois Evans will also be appearing, playing Barry Gray’s original Ondes Martenot.

Ralph Titterton, of the Barry Gray Archive, is working with musical arranger Ian Gardiner to prepare the arrangements, which are being written from Barry’s original scores. Although the music to be played has yet to be finally confirmed, it will feature scores from Fireball XL5, Stingray, Captain Scarlet, UFO and Thunderbirds.

It is yet to be confirmed whether the BBC will be broadcast the set as part of their extensive coverage of the festival.

Find out more about…

Glastonbury Festival: www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk

Charles Hazlewood: www.charleshazlewood.com

Barry Gray Archive: www.barrygray.co.uk

Mike Trim and Alan Shubrook to appear at RAF Museum London

Royal Air Force Museum London

Artist and designer Mike Trim and model-maker Alan Shubrook will be make guest appearances at the RAF Museum London in May.

Model Futures will examine the art of science fiction model making in film and television through a series of talks and presentations on 11th May.

The special one-day event celebrates the art of science fiction model making in film and television with talks and presentations by industry insiders.

At 12 noon there will be a one-hour presentation by Alan Shubrook on how the Thunderbirds episodes were made, including hundreds of behind-the-scenes photographs.

At 3pm Mike Trim discusses his artwork in conversation with Mat Irvine.

Find out more and book your ticket now!

Short film marks anniversary of Barry Gray’s death

The 30th anniversary of the death of composer Barry Gray has been marked by the release of a short film produced by Len Davies and Ralph Titterton of The Barry Gray Archive.

Created from the composer’s personal collection of home movies, Len Davies has edited a short film that portrays the character of the man who was Barry Gray. Together with the soundtrack of the March for Thunderbirds, it is hoped that this will be a fitting tribute to mark the 30th anniversary of his death on 26th April 1984.

First screened during the 2008 Barry Gray Centenary Concert, this will be the first time this film has become publically available for all to see.

Further information about Barry Gray and the Barry Gray Archive can be found at: www.barrygray.co.uk

Happy Birthday Gerry Anderson!

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Raise a glass today…

Today would have been Gerry Anderson’s 85th birthday. Although we lost Gerry in 2012, we can celebrate all that he brought us during his life by raising a glass or two in his honour.

Happy Birthday Gerry Anderson!

Tony Barnes Obituary

R.I.P Tony Barnes
Fanderson was saddened to hear of the loss of our friend and colleague Tony Barnes on 10th February. Here is the complete unedited obituary that has been published in FAB 77.

It seems that hardly an issue of FAB appears without carrying an obituary for one of our much-loved personalities from the Worlds of Gerry Anderson. Often it is hard to come to terms with. When it’s a friend and colleague it becomes personal and more difficult to comprehend. On 10th February 2014 we heard the sad news that Anthony Barnes had passed away just 57 years old.

Tony had been a member of Fanderson for a number of years and was always keen to support the club. I got to know him and Tony Freeman through numerous visits to memorabilia and toy fairs as well as club events. Back in 2007 he was offered and accepted the role of Sales Assistant. I could think of no-one more suited to the position. So for the past seven years, ‘Big Tone’ as he was affectionately known had tirelessly been packaging our merchandise orders and trooping off to the Post Office with the goods in all weathers. Every now and then I’d visit him with yet more stock, there was always time for a cuppa and a chat. He could talk the hind legs of a donkey but he always had an ear to listen and often gave sound advice. We’ve lost a colleague but more importantly a mate.

He had many friends but none more so than Tony Freeman or ‘Little Tone’ who can best continue with his personal view of what Tony Barnes meant to him.

Stephen Brown, Fanderson Sales Administrator

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My Mate Barnesey – A Personal Journey

By Tony Freeman (‘Little Tone’)

I first met Barnesey at the beginning of the nineties. For me, they were hard times. I had just moved house, I had lost my job and there was no money coming in.

One day, I returned from job hunting to find a card from the postman about a parcel that was too big to leave and was at the sorting office. So the following day I drove to town to pick up the parcel. It was huge, I had no idea what it was and bundled it into the boot. I tore into it there and then – curious to see what was inside. It was all three seasons of original Star Trek on video. I had won a magazine competition which I had entered some months previous. After all the recent hard luck I felt elated as that eight year old child re-emerged in me. So excited in fact that I drove the car to see a buddy of mine called Paul. He owned a video store, was a movie buff and a great lover of the original Star Trek. I struggled into the shop with this huge parcel and laid it in front of him. His eyes lit up and promptly picked up the phone “Hi, it’s me. Have you got five minutes to pop round?” he said, “Ok” was the reply.

A short while later, a big bear of a man walked into the shop, it was Tony. After introductions, he stared longingly at the parcel. So between us, we removed the 40 videos from the box and lined them up on the shop counter, stood back and bathed in their glory. And that was how it started, Tony being generous in nature then opened up his heart and his home to me.

It turned out we had lots in common from Star Trek to Gerry Anderson, from Star Wars to Lord of the Rings, and that meant we had lots to talk about. We also had the same passion for model making and figure painting and he would tell me stories of his visits to Woolworths to buy Airfix kits when he was young. He tried hard to introduce me to war gaming but I never took to that but marvelled at his painted miniatures.

During those early years Tony and I helped a friend, Brian, out on his stall at a local toy fair. We even put a few of our built and painted model pieces on display and we sold them. That went well and so we started to take a stand at various fairs and called ourselves TNT Hobbies. People seemed to like us and what we did and so for over a decade we displayed and sold many, many pieces whilst filling the rest of the stall with no longer wanted treasures from our collections. Half the time though, Tony would be meeting and talking to people whilst I tried to serve the customers!

I would generally build the models whilst Tony would bring the piece alive with his skill as a master painter.

Did we make much money? Not really. We usually spent more than half of what we made on more merchandise that we had seen at the fair. We would quite often sell pieces from our collection at a local car boot fair until one day we were badly rained on, destroying huge portions of our stuff. Tony vowed he would never stand again at another car boot after that.

I carried on and despite what he said Tony did too in a way, as on many occasions he would still come and visit me. He would come armed with coffee and bacon butties from the nearby tuck wagon and would stay for hours with me and just talk. He’d keep me company. He was like that.

Tony created the TNT website, all his own work, to display the vast collection of photos we’d amassed of the models we had built. He wanted to inspire people to try and do the same. We often took a tired old model kit and some bits and bobs and tried to turn it into a kind of art I guess. Most of all, through TNT he wanted to show how cool it was to be a geek, regardless of age. We started to visit a vast amount of memorabilia fairs as well as various exhibitions and conventions and through all of these made a staggering amount of new friends.

We were known as Big Tone and Little Tone or T’n’T. It seemed like we were joined at the hip for a while as we were seen everywhere together. Sometimes we might be overwhelming at times, a force of nature, with our enthusiasm for all things geeky. With his bear-like presence he was never afraid to say hello and welcome you into his life. We saw each other quite often during those years constantly meeting up or telephoning each other. I could often hear Christine in the background of a call going “Have you two finished yet? I want to make a call” or “Are we paying for this call?”. Tony could talk for England and I guess when I was with him, so could I. They were good times.

Sadly TNT hobbies faded away during the early 2000s with the ease of Ebay selling, and more professional organisations creating pre-painted models and figurines. But we continued to attend toy fairs and such like, still buying those elusive treasures.

During those later years he would divide his time between his duties as President of the Gaming Club Network and as despatch co-ordinator for Fanderson. Many a time I would drive him to the post office with sacks full of parcels. He didn’t need a full time job, he already had two! Sometimes he would moan about this or that to do with the clubs and I would say “Well pack it in then” to which he replied “Don’t be daft”. He loved it you see, there was no ego, he never bragged, he just loved being part of it and helping out.

During these past few years it’s sometimes been hard to tie him down with me on shift work and his duties between the clubs, especially the GCN which would have him travelling far and wide around the country. But nevertheless we would always set aside every other Friday morning when I was on afters to get together at his place and have a chat. He’d get the kettle on and I would fetch the bacon butties from the local bakery. We talked about most things, some good, some bad: you could, it was easy with him. Recently we had even started to talk about our own mortality and that, given our age, perhaps it was time to start winding down the collections. Which would then be followed with “Have you seen this new figure that’s coming out?” or “Look what’s out on Blu-ray next week. We’ve got to have that!” We had started to plan which shows we were going to this year, Brit Sci-Fi, Andercon, Small Space, Cosford , Alpha 2014 and many more. We were trying to figure out how we were going to fund them and, more importantly, how we were going to tell the wives!

You never stayed melancholy in Tony’s presence, he would always pick you up and dust you down, remind you to never give up or to never grow up. He proved that you don’t need to be a scholar, a celebrity or a politician to make a difference to people’s lives. Just an open heart and a generous soul.

Now I look back on that day all those years ago in Paul’s shop as those three Star Trekkers bathed in video glory and realise that sadly I’m now the last man standing as Paul too was tragically taken from us at an early age. But what I do realise though is that I won more than some videos that day. More importantly I won a new friend, a soul mate, a brother – my mate Barnesey.

Safe journey my dear friend, I’ll see you again one day. It might be a while but when I find you, get the kettle on. I’m sure we’ll have lots more tales to tell………..

What’s that?………

No, I won’t forget the bacon butties.

 

42 guests at Andercon and counting…

Andercon ticketsThings are hotting up as we approach April – the month of Andercon!

A flurry of exciting new guests have been announced for the event, and the guest list now stands at 42 members of the cast and crew of every single Anderson show from Twizzle to New Captain Scarlet, including members of new project Gemini Force One!

Anderson Entertainment and Network have joined forces to screen some exclusive and never-before-seen transfers and restorations over the weekend – which they’ll be announcing in the coming weeks.

New additions to the line-up also include Andy Rolfe’s beautiful SPV interior recreation and the Model T Ford “Gabriel” as driven by Stanley Unwin in The Secret Service.

Andercon takes place over the weekend of 19th-20th April at the Park Inn Hotel, London Heathrow.

Find out more about the event and book your tickets online at www.andercon.co.uk

Cosford Flights of Fantasy tickets now on sale

Cosford logoStop Press >>  Martin Bower, Ken Holt, Robin McDonald and Shane Rimmer will be attending!

From 17-18th May, the RAF Museum Cosford will be hosting one of the largest ever exhibitions of original puppets and memorabilia  from the iconic shows of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. The event will feature a wide range of original puppets of iconic characters, including Lady Penelope, Joe 90, Steve Zodiac, Captain Scarlet, Father Unwin and many more.

Many of the puppets are newly discovered and restored and are on public display for the first time, including:

  • the ‘smiler’ Joe 90
  • Rhapsody Angel
  • Fraser from the Captain Scarlet episode Crater 101

There will also be a stunning display of models, costumes, vehicles and sets from Space 1999 and UFO, courtesy of the All Sections Alpha exhibition team. Their largest display ever will include newly discovered original models from UFO,. There will also be a once in a lifetime opportunity to view the original Eagle One and Eagle Two 44″ studio models, amongst many others.

The exhibition will be taking place in the National Cold War Exhibition against a backdrop of aircraft which inspired the look and design of many of Gerry Anderson shows.

The event runs from 10.00AM to 16.30PM, with free admission to the exhibition.

Guest talks

There is also the chance to buy tickets for exclusive guest talks at the Museum. Taking place in the bunker style Lecture Theatre, visitors will be treated to an audience with creators, producers, model makers, puppeteers and voice artists, including:

  • Sylvia Anderson; co-creator, producer and the voice of Lady Penelope
  • Brian Johnson; special effects Thunderbirds and Space 1999, 2001, Oscar winner for The Empire Strikes Back
  • Alan Perry; director Captain Scarlet, Joe 90, UFO
  • Alan Shubrook; model maker Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet, Joe 90, The Secret Service, UFO.  Alan will be providing an exclusive presentation of his own collection of backstage photos from his days working on the shows
  • Tony Day; model maker Thunderbird 6 and Doppleganger. (provisional)
  • Mary Turner; puppeteer, puppet designer, Supercar through to Secret Service.  Mary sculpted characters such as Steve Zodiac, Troy Tempest, Captain Scarlet and Lady Penelope
  • Judith Shutt; puppet operator Stingray through to Secret Service

* Alan will be providing an exclusive presentation of his own collection of backstage photos from his days working on the shows Tony Day; model maker Thunderbird 6 and Doppleganger.

One day tickets cost £25.00, weekend tickets cost £40.00 and are available to buy online.

The tickets include entry to guest seminars and Free car parking.

Book your tickets for Britscifi 2014!

BritScifiLogo-300x99 National_Space_CentreThunderbirds voice artists David Graham, Matt Zimmerman and Shane Rimmer will be attending Britscifi at the Leicester Space Centre from 1st – 2nd March. The voice artists behind three of the Tracy brother (Alan, Gordon, and Scott), as well as Brains and Parker will be rubbing shoulders with stars from ‘old’ and ‘new’ Doctor Who, The Tomorrow People and Red Dwarf.

A few other very special guests to look out are:

  • Phil Ford – New Captain Scarlet chief script writer!
  • M G Harris – the author of Gerry Anderson’s Gemini Force One!
  • Jamie Anderson – Head of Production at Anderson Entertainment!

An event day pass allows you entry to the National Space Centre, including all six galleries, the Rocket Tower and SIM ride. The pass also gives you access to the whole event (some activities will incur an additional charge – autographs, professional photo shoot, some talks and A Dog’s Life).

Book your tickets for Briscifi