Judy Preece is coming to Special Assignment

Posted on 12th June 2017 by 1266 Nick Williams

We’re delighted to confirm that Judy Preece will be attending Special Assignment, the premier Anderson convention of 2017!

Judy worked as a puppeteer on Terrahawks, where she helped to craft the ‘Supermacromation’ style of direct hand-controlled puppets. She has has also performed on Little Shop of Horrors, Labyrinth, Fun Factory and Spitting Image, and appeared on screen in The Wild Bunch and The Muppet Christmas Carol.

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Tickets to Special Assignment start at just £65 per person for one day, or £110 for the whole weekend. We’ve managed to keep the ticket price the same as The Future Is Fantastic! convention in 2015 because we’re a fan club and no one is taking a salary. Saturday-only or Sunday-only tickets do not include the Saturday evening meal or any other refreshments that are included in the weekend ticket.

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Dee Anderson to attend Special Assignment

Posted on 1st June 2017 by 1266 Nick Williams

We are delighted to announce that Dee Anderson will be attending Special Assignment later this year!

Born in Mississippi, USA, Dee came to London as a child, growing up in a world of celebrity and entertainment while her parents – Gerry and Sylvia Anderson – were making Thunderbirds and their other iconic shows.

She has appeared in numerous UK theatre and television productions (The Bill, London’s Burning) and worked alongside legendary actors and performers. She also followed in her mother’s footsteps earlier this year in voicing Lady Penelope in the Halifax national advertising campaign.

Her recent return to her singing career has been extremely successful, with her album Love in a Dark Place being favourably reviewed in the national press, and a national radio campaign and tour of jazz venues taking place throughout the country. She has also written THE DREAM MAKERS, a new Musical, in association with the international franchise Stagecoach Theatre Art.

We look forward to welcoming Dee to Special Assignment to talk about her life, memories of her parents and playing Lady Penelope!

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Captain Scarlet book to launch at Special Assignment

Posted on 11th May 2017 by 1266 Nick Williams

Captain Scarlet: The Vault

Special Assignment will see the launch of a lavish new book by former Fanderson chairman Chris Bentley. Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons: The Vault celebrates the 50th anniversary of the classic series and is fully authorised by ITV Studios Global Entertainment. We can reveal the cover here for the first time.

Publisher Marcus Hearn was the author of 2015’s Thunderbirds: The Vault. “I see this very much as the follow-up,” he says. “Fanderson’s Mike Jones designed the Thunderbirds book, and I’m pleased to say that he’s working with us on this new project too. Chris Bentley has come up with an amazing amount of material, and we’ve commissioned new photography of the original puppets, studio models and vintage merchandise. We can’t wait to share what we’ve done.”

Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons: The Vault is published by Signum Books on 6 October, but Chris will be signing advance copies at the Special Assignment convention on 30 September and 1 October.

TICKET PRICES WILL RISE VERY SOON – SO SIGN UP TODAY!

Tickets to Special Assignment start at just £55 per person for one day, or £90 for the whole weekend. We’ve managed to keep the ticket price the same as The Future Is Fantastic! convention in 2015 because we’re a fan club and no one is taking a salary. Note that Saturday-only or Sunday-only tickets do not include the Saturday evening meal or any other refreshments that are included in the weekend ticket.

Find out more and register now

Guest update: Terry Adlam confirmed for Special Assignment

Posted on 7th May 2017 by 1266 Nick Williams

Dick Spanner - Special Assignment We are very pleased to announce that Terry Adlam will be attending Special Assignment later this year. Terry’s association with Gerry Anderson began when he joined the visual effects team on Terrahawks. He then went on to become the creator, writer and director behind the stop motion comedy series Dick Spanner, that aired in 1986.

Terry has been an enthusiastic supporter of recent Fanderson conventions, and attended both Expect the Unexpected and The Future is Fantastic! in 2013 and 2015 respectively. As an experienced comedy writer, we’re looking forward to hearing some funny stories on stage!

TICKET PRICES WILL RISE VERY SOON – SO SIGN UP TODAY!

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Alan Perry is coming to Special Assignment

Posted on 2nd May 2017 by 1266 Nick Williams

Captain Scarlet - Alan Perry

We’re thrilled to announce that director Alan Perry will be attending Special Assignment later this year.

Alan joined AP Films as a camera operator on Stingray and Thunderbirds, before cutting his directorial teeth on Captain Scarlet, where he directed some of the series’s most popular episodes, including The Trap and Heart of New York. He then went on to direct episodes of Joe 90, The Secret Service and UFO. A flamboyant character and firm favourite at conventions, we’re looking forward to having Alan with us to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Captain Scarlet!

TICKET PRICES WILL RISE VERY SOON – SO SIGN UP TODAY!

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UFO’s Georgina Moon and Penny Spencer sign up for Special Assignment

Posted on 25th April 2017 by 1266 Nick Williams

We are thrilled to announce that UFO’s Georgina Moon and Penny Spencer will be attending Special Assignment this year.

Georgina played beautiful Skydiver operative Lt. Sylvia Howell, and also appeared in a number of Carry On films. Penny Spencer played an unnamed SHADO control operative, but is best remembered for her role as schoolgirl Sharon Eversleigh in the LWT comedy series, Please Sir!

We are really excited about welcoming both Georgina and Penny to the event, and asking them to share their memories of working on UFO. It will be a – sadly – increasingly rare treat to hear from actors who worked on set with the likes on Ed Bishop, Georges Sewell and Michael Billington. You won’t want to miss this.

TICKET PRICES WILL RISE VERY SOON – SO SIGN UP TODAY!

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Brian Johnson signs up for Special Assignment

Posted on 12th March 2017 by 1266 Nick Williams

Space :999 Eagle Transporter

We are very happy to announce that Brian Johnson will be attending Special Assignment.

As well as working on Supercar, Fireball XL5, Stingray and Thunderbirds, Brian contributed to many famous film productions, including 2001: A Space Odyssey, Alien, and Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. Of course, he was also responsible for creating special effects on Space 1999, and designing the now iconic Eagle Transporter.

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Nicholas Parsons joins the Special Assignment guest list

Posted on 24th February 2017 by 1266 Nick Williams

Spectrum needs you for a special assignment We are very excited to announce that Nicholas Parsons will be joining the guest list of Special Assignment in October.

Nicholas wrote his name into the Anderson universe when he was cast as the voice of Sheriff Tex Tucker in Four Feather Falls.

The hero of the show, Nicholas’s character Tex kept the peace in the eponymous small town in Kansas, with the aid of four magic feathers which allowed his dog and horse to talk, and his guns to swivel and fire by themselves!

Four Feather Falls is of course just a tiny part of Nicholas’s long career in television, radio and theatre, and he is perhaps best remembered for his role as gameshow host on the hugely popular Sale of the Century.

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New Captain Scarlet’s Phil Ford to attend Special Assignment

Posted on 15th February 2017 by 1266 Nick Williams

Captain Scarlet

We are very happy to announce that writer Phil Ford will be attending Special Assignment in October.

As head writer on New Captain Scarlet, Phil was one of the biggest influences on the creative development of the series, and is well-placed to reflect on the merits of the original show, which of course celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. We hope to have long in-depth discussions with him about old and new Scarlets alike over the convention weekend!

Having penned almost every New Captain Scarlet script in the early 2000s, Phil has since made his mark on the Doctor Who universe, writing regularly for the main series, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures

Stay tuned for further guest announcements very soon.

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Mike Trim confirms attendance at Special Assignment

Posted on 27th January 2017 by 1266 Nick Williams

Fanderson Mike Trim 1

We are thrilled to announce that Mike Trim will be attending Special Assignment in October.

A popular figure with fans at conventions, Mike began working for Gerry and Sylvia Anderson as a modelmaker and designer in the final days of Stingray. He then went on to work on Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, Joe 90, The Secret Service, and UFO, as well as the Thunderbirds and Doppelganger feature films.

Having worked closely with Derek Meddings for many years, Mike will be able to offer an invaluable insight into how the Century 21 series were produced. He joins what is already a great list of special guests for what will be Fanderson’s first full-weekend convention in five years:

Peter Hitchcock – AP Films projectionist, lip-sync operator and ‘puppet hand’ in his first convention appearance
Shane and Sheila Rimmer – Thunderbirds’s Scott Tracy and Captain Scarlet writer
David Graham – the man of a thousand voices, including Parker from Thunderbirds
Mary Turner – sculptor and puppeteer
Graham Bleathman – prolific cut-away artist
Mike Noble – TV Century 21 artist
Mike Trim – modelmaker and designer
Liz Morgan – the voice of Destiny and Rhapsody Angels in Captain Scarlet

…and there will be plenty more announcements coming soon!

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