[UK] All Fireball XL5 episodes and Century 21 Slough now on ITVX

Although most episodes of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s productions have been available for some time on ITVX, free of charge, inexplicably only two episodes of 1962’s Fireball XL5 have been included. Now that’s been remedied, with all 39 episodes available from today on the streaming service.

Also added to ITVX today is the Century 21 Slough documentary:

On the eve of demolition, the former film studios where Stingray, Captain Scarlet And The Mysterons and Thunderbirds were launched are brought to life one last time. Join original AP Films team members as they say goodbye to the buildings, sharing memories as they tour recreated sets, models, and puppets alongside studio originals.

ITVX is free to view, with most of the Anderson content available ad-free too. There’s a free seven-day trial of the subscription Premium service (normally £5.99 a month/£59.99 a year) which offers even more content, ad-free, from the BBC, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Studio Canal.

Talking Pictures TV’s Noel Cronin awarded BEM

Film producer, editor and founder of Talking Pictures TV, Noel Cronin has been awarded the British Empire Medal in the 2024 New Year Honours, for services to Television Broadcasting.

Talking Pictures TV is a free vintage film and TV channel, and is currently the UK broadcast home of Fireball XL5 and Thunderbirds. It’s available on Freeview/Youview 82, Freesat 306, Sky channel 328 and Virgin 445.

See more on this story at the Watford Observer.

Image: Talking Pictures TV

UPDATED: Talking Thunderbirds

UPDATED 26/11/23: Judith Shutt added

UPDATED 6/11/23: Wanda and John Brown episode being broadcast on TPTV, Thursday 30th November at 19:40

UPDATED 1/11/23: Richard Conway added

UPDATED 19/10: Wanda and John Brown added


Talking Pictures TV’s online catch-up streaming service – Encore – is featuring exclusive short interviews with people who worked on Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s masterpiece series Thunderbirds.

Filmed by Fanderson member Jeff Smart, the Talking Thunderbirds series includes:

Puppet Operator Judith Shutt

Visual Effects Assistant Richard Conway

Puppeteers Wanda and John Brown

Art Director Bob Bell

Director and Writer Alan Pattillo

Voice Artist David Graham

Encore is a free service – watch via the red button on internet-connected Freeview TVs,  or register to gain access to a wealth of classic television and films.

UPDATED: Captain Scarlet originals to be auctioned

12/11/23: updated with hammer prices in red


Propstore will be auctioning over 1,800 unique and original items in one of the world’s largest auctions of film and television memorabilia between 9th and 12th November 2023, including original items from Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s 1967 series Captain Scarlet And The Mysterons.

Headline lots in the Entertainment Memorabilia Live Auction: London 2023 auction include:

  • A screen-matched light-up C-3PO (Anthony Daniels) head from Star Wars: A New Hope (1977), from the personal collection of the longest-serving star wars cast member, anthony daniels (estimated £500,000 – £1,000,000)
  • The largest collection of Blade Runner (1980) props, memorabilia and production ephemera to ever come to market – including Harrison Ford’s director’s chair (estimated £10,000 – £20,000)
  • The iconic black cowboy hat worn by Angel Eyes (Lee Van Cleef) in the legendary western The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly (1966) (estimated £50,000 – £100,000)
  • From the first bond girl to the last bond – Honey Ryder’s (Ursula Andress) bathrobe from Dr No (1962) (estimated £70,000 – £140,000) and James Bond’s (Daniel Craig) tuxedo from No Time To Die (2021) (estimated £20,000 – £40,000)
  • The hero screen-matched Freddy razor glove armature and schematic from the original A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984), (estimated £200,000 – £400,000)
  • Don Vito Corleone’s (Marlon Brando) coat from The Godfather (1972), (estimated £25,000 – £50,000)
  • Katniss Everdeen’s (Jennifer Lawrence) bow and quiver from The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013), (estimated £20,000 – £40,000)

But of particular interest to Fanderson members will be:

9th November:

    • Lot 98 Ken Turner’s personal annotated shooting script for The Mysterons (series pilot) – estimated between £1,500 and £3,000 (£2,125)
    • Lot 99 Pair of Derek Meddings’ hand-drawn sketches of mysteron rifle (£1,500 and £3,000 estimated) (£1,875)
    • Lot 100 Captain Black Head with Replica Body and Costume is estimated to fetch between £60,000 and £120,000 (£75,000)
    • Lot 101 Captain Blue Supermarionation Puppet Head (estimated £8,000 and £16,000) (£13,750)

12th November:

    • Lot 1692 Full-Size FAB 1 Rolls-Royce Bonnet “The Spirit of Ecstasy” ornament (£1,500 and £3,000 estimated) (£1,875)
    • Lot 1693 Replica Parker puppet – estimated between £800 and £1,600 (£1,125)

Propstore, one of the world’s leading entertainment memorabilia auctioneers, estimates the auction is expected to fetch over £12 million.

Global bids can be placed online, over the phone or via absentee bidding. Registration is now open online at https://propstore.com/liveauction. Online proxy bids can be submitted from October 10th 2023.

In-room bidding will be open to the public at BAFTA, 195 Piccadilly, London on the 9th & 10th November 2023. Online and telephone bids can be placed across the whole event.


 

Vote for Talking Pictures TV! (closes 14th November)

Vote now for Talking Pictures TV in the TV Choice Awards!

Talking Pictures TV, the vintage-film and nostalgia television channel founded by producer/editor Noel Cronin, recently made history for the premiere UK networked broadcast of Fireball XL5 as well as bringing back Thunderbirds for the first network broadcast in over two decades! It’s also home of the Talking Thunderbirds series of short interviews with people who worked on Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s 1964 masterpiece.

Talking Pictures TV has been shortlisted for the Favourite Channel/Streaming Service award, where it’s up against BBC iPlayer, Channel 5 and Netflix!

Vote now to show your support for “the smallest show on Earth” – Talking Pictures TV!

Voting closes on 14th November.

UPDATED: Let’s make it an Annual Affair!

UPDATED 23/11/23: Offer extended to end of December


As we prepare our winter mailing to all club members, we can now make remaining stocks of FAB Annual 2023 available to buy, just in time for Christmas.

And to really make it a Christmas to remember, until the end of November December we’ve got two great offers for you:

See all six items here. Just be sure to apply the relevant coupon code at checkout before you pay.


OFFER TERMS AND CONDITIONS (in addition to our standing Ts&Cs)

  • Discount will be applied to items as detailed above in the same transaction.
  • Apply either coupon code AnnualAffair3 or AnnualAffair6 before you pay to get the relevant discount detailed above.
  • Members must apply the coupon code themselves to get the discount. It cannot be applied after you have paid, and we cannot apply it retroactively.
  • This is an online-only offer. It cannot be redeemed via the post.
  • This offer ends on 30th November 2023, though Fanderson reserves the right to close the offer early.

UPDATED: [UK] Thunderbirds on Talking Pictures TV

Talking Pictures TV is repeating Thunderbirds from Tuesday 24th October at 19:55.


Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s 1964 series Thunderbirds is to be broadcast in the UK on Talking Pictures TV!

This will be the series’ first UK network broadcast in over two decades, when it had enjoyed a run on BBC Two. Talking Pictures TV will start their run with Trapped In The Sky on Saturday 2nd September at 15:00. See the TPTV trailer here.

Talking Pictures TV is available in the UK on Freeview/Youview 82, Freesat 306, Sky channel 328 and Virgin 445, with a streaming service at www.tptvencore.co.uk

UPDATED: Corgi SPV and Angel Interceptor re-issue

UPDATED 17/10/23: FAB 1 now available for pre-order


As well as their upcoming Stingray die-cast, Corgi has announced that they will also be re-issuing the classic Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle and Angel Interceptor models from Captain Scarlet And The Mysterons. See these and more in this video (wind through to 6:00)

Both are due to be released this autumn at £29.99 each (UK) and along with Thunderbird 2 with TB4 (£27.99) are available to pre-order now.

UPDATED: Space:1999 items up for auction – 13/14th October

UPDATED 15/10/23: We’ve updated the listing to include hammer prices (in US$).


Heritage Auctions (“The World’s Largest Collectibles Auctioneer”) will be auctioning over 550 items from the film and television science fiction in The Greg Jein Collection on 13-14th October 2023.

The landmark Greg Jein Auction features the collection of the Oscar- and Emmy-nominated miniature-maker who helped create the mothership from Close Encounters Of The Third Kind and worked on most of the Star Trek movies and TV series since 1977. Jein spent decades putting together this unparalleled assemblage, which includes one of the largest collections of Star Trek props, costumes, models and production photos ever offered to the public, from the original series to nearly every big- and small-screen sequel and spinoff that followed. They’re joined by some of the most significant pieces from sci-fi and cinema history, including his mothership maquette. It spans Jein’s beloved 1940s and ’50s serials, including Spy Smasher and Commando Cody: Sky Marshal Of The Universe, to such 1960s TV shows as Batman and Lost In Space to 2001: A Space Odyssey and Star Wars.

Lots likely to be of interest to Fanderson members:

  • 89041: photos from Supercar through to Joe 90 ($9,375)
  • 89429: Altares spaceship from The Day After Tomorrow ($15,000)
  • 89430: Gwent spaceship from The Infernal Machine ($13,750)
  • 89431: John Koenig spacesuit ($13,750)
  • 89432: Dr Helena Russell spacesuit ($13,750)
  • 89433: Moonbase Alpha rocket pack ($5,750)
  • 89434: Moonbase Alpha medical kits ($8,125)
  • 89435: three Moonbase Alpha uniforms ($18,750)
  • 89436: three Moonbase Alpha uniforms ($32,500)
  • 89437: two Moonbase Alpha uniforms plus Dr Helena Russell tunic ($16,250)

 

 

Will you win the FAB Challenge?

Something we’ve been asked for many times over the years is now, thanks to club members Matthew Teevan and Mark Whyte, finally available – the exclusive FAB Challenge card game from Fanderson!

Easy to play, but fiendish to master, FAB Challenge presents 40 of the greatest vehicles from Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s productions in a card game. Accompanying the brand-new vehicle artwork on each card is the FAB Spec & Tech, from which you must choose one item to beat your opponents and seize the hand!

LIMITED TIME INTRODUCTORY OFFER: We know that some members will want to play FAB Challenge with their friends and family, whilst keeping a set pristine (possibly unopened!). So, put two in your basket together and apply the coupon code FABChallenge before you pay and you’ll save £4! This offer will expire on 1st October 2023.

IMPORTANT: Members must apply the coupon code to get the discount. It cannot be applied after you have paid, and we cannot apply it retroactively.