UFO

FAB 98: Winging its way to you!

Posted on by 1266 Nick Williams

We’re delighted to report that FAB 98 is now winging its way to hundreds of Fanderson members around the world. Hopefully, for many it should arrive just in time for the club’s 40th anniversary – 20th August 2021.

In this issue:

  • Ian Fryer looks at the birth of ITV, and how Noddy led to The Adventures Of Twizzle (via The Woodentops)
  • club members give their views on UFO Kill Straker! in our regular Timelash column
  • Chris Drake looks back at Stingray The Cool Caveman
  • we return for a fourth visit to the UFO comic strips in Countdown and TV Action
  • Alistair McGown explains how FOMO (fear of missing out) isn’t a new phenomenon – he experienced it with Space:1999
  • Andrew Clements’ account of adapting the 60s Thunderbirds novel for a new audience
  • we celebrate 60 years of the first Supermarionation series – Supercar – including an exclusive cutaway of Black Rock Base by Graham Bleathman
  • the fourth part of our exclusive Thunderbirds Are Go photo-strip by Jonathan Baxter
  • enter our competition to win a UFO Visual Archives book
  • plus FAB news, FAB Mail and more

With this FAB we’ve mailed a second 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)!

FAB 98 also sees the first deliveries of our 2021 membership gift. For this special year we wanted to revisit two of our most popular and oft-requested gifts – the 7″ Barry Gray EPs given to members in 1986 and 1988. We’ve given them a bit of a brush-up and they’re both 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 98 or 99, make sure you renew so that you don’t miss out!

If you missed out on last year’s membership gift (or just want a second copy), the fantastic Century 21 Complete Puppet Catalogue is now available in the Shop.

Note that we made a mistake with the competition closing date and ‘renew by’ date – they should both read 30th September 2021. Sorry!

Annoyingly, as we completed the mailing we also noticed the box of this year’s anniversary enamel club badges – one of each should have gone in the packages! We’ll keep them safe and mail them with FAB 99.

If you were late renewing your membership, and so haven’t been included in the FAB 98 mailing, we haven’t forgotten you! Your membership will re-start with FAB 99.

UPDATE 26th August 2021

Although FAB 98 was mailed last week, it seems that quite a few members still haven’t received their packages. There is a distribution problem in the UK caused by a shortage of HGV drivers, coupled with people in the logistics industry isolating due to covid. In some areas post only being delivered every third day. 

Overseas packages seem to be relatively unaffected. 

Thank you for your patience, and we hope all UK packages will be delivered by the end of the week.

If you’re ever worried something we’ve sent might have gone missing in the post, please check our Shipping And Returns page before contacting us.

Anyone who missed FAB 97 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 publish three times a year, and we do our very best to make each issue a joy to read for every fan – regardless of your favourite series!

35% off Anderson Blu-rays!

Posted on by 1266 Nick Williams

Whilst you’re waiting for the Supercar BD boxset, why not stock up with other Anderson titles in HD as Network are having another sale, offering 35% off a great range of Blu-ray Discs!

The 70 titles on offer include Fireball XL5, Captain Scarlet And The Mysterons, Joe 90, UFO, Space:1999, Terrahawks and New Captain Scarlet.

There’s loads of other classic TV in the sale too, including Department S, The Professionals, Robin Of Sherwood, Space Patrol.

Network’s HD35 sale is only on until 16:00 on Tuesday, 3rd August 2021, and whilst stocks last, so don’t delay!

40 FAB Years: FAB Book Of View-Master Sets available again

Posted on by 1266 Nick Williams

Originally our membership gift in 2011, due to overwhelming demand from club members, our exclusive FAB Book Of View-Master Sets is back!

This 60 page, full colour book includes high-quality images from the Supercar, Stingray, Thunderbirds, Joe 90, UFO, Space:1999 and Terrahawks sets, booklet details, plus a brief look at View-Master advertising.

 

A Celebration of ITC – DVD available now!

Posted on by 1266 Nick Williams

In November 2018, a special celebration of the unforgettable shows of ITC took place at Elstree Studios. Stars Annette Andre, Space:1999‘s Prentis Hancock, Jenny Hanley, UFO‘s Georgina Moon, Ian Ogilvy, Thunderbirds‘ Shane Rimmer (in what would prove to be his last public appearance) and Madeline Smith were joined by Space:1999 stuntman Paul Weston, The Protectors‘ director John Hough, and crew members Tony Sloman and Derek Wells for a great evening of chat!

With so many Anderson alumni involved, Fanderson members who were unable to attend the event are sure to be interested in the 120-minute DVD, which includes highlights from all the on-stage Q&A sessions. There’s a review of the event here.

Order your copy now for just £9.99 (+ P&P if outside UK), with a proportion of proceeds being donated to Ty Gobaith Children’s Hospice.

NOTE: A Celebration Of ITC (DVD) cannot be ordered from Fanderson, but directly through Quoit Media.

NEW! Cereal promotions book and more!

Posted on by 1266 Nick Williams

Now available in the Fanderson Shop are four new, exclusive club items:

Click on the links to see more and place your orders!

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.

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.

Podcast 7 available now!

Posted on by 1266 Nick Williams

Let’s start a happy new year…

Click here for Podcast 7.

THIS EPISODE: David Stoner (Director of Label and Licensing at Silva Screen) and Tim Mallett (producer and editor) discuss soundtrack albums, and actor, presenter and former Chief Scout Peter Duncan remembers his guest spot on Space:1999 The Exiles.

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

FAB 96 has been posted

Posted on by 1266 Nick Williams

We’re delighted to report that FAB 96 was mailed to all members around the world on 25th November. It started to land in UK members’ homes on the 30th, and we hope will be with all members in time for Christmas. Please check our post update before contacting us.

Included in this issue:

  • Andrew Pixley’s in-depth look at The Secret Service, and why the series was doomed even without Lew Grade’s critical reaction
  • members give their views on Thunderbirds 30 Minutes After Noon in our regular Timelash column, with exclusive Glen Carrick Castle cutaway by Graham Bleathman
  • Ian Wheeler’s critical assessment of whether Gerry Anderson should be considered a puppet master or master dramatist
  • the third part of Jeff Smart’s recollections of recording the A&E DVD commentaries, including The Secret Service, The Protectors and Terrahawks, and how these then led on to featurettes for Shout! Factory’s releases in 2015
  • the third part of our look at UFO in Countdown and TV Action comics, by Ian Fryer
  • the second part of our exclusive Thunderbirds Are Go photo-strip by Jonathan Baxter
  • FAB news, FAB noticeboard, FAB Review, FAB Mail and more

Also, being mailed so close to what will, for many of us, be a quite unusual Christmas, we’ve included a couple of little seasonal goodies that we hope will make you smile.

Hundreds more members (those who have renewed their membership since FAB 95) will also receive the fantastic Century 21 Complete Puppet Catalogue – our current membership gift. Don’t worry if your membership expires with FAB 96 – as long as we receive your renewal by 1st February 2021 we’ll mail your copy with FAB 97 in the spring.

OOPS! The eagle-eyed among you will notice a small mistake in the ‘rest of the world’ price for The Secret Service soundtrack CD. Rest assured, our shop has the correct price.

How to get FAB magazine? Join Fanderson!

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

Once again, we’re mailing FAB magazine in a 100% compostable bag, made from potato and maize starch. 

Don’t throw it in your bin, but check with your local recycling and either:

  • put it in your home composter
  • put it in with your garden waste, or
  • use it to line your food waste caddy

New UFO and Space:1999 models on pre-order

Posted on by 1266 Nick Williams

Sixteen 12, which has long specialised in high quality reproductions of models from Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s Thunderbirds, UFO and Space:1999 is now taking pre-orders for new models, including:

UFO Alien saucer

Space:1999 War Games

Space:1999 action figure collection

Space:1999 electronic stun gun and commlock

You can see all the pre-order items here. Check out their retro range too, to bring back memories of those odd-coloured Dinky toys of the 70s!