I just got a copy of the Century 21 FX book a few days ago so I'll be preparing a full review shortly. Initial reaction is that this is a very impressive book.

You can order it from the Shubrook Brothers web site . 

In the meantime, I present a review from long-time contributor Theo de Klerk, who contributed some of the photos used in the book.

Full text of the review after the jump.

Century 21 FX - Unseen Untold

by Alan Shubrook, 152 pages, Shubrook Bros Publications 2007,  25 pounds sterling, ISBN 978-0-9556101-0-3

Review by Theo de Klerk

The "Century 21 Vision" book on Derek Meddings' work finally got company. This book, "Century 21 FX" was written by the then youngest member of Derek's staff and covers the period of the final part of Thunderbirds up to and including UFO and the end of the Century 21 company. The book is almost square in format: 29x24 cm - as tall as A4 bit 5 cm wider.

A quick flip-through shows it is chock full of pictures. And this is what the potential (photo)reader is probably looking for. A taste of the magic of special effects that went into the production of the puppet series. And he will not be disappointed, as many pictures are indeed new and do not come from the "stock library" that so many other books used to illustrate the series.

Alan Shubrook took his own camera and shot many pictures - probably for this own portfolio but also as a memory of those days where the crew of Century 21 did work for a living, but it did not feel like that: it was more of a family and friends undertaking trying to out-perform the previous achievements.
 
The pictures shown are a mixed bag as far as quality goes. Some look as if they are blown up small printed photographs showing some of the paper structure of the print. Others are very high in contrast, yet others are perfectly in balance. As Alan explains, he got free 36mm film from left-overs of high speed, high grain b/w film that could not provide the same quality as the in-house photographer Doug Luke using his 6x6cm stills camera with high definition film. He also had to take the photos while he was working so could not plan and stage things. So some are dark, not always in focus, but always reflecting the "I was there and saw it with my own eyes" position.
 
The result is that "Century 21 FX" is a personal photo album of Alan Shubrook. The shots are pasted in more or less on chronological basis from series to series. And each shot or set of shots has a little anecdote. I envisioned myself sitting next to Alan who has his photo album in front of him and he is making "oh, yes - this reminds me of..." remarks on each page he turns showing new pictures. And the enthusiasm on what went on that day and how people worked together, radiates from his story. Boy, those were the days.

Read the book as a personal visit to the studios with Alan as your guide. You'll have a splendid day. And you will forgive him a few errors. Like page 44 does not show the Firefly from Thunderbirds but some fire engines from Captain Scarlet, "Fire at Rig 15". Or mixing Lunarville 7 on page 58 with the Mysteron complex on 59. And his kids write the final words in ... 2009.
 
For those people who are looking for a minute accurate, from start-to-finish, management focused, story (partly written before in other books): look elsewhere. For those who want to hear small, individual, stories on how a young eager model maker had the time of his life working on the Century 21 productions: look no further. This is it. It's unassuming, engaging, showing what he did and remembers. The fact that Derek Meddings and musical director Barry Gray were his heroes, also clearly shows. The Anderson couple is hardly mentioned at all, saving us many repeat stories on them.