December
2003
Terrahawks set for release on DVD in
the US in January 2004
A 5
disc set of Terrahawks will
be released in the US on 27th January 2004. It comes with 39 episode
and does contain some extras as well:
- Commentary with Director Tony Bell and Associate Producer
Bob Bell on "Gunfight
at Oakey's Corral"
- Commentary with Effects Director Steven Begg
on "From Here to
Infinity"
- Photo Gallery: Production Stills Slideshow Narrated by
Steven Begg
- Photo Gallery: Tony and Bob Bell at Bray Studios
- Terrahawks Revealed:
Ten Codes,History, Vehicles, and Character Descriptions
New Stingray CGI movie?
A company in North Carolina appears to be working on a
pilot/test movie based on Stingray. The company is called Dreamstable
Entertainment and it looks like the movie will be a CGI production.
This marks the second Supermarionation series to be revamped using computer
animation after Captain Scarlet started production recently in the UK.
This is what they have to say about it:
"The Golden Voyage of Stingray" - An original feature-length
screenplay and animated promo short - written, produced and directed
by David Hugh-Jones for Carlton International Media Limited.
November
2003
New UFO book and Captain Scarlet music
CD
Two great new items just in time for the
holiday season. The "Complete
Book of Gerry Anderson's UFO" carries on
the tradition of the other Anderson books written by Chris Bentley.
Great pictures and plenty of interesting content.
The Captain
Scarlet music CD contains all original Barry
Gray music, restored and ready for action. Unmissable for any fans of
the show.
Reviews of both items will appear shortly.
New Thunderbirds toys available in Japan
 If you missed out on the Konami thunderbirds toys earlier
this year, your luck is in. Konami has re-issued the complete
set of vehicles, but not the figures. This time they are not a limited run and
you can get a box of 12 in random packing order for about $40. Forget
ebay, go to Hobby Link Japan and place your order there. One box should
get you most, if not all of the original set of 10 vehicles. They are
snap together and stunningly detailed.
If you have a bit more cash, while at HLJ,
pick up the 3 CWE (Charawheels
Ultimate Edition) sets from hotwheels. Last year hotwheels did die cast
versions of Stingray(!), FAB1 and SPV. The CWE sets are all die-cast
and come in nice presentation boxes. Each box costs around $28. The complete
set of 3 includes 12 vehicles, as well as hover bike figures and Braman
the robot. This is a set not to be missed.
Captain Scarlet game killed?!?!! Sadly, it looks as if Batfish
Studios will not be releasing their eagerly
awaited Captain Scarlet game for the PC. The game was set for release
this month. Here is what they have to say:
Unfortunately due to licensing issues
and final approval issues we will not be launching our Captain Scarlet
Retaliation game on the 14th November 2003 as we originally planned.
This
decision was out of our hands and we are greatly disappointed that
we are not in the position to launch the Captain Scarlet Retaliation Game.
Obviously, this is a blow to all concerned.
There is an interview
with the developers on this site. Includes high
res renders. Another one here. Sigh.
September
2003
 New UFO DVD mega set coming soon in
US
A new "mega set" containing all episodes
of UFO will be available in October. It will contain all the material
from the previous 2 sets, plus extras only available in this set.
It
has commentary by Creator Gerry Anderson on the Premiere Episode "Identified",
commentary with Actor Ed Bishop on "Sub Smash", commentary
with Co-Creator Sylvia Anderson and Actress Wanda Ventha on "Timelash",
commentary with Director Alan Perry & Actor Mike Billington on "Kill
Straker!"
Win the UFO mega set from TV Century 21 and New Video! 
New Captain
Scarlet game Batfish
Studios will be releasing the Captain Scarlet game in November.The game is
called "Retaliation". From the site:
Captain Scarlet: Retaliation is a real
time tactical strategy game where gamers attempt to halt the Mysteron’s
evil plans by controlling up to six Spectrum agents.
Based on the cult Gerry Anderson TV series, the game features
addictive game play, three levels of difficulty, stunning graphics and
the rich
background of the original series to create a compelling game that
will appeal to a wide range of players.
Firestorm update The japanese anime show associated with
Gerry Anderson is now available on DVD. Unclear exactly how legit the
DVDs are as they are primarily available via ebay. The theme song is
available on a CD from CD Japan.
Go to there and place a search for the song title "stormy love",
and you'll find the theme single for Firestorm!
August
2003
 New Die-cast Anderson toys coming soon
A company called Product
Enterprise in
the UK will be releasing a number of very interesting looking die-cast
vehicles over the next few months. The following models will be released:
- Space:1999 Eagle: September 2003
- Supercar: February 2004
- UFO Interceptor: May 2004
- Fireball XL5: 2004
- Stingray: 2004
Each model will be part of a limited edition set (6000) and come in
a diarama presentation box. Prices should be around £40 each. I
can't wait. Reproduction boxes available for Dinky
and Budgie cars  A company based in the UK called The ReproBoxCo is making reproduction boxes of die-cast toys such as Dinky and Budgie.
They carry the whole line of Gerry
Anderson Dinky toys and recently added
the Budgie Supercar box to their lineup.
Boxes come in a variety of
levels, Standard, Original and Special.
New FAB1 die-cast - from Corgi!
 Corgi will be releasing a die-cast FAB1
later this year. It appears to be a completely new model, rather than
a re-issue of the original Dinky model.
The model features Lady Penelope
and Parker, as well as a rocket firing from the front as well as rockets
from the back. Corgi was originally going to be the licensee back in the
1960s, but Dinky
Toys
ended up with
the
licence.
Corgi went as far as to make a prototype, wonder if
this is how it might have turned out? Release date for this has been set for September.
The scale is 1:43.
July
2003
 New MM comics!
Misc!Mayhem Productions
has cancelled plans for a regular series of Supercar, Fireball XL5 and
UFO comics. The Fireball XL5 and UFO number 0 comics are ready and should
be available this month.
 However,
this is by no means the end of the story. Rather than have three separate
comics, in September they will launch a 48
page comic called SUPERMARIONATION ADVENTURES No. 1
of 5 that will feature both
SUPERCAR
and FIREBALL XL5.
Fans will
have their pick of covers as they will split the run between covers
that spotlight SUPERCAR or XL5. SUPERMARIONATION ADVENTURES will be bi-monthly,
48 pages, and retail for $5.99.
In October they will ship UFO No. 1 of
3, which will now be 48 pages, bi-monthly and retail for $5.99. UFO S.H.A.D.O. t-shirts are on sale now, and they
will soon be producing a FIREBALL XL5 shirt (see attached).
Lastly, they
have approval for a Captain Scarlet series which
we'll
be revealing more about in the near future.
JL "Classic" Supercar to be
available signed! Misc!Mayhem Productions
is set to release a Special Edition Graydon "Mike
Mercury" Gould autographed
Black and White Johnny Lightning Supercars. He will sign these at Comic-Con
just a few short days away. You can purchase one for $30.00 via
PayPal (use This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. as the paying address) or send a check or money order to:
Mike Mercury Edition Supercar
Misc.MAYHEM Productions
P.O.Box 191548
Dallas, TX 75219
The car will be available in normal (unsigned) versions
for $14.95 soon, as well as part of the "Platinum set"(see below).  Joe 90 to be released on DVD in the
US
The US release of Joe 90 arrives July 29 2003. All 30 episodes
of the JOE 90 series
will
be
available
as a Collector's
Set. Extras include commentary
with designer, Mike Trim on "The Most Special Agent," and director,
Ken Turner on "The Unorthodox Shepherd". Details:
- Commentary by designer Mike Trim on the pilot episode 'The
Most Special Agent'
- Commentary by director Ken Turner on 'The Unorthodox Shepherd'
- All 30 episodes on 4 discs
- Character biographies
- Data files: Equipment and location briefings
- Photo gallery
- Number of discs: 4
order
now from Amazon.
June 2003
New JL Supercars
Misc!Mayhem Productions,
publishers of new
comic book adventures based on Gerry Anderson's SUPERCAR 1959 television
series, is releasing
3 new custom variations based on the 1/64th scale diecast model of SUPERCAR
released by Johnny Lightning in 2001. The release
of SUPERCAR as a part of "Hollywood on Wheels III" was welcomed by fans
of the show as no new SUPERCAR merchandise had been released in almost
forty years.
The only mitigating circumstances of the release
were that the extended wings were painted yellow when they should have
been white, and the
fuselage lacked the distinctive SUPERCAR logos. Johnny Lightning,
being sticklers
for accuracy, released a second version with retracted (short) wings
correctly color white, and the SUPERCAR logos in their proper places.
Also in 2001 Misc!MAYHEM Productions came to an
agreement with Carlton International Media to produce new comic book
adventures based on the
original television series. When the Johnny Lightning diecast of SUPERCAR
was released, Misc!MAYHEM was instantly interested in the possibility
of creating custom versions of the car. After much negotiation and discussion,
it was determined that there would be three limited edition variations:
 A "Classic" SUPERCAR. This is an accurate repaint
of the original extended wing model released with "Hollywood on
Wheels III". The wings are white and the SUPERCAR logos are properly
in place.- The SUPERCAR "Condor". In the new adventures of
SUPERCAR to be published by Misc!MAYHEM in the Fall of 2003 in "Supermarionation
Adventures" (which will also features the new adventures of FIREBALL
XL5), new vehicles based on the fantastic SUPERCAR technology will
be introduced. Primarily produced for law enforcement and military
use,
the black-and-silver "Condor" model SUPERCAR is also
manufactured as unique transportation for the super-rich.
- The Black
and White TV Edition. Harkening back to the days when fans were only
privy to grayscale images of SUPERCAR on they're small
black
and white television screens, this variation of the Johnny Lighting
SUPERCAR features the short, retracted wings, and is presented in glorious
shades of gray. The packaging also features the Supermarionettes from
the original program.
Each variation of the Johnny Lightning SUPERCAR diecast was limited
to a production run of 3500 units.
Currently Misc!MAYHEM Productions is offering for pre-sale a "Platinum
Edition Collectors Set" which includes one of each diecast variant,
a signed copy of the SUPERCAR No. 0 comic book, an original pencil sketch
by writer/artist Kez Wilson and a numbered certificate of authenticity. This
collector's set is only offered through Misc!MAYHEM
Productions web site for $39.95 (price includes shipping
for the US, additional shipping charges apply for international orders).
After
July 31st, 2003, the "Platinum Collectors Set" will no longer
be offered.
Each individual Johnny Lightning SUPERCAR variant will be available
for $14.95 (includes US shipping) as supplies last.
April
2003
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Denise Bryer and Jeremy Hitchen.
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From left to right:
Denise Bryer, Jeremy Hitchen
(with script) Robbie (Ben) Stevens and Anne Ridler.
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Denise Bryer with a couple of zeroids.
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Terrahawks
Cast Reunited! (updated)
Recently, four of the five Terrahawks cast members reunited
after 20
years. This was for a featurette that will appear on the third set of UK DVDs
later this year. Interviews were done with the team as well as some voice acting!
Photos by Andrew Swann. Click on the images for a larger version of each.
The information was originally sent in by the writer and director of
the piece, Stephen La Riviere. He sent in more details:
I was responsible for getting everyone there
- but I did have help finding the voice artistes from a
helpful lady and from Elizabeth
Morgan - who was of course Destiny Angel in Captain Scarlet. She
also attended the day to say 'hello' to Denise and Robbie who she
hadn't seen in 20 years!
It is true we get to see them do some acting. I won't
say too much about what they do, but I can say that the photograph
shows them reading the final scene from an original script of 'Two for the Price of One'.
The piece was shot last Friday,
11th April, in London.
The whole cast were delightful on the day and I don't
think I've ever laughed so much in my life. On the day we were lucky enough
to be joined by Stew Dapples and Cy-star (the puppet forms) and two zeroids.
Don't forget to check out my web site, www.supermarionation.net -
we'll shortly
be running a competition to win one of three Terrahawks box sets signed
by Denise Bryer, Ben Stevens, Jeremy Hitchen, Anne Ridler and Kevin Davies.
Fireball XL5 comic coming soon!
Got word from the publishers of the Supercar comic that the Fireball
XL5 comic is in production and should be available April 30. To the right
is preview art from the Fireball XL5 comic.
The Misc!Mayhem site
will be giving
away sets of Supercar, Fireball
XL5 and UFO DVDs. This is to coincide with the publication
of the comics from each series. The new
Supercar DVD set will feature a sticker for a free comic offer inside. Here are the preview pages for Supercar, Fireball
XL5 and UFO.
Firestorm
TV show debuts in Japan!
 The TV show Firestorm has finally started in Japan and
there is an official
website as well as a Firestorm
shop web site selling clothing and other items.
The
show appears to be a standard Anime show, except that it is "Based
upon an idea by Gerry Anderson and John Needham". Please drop
me a line if you have any further information.
Thunderbirds Movie News gets its own page!
Due to the substantial amount of information coming in about the Thunderbirds
movie, I have set up a
special page just to contain news and information
about it. All news relevant to the movie will go there from now on.
Thunderbirds exhibition to tour Japan!
Japanese media group Tohokushinsha Film Corporation has announced
that it will be creating a large scale, touring THUNDERBIRDS
exhibition to
coincide with the latest broadcast of the series in Japan. The
classic 'Supermarionation' series will be broadcast for the first time
since 1966 on the national platform, NHK.
The tour, set to run in 10 venues for up to 2 years, will commence
in late March with an exhibition at Laforet Harajuku, a shopping centre
located in one of Tokyo's most popular and trendy shopping districts. Entitled
'THUNDERBIRDS MODERN', the exhibition will feature an array of themed
rooms, including 'The Tracy Art Saloon', displaying forty original
illustrations from the famous illustrator, the late Shigeru
Komatsuzaki; 'Salute to
THUNDERBIRDS' from the renowned Japanese expert, Hideaki Ito; 'Gerry's
Studio' with original puppets; 'THUNDERBIRDS in Tokyo' a display of
ideas from top Japanese artists for new THUNDERBIRDS vehicles and a
modern
version of the programme; and the 'THUNDERBIRDS Experience', a recreation
of the inside of Thunderbird 1. The exhibition will be launched
with a range of promotions including the screening of THUNDERBIRDS episodes
in 30 café/bars in the Tokyo area, TV and magazine advertisements
and promotion on the official THUNDERBIRDS website in Japan, www.tbjapan.com.
Tohokushinsa, which licenses rights
to the property in Japan from Carlton International, has also announced
a raft of new licensing deals and
extensions. On
the high-tech front, a cellular phone content transmission service, currently
only available on the EZ-WEB platform is being extended to I-MODE and
J-SKY. I-MODE is run by NTT DoCoMo, which is presently the leading
telecoms company in Japan, and has previously used THUNDERBIRDS in
a television advertising campaign to promote a range of its services.
The THUNDERBIRDS branded advertising campaign from Tokio Marine and Fire
Insurance Company has also proved hugely successful, with the TV commercial
set to continue until August this year.
In addition, a deal has been agreed with Fuji Shoji for THUNDERBIRDS
Pachinko machines, enormously popular in Japan where Pachinko Parlours
house rows and rows of these traditional slot machines, derived from
a pinball-style game. Plastic vehicles and character mini-marionettes
will form part of leading arcade games supplier Taito's summer range
of arcade game prizes.
Nick Yanagida, of Tohokushinsha's Merchandising & Licensing Department
said, "We are pleased with the huge success of Thunderbirds which
we have handled in the market place for the last 36 years. With
the upcoming touring exhibition "Thunderbirds Modern" and
the new broadcast of the TV series on a major terrestrial TV station,
we
look forward to its continued success."
Emma Simpson, International Manager, Carlton Licensing, said: "Thunderbirds
has always been popular in Japan, and whilst in the previous few years
the core market has been the 25-40, male-biased cult collectors, we
are now seeing a move toward a more mainstream appeal, with young children
enjoying the show and the merchandise."
THUNDERBIRDS will broadcast weekly on NHK's Educational Channel from
13th April 2003.
 New Supercar comic finally published!
The long-awaited Supercar
comic was released very recently in the US.
It is available from most comic stores, but few carry more than 1-2 copies.
The comic features full colour art throughout as well as the first part
of an episode guide. A full review will appear on this site soon. Here
are some more details:
Supercar is back and ready to take flight into
all-new adventures. Investigating an abandoned silver mine in the desert
near the secret Supercar lab at Black Rock, Nevada, Mike Mercury and
company fall prey to another plot to steal Supercar hatched by arch
nemesis Masterspy.
If all goes according to plan, Masterspy will be the proud mew owner
of the Marvel of the Age, while Team Supercar is buried under tons of
rubble.
March
2003
Fireball XL5
DVD released in US!
The long-awaited DVD release of Fireball
Xl5 finally hit the stores - but only in the US! In a situation bizarre
to say the least, there are no current plans to release Fireball Xl5
in the UK. Luckily, many fans have DVD players capable of viewing region
1 NTSC DVDs. See the review here.
January 2003
Thunderbirds CD released by Silva Screen
in UK
This month, Silva
Screen finally releases "THUNDERBIRDS - ORIGINAL TELEVISION SOUNDTRACK"
containing all original Barry Gray music, from the TV Series. This is
the first time such a recording has been released; about bloody time!
Rumour has it a follow-up Captain Scarlet CD is in the works...
From the Silva Screen site:
This CD represents the first in what will
be a historic series of releases of Original Music from the much-loved
Gerry Anderson SuperMarionation shows.
These recordings have never been made available before and have been
carefully restored and edited from composer Barry Gray’s own
archives courtesy of The Barry Gray Estate and Carlton International.
CONTENTS
Main Titles featuring the famous Jeff Tracy countdown “5…4…3…2…1…..Thunderbirds
Are Go!”
Music from the episodes Sun Probe, The Perils Of Penelope, The Cham
Cham, Vault of Death, The Man from MI.5, Desperate Intruder, Pit Of
Peril, The Impostors, and Trapped In The Sky.
- Plus - Original Music from the Lyon’s
Maid TV commercials from 1965 featuring puppets from Thunderbirds.
- Plus – Lady Penelope sings!!!
You can order
the CD from Amazon UK.
Thunderbirds is go for movie production!
Well, it looks like the much-speculated Thunderbirds movie
is probably going to happen. Oh well. Jonathan (Cmdr Riker) Frakes will
direct. He freely admits to not knowing much about the show. That should
certainly comfort the skeptics. The history of TV shows to movies has
been terrible and signs are that this will be no exception. Production
is slated for March 2003 with a release some time in 2004. This will be
a live action movie, not puppets or CGI as previously speculated. Right
now it is unclear what if any involvement a certain Mr. Anderson will
have with this production. Location filming is said to include South Africa.
Hmmm.
Sophia Myles (who?) is set to take on the role of Lady Penelope.
Apparently, Alan Tracy will be 12 years old in the movie! Perhaps someone
needs to send the DVDs to the production office.
Fireball XL5 Region 1 DVD!
Fireball XL5 fans rejoice - the series finally gets released on DVD on
February 25th 2003. However, this is only a region 1 (US) release, so
you need to have a multi-standard DVD player if you are not in a region
1 country. The 5 disc set includes the following features:
- Commentary by director Alan Patillo on "Space
City Special"
- Commentary by voice artist David Graham on "The
Doomed Planet"
- All 39 episodes on 5 discs
- Featurette: "The Noble Art of TV21" with artist Mike Noble
- Production stills photo gallery
The episodes are black and white and the DVD has a Dobly soundtrack.
Hopefully, this will supplement a "true" mono soundtrack. You
can pre-order the Fireball
Xl5 DVD set from Amazon.
Stingray released on region 1 DVD set!
Stingray has also been released on DVD in a set. it contains the following
features:
- Commentary by series creator/producer Gerry Anderson
on two complete episodes
- Commentary by original series production members
on two complete episodes
- 39 episodes on 5 DVDs
- "The Thing About Stingray...": brand new 20-minute making-of
featurette
- French end-credits sequence
- Expanded Gerry Anderson biography
- Production stills galleries
You can order the Stingray
DVD set from Amazon.
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