Here's a few photos I took at last Saturday's Fanderson birthday party which took place at the Pinewood Hotel in Slough.
It was a very pleasant informal affair celebrating Gerry & Sylvia Anderson's series, and the 41 years since Fanderson was formed, albeit a year late due to Covid -19.
It wasn't a convention in the traditional sense, more a simple get together to catch up with friends , and enjoy a few drinks and a barbecue. Of course, as it was a birthday celebration there had to be cake!
A couple of special guests came along to join in the celebration: Puppeteers, Mary Turner & Judy Preece.
There was a small but excellent display of replica puppets and vehicles organised by Simon Greetham, Tony Freeman and Richard Ashton.
Tex Tucker from Four Feather Falls.
The figure's stand is signed by Nicholas Parsons, who as most fans will know voiced Tex in the series.
Colonel Steve Zodiac, pilot of Fireball XL5.
Pilot of Thunderbird 1, Scott Tracy.
A 22" Product Enterprise Eagle Transporter.
I know there was quite a few people who helped get this very enjoyable event off the ground, and my thanks to them, as well as the hotel staff who did a great job.
I did manage to take a couple of snaps of two of the blokes who helped things run smoothly...
Fanderson treasurer and one half of the Fanderson sales team, Stephen Brown (the other half of the sales team is Lynn Simpson)
Fanderson Chairman, Nick Williams, about to address the audience.
Nick talked about how things were going with Fanderson in general, and about changes to the club's magazine, which is now called 'FAB Express', and will sport a cover not unlike TV21.
The question now is will there be another informal birthday bash, next year?
I hope so!
Many Happy Returns, Fanderson!
Mike, many thanks for the puppet portraits. Those close ups in vivid colour of characters from old b/w shows really brings them to life.
ReplyDeleteHappy to do them, Terra. I don't really remember Four Feather Falls, a bit before my time, but my earliest TV memory is watching Supercar.
DeleteSadly I remember both Twizzle and Torchy and thinking at the time, "Why am I watching this?" The locomotive in Four Feather Falls had me glued to Anderson shows after that for the models.
DeleteI suppose the same could be said for me regarding Supercar and miniatures too, Terra.
DeleteWow! What a get together! Amazing to have Mary Turner and Judy Preece in attendance, they really are Anderson show actors!
ReplyDeleteYes, the whole thing had a genuine convivial atmosphere, everyone was happy to chat together, and the weather was just right. Towards the end of the day I ended up sat outside on the patio having drinks, and talking about old British comics with Graham B.
DeleteLooks like another great event to attend Scoop.
ReplyDeleteYou get to all the best gigs.
Was Chris Trice there ?
I believe he used to be a Fanderson member.
It was a lot of fun, Mish, but no Chris Trice this time.
DeleteWhat a great day out it looks to be Scoop! Amazing to see the actual Dove spaceship. It looks fantastic!
ReplyDeleteIt was a FAB day, Woodsy!
DeleteThe small replica of the Dove model does look good.
Great photos, but I'm not impressed by the way the club is organised. I joined when the membership was still described as lasting for a year, but was asked to renew my membership after only 5 months. When I pointed out it was supposed to be a year, all references to that fact were suddenly removed from their membership page and I was told that my membership expiry date (a full year) was a 'system limitation'. "Membership includes 3 magazines" I was told, "Once you've had your 3, you have to renew". I pointed out that their page said that membership 'includes' 3 magazines, but that's a different thing of 'consisting' of 3 mags. Hopefully they've done the right thing and now make a year's membership a full 12 months - as it should be.
ReplyDeleteIt would seem that's been a problem for them in the past, Kid, but hopefully everyone renewing at the same point in the year should help resolve things. I don't know the full details but I'm sure it will work out.
ReplyDeleteThinking it over, I doubt that will help matters, Scoop. New members who join for the first time a couple of months before renewal is due, will have shorter access to the shop (only available to members) than older members. (And there's no guarantee that a new member will avoid that problem by renewing when his term expires.) Unless, of course, they only accept new members at the same time as older ones renewing. I don't know why they don't have a specific fixed term of six months per membership, seeing as how they're reluctant to make it 12 months. It all seems to be based around how quickly they can squeeze membership money from people. Hopefully someone will tell me if I'm overlooking something. (Not that I have any intention of trying to rejoin.)
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