1999: HEAT MAGAZINE ISSUE 1 (IPC)

From the first week of February 1999: the first issue proper (after the previous week's freebie giveaway) of IPC's deep-pocketed entertainment weekly (not to be confused with ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY... which it was clearly modeled on... and occasionally shared international material with) HEAT.

Ironically, the first edition's big exclusive turned a bit sour when Kelly (proper actress) Brook struggled to anchor a free-flowing daily magazine programme like THE BIG BREAKFAST (I suspect the production team probably didn't help her predicament once they sensed blood in the water) and the press latched onto every gaff as further evidence of her - ahem - shortcomings.

Her telly track record has been patchy ever since (although people keep employing her... maybe they just like her hair) but she has been in PIRANHA 3D and SMALLVILLE. Beat that Vaughan.

1999: HEAT MAGAZINE PREVIEW ISSUE

From January 1999: the special free one-week-before-launch preview issue of HEAT magazine.

This wasn't the same Heat that became a sizzling success (possibly one of the last great magazine success stories before the internet made real inroads into the industry) with an understanding line-up of celebs, gossip, fashion and interviews.

When it started It was positioned as the British version of ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: a concoction of up-to-the-minute news and features focused across the entertainment spectrum. IPC sunk huge amounts into a strong editorial line-up, TV advertising, hoardings on Soho newsagents and - of course - this glossy giveaway.

Unfortunately the punters didn't flock in any great numbers and it looked like IPC had a hugely expensive dud. Until they reworked it and dropped the entertainment in favour of OK style celebrity coverage... and circulation figures soared. It was at they moment that I stopped buying it.