This is also the 300th STARLOGGED post of the year. Yay!
Showing posts with label THERMAL LANCE. Show all posts
Showing posts with label THERMAL LANCE. Show all posts
Wednesday, 16 August 2017
1995: THERMAL LANCE ISSUE 25
From around now back in 1995: THERMAL LANCE issue 25 and a line-up of of-the-time telefantasy shows which - with one exception - have been all but forgotten about today. Plus STAR TREK of course.
Thursday, 10 August 2017
1995: THERMAL LANCE ISSUE 24
From May-June 1995: the 24th issue of THERMAL LANCE.
With a punter-pleasing X-FILES cover. Of course.
With a punter-pleasing X-FILES cover. Of course.
Tuesday, 8 August 2017
1995: THERMAL LANCE ISSUE 23 REVIEWS THE STATE OF THE STAR TREK NATION
From March-April 1995: More STAR TREK.... THERMAL LANCE issue 23 casts a critical eye over the whole franchise to coincide with the release of the (frankly underwhelming) STAR TREK GENERATIONS movie.
Tuesday, 13 June 2017
1995: THERMAL LANCE ISSUE 22
From January 1995: Mulder and Scully inevitably make it onto the cover of THERMAL LANCE issue 22. Because THE X-FILES sold. A lot. And it was cool. Briefly.
What was the big deal about THE AVENGERS PROGRAMME GUIDE? It was another in the run of unofficial Virgin-published paperback episode guides from this this period (Series covered included THE WEST WING, RED DWARF, THE SIMPSONS, BUFFY, ANGEL, START TREK, DAWSON'S CREEK, GERRY ANDERSON shows, BABYLON FIVE, NEIGHBOURS... I have a shelf full of them) but it ran into a spot of bother. From memory, the first edition rather unwisely suggested that one of the leading actors on the show got the gig by bedding the incoming producer. Dave Rogers, publisher of assorted Avengers fanzines and books (and - crucially - not involved with The Programme Guide) got wind of it, told the performer and the lawyers were called. Cue some hasty recalling and pulping of early copies that had already hit the shelves.
The book was later reissued - as THE AVENGERS DOSSIER - in 1998 with the offending text removed.
What was the big deal about THE AVENGERS PROGRAMME GUIDE? It was another in the run of unofficial Virgin-published paperback episode guides from this this period (Series covered included THE WEST WING, RED DWARF, THE SIMPSONS, BUFFY, ANGEL, START TREK, DAWSON'S CREEK, GERRY ANDERSON shows, BABYLON FIVE, NEIGHBOURS... I have a shelf full of them) but it ran into a spot of bother. From memory, the first edition rather unwisely suggested that one of the leading actors on the show got the gig by bedding the incoming producer. Dave Rogers, publisher of assorted Avengers fanzines and books (and - crucially - not involved with The Programme Guide) got wind of it, told the performer and the lawyers were called. Cue some hasty recalling and pulping of early copies that had already hit the shelves.
The book was later reissued - as THE AVENGERS DOSSIER - in 1998 with the offending text removed.
Thursday, 1 June 2017
1994: THERMAL LANCE ISSUE 21
From October 1994: the 21st issue of the DOCTOR WHO/ Telefantasy fanzine THERMAL LANCE.
Monday, 22 May 2017
1994: THERMAL LANCE ISSUE 20
From August 1994: the 20th issue of British DOCTOR WHO & TELEFANTASY fanzine THERMAL LANCE.
Monday, 8 May 2017
1994: THERMAL LANCE FANZINE ISSUE 19 AND THE 1990'S DOCTOR WHO DRAMA BOOM
From July 1994: British DOCTOR WHO fanzine THERMAL LANCE looks at the ongoing series of straight-to-tape fan-made (although using professional at-a-loose-end actors) dramas.
THE STRANGER series, starring Colin Baker and Bryant (initially all but reprising their roles from a certain well-known BBC TV drama series), started off as a straight DOCTOR WHO clone... complete with choppy direction, gravel pit locations and special effects that would have passed muster in a TV Centre edit suite a decade earlier but were starting to look a little weather-worn by the start of the 1990s.
The fan dramas found their profile unexpectedly raised when they were re-released and sold in high street outlets. I was certainly surprised to find them whilst browsing my local Woolworths entertainment section on new release Monday.
After the third adventure (a railway station in the SAPPHIRE AND STEEL tradition), the Stranger tapes swung off in a different direction. Possibly because the producers started to suspect the lawyers were bound to complain sooner or later. Or possibly because they fancied bolstering their showreels with a bit of sub-par crime drama.
The 1990s were a brilliant time for rough-around-the-edges fan-made drama once the producers spotted there was a market AND they could circumvent the BBC's official copyright by simply paying off the original writer to let them revive classic monsters. Chucking in a few jobbing actors from the show certainly helped as well.
Other entries in the sub-genre included the X-FILES-baiting P.R.O.B.E (which probably came the closest to something that could have been shown on proper telly), Dreamwatch spin-off (they gave it the hard sell in the first few issues of the magazine); SHAKEDOWN (the behind-the-scenes documentary is a great watch... the cast and crew did NOT appear to be having a great time below decks on HMS Belfast); DOWNTIME (skanky Yeti alert); THE AIRZONE SOLUTION (A Doctors reunion pulled together for the 30th anniversary); the AUTON stories (no guesses); sundry other dramas and a host of not-always-very-good documentaries (LUST IN SPACE anyone?).
The screen dramas, as well as the early and unofficial audio adventures which also appeared during the 'wilderness years', have recently been the long-overdue subject of the book DOWNTOWN: THE LOST YEARS OF DOCTOR WHO by Dylan Rees. It's an excellent read.
THE STRANGER series, starring Colin Baker and Bryant (initially all but reprising their roles from a certain well-known BBC TV drama series), started off as a straight DOCTOR WHO clone... complete with choppy direction, gravel pit locations and special effects that would have passed muster in a TV Centre edit suite a decade earlier but were starting to look a little weather-worn by the start of the 1990s.
The fan dramas found their profile unexpectedly raised when they were re-released and sold in high street outlets. I was certainly surprised to find them whilst browsing my local Woolworths entertainment section on new release Monday.
After the third adventure (a railway station in the SAPPHIRE AND STEEL tradition), the Stranger tapes swung off in a different direction. Possibly because the producers started to suspect the lawyers were bound to complain sooner or later. Or possibly because they fancied bolstering their showreels with a bit of sub-par crime drama.
The 1990s were a brilliant time for rough-around-the-edges fan-made drama once the producers spotted there was a market AND they could circumvent the BBC's official copyright by simply paying off the original writer to let them revive classic monsters. Chucking in a few jobbing actors from the show certainly helped as well.
Other entries in the sub-genre included the X-FILES-baiting P.R.O.B.E (which probably came the closest to something that could have been shown on proper telly), Dreamwatch spin-off (they gave it the hard sell in the first few issues of the magazine); SHAKEDOWN (the behind-the-scenes documentary is a great watch... the cast and crew did NOT appear to be having a great time below decks on HMS Belfast); DOWNTIME (skanky Yeti alert); THE AIRZONE SOLUTION (A Doctors reunion pulled together for the 30th anniversary); the AUTON stories (no guesses); sundry other dramas and a host of not-always-very-good documentaries (LUST IN SPACE anyone?).
The screen dramas, as well as the early and unofficial audio adventures which also appeared during the 'wilderness years', have recently been the long-overdue subject of the book DOWNTOWN: THE LOST YEARS OF DOCTOR WHO by Dylan Rees. It's an excellent read.
Monday, 12 December 2016
1994: THERMAL LANCE ISSUE 18
From June 1994: the 18th issue of photocopied DOCTOR WHO fanzine THERMAL LANCE.
Monday, 5 December 2016
1994: THERMAL LANCE ISSUE 17
From May 1994: THERMAL LANCE, the British DOCTOR WHO fanzine, issue 17.
Monday, 28 November 2016
1994: THERMAL LANCE ISSUE 16
From April 1994: the 16th issue of British DOCTOR WHO fanzine THERMAL LANCE.
Monday, 14 November 2016
1994: THERMAL LANCE ISSUE 14
From February 1994: THERMAL LANCE issue 14.
Published by Alan Connor and Gary Finney (the 'Cybercontrollers') out of an editorial address in Derby, this was a British DOCTOR WHO/ all-things-SF zine (which - inevitably - meant they did THE X-FILES as well) that I purchased regularly through the mail for several years.
This was the first issue I purchased. Unlike many of the other zines I bought during this period, I've hung onto my Thermal Lance (matron!), so I can add them to the online STARLOGGED archive.
This issue (A5, coloured paper cover, black & white interior, photocopied) has several articles on WHO ("A load of old codswallop, if you ask me": A review of The Green Death) and RED DWARF (In every dream home a hard-light: After series 6, does Red Dwarf deserve a fandom?). Other bobbins include a look at the current state of WHO ("Perhaps Who-fandom will go the way of Prisoner-fandom, destined to briefly flare up again every ten years or so whenever the series is repeated"), the 1993 Whotopia Derby fan poll results (Favourite latex extra: Cybermen... with a whopping 10 votes compared with 4 for the second-place Daleks) and assorted news stories (Amblin still negotiating with the BBC, the much derided CHILDREN IN NEED/ EASTENDERS sketch nabbing 14 million viewers.... and DOCTOR WHO CLASSIC COMICS in danger of going under).
TL became more ambitious over time: shifting to DTP production and - eventually - a more glossy A4 format.
Published by Alan Connor and Gary Finney (the 'Cybercontrollers') out of an editorial address in Derby, this was a British DOCTOR WHO/ all-things-SF zine (which - inevitably - meant they did THE X-FILES as well) that I purchased regularly through the mail for several years.
This was the first issue I purchased. Unlike many of the other zines I bought during this period, I've hung onto my Thermal Lance (matron!), so I can add them to the online STARLOGGED archive.
This issue (A5, coloured paper cover, black & white interior, photocopied) has several articles on WHO ("A load of old codswallop, if you ask me": A review of The Green Death) and RED DWARF (In every dream home a hard-light: After series 6, does Red Dwarf deserve a fandom?). Other bobbins include a look at the current state of WHO ("Perhaps Who-fandom will go the way of Prisoner-fandom, destined to briefly flare up again every ten years or so whenever the series is repeated"), the 1993 Whotopia Derby fan poll results (Favourite latex extra: Cybermen... with a whopping 10 votes compared with 4 for the second-place Daleks) and assorted news stories (Amblin still negotiating with the BBC, the much derided CHILDREN IN NEED/ EASTENDERS sketch nabbing 14 million viewers.... and DOCTOR WHO CLASSIC COMICS in danger of going under).
TL became more ambitious over time: shifting to DTP production and - eventually - a more glossy A4 format.
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