Quatermass... but for kids!

To say that the 1979 production of 'Quatermass' hit TV screens with very little fanfare is a bit of an understatement. ITV had been off the air for eleven weeks giving 'Doctor Who' some of its highest ever ratings (16.1m for an episode of 'City of Death'). Suddenly it was back and 'Quatermass' was there on its first night along side Ted Rogers, the Muppets, 'Coronation Street' and 'George & Mildred'. As such, there was very little trailing for the new four-part drama. No build up. No warning. It was just suddenly there.

In the years to come, I'd wonder if its sudden appearance seriously affected its lack of success. Had the strike not occurred, would it have been different. Would the anticipation have resulted in more curiosity  - especially from the Star Wars generation of kids craving further sci-fi hits... There'd probably be a bit disappointed with the new Quatermass' lack of laser swords and space battles anyway.

But it's that magic word 'sci-fi' that would draw them in... And toy manufacturers would no doubt believe this and would want to cash-in on the new potentially successful TV drama. After all, they were on good terms with Thames Television and Euston films since they'd licences toys and games from their recent hit 'The Sweeney' - broadcast in a similar time slot to the new 'Quatermass'. Why not do the same again? Cops and robbers are so last year... it's sci-fi this time! 

Anyway, in the roundabout way this brings me to the point of this post... What if there WERE toys based on the 1979 Euston Films production of 'Quatermass'? (I knew I'd get there in the end.)

Of course, there would be the inevitable 'unofficial' stuff as well...

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Some Quatermass Annuals 4 Da Kids...

I'll admit that with these, I started off doing 50s period 'annual' style book covers. Spent a bit of time and couldn't get the look right to be honest. I'll return to them later...

Instead I took the colourised full length figures of each of the Quatermasses (Reginald Tate, John Robinson and Andre Morrel) and applied them to some of the modern Doctor Who annual templates I'd created a few months earlier... with mixed results. 

That set me thinking again... why not do some pages for these annuals? They'd look pretty cool and there'd be plenty of opportunities for obscure gags and period juxtaposition. 

A day or so later, I forgot about this splendid idea until now. This time I'll make a note and put it with the other "good ideas" for when I'm staring at a blank page again.

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Great Cult TV Christmas Presents of Yore!

A selection (well, three) of toys that may have filled the sacks of eager young cult TV fans in days gone by.

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BBC DVD Box Art Re-done

After a particularly heavy week, I felt the need to do something a bit more serious so I did something I'd been meaning to do for some time. That was to clean up and re-do the DVD box art I'd created for myself many years ago for the Quatermass Trilogy. I (like so many others) don't particularly like the artwork that the BBC used on the original release. It looked more Evil Dead then classic BBC drama! 

I had based the design on the classic Penguin Books style and it seemed to work. Folks on Twitter have always shown their appreciation on the look. But it was one of the first mock covers I'd attempted in Photoshop and I certainly no longer had the original layered file on any of my current drives. 

So this new version has been created from scratch and includes a back cover more in tune with BBC DVD releases. It even includes the actual bar code from the commerical version! 

I've also done ones for A For Andromeda and a speculative (but vintage) one for the first season of Doctor Who.

More Vintage TV Viewmaster Reels...

Here's six more them to be going on with. Apologies.

Hammer Horror Sitcom Movies... part two

Flushed by the apparent popularity of my first bunch of Hammer Sitcom movie posters, I've gone and done some more...

Hammer Horror Sitcom Movies...

On The Buses was a bawdy long-running ITV sitcom popular on the channel during the late 60s and early 70s. It was about a chirpy cockney bus driver, his family and his colleagues at work. It starred Reg Varney together with Bob Grant as his clippy, Doris Hare as his mum, Stephen Lewis as his fatalistic Inspector, Michael Robbins as his brother-in-law and Anna Karen (still appearing semi-regularly in EastEnders as the wheelchair bound Aunt Sal) as his sister Olive. The success of the show lead quickly to three feature films being made. 

There are two infamous pieces of trivia about the 'On The Buses' movies - well-known to movie buffs but sure to raise an eyebrow from those with only a passing interest in the medium. 

1. The first 'On The Buses' movie was the biggest box office earner in the UK in 1971. It beat Get Carter and Diamonds Are Forever - both also released the same year (though the latter was only released in December. OTB was released in the summer). 

2. They were made by Hammer Films - a UK studio more synonomous with the production of stylish horror films. As if to differentiate the films from their horror counterparts, each of the On The Buses films opens with a large caption "A Hammer Comedy Special Presentation" - just so's you know. 

Here's a selection of cinema posters based on 70s sitcoms that are more suited to Hammer's traditional output.

A further selection can be found by clicking here.




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The Story of the Chock-A-Block Computer Uncovered...

A complete history of the 

Chock-A-Block computer 

as seen on the BBC pre-school TV series. 

Chock-A-Block was originally broadcast in 1981 from May until August. It was presented by Fred Harris (as Chock-A-Bloke) and Carol Leader (as Chock-A-Girl) - though not at the same time. The single series was regularly re-run the lunchtime Watch With Mother slot until 1989. 

The main prop was a colourful computer - the Chock-A-Block of the title. 

It was originally built by BBC carpenters in 1953 to dress the set of the British Rocket Group's control room in The Quatermass Experiment.

It is believed to have been stored at the BBC for many years and was regularly used as set dressing on a number of BBC productions during the 50s and 60s. Here it is in a 1966 episode of TV's Doctor Who - the one about the evil computers who take over the Post Office Tower.

The computer was sold as part of a large selection of BBC props to a props warehouse in East London shortly after the opening of BBC Television Centre. It was hired out and appeared in a number of films following this. For the whole of 1974, it lived at Pinewood Studios as part of the set of Moonbase Alpha in the Space: 1999 series. Here it is. It can just be made out underneath the Main Mission's view screen. 

The famous space sci-fi series also marked the first appearance of the 'Choc-A-Truck' that Fred Harris and Carol Leader drove into the studio at the beginning of each 'Chock-A-Episode', though not at the same time. 

Following this, the prop appeared in several ITV and BBC productions. It had a main role as the atmospheric background to the slaughtering of Blakes's 7 in the final episode of that series. 

It was at this time, it was spotted by BBC Childrens Department who signed the prop up for thirteen episodes of a lunchtime pre-school series. Sadly it only ran for one series and the prop was last seen in a 1994 episode of EastEnders. 

It hasn't been seen since. 

BBC's Legends of Yesterday - new comic book! - part two

Here's the final three issues of 'BBC's Legend of Yesterday'. 

It seems a lot of people wish this little effort was a reality judging from the feedback I've had following the posting of the first three covers. 

I'm not sure I'd get away with the last issue though...