30 Years of Knight Rider to be celebrated at Memorabilia

No, they didn't have the internet as we
know it back in 1986. That URL has been
added by David's fan site.

Break out your Look Ins! The 30th Anniversary of cult SF detective show Knight Rider will be marked at Memorabilia at Birmingham's NEC later this month, with a rare signing event by its original star, David Hasselhoff.

Memorabilia Birmingham, Britain's biggest collectors' event, returns to the NEC on 24-25 November, and there's a host of special guests already confirmed for the show - from Hollywood stars to sci-fi heroes, cult favourites to sporting legends.

Here's just a small selection from the first wave of announcements:

World First Signing

- David Hasselhoff will be celebrating the 30th anniversary of Knight Rider by making Memorabilia his first ever signing event. The Knight Rider and Baywatch star will be meeting fans at the show on both Saturday and Sunday.

Movie & TV Guests

- Warwick Davis - Show favourite and star of Life's Too Short, Warwick's movie credits include Willow; Star Wars; Harry Potter and Leprechaun..

- Michael Biehn - Starred in James Cameron sci-fi movies The Terminator as Kyle Reese, Aliens as Cpl. Dwayne Hicks, and The Abyss as Lt. Coffey.

- Eddie McClintock - Star of Warehouse 13, where he plays co-protagonist Pete Lattimer. Other credits include Bones and Desperate Housewives

- Britt Ekland - Best known for her roles as an iconic Bond girl in The Man with the Golden Gun and as Willow in cult British horror film The Wicker Man.

- Craig Charles - Most famous for playing likeable slob Dave Lister in Emmy Award-winning sci-fi sitcom Red Dwarf, which recently retirned to UK screens for its tenth season in Dave.

- Only Fools And Horses - Cast member reuniting at Memorabilia include John Challis (Boycie); Tessa Peake-Jones (Raquel); Sue Holderness (Marlene); Gwyneth Strong (Cassandra); Patrick Murray (Mickey Pearce); Paul Barber (Denzil) and Christopher Ryan and Roy Marsden (The Driscoll Brothers).

- Craig Parker - Best known for his roles as Haldir in The Lord of The Rings movie trilogy and Gaius Claudius Glaber in Spartacus: Blood And Sand.

- Virginia Hey - Starred in sci-fi favourite Farscape as Pa'u Zotoh Zhaan, the Delvian priestess imprisoned aboard Moya for assassinating her planet's leader.

- Ken Foree - Most famous for playing Peter in George A. Romero's classic Dawn of the Dead, widely regarded one of the best horror films ever made.

- Jeremy Bulloch - Best known for playing Boba Fett in the original Star Wars trilogy. Jeremy's TV credits include Doctor Who and Robin of Sherwood.

- Claudia Christian - One of the main cast in J. Michael Straczynski's popular science fiction series Babylon 5, starring as Commander Susan Ivanova.

- Peter Lamont - First ever signing by Oscar-winning art director and production designer famous for working on 18 James Bond films, Titanic and Aliens.

- Eunice Gayson - Best known for playing James Bond's girlfriend Sylvia in Dr. No and From Russia with Love. Also appeared in The Saint and The Avengers.

- Alan Tomkins - Oscar-nominated art director who has worked on movies such as The Empire Strikes Back; Batman Begins; Saving Private Ryan and JFK.

- Garrick Hagon - Best known for his role as Biggs Darklighter in Star Wars: A New Hope, Garrick's credits also include Batman, Doctor Who and Spy Game.

- David Hedison - Played James Bond's ally Felix Leiter in Live And Let Die and Licence to Kill. Also appeared in The Fly, Knight Rider and Charlie's Angels.

- Kathryn Leigh Scott - Best remembered for regular appearances in US gothic soap opera Dark Shadows, which continues to enjoy a strong cult following.

For an up-to-date list of confirmed Memorabilia guests - including sports guests - and when they'll be appearing at the show, go to www.memorabilia.co.uk/birmingham.

For Memorabilia tickets, visit: www.memorabilia.co.uk/birmingham/tickets and for more about Memorabilia Birmingham, visit: www.memorabilia.co.uk.

You can discover more about MCM Expo events at www.twitter.com/mcmexpo; www.facebook.com/mcmexpo and www.youtube.com/mcmexpo

For more information about shows coming up at the NEC, visit www.thenec.co.uk

Thunderbirds, Project SWORD and More on eBay

I'm having another spate of clearing boxes at downthetubes, and the following items are currently being offered on ebay... Sales help keep us going, especially at present. Pictures of all offered items can be found here on Flickr

• 1967 Lady Penelope Annual
Featuring comic strips as follows: Lady Penelope ("Adventure in Bereznik" - the fictional Iron Curtain country that was the nemesis of heroes in both TV21 and Lady Penelope comics - "The Million Pound Lipstick" and "Lady Penelope versus The Fox"); The Girl from U.N.C.L.E ("Academy of Thrush Agents"); Marina ("Menace in the Weed"); The Man from U.N.C.L.E. ("Caribbean Caper"); Perils of Parker; Creighton-Ward ("Night of Suspense"); Daktari; and What Did That Dog Say?. Plus some text stories
Features: Biographies of Lady Penelope Creightion-Ward and 'Nosey' Parker; the secrets of Creighton-Ward Mansion; Graphology feature interpreting the personalities of the Thunderbirds team (you didn't know puppets could hold a pen, did you?); fashion and horoscope pages; pin ups of Davy Jones, Mike Nesmith (from the Monkees)

• 1968 Lady Penelope Annual
Featuring comic strips as follows: Lady Penelope in "Symphony of Death", "Duel in the Jungle" and "Sabotage Session"; Captain Scarlet's Angels in "Apres Ski"; The Monkees ("Once Upon A Time"); Perils of Parker"; Bewitched; What Did That Dog Say; The Spectrum, the band that sand the Captain Scarlet outro song;) and some text stories, including an Angels story with Captain Scarlet pictures, "Deadly Decoy"
Features: "Changing Gear", featuring photos of various models of the time charting fashion across the years; an interview with The Tremeloes; a Beatles diary, charting highlights of the band's success from 1964 to 1968; "Odd Jobs" reporting on women such as Janet Rice, racing driver, Jean Lincoln, pop star manager and stunt girl Connie Tilton; "Pop Goes the Alphabet", noting top acts of the year; "Behind the Scenes" reporting on music recording in London's famous music mecca, Denmark Street;
plus pin up pages of the Beach Boys, Bee Gees, Dave, Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Titch; plus recipe, fashion tip and quiz pages ("How Do You Rate as a Friend?")

• 1968 Project SWORD Annual
Based on a Century 21 merchandise range that spawned its own comic strip material in TV Century 21, it's my understanding this annual is considered something of a rarity among Gerry Anderson fans. The setting of the story is 3031, at a point in Earth's history when major natural disaster had ravaged the planet. Whether there was ever any intention to bring make this toy range the basis for a TV show by Gerry Anderson, creator of Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet, remains a matter of speculation. It has some echoes with his later projects such as Space:1999, for example.
The annual comprises a mix of comic strip and text stories plus background features on the origin of Project S.W.O.R.D., utlising stills from 2001: A Space Odyssey and blueprints of S.W.O.R.D. vehicles - The Scramble Bug, the Booster Rocket, Moon Prospector, Moon Bus, Hovertank and Survey Vehicle.
There are also mini features on contemporary space travel including an item on the Apollo rocket. One feature of note is a "bio" section of the SWORD team featuring photographs of the characters - presumably members of Century 21's editorial staff and friends since there was never a show based on the toy range?

• 1966 Thunderbirds Television Story Book
Comprising largely of text stories and some comic strips, plus one fab feature - make a working model of Thunderbird Four. Something of an oddity but the art is competent throughout in a style on a par with the quality of strips in the comic TV21.

• Thunderbirds Annual 1966
Cover by Frank Bellamy comprising comic strip, text stories, puzzlesand "real world" emergency features. Plenty of Thunderbirds pictures. Features include profiles of the Tracy brothers and father Jeff, Kyrano, Tin Tin, Lady Penelope, Parker and The Hood; cutaways of Thunderbird 1, 3 and 5, an item on the Thunderbird launch sequences (some scribbling on these)

• Thunderbirds Annual 1968
Comprising comic strip, text stories, games and "real world" emergency features. Strips feature art by Ron Turner and other TV21 regulars. One feature recaps the TV adventures of Thunderbirds as well as comic strip stories from Century 21's weekly titles such as one featuring an abominable snowman. There's plenty of Thunderbirds photographs throughout the book.

• Stingray Annual 1966
featuring a cover by Ron Embleton and a variety of comic strips (including "The Collector", drawn by Ron Turner) and text stories. The annual also features a number of background features on the technology featured in the show including items on Marineville's "Hydromic Missiles" (made of new alloy, Prexfreos - try saying that three times quickly), Marineville (sadly one page of this feature is missing), sea prison Aquatraz, Titan's Terror Fish but not, strangely, Stingray itself. This particular annual is not the best from my small collection, having suffered at the hads of its original owner with all puzzle pages completed and scribbling on some pages. Pages 33-34 (part of a Marineville feature) are missing.

• British War Comics (War and Battle Picture Library and More
A selection British "pocket digest" war comics from various publishers. Commando was first published in the early 1960s and continues to this day, but the other titles are long gone, their lurid covers, some great pieces of art in themselves no longer part of Britain's newsagent stands. Many of the issues in the lot are first publication but some are reprints of earlier titles.
• Commando comics published by DC Thomson comprising Issues 1015 ("Forgotten Sergeant", reprint of issue first published in 1968), 1024 ("Battle-Squad", published in 1976), 1049 ("Pacific Pirates, cover by Ian Kennedy), 1052 ("No Way But Down", published in 1976), 1536 ("Defend to the Last", published in 1981) and 1538 ("Devil Fish", published in 1981). The stories cover all three British forces in a mix of conflicts from World War Two.
• Combat Picture Library (Issue 770, "Total Death", pubished by Micron in 1970)
• Pocket War Library (Issue 123, "Terrible Task"), published by Top Sellers
• Battle Picture Library published by IPC Magazines in the 1970s and early 1980s: Issue 997 ("Clipped Wings"); 1008 ("Wolf Patrol"); 1018 ("Zone of Conflict"); 1027 ("These Men Are Dangerous"); 1028 ("Blockade Runner"); 1031 ("Stand Up and Fight"); 1209 ("Dead Heat"); 1212 ("Total War"); 1389 ("The Stronghold"); 1412 ("Men Without Mercy"); 1418 ("War of Nerves"); 1438 ("Battle Call"); 1508 ("Relic of the Sands").
• War Picture Library Titles published by IPC Magazines in the 1970s and early 1980s: 1195 ("Certain Death"); 1202 ("Second Sight"); 1206 ("No Hiding Place"); 1245 ("Commandos Die Hard"); 1247 ("Desert Patrol"); 1249 ("The Hero"); 1255 ("Fire Trap", published 1976); 1254 ("Run For Your Life"); 1258 ("Battle Drop"), Issue 1264 ("The Dark Jungle"); 1275 ("Ground Support")

• Signed "Commander Ivanova" Babyon 5 CCG Game Card and more
Over 100 individual Babylon 5 Customisable Card Game Cards including an "Ivanova" card signed by actress Claudia Christian (given away with the game's "Deluxe Edition"). Plus some 40 or so duplicates.

In Space No One Can Hear You Build...

If the Forbidden Lego book hasn't sparked your imagination for something to do with the kids' Lego once they have become bored with it after Christmas, maybe this website will give you a few ideas.

Lego Sci-Fi has Lego representations of the Tardis and Daleks from Doctor Who and the Liberator from Blake's 7. US TV isn't left out either with the Galactica from the original series of Battlestar Galactica and a Starfury from Babylon 5.

Even Lost gets the Lego treatment with a brick and minifig version of the excavation of the first hatch.

The challenge with building from scratch with Lego is to see the pieces as something other than what the Lego designers intended them to be.

From this website my favourite piece of lateral thinking has to be the use a circular Lego tree as the green engine dome of the Liberator.

Londo in 2008?

It seems there aren't a lot of candidates Americans can agree upon in the US presidential elections. Fortunately, Babylon 5 creator and Amazing Sider-Man and Thor writer J. Michael Stracyznski (pictured right) has kindly solved the problem as a public service to all Americans, "providing a slate of candidates that will bring the country together in common cause and preserve many of this nations' finest electoral traditions."

With election posters now on sale via thejoestore, the first slate is Londo/G'Kar (or, for those who wish to be contrary, G'Kar/Londo is also available.) "They bring a combination of military training, a love of freedom, and sartorial excellences," the store advises as it offers election posters for sale. "They are also excellent public speakers and true patriots who put their people ahead of their own interests. Should the electorate find themselves not happy with the slate as elected, whoever is in second position will gladly assassinate the other in order to bring about a referendum."

Similarly, we're told the ticket of Zathras and Zathras "promises the best in crisis management at a difficult time for our nation. Their wisdom is inscrutable (also incomprehensible), their dedication to detail is almost frightening, and in times of economic belt-tightening by electing one Zathras you elect all Zathras, nine for the price of the One."

So, American readers, the future is here. You're so lucky. We just have Mr. Bean...

Babylon 5: The Lost Tales - Region 2 release news

The previously-mentioned Region 2 release of Babylon 5: The Lost Tales, a straight-to-DVD B5 project has been scehduled for 3 September 2007, quickly followed on 10 September by the release of Supernatural Season Two.

The Region 1 DVD was released on Region 1 on 31st July.

Lost Tales offers two stories set 10 years after John Sheridan (Bruce Boxleitner) became President of the Interstellar Alliance and as he is preparing for a fateful Babylon 5 reunion that could prevent Earth’s impending doom… if he will also compromise his core principles.

Meanwhile, aboard B5, Commander Lochley (Tracy Scoggins), confronts an unexpected interloper on the way station – a being whose presence makes the freeport the crossroads between heaven and hell.

Babylon 5: The Lost tales

Working on Babylon 5 Magazine for Titan was one of the best editorships I ever had, with terrific support from JMS and his team - and I wish them every success with their new venture, Babylon 5: The Lost Tales, its straight-to-DVD B5 project.

ISN News reports that Warner Bros. has finally posted information about the project over at the official B5 site, www.babylon5.com

The site pops up with some very familiar people to B5 fans -- and you'll find downloads, a photo gallery and much, much more.

The DVD is released on Region 1 on 31st July 2007 (latest Region 2 info below, see update) with stories set 10 years after John Sheridan (Bruce Boxleitner) became President of the Interstellar Alliance and as he is preparing for a fateful Babylon 5 reunion that could prevent Earth’s impending doom… if he will also compromise his core principles.

Meanwhile, aboard B5, Commander Lochley (Tracy Scoggins), confronts an unexpected interloper on the way station – a being whose presence makes the freeport the crossroads between heaven and hell.

Written by series creator J. Michael Straczynski, I'm sure B5 fans will welcome this latest return to his vision of the 23rd century (including a dazzling New York City) – a vision Warner Bros. describes as 'made more spectacular via filmmaking technology unavailable during the original series'.

Update 16 September 2007: The Region 2 release of Babylon 5: The Lost Tales is 3 September 2007, quickly followed on 10 September by the release of Supernatural Season Two.

"Warner UK has DVD releases planned for Supernatural, Smallville and a new-to-DVD Stephen King title so rest of 2007 is going to be great for sci-fi fans," said a spokesperson.