Frak Those Toasters!

I don't know much about Jo Storm's Frak You! other than it is an unauthorised guide to the modern Battlestar Galactica TV series and so cannot use copyright photographs from the production. That said, I love the lateral thinking and audacity of their cover.

Those of you who do not watch the series are probably now wondering why on earth there is photograph of a chrome pop-up toaster on the front of a Battlestar book.

Go watch the series and find out!

Fat Man Previewed

(Warning: this post contains links to what may be perceived by some as 'adult' content): Thomas Cochrane and Alan Tanner's's The Fat Man graphic novel project has a brand new web site which features a massive 50 page preview of the forthcoming book, due for release in November. Check it out at www.the-fat-man.co.uk

The Fat Man, which is also being previewed via comics to mobile service ROK Comics, centres on a British MI5 undercover agent approached by himself with proof of the existence of a notorious World War 2 Nazi secret weapon: a time machine, discounted many years previously as German propaganda.

The Fat Man is Scottish writer Thomas Cochrane's first graphic novel. He says he is inspired by such diverse sources as Tin Tin, The Avengers (the TV show) and a fascination with the concept of time travel.

Artist Alan Tanner is a veteran illustrator and designer, who has worked on covers for Time Out and the infamous Oz magazine and what he describes as "various other hippy publications"). He has also created many illustrations for the Radio Times, and worked for CBS and Island on record covers. You can see how the Fat Man "Art Process" has developed over on Flickr.

25 per cent of the profits from this fabulous book will be going to a mental health charity and Thomas told downtheubes he is only 900 orders away from breaking even. "Not bad, considering there has been almost no publicity and it doesn't come out for another eight months!"

Thunderbirds 2005

Jeremy Briggs' earlier post about the Blackpool Illuminations Thunderbird 3 auction reminds me of a web find I made before Christmas, but forgot to post here. Do'h!

Back in 2005, plans were afoot to revive Thunderbirds - again as a puppet show. David Freedman, a multi-skilled director with comedy experience in both live action and animation, was one of the people involved, as its Executive Producer and recalls the project "was one of the greatest and most heart wrenching moments in my career.

"I nearly cried when I landed the gig. It is truly a boy's dream come true.'

Freedman, now Senior Manager of Development, Global Original Programming at the UK Disney Channel, was determined to make the new show with puppets, and has posted several images from the test work done on the proposed series on his blog, including the design for Thunderbird 2 by David Warren, who worked on the Lost in Space and Sky Captain films (above).

"I felt passionately about doing it again with puppets," he argues on his blog. "Why? Well, there was, and still is something magic about working with puppets. My logic is that even a sock puppet is magic, but a CG sock puppet is one step removed from being well... er, Kermit.

"Could you imagine a CG Kermit The Frog on Telly? It would simply feel odd. Besides, you can't replace the thrill of seeing real things blow up! A CG explosion is good. But a real bang is worth its buck.

"Don't get me wrong," Freedman, whose credits include Legend of the Dragon and the animated show King Arthur's Disasters, continues. "CGI works a treat in the Cinema, for the same reason that Stand Up Comedy works in a club and not on TV. If you're not distracted and the room's dark, one man with a microphone or indeed, a bunch of pixels can transport you to another place... but on telly, the smallest distraction and whamo, you're out making a cup of tea. Sorry."

This new Thunderbirds series was to have coincided with the release of the live action film, but Freedman says the merger between Granada and Carlton (in which Carlton was sort of swallowed whole) "put the kibosh on the whole thing".

• You can view the trailer that was put together here (Quicktime).

For Sale: Thunderbird 3

How would you like to own your very own large Thunderbird 3? Here is one that would even put the Iconic Replicas 18 inch tall model to shame.

Blackpool Illuminations have had a movie version Thunderbird 3 rocket on Blackpool seafront for some years and are in the process of selling it off along with a lot of other old illuminations. The auction will take place on 30 January and TB3 is expected to fetch in the region of £10,000. The details of the auction are here on the Visit Blackpool web site and the auction catalgue is here (PDF).

Potential bidders thinking that Thunderbird 3 might make a nice addition to their collection should be aware that the rocket is 15.5m tall, has a diameter of 7m, and weighs 8 tonnes and so they may have a problem trying to display it between their Dinky toys of Thunderbirds 2 and 4.