2023 has been an exciting year for Anderson fans, and with 2024 almost upon us, we wanted to take a quick look back at the year as a whole. It’s certainly been one to remember!
As well as forging ahead with new projects, Anderson Entertainment is committed to keeping the classic Anderson shows of yesteryear as relevant and vibrant as they’ve ever been – and to that end, Space Precinct was given a new lease of life in 2023 courtesy of an AI upscale from the show’s surviving master digi-betas. The series now looks better than it ever has before, and has found the new audience it has long deserved as one of the many Anderson shows now streaming on ITVX! And for those of you hoping for a Blu-ray release for Space Precinct, keep an eye on your multicoms in 2024…
2023 was also a bumper year for new merchandise from the Official Gerry Anderson Store, with highlights including the Space:1999 comic anthology, the new Thunderbirds audio drama collection Danger and Deception, the Captain Scarlet audiobook Martian Menace, the Secrets of the Secret Service bookazine, and of course the first two releases in our new premium collectibles line of model Anderson vehicles; the Space:1999 Eagle transporter and Rescue Eagle! Releases you can look forward to in 2024 include a Thunderbird 2 model from the same range, plus a blu-ray release of the newly AI-upscaled 1975 Anderson tv pilot The Day After Tomorrow, with an exciting lineup of bonus features – including contributions from Mr. Brian Blessed himself!
We’ve also been flying the Anderflag at several events around the country this year, including the opening of the London Cartoon Museum’s Century 21 exhibit in March, BritSciFi at the Leicester space centre in June, and the Scale ModelWorld event in Telford in November. We’re hoping to appear at more events next year – but is there anywhere in particular you’d like us to visit? Let us know in the comments below!
2023 saw a new beginning for the Gerry Anderson Podcast as it was supplemented with a new video format from July, with hosts Jamie, Richard and Chris plus their very special guests now recording together under one roof at the Moxy hotel in Slough! We’ve deeply appreciated the warm response of listeners (and now viewers!) of the Podcast while we’ve been making these changes – but do please let us know in the comments how we can continue to improve the podcast in 2024!
2023 was also a year of farewells, including to Network Distributing, the company that has done so much to keep the Anderson shows (and many other cult TV series and films) alive and fresh on DVD and Blu-ray for over two decades. Network went into liquidation at the end of May following the death of founder Tim Beddows back in November 2022, and their entire catalogue of titles immediately went out of print. Anderson Entertainment has been able to reprint several recent titles – including Terrahawks, Gerry Anderson: A Life Uncharted and the 2022 Stand by for Action! concert – as well as acquire the rights to the 1963 Roberta Leigh sci-fi puppet Space Patrol (also now available once again on Blu-ray). As for the rest, several outlets (ourselves included) managed to acquire whatever remaining Network stock we could, but the ideal situation would be to get these titles back in print once more – fingers crossed we can bring you some news on that in 2024!
We also said goodbye in 2023 to several people who brought the Anderson shows to life, including guest actors Joss Ackland (The Protectors) and Hildegarde Neil (The Protectors & Space:1999), Supermarionation director David Elliott, Space:1999 director Ray Austin, and Supermarionation puppet sculptor John Brown and his wife (and Supermarionation puppeteer) Wanda Webb. Composer Francis Monkman didn’t work on an Anderson production, but among his many compositions was the track Dawn of an Era – used as the opening title theme of the 1980 UFO compilation movie Invasion: UFO – while Gerry Anderson’s son with his second wife Sylvia, Doctor Gerry Anderson, also passed away this year.
While we’ve certainly had a busy year, it’s important to remember we’re not the only ones keeping the Anderson legacy alive! From Fanderson to Century 21 Films, to Silva Screen Records continuing to release classic Anderson soundtrack CDs and Bachman’s new Stingray figurines, there are many other groups dedicated to celebrating the works of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson plus all those who worked alongside them over the years. Perhaps the most important people keeping the Anderson legacy alive however are…you! We do what we do because we’re fans of these incredible shows, as are you, and we couldn’t continue to do what we do without your support.
Thank you all so much for joining us on our journey through 2023 – please share your favourite moments of the year in the comments below! We look forward to seeing you all for more in the New Year, including the 60th anniversary of Stingray for which we have some very special plans because, you know, anything could happen in 2024!
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And remember, Stand By For Action!
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