Brian Johnson Has Died

By - Fred McNamara
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Brian Johnson Has Died - The Gerry Anderson Store

Special effects director Brian Johnson, best remembered from the worlds of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson for his ground-breaking special effects on Space: 1999 (1975-77), has passed away. 

Johnson's far-reaching career across television and film saw him contribute to the special effects of some of Hollywood's greatest science fiction epics, including Alien (1979), The Empire Strikes Back (1980), and Aliens (1986). His Hollywood career was predated by numerous contributions to the special effects departments of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's science fiction TV programmes throughout the 1960s and 1970s.

He joined A.P. Films for Supercar (1961-62) after working for Les Bowie's own special effects company as a studio assistant on various feature films, including The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961). Johnson worked under A.P. Films' special effects director Derek Meddings, the pair working closely to enhance A. P. Films' ambitious space-age visual effects in Supermarionation form, which included producing and operating models and explosions. By the time Thunderbirds (1965-66) began production, Meddings entrusted Johnson with his own unit to handle the growing technical demand of the special effects.

After falling out with Gerry, Johnson left Thunderbirds during the making of the series. He quickly returned to the film business, working on 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Moon Zero Two (1969), Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970), When Dinosaurs Ruled the World (1971), and more.

Johnson and Anderson repaired their relationship when Gerry approached Johnson to produce the special effects for Space: 1999. Now a leading special effects designer in his own right, Johnson and his team's technical and creative efforts in designing and producing Space: 1999's visual effects set an incredible standard for sci-fi TV. This included Johnson designing the Eagle Transporter, one of the most instantly recognisable vehicles in sci-fi history.

Johnson's efforts on Space: 1999 commanded the attention of George Lucas, who invited Johnson to work on Star Wars (1977). Johnson's commitments to Space: 1999 forbade this from happening, but following Space: 1999's completion, he joined Star Wars for The Empire Strikes Back. Following Space: 1999, Johnson's Hollywood career blossomed, gaining global recognition with many awards won in recognition for his ingenious special effects.

Our thoughts are with Brian Johnson's loved ones during this time. 

12 comments

There were moments in Space 1999 that simply took ones breath away because the special effects and model work were of a quality previously unseen. Even apparently unspectacular scenes-no explosions or lasers etc-were filled with detail and imaginative staging. The man was a genius.

Mark holborough

A very talented guy, I grew up admiring his work and was a huge fan of his and Derek’s work on Thunderbirds.
Loved the Eagle transporter from space 1999 and all the special effects on that show. I had the pleasure of meeting him in the old Forbidden planet store down Denmark street in 1980 when The empire strikes back came out, he kindly signed my Star Wars magazine.
Great memory for me.
Rest in peace Brian.

James Logie

I did not met mister Johnson in person but had the opportunity to chat with him via video conference during the Breakaway 2019 convention. It was a Q&A session but I did not have any question. I just wanted to tell him that he was an inspiration to me and in my career and hobby (I like special effects photography with miniatures). I still think that the works he’s done with his remarkable effects teams stand quite well the test of time. Rest in peace Brian.

Sylvain Labrosse

If you ever get chance, watch Brian’s videos where he explains how his effects were created. They’re as exciting as the finished episodes and films! What a great chap. He’ll be missed.

HUSKY

My husband and I both grew up on classic sci-fi, and Brian’s work specifically. In fact to the point of watching for his name in film credits. Dragonslayer anyone??? He was a busy man in the 70’s and 80’s..
I remember summer vacations at my grandparents home in 1976-77 watching Space:1999 since we didn’t get the show where we lived. I do remember seeing my first episode, Dragon’s Domain, and just being blown away having mainly only Star Trek reruns up to that point in my life. This event and the subsequent release of Star Wars encouraged my to go into art and design, having done concept illustration for Babylonian Productions (Babylon 5/ Crusade), TriStar Pictures (Starship Troopers Franchise), and B7 Media (Sky1 2010 unproduced Blake’s 7 reboot), and lots of gaming design. I’ve had a good career because of the inspiration of Brain and artists like him.
Thank you so much, Brian, for the inspiration and all the memories.
His loved ones are in our thoughts today.

Allana Netherland

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