Convention Report

Con report: Charlie and I arrived at the Allesley Hotel on Thursday
morning. We walked around Allesley Village and enjoyed a leisurely
afternoon on an amazing day in England (75 degrees and sunny). On
friday, we toured Warwick Castle and planned on getting a good night's
sleep for the convention the next morning. On Friday night, we stopped
at the bar at the Allesley hotel on the way back from dinner and ran
into old friends from the 2000 Fanderson Con (so much for getting to bed
early!). We had a great time and left well after midnight.

Sat morning we attended the opening ceremony and updated our schedule
with the changes. The schedule revisions were much easier to follow
this time because they posted the revisions all over the hotel and
updated them (on different colored sheets to indicate changes) as
needed. A great effort was made to keep people updated about the
changes. One concern on saturday was that the autograph sessions were
alongside some great guest interviews/panels. It made decisions
difficult but considering how many guests there were and how many things
were going on, it would have been impossible to schedule them at any
other time. I believe if they had set it up as they did at the last con
(all the guests signing at one time) it just would never have been
practical. Neither of us had any complaints about the donation for
autographs. We felt that one complimentary autograph from each guest was
very fair and we had no objection to donating to a worthy charity for
more autographs. It was an excellent way to raise money for the cause
and to discourage people from abusing autograph privileges. We hope they
do that again at the next convention. We attended the autograph session
with Ed Bishop, Graydon Gould and Dolores Mantez midday Saturday. All
were very obliging. Dolores Mantez was not staying for the rest of the
convention so I asked if I could take some photos of her and she was
very sweet and posed for two. It was nice of her since we were at the
end of the line and they had been smiling and signing for a long time.

The exhibition room: Many items from Gerry Anderson's various shows
were displayed including a great set up from Space 1999's Medical Center
complete with an active video screen. There were very few UFO items on
display (compared with the 2000 con ).

The Sales room: We browsed the sales room but it was very crowded so we
didn't stay very long. There were a wide variety of items for sale from
all different science fiction shows. I think that it was in a better
location this time (upstairs next to the exhibition room). If you were
waiting for the autograph session you could go to the exhibition room,
viewing room or sales room and browse.

My favorite part of the convention was the talk with Francis Matthews
and Ed Bishop. A considerable part of the interview was a "playful
argument" between Ed and Francis regarding how many recording sessions
they did per month for Capt Scarlet. They talked about what it was like
being "actors for hire" rather than aggressively pursuing parts. They
talked about what it was like to "wait for the phone to ring". They also
referred to projects they had done through the years.

Charlie's favorite part of the con was Alan Shubrook's talk and slide
presentation about the visual effects from various Gerry Anderson shows
including UFO. Unfortunately, I had to leave this lecture after taking a
few photos. Jet lag had caught up with me and I was afraid if I didn't
take time out then, I might miss the entire rest of the day. Charlie
stayed and he says it was great insight into how they made all of the
miniature sets for the shows. Alan Shubrook's story about how he ended
up being hired was cute. I know someone already posted the story so I
won't repeat it. I just asked charlie if he had any other comments
regarding that session and he just said "the man was a genius". I asked
why and he said "with what he did with little scraps of foam and sheets
of plastic... it was brilliant".

Photo Call: Saturday night there was a "photo call" that provided us
with a unique opportunity to photograph all of the guests that were
still present at the con. They were very patient and allowed plenty of
time to take pics. It was a little disorganized at first but then the
group "got together" and formed two lines and I am sure Marc will be
able to acquire some great photos of this from other attendees. After
that, Francis Matthews and Ed Bishop went back up to the autograph room
and posed with their respective Capt Scarlet and Capt Blue dolls.

Fanderson's 21st birthday party: The disco party followed on saturday
night. Charlie and I arrived out of costume. I would like to say (as I
did for the last con) that I didn't have time to prepare but I guess
nobody would believe that the 20 months since the last convention didn't
provide us with enough time! Charlie swore his sneakers and his belt
were from the 70's hehehe There were many people in costume and many of
them were very creative. Ed Bishop and Zienia Merton were on the disco
floor. Ed Bishop danced for quite some time (I believe he was dancing
with Jane) and he was really boogeying! Everyone seemed to have a great
time. One highlight was when several people (including Tony Atkins)
went on stage and sang along to the Capt Scarlet theme song.

Sunday: I attended the opening ceremony and there were a lot of
unexpected changes. We were informed that Mr Bell had to leave for
personal reasons and Gerry Anderson was his ride (along with Mr Bill
James). All three therefore had to leave. Shane Rimmer had also gone.
We weren't particularly shocked by the changes since, with so many
guests, anything can happen. I went upstairs to the autograph session
with Tony Atkins, Ed Bishop and Francis Matthews but the line was very
long and didn't move for 1/2 an hour so I went downstairs and ran into
an old friend. I never made it back to that autograph session. During
the day on Sunday there were various events (the auction, Paul Starr and
the Solarnauts as described on the Fanderson web site). There were also
plenty of autograph sessions.

Bits and Pieces: We attended the B&P session in the evening which began
with two trailers for Space Police (one without Shane Rimmer) that went
on to sell the Space Precinct Series. It was interesting that they did
one without Shane Rimmer. I think they said they wanted a younger
character in the part but I'm not sure. They also played a colorized
version of Fireball XL5. The gentleman from Christie's auction house
then brought in the Reg Hill items to be auctioned in July. It included
several models from UFO (Shado 2 mobile and Interceptor) and Capt
Scarlet paintings that had been in Reg Hill's closet and were preserved
very well. They walked those around the room and later put several
items in the exhibition room for people to view. They then showed the
American end title sequence to the Terrahawks. (Apparently a different
version than Britain's end sequence). After that, a great display of
"Gerry Anderson around the world" was shown. This consisted of footage
from Fireball XL5 in french (fuseeXL5) , Supercar in French, Aquamarina
in French . They also showed the Thunderbirds intro in french as well
as Joe 90. The Japanese versions were hilarious because their
translations were so far off from the original meaning. During the
intro of some of the Japanese shows they gave a full descriptive story
line. They showed Japanese intros for Joe 90, Stingray, Capt Scarlet and
Space 1999 as well. No UFO versions in French or Japanese were shown
:( I would love to have seen some short clips from some of the UFO
episodes. An Anti-dumping campaign advertisement was shown featuring
Gerry Anderson characters as well as a Cinema version of a commercial
with Lady Penelope encouraging people to pay their road tax! They were
very funny. After that "When Gerry Met Freddie" and Space 1899 were
shown. They were repeats but I was so glad they showed them again. They
are definitely as funny the second time around! We left after the B&P
and went to the room and fell asleep and missed the Closing Ceremony :(
After that, dinner with friends from the last con followed by an evening
at the bar talking.

Monday we spent the entire day with a friend from the 2000 convention.
We went to Kenilworth Castle ruins by local bus and spent the remainder
of the afternoon touring the wonderful city of Coventry with him. This
time I was able to take pics since it wasn't raining. We never got to
Stratford Upon Avon so...we'll just have to go back :) One interesting
note. When we returned to the hotel from Coventry by taxi, the driver
asked us if we attended the Gerry Anderson Convention. We were wondering
how he knew (was it our appearance? the fact that we were americans? did
we LOOK like Gerry Anderson fans?). The mystery was solved when he
handed us the local paper and said "I just read that they had a big
Gerry Anderson convention at the Allesley hotel this weekend". There was
a picture of Alan Perry on the front page.

In summary, we both felt the convention was a huge success and we were
very glad we attended. We love the area they chose for the convention
since there is so much to see and do within a few miles.

Lorraine and Charlie Meyer

Anyone have pics of the Space:1999 Med Center (from the Con)? If so, can
they be posted somewhere?

anthony
-------------------------
Come visit me at:

http://www.tony-island.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Charles and Lorraine" <[hidden email]>
To: <[hidden email]>
Sent: Wednesday, May 29, 2002 10:35 PM
Subject: [SHADO] Convention Report


<snip>
> The exhibition room: Many items from Gerry Anderson's various shows
> were displayed including a great set up from Space 1999's Medical Center
> complete with an active video screen. There were very few UFO items on
> display (compared with the 2000 con ).
<snip>

>[hidden email]
asked:
So what did he choose to wear whilst making like John
>Travolta? :-)

A cream suit, no lie. However, neither Nehru nor Travolta style. And he
was dancing with Jane. I know, because they were right next to me on the
dance floor for a while.
Denise

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Yes Anthony, there are two photos at
http://ufoseries.com/sbfa/lorraineMeyer/ listed under exhibit1999furniture.
Lorraine


Anthony D wrote: