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Clare Cross

UFO ANNUAL 1972

Celebrate 50 years of UFO!

What better way to celebrate 50 years of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s groundbreaking series UFO than with a great read – the long-awaited UFO Annual 1972!

Like most Anderson series there was a UFO Annual produced to accompany the broadcasts, but just the one volume for 1971. Exclusive to Fanderson is this follow-up book, full of features about the series and SHADO, two brand new stories starring your favourite UFO characters and three new exclusive cutaways.

We’re expecting stock of the UFO Annual 1972 in time for the series’ 50th anniversary on 16th September 2020, and you can be sure to be among the first to get your copy by pre-ordering from 1st September.

https://fanderson.org.uk/news/celebrate-50-years-of-ufo/?fbclid=IwAR1NB0FRNJakMsJlDcHfXckQpX1MCpfFy_PLNAjDVqmQfyOOrUVIbTKq7bs

TRT

Re: UFO ANNUAL 1972

Just so long as it doesn’t arrive full of Space:1999 stuff like UFO series 2 did! *

*joking. That would also be cool.

On 18 Aug 2020, at 13:37, Clare Cross [via SHADO] <[hidden email]> wrote:

Celebrate 50 years of UFO!

What better way to celebrate 50 years of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s groundbreaking series UFO than with a great read – the long-awaited UFO Annual 1972!

Like most Anderson series there was a UFO Annual produced to accompany the broadcasts, but just the one volume for 1971. Exclusive to Fanderson is this follow-up book, full of features about the series and SHADO, two brand new stories starring your favourite UFO characters and three new exclusive cutaways.

We’re expecting stock of the UFO Annual 1972 in time for the series’ 50th anniversary on 16th September 2020, and you can be sure to be among the first to get your copy by pre-ordering from 1st September.

https://fanderson.org.uk/news/celebrate-50-years-of-ufo/?fbclid=IwAR1NB0FRNJakMsJlDcHfXckQpX1MCpfFy_PLNAjDVqmQfyOOrUVIbTKq7bs

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Shado-cabinet

Re: UFO ANNUAL 1972

Hi TRT

Please forgive the stupidity & ignorance of a 'newbie' like myself but I was wondering is the joke you made, is it a reference to some Fanderson publication called 'UFO-series 2', or are you just joking about the fact that 'Space:1999' was borne out of a proposed 2nd season of UFO that got rejected by the US TV executives? . The reason why I am asking is that there are continuation novels made by Powysmedia for Space 1999 called 'season 3'. I am just wondering have Fanderson done something along the same lines for UFO. I certainly do hope so - [btw sorry for asking about this :( ] ?

TRT

Re: UFO ANNUAL 1972

It was a reference to the second series of UFO which ‘morphed’ into Space:1999.

UFO Series 1 was originally broadcast in the UK mainly in 1970/1971, matching the 1971 Annual (traditionally released just in time for the Christmas market and bearing the date of the incoming year as was common in at least the UK publishing tradition).

The 1972 Annual would, therefore, have been for UFO Series 2, which as we all know materialised as Space:1999. However as that was broadcast in 1975, I suppose the joke would work better if it was the UFO Annual 1976 that was being released.

Having explained the joke though, it is no longer a joke (if it ever was).

On 19 Aug 2020, at 15:30, Shado-cabinet [via SHADO] <[hidden email]> wrote:

Hi TRT

Please forgive the stupidity & ignorance of a 'newbie' like myself but I was wondering is the joke you made, is it a reference to some Fanderson publication called 'UFO-series 2', or are you just joking about the fact that 'Space:1999' was borne out of a proposed 2nd season of UFO that got rejected by the US TV executives? . The reason why I am asking is that there are continuation novels made by Powysmedia for Space 1999 called 'season 3'. I am just wondering have Fanderson done something along the same lines for UFO. I certainly do hope so - [btw sorry for asking about this :( ] ?

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Clare Cross

Re: UFO ANNUAL 1972

Not quite true, TRT.

The UFO Annual 1971 was released in the autumn of 1970, just as some ITV regions were starting to show it. The majority of ITV regions started to show UFO in 1971 (and, in some cases, later) and, as a result, the first UFO annual didn't sell that well. The following year (autumn 1971) would almost certainly have seen a UFO Annual 1972 published... had the series been a bigger hit and had the first UFO annual sold better. As it was, the publishers simply put out the first UFO annual again, thereby getting rid of the remainder of the previous year's unsold stock. It was a terrible shame that, because of bad scheduling, UFO didn't become more popular in the UK and there wasn't a second UFO annual...

...until now.

I understood your joke, by the way!

TRT

Re: UFO ANNUAL 1972

I can’t believe they’d try to sell old stock for the Christmas market the next year. That’s just publishing suicide!

On 19 Aug 2020, at 18:10, Clare Cross [via SHADO] <[hidden email]> wrote:

Not quite true, TRT.

The UFO Annual 1971 was released in the autumn of 1970, just as some ITV regions were starting to show it. The majority of ITV regions started to show UFO in 1971 (and, in some cases, later) and, as a result, the first UFO annual didn't sell that well. The following year (autumn 1971) would almost certainly have seen a UFO Annual 1972 published... had the series been a bigger hit and had the first UFO annual had sold better. As it was, the publishers simply put out the first UFO annual again, thereby getting rid of the remainder of the previous year's unsold stock. It was a terrible shame that, because of bad scheduling, UFO didn't become more popular in the UK and there wasn't a second UFO annual...

...until now.

I understood your joke, by the way!

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Clare Cross

Re: UFO ANNUAL 1972

They did! There was even an advert in Countdown comic which said something like "...due to differences in regional scheduling, it has not been possible to produce a new UFO annual for this year. Instead, we are giving you the chance to buy last year's annual again." OK, that's not exactly what it said, but that was the gist of it. Believe it or not London, probably the single biggest market for UFO in the UK, didn't get it until 1971. So many people simply wouldn't have had a clue what UFO was in 1970.

I get what you are saying about a UFO annual for 1975/76... but this would be straying too far into the realms of conjecture and speculation, but I would love to see a UFO:1999 comic strip!

The UFO ANNUAL 1972 is based purely on what was seen on television during 1970/71 and, as such, really is the annual that never was! I have seen it and although I cannot say anymore, it really is incredible and easy to believe that it was produced 49 years ago. It's Fanderson's first hardback book and it really is FAB!

Shado-cabinet

Re: UFO ANNUAL 1972

In reply to this post by Clare Cross

Hi Clare

Sorry for the echo :( (I just read your last response after I posted the text below) :

It actually does refer to this in a 'special offer' advert for the UFO in Countdown comic (Issue 39, 13 Nov 1971 to be exact as I am currently reading through these issues :) where they are selling the UFO 1971 annual for 40p (plus an extra 10p for postage etc). The advert states that "Owing to the variation in regional showing of the UFO TV programme, it has not been possible to produce a new UFO annual. This is the same production that was on sale Christmas 1970". So the reason for a new annual was due to the fact that UFO was not longer being broadcasted in certain regions. There was no indication that UFO was a flop that I can see in Countdown. If anything the 'UFO' comic strip seemed to the be the most popular strip in the comic at the time (in fact the show was hailed in the 1st issue of the Countdown comic as 'Anderson's latest & greatest show').

Was 'UFO' deemed a flop by the Andersons & Lew Grade of ITC? On a UFO site FAQ it states that Lew Grade never commissions a second series for any production such as 'Captain Scarlet' or even 'Thunderbirds' (unless of course the American TV channels request a second season). So does anyone knows what were the actual viewing figures, or critical response to UFO etc, was it a hit?

Marc Martin

Re: UFO ANNUAL 1972

Administrator

On August 19, Shado-cabinet [via SHADO] <[hidden email]> wrote:
> Was 'UFO' deemed a flop by the Andersons & Lew Grade of ITC? On a UFO
> site FAQ it states that Lew Grade never commissions a second series for
> any production such as 'Captain Scarlet' or even 'Thunderbirds' (unless
> of course the American TV channels request a second season). So does
> anyone knows what were the actual viewing figures, or critical response
> to UFO etc, was it a hit?

Yeah, I don't think anyone at ITC even waited to see if it was a hit or not. From the sound of it, the special effects stages were dismantled and the models thrown away before the first episode aired anywhere.

Although the popular story is that the ratings were high in the two largest US cities (New York and Los Angeles), so a network was considering ordering another season. But this was now the spring of 1973, almost 3 years after UFO finished filming. So it's not like anyone had considered making a new series in 1971 or 1972. Apparently there was then a dip in the ratings, and the network order was cancelled, and the pre-production work that had been done was then used for Space:1999.

Marc

Shado-cabinet

Re: UFO ANNUAL 1972

Hi Marc

Thanks for your reply. So it seems that UFO was technically a one-off project by Anderson & Grade (which is a pity because we never saw any kind of closure to the series since the final episode : 'The Long Sleep' was just a routine episode without any great finale). So it seems true that Grade would only create a second season for any show if the Americans were willing to purchase it. It's a pity he didn't break this rule for UFO as I am sure he would have made money selling it to other foreign markets anyway (particularly Russia, if there were some Russian characters added to SHADO in the second season etc). But like you say the Americans became disinterested in UFO once the ratings dipped towards the end of the season (I suppose you could blame episodes like 'Confetti', 'Cat with ten Lives' & 'A Question of Priorities', and even 'The Long Sleep' with its lackluster finale for the decline in US ratings). It's a pity because UFO definitely deserved a second season. It's also strange that Anderson opted to make a CGI-remake for 'Captain Scarlet' in the 2000s and not UFO. I am pretty sure that a CGI version of UFO (with the voices of Ed Bishop & the rest of the cast) would have been a great success.

TRT

Re: UFO ANNUAL 1972

Fingers burnt with Thunderbirds I think. Grade always saw US as the only market worth it.

Sent from my iOS device

On 19 Aug 2020, at 21:12, Shado-cabinet [via SHADO] <[hidden email]> wrote:

Hi Marc

Thanks for your reply. So it seems that UFO was technically a one-off project by Anderson & Grade (which is a pity because we never saw any kind of closure to the series since the final episode : 'The Long Sleep' was just a routine episode without any great finale). So it seems true that Grade would only create a second season for any show if the Americans were willing to purchase it. It's a pity he didn't break this rule for UFO as I am sure he would have made money selling it to other foreign markets anyway (particularly Russia, if there were some Russian characters added to SHADO in the second season etc). But like you say the Americans became disinterested in UFO once the ratings dipped towards the end of the season (I suppose you could blame episodes like 'Confetti', 'Cat with ten Lives' & 'A Question of Priorities', and even 'The Long Sleep' with its lackluster finale for the decline in US ratings). It's a pity because UFO definitely deserved a second season. It's also strange that Anderson opted to make a CGI-remake for 'Captain Scarlet' in the 2000s and not UFO. I am pretty sure that a CGI version of UFO (with the voices of Ed Bishop & the rest of the cast) would have been a great success.

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Shado-cabinet

Re: UFO ANNUAL 1972

Hi TRT

Was 'Thunderbirds' a total flop in the US? I know it was a huge success in Britain. But its a pity that the response to Thunderbirds soured Lew Grade on the notion of producing a second season for any of the shows he produced :(

TRT

Re: UFO ANNUAL 1972

I wouldn’t say it was a flop, and I’m only guessing that this was the source of later caution, but they started making a second series of Thunderbirds only to have the plug pulled early on as a result of not getting a sale of that series in the US.

On 20 Aug 2020, at 01:07, Shado-cabinet [via SHADO] <[hidden email]> wrote:

Hi TRT

Was 'Thunderbirds' a total flop in the US? I know it was a huge success in Britain. But its a pity that the response to Thunderbirds soured Lew Grade on the notion of producing a second season for any of the shows he produced :(

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Clare Cross

Re: UFO ANNUAL 1972

In reply to this post by Shado-cabinet

TRT,

No, UFO was not a 'flop' at all... however, it wasn't as popular as they would have liked and the fact that it was shown so sporadically over the ITV network meant that it never gained a huge, national audience. Sales of the first UFO annual would have been hit by this, since some regions weren't even showing it when the annual was in the shops. This, inevitably, led to a huge amount of excess stock. It was a terrible shame, UFO was not treated well at all by the schedulers. But, as you say, the UFO strip in Countdown seemed to be popular, as were the Dinky toys. Space: 1999 fared much better, but still not as well as it could have; hence there were four annuals in the UK (albeit from a different publisher).

It has always saddened me that UFO (hugely popular among Anderson fans) only ever had one annual, whereas most of the other series had two or more. Thankfully this has now been rectified!

TRT

Re: UFO ANNUAL 1972

I was speculating about Thunderbirds failure to be picked up by the big 3 and the aborted production run of season 2 being why so many subsequent titles from GA only ran to one series.

Sent from my iOS device

On 20 Aug 2020, at 07:35, Clare Cross [via SHADO] <[hidden email]> wrote:

TRT,

No, UFO was not a 'flop' at all... however, it wasn't as popular as they would have liked and the fact that it was shown so sporadically over the ITV network meant that it never gained a huge, national audience. Sales of the first UFO annual would have been hit by this, since some regions weren't even showing it when the annual was in the shops. This, inevitably, led to a huge amount of excess stock. It was a terrible shame, UFO was not treated well at all by the schedulers. But, as you say, the UFO strip in Countdown seemed to be popular, as were the Dinky toys. Space: 1999 fared much better, but still not as well as it could have; hence there were four annuals in the UK (albeit from a different publisher).

It has always saddened me that UFO (hugely popular among Anderson fans) only ever had one annual, whereas most of the other series had two or more. Thankfully this has now been rectified!

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Clare Cross

Re: UFO ANNUAL 1972

Obviously the publishers of the annuals depended upon the Christmas market and although this is a huge potential window of opportunity, it's only open for a short while. By the start of the following year, any annuals left on the shelves are usually priced down and in the sales. I doubt that you'd find an annual from the previous year in the shops after January.

In the case of UFO, we can see how this Christmas market was missed completely in several huge ITV regions. London Weekend didn't start to show UFO until September 1971, Yorkshire in April 71, Granada in July 71 and Southern in February 71. Absolutely disastrous for the Christmas 1970 annuals market in those areas. Looking at these (and other) bad schedules, we can see that it was probably a certainty that the annual didn't sell and that there would not be another. As I say, a terrible shame.

Roll on September 2020 and a long-awaited landing!

TRT

Re: UFO ANNUAL 1972

It's true. I think the TV regions didn't know what to do with UFO.

As SHADO-cabinet has found it's confusing that it's a Gerry Anderson but not for kids. The Annual market is very much driven by Christmas gifts for children who will never see the show. I saw it as a very young child at 11pm+ when I came downstairs in the night. I'd seen reruns of Thunderbirds I expect. Don't recall much tbh. But I do remember that 5 minutes of UFO!

Sent from my iOS device

On 20 Aug 2020, at 08:17, Clare Cross [via SHADO] <[hidden email]> wrote:

Obviously the publishers of the annuals depended upon the Christmas market and although this is a huge potential window of opportunity, it's only open for a short while. By the start of the following year, any annuals left on the shelves are usually priced down and in the sales. I doubt that you'd find an annual from the previous year in the shops after January.

In the case of UFO, we can see how this Christmas market was missed completely in several huge ITV regions. London Weekend didn't start to show UFO until September 1971, Yorkshire in April 71, Granada in July 71 and Southern in February 71. Absolutely disastrous for the Christmas 1970 annuals market in those areas. Looking at these (and other) bad schedules, we can see that it was probably a certainty that the annual didn't sell and that there would not be another. As I say, a terrible shame.

Roll on September 2020 and a long-awaited landing!

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Shado-cabinet

Re: UFO ANNUAL 1972

In reply to this post by Clare Cross

Hi Clare

Its interesting that you mentioned that the biggest ITV regions only started showing UFO well into 1971.
Do you know what regions was UFO shown to when it actually premiered in September 1970?

It is really strange that Lew Grade did not secure the same scheduling period for all ITV regions when he asked the Andersons to conceptualize their first 'live action' show. He must have known that for the maximum critical & commercial response to a new show is that it must be shown everywhere around the same time (ie: at least the same month e.g. September 1970)

TRT

Re: UFO ANNUAL 1972

That was in the days before social media!

My impression at the time was the show was late night filler. A few years later it was shown on Sunday afternoon, I think. I recall a few years ago finding some TV Times magazines from the mid- to early 70s. Jon Pertwee era. And UFO was in the afternoons in those listings as a rerun. I was Granada region. In 1986 I used to watch it on the B&W in my college digs, via a very weak signal from the Midlands ITV region - the show was rerun at gone midnight then.

On 21 Aug 2020, at 16:55, Shado-cabinet [via SHADO] <[hidden email]> wrote:

Hi Clare

Its interesting that you mentioned that the biggest ITV regions only started showing UFO well into 1971.
Do you know what regions was UFO shown to when it actually premiered in September 1970?

It is really strange that Lew Grade did not secure the same scheduling period for all ITV regions when he asked the Andersons to conceptualized the show. He must have known that for the maximum critical & commercial response to a new show is that it must be shown everywhere around the same time (ie: at least the same month e.g. September 1970)

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Shado-cabinet

Re: UFO ANNUAL 1972

Well I suppose UFO was popular enough to enjoy re-runs (I mean that's how I first got exposed to it in the late 80's on ITV ).

It is a great show. It is a pity that Gerry Anderson decided to do an animated CGI-remake of 'Captain Scarlet' in the 2000s, and not UFO. I think UFO would have had better success :)