FAB Facts (Gerry Anderson’s…)

    (HarperCollins)
™ and ©

This book delivers what it advertises: facts. But they are randomly thrown together without any regard for content. It would have been nice to have divided the book into sections reflecting the various Anderson shows: Thunderbirds, Stingray, Captain Scarlet, etc. (Did you know that Space: 1999 was an Anderson show?) Each chapter could have contained a synopsis, a list of cast puppets and voices, and production factoids. Instead, this is a disjointed collection of arcane information.

It might be fair to assume that purchasers are familiar with more popular shows such as Thunderbirds, but are nearly as many people familiar with Twizzle or Torchy the Battery Boy? Let’s have information, not just random facts! Among the facts are “FAB Futurisms.” This technobabble includes such listings as “Astrascope–Fireball XL-5” and “Clearvu–Supercar,” without describing what those devices are. Some of the facts are interesting, particularly the ones about which puppets were modeled after Lorne Greene, Sean Connery, etc. But Anderson’s son is an avid Doctor Who fan? Is that especially noteworthy?

— Jack Abramowitz
Jump to issue:
  NotesWriterArtist