Anderson’s Supersonic Centuries screams into bookshops next month

By John Freeman on February 23, 2022

Stand by for critical analysis! Fred McNamara’s second book, Anderson’s Supersonic Centuries: The Retrofuture Worlds of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, will be published next month by Telos Publishing.

Anderson’s Supersonic Centuries is an essay collection which celebrates and examines the television and film works of producers Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. The book’s coverage stretches from the early days of Supermarionation to the live action works of the 1970s, Gerry’s ‘solo’ career following his and Sylvia’s separation, right up to recent works inspired by the Andersons’ worlds.

Throughout just over 40 chapters spread across five distinct sections, Anderson’s Supersonic Centuries casts Gerry and Sylvia’s work in a forthright, intelligent, and passionate style of analysis. Around 60 years’ worth of television and film productions are subjected to in-depth critical explorations here.

The series and films with the most significant coverage in the book include Four Feather Falls (1960), Supercar (1961), Fireball XL5 (1962), Stingray (1964), Thunderbirds (1965), Thunderbirds Are Go (1966), Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons (1967), Thunderbird 6 (1968), Joe 90 (1968), The Secret Service (1969), Doppelganger (1969), UFO (1970), The Investigator (1973), Space: 1999 (1975), Terrahawks (1983), New Captain Scarlet (2005), Thunderbirds Are Go (2015), Firestorm (2018) Thunderbirds: The Anniversary Episodes (2016) and Nebula-75 (2020).

The topics range from why the techno-disaster world of Thunderbirds is hugely at odds with its otherwise positive morals, how UFO’s balance of sci-fi action and human drama gives it such a powerful identity, Stingray’s portrayal of an underwater Cold War, how Terrahawks evolved its approach to comedy across its tenure, how a Zero-X television series may have come to life and much more.

The book also includes a countdown of Thunderbirds’ definitive episodes and a cross-examination of Captain Scarlet’s characters, enhanced by original interviews with some of the series’ directors, writers, model makers and designers.

“Anderson’s Supersonic Centuries is a spirited and comprehensive critical encapsulation of an incredible body of work of British science fiction and cult television,” Fred enthuses. “Gerry and Sylvia’s creative output bursts with intelligent and imaginative subtext.

Fred McNamara is the author of the now sold out book, Spectrum is Indestructible, and has written for a variety of websites, blogs, magazines and fanzines as a reviewer, features writer and interviewer. You can find his work at We Are the Mut ants, Your Chicken Enemy, We Are Cult, ComicScene UK, Starburst Magazine and Andersonic. His work has also appeared in anthologies published by Pencil Tip Publishing, Watching Books and Who Dares Publishing.

He’s also previously written for the British Science Association, PopMatters, WhatCulture, ScreenRelish, Grovel, Flickering Myth and the Official Gerry Anderson blog.

“Whilst many of their works were intended for young audiences, they rarely talked down to those young audiences. This book pays tribute to that perspective which unites much of their work.”

Armed with the marvellously vibrant cover courtesy of Martin Baines and a splendid foreword from UFO’s Ayshea Brough, Anderson’s Supersonic Centuries: The Retrofuture Worlds of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson will be published on the 18th March 2022 and will be available, physically and digitally, through the good folk at Telos Publishing..

• Anderson’s Supersonic Centuries | 277pp. 6×9 format paperback book. | ISBN 978-1-84583-197-4 (pb) | Published 18th March 2022 | Buy it from AmazonUK (Affiliate Link)

• Fred McNamara is online at fredmcnamara.com

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.