Gerry Anderson In Glasgow

By John Freeman on March 9, 2008

Television producer Gerry Anderson has appeared at the Aye Write Book Festival in Glasgow, talking about his career in series as diverse as Four Feather Falls, Stingray, Space:1999 and Lavender Castle as well as his career defining Thunderbirds, and giving a little away about his future plans.

Despite having an impressive collection of stories and anecdotes to tell, as his fans well know, Gerry Anderson is not a natural orator in front of a large crowd. Yet in the Mitchell Library and Theatre in Glasgow he was interviewed by author Richard Hollis who put him at his ease and filled in the historical details of the various shows that Gerry has worked on.

The theatre was virtually sold-out with parents bringing children along to what was billed as a family event. Indeed the many clips from the various series projected on to the big screen behind the participants delighted the audience, although perhaps the children found the more technical and financial details of the series of rather less interest.

Despite not having any series currently in production, 78 year old Anderson retains an office at Pinewood Studios and was very upbeat about the future as he is due to have discussions with ITV in the near future.

Perhaps we may yet get the long hoped for CGI Thunderbirds TV series after all.

About the Author
Latest Posts

John Freeman

John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.

He’s the writer of comics such as 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.