Propstore’s annual live auction of film and television memorabilia takes place in London next month (5th – 7th December 2025) and includes one of Ron Embleton’s end credit artworks created for Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s Captain Scarlet TV series.
Alongside props, scripts and storyboards, there’s concept, game, illustration and signed poster art from a wide range of cult franchise on offer, too – including Conan, Doctor Who, Gundam, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Star Wars and more.
Part of the Entertainment Memorabilia Live Auction – London Winter 2025, on offer is the artwork hand-painted by Ron Embleton for the end credits of Gerry & Sylvia Anderson’s Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, last sold at auction at Christe’s, back in 2002, described as “Artboard No. 5”.
Following his impressive work on the “Stingray” comic strips for TV Century 21, Ron Embleton was invited by Gerry Anderson to provide artwork for the closing credits to Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. Embleton’s ten pieces showed Captain Scarlet in various perilous situations, with this artwork being the fifth to appear in the sequence. A section of each image was also presented in close-up as part of the sequence.
These artworks were stored in pristine condition by series producer Reg Hill until his death in 1999. In July 2002, all ten works were sold by the executors of his estate at Christie’s auction house, fetching between £2500 and £3500 each. This board – “Artboard No.5” – sold for £3172.
The artwork, displayed in a gun-metal frame, depicts Captain Scarlet pinned under a rockfall as he reaches for a lit bundle of dynamite. The peril, tension and sheer drama in Embleton’s artwork became iconic, helping cement Scarlet’s reputation as Gerry Anderson’s darkest and most cinematic Supermarionation series.
Executed in gouache and watercolour on board, the piece is accompanied by its original acetate overlay, marked with chinagraph pencil, showing camera crop guides. This overlay was placed under a rostrum camera to facilitate a scrolling, zoom effect, creating the famous close-up used on screen. The artwork is fully screen-matched, seen in every episode of Captain Scarlet as the credits roll and is an incredibly rare piece of television history.
Ron Embleton was a highly talented comic-strip artist, regarded as the definitive portrayer of Captain Scarlet. He worked for Express Weekly from 1956 to 1961, working on other titles until 1965 when he moved from the Eagle to TV Century 21. There he illustrated 67 of the first 71 “Stingray” strips and later produced work on “Captain Scarlet”, for which he executed this artwork and the first 17 strips in TV Century 21.
Above: all ten “End Credit” boards sold by Christies in July 2002. Art by Ron Embleton
He left the comic in early 1968, moving from strip work to illustrations for Look And Learn and educational artwork for Ladybird Books, although he continued to produce illustrations for items of Gerry Anderson merchandise. From 1973 until his death in 1988 at the age of 57, he illustrated comic strips for adult magazines, including “Wicked Wanda”.
The Entertainment Memorabilia Live Auction also includes original art by Doctor Who designer and visual effects artist Ian Scoones, created for his limited edition ‘Spacescapes’ print series; Star Trek: The Motion Picture concept art by Andy Probert; Close Encounters of the Third Kind concept art; Ray Harryhausen Concept Sketches from Jason and the Argonauts, Valley of the Gwangi and more; Star Wars Ralph McQuarrie Concept Artwork Prints; a set of ten Storyboard Folders created for the James Bond film, The World is Not Enough; hand-drawn and painted artwork for the “Rhino” vehicle produced by Kenner for their M.A.S.K. toyline in 1985; and a set of four 2000AD comics, autographed by Sylvester Stallone, who played Judge Dredd on the big screen.
• Entertainment Memorabilia Live Auction – London Winter 2025 | 5th – 7th December 2025 | View the full catalogue – you must be registered to bid
DAY 1: December 5, 2025
Friday
Lots 1 – 425
Film & Television
In-Person Bidding
BAFTA 195 Piccadilly
DAY 2: December 6, 2025
Saturday
Lots 426 – 907
Film & Television
Online, Telephone and Absentee Bidding Only
DAY 3 – Afternoon: December 7, 2025
Sunday
Lots 908 – End of Film & Television Session
Film & Television
Online, Telephone and Absentee Bidding Only
DAY 3 – Evening: December 7, 2025
Sunday
Lots 2000 – End
Animation Art
Online, Telephone and Absentee Bidding Only
Begins 3.00 PM (GMT) / 7.00 AM (PST) Each Day
Head downthetubes for…
Doctor Who Magazine DWM Special 43 – Special Effects – The Ian Scoones Scrapbooks (Read a Sample)
• DWM Special 43 available digitally here from Pocket Mags
If anyone lived up to the title “special effects wizard” then it was surely Ian Scoones. The acclaimed visual effects designer spoke to Doctor Who Magazine in 1992, the interview published in Doctor Who Magazine issues 190-192. The Ian Scoones Scrapbooks offers highlights from that, along with previously unpublished extracts, plus rarely seen pictures from Ian’s collection.
(A feature on Ian’s “Spacescapes” artwork ran in DWM issue 213).
• Blake’s 7: An Oral History of the Classic UK Sci-Fi Series (AmazonUK Affiliate Link)
Joe Nazzaro’s most recent Blake’s 7 book includes plenty of Ian’s work, from his concept designs to detailed VFX breakdowns for each episode.
From 1978 to 1981, the cult sci-fi action-adventure series Blake’s 7 ran on British television, often attracting as many as ten million viewers, who were hooked on the adventures of freedom fighter Roj Blake and his band of intrepid rebels as they battled the evil Federation. When the series ended after four seasons, it was with a stunning cliffhanger, that saw Blake and his cohorts seemingly killed off, assuring B7 a place in TV posterity.
Blake’s 7: An Oral History chronicles the show’s development through the eyes of dozens of cast and crew members, including series creator Terry Nation, as well as actors, producers, directors, makeup, costume and special FX technicians.
Joe Nazzaro is an American journalist, who has covered Blake’s 7 for nearly four decades. He has written countless magazine articles, as well as books about Star Trek, Red Dwarf, Babylon 5, Neverwhere and Farscape.
• IMDB Profile: Ian Scoones (1940 – 2010)
“Ian Scoones graduated from the Medway College of Art in 1960. He was soon after engaged as assistant to special effects wizard Les Bowie at Hammer’s Bray Studio. In addition to creating occasional special effects for big screen horror films (often uncredited), he also constructed some of the miniature models and landscapes used in Gerry Anderson’s Thunderbirds (1965). In 1970, Scoones joined the BBC Visual Effects Department, where he established his reputation with prodigious work on Doctor Who (1963). He built almost all of the spacecraft models used in the show during the Jon Pertwee/Tom Baker era, including the excellent Jaggaroth ship from “City of Death”.”
• Thunderbirds Fandom: Ian Scoones
With thanks to Robert Bown, Joe Nazzaro and Paul Scoones
- About the Author
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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.
Categories: Art and Illustration, Auctions, downthetubes News, Events, Other Worlds, Science Fiction, Television
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any idea why Ron Embleton was taken on for the start of the new Dan Dare in the 80’s and moved on a few issues in to the series?
You’re thinking of Gerry Embleton, Ron’s younger brother. Ian Wheeler interviewed Gerry for Eagle Flies Again several years ago, but although Dan Dare is mentioned, briefly, he doesn’t give any reasons for his departure from New Eagle.