June and July 2017 - Updates

by **chrisbishop** » Sat Jul 15, 2017 5:51 am

Hi everybody!

Being a little busy of late, I somehow negected to report on this page the various updates that had been recently put onto the Spectrum Headquarters website. Time for me to correct this oversight!

Many information about upcoming merchandising have been added on the NEWS page since the end of May! Some of you might be interested to know that for the 50th anniversary of Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, a lot of merchandising are coming this way in the next months:

- Audio adventures from Big Finish; the original five stories from the 60s, but ALSO some audio adaptations from TV episodes AND adaptations of the three John Theydon novels.
- Various books: "Captain Scarlet: The Vault" by Chris Bently, a Hayne cross-sections book by Graham Bleathman, and "Spectrum is Indestructible", by John McNamara.
- A blu-ray edition of "New Captain Scarlet".

And other stuff... Check the NEWS PAGE for details.

by **chrisbishop** » Sat Jul 15, 2017 5:59 am

As you probably know, July 14, 2017 is the actual birthday of Colonel White. That's right... somewhere in London, baby Charles Gray was born! So, cigars are handed to everyone!

For the occasion, a brand new story, written by Marion Woods was posted on Spectrum HQ:

THE HEARTS WE LEAVE BEHIND
by Marion Woods. There is still no cure for the common birthday, but some birthdays do have more significance than others.

Also, check out the brand new picture submitted by Isabelle Saucier to celebrate this very important birthday as well! Go the the FAN ART PAGE - you cannot miss it!

Lastly - it seems that I forgot to announce one story which was posted on June 6, and submitted by Lee Homer. It is not related to the good colonel birthday, but with all due apologies to the author, here's the announcement:

ATOMATON
by Lee Homer. Captain Scarlet and Captain Blue race to stop a transporter carrying deadly atom from collideing with a nuclear station in the desert..

by **Marion** » Sat Jul 15, 2017 6:47 am

Thanks for a very evocative illustration to the story, Chris 8M-M)

Yes, it is amazing to think that after 50 years, we're actually now living Captain Scarlet & The Mysterons in Real Time... I hope someone has started work on a Mysteron detector: forewarned is forearmed, after all. :wink:

by **Lt. Pine** » Sat Jul 15, 2017 5:07 pm

Isabelle, excellent work on the photo!

Marion, I look forward to reading your story.

Regards,

by **Marion** » Sat Jul 15, 2017 5:17 pm

Yes, it is a lovely picture, Isabelle. Nice to see the two colonels relaxing... :wink:

by **Isabelle** » Sat Jul 15, 2017 8:49 pm

The Colonel is my favorite puppet in OCS... the striking blue eyes, the deep voice, the natural authority that emanates from him; he has everything going for him! I had fun doing this picture, I'm glad people enjoy it. I'll eventually do dual pics for all of the officers/Angels, but I thought it was only fitting to have White's ready for his actual birthday!

Marion, your story was a fitting tribute to Charles, the man behind the Colonel. I think it's easy to forget that he's not just a rank and color, but also a person with feelings and a past.

by **Carrie** » Sun Jul 16, 2017 9:53 am

Marion, a truly lovely and fitting birthday tribute to Colonel White, well, well, done. [go-1-go]

Chris, lovely artwork to illustrate as always. ((()))

Isa, a smashing pic of the White twins. 8M-M)

So nice to get so many lovely presents for Bastille Day!

by **Skybase Girl** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 4:37 pm

Hello, all.

This is my third try at posting a response ( website issues, Chris? I'm not sure).

Yes, we are indeed in 'real time' at the start of the Captain Scarlet universe, which is quite a scary thought. I don't suppose 2067 will turn out much like Gerry thought it might!

Lovely to see a charming story to celebrate the birth of Charles Gray, AKA Spectrum's Colonel White. Written with Marion's usual grace and precision, it's a snapshot of his life both before and after the creation of Spectrum, centred around the pivotal occasion of his birthday. I was delighted to beta-read as it gave me first dabs, and thanks to Chris for such great artwork to illustrate.

Isabelle, loved the 'fishing' pic ! I have to (shamefully) admit that I found OCS White rather more handsome than his NCS counterpart ☺️ I'm sure they'd have a lot in common!

Lee, apologies for this being rather late in the day, but I really enjoyed 'Automaton' and look forward to reading more stories from you.

by **Isabelle** » Thu Jul 20, 2017 12:13 am

Well, the NCS heads are harder to work with and they made White look older than he should (in my opinion). I did what I could to match the head and bodies so it looked as best as it could. It was surprisingly difficult to find two fishermen that could match their heads in a dignified and realistic way (i.e., no beer gut / silly bathing suit / etc.)!

Lee, nice to see you have more stories up your sleeve! I've enjoyed this one (even if it was OCS this time :wink:

). Keep them coming.

by **hazel** » Tue Jul 25, 2017 10:57 am

I'm a bit late in picking these up, I'm afraid! Many congrats to Marion on another excellent story, and to Isa for the Two Colonels picture. We are a talented bunch, no doubt about that!

by **Carrie** » Sun Aug 20, 2017 1:16 pm

And I'm even LATER, Hazel. Hope that makes you feel better.... (hugs)

Chris...didn't like the cigars much...spit..spit.. :grin:

but thanks anyway! I think I'll stick with champagne to wet the baby's head...

Yes, it really IS scary to think we are living Scarlet in real time. Let's hope Gerry's predictions of war don't come true, in today's climate they loom as large as they did in our youth.

Marion - you never fail, do you? You always come up with something new and fresh and eminently readable. What a lovely backstory to our favorite man in white, and created a living, breathing individual behind the stern commander of Cloudbase.

I was lucky to get a preview of Isabelle's pic, as a fellow artist I couldn't possibly admit to an emotion as base as envy... :shhh-*