1980's telly fantasy convention review

On Saturday 18th April at approx 10.00 am, after a short introduction by event coordinator, Steve Broster, British Tellycon, held in the New Imperial Hotel in Birmingham, began with a twenty minute video feature: a compilation of title sequences of British tele fantasy ranging from the fifties through to the eighties. It certainly stirred memories for this writer, of fleeting moments form the past as the nostalgia-drenched series clips flashed in front of my eyes.

The 'Timeflash' episode of UFO was given an airing followed by part one of the Tomorrow People adventure 'The Vanishing Earth'. Phillip Gilbert (the voice of TIM throughout the entire nine-season run of the TP) felt that the show had been taken off just as it was hitting its peak potential and was keen for a revival of the series or at least for it to be re-run on channel 4. No explanation of its cancellation was ever given to the cast at the time; the show was just never resurrected after the great Independent Television technical dispute, which struck the country at the beginning of the eighties.

Sammie Winmill, who took the part of Carol in the first series thought the program went form strength to strength as it progressed as, although no longer part of it, she continued to watch it when she could. She left of her own accord fearing typecasting and went back to the theatre whence she had come, before venturing into another series, the comedy Doctor in Charge. This was in contrast with Peter Vaughan-Clarke, who after playing Stephen Jameson for four seasons was written out to make room for Mike Holoway's character to develop. Peter regaled the audience with his relaxed, witty style to answering points and was the most enthusiastically received guest of the convention. After moving briefly into films such as The Stud, Peter now works on the technical side of the entertainment business.