PART SIX Of TV (& MOVIE) TIE-INS Of The TIMES - The JAMES BOND ANNUAL 1969...

JAMES BOND copyright The Estate of IAN FLEMING & EON PRODUCTIONS

It seems only fitting to end this present run of 'TV Tie- Ins of the Times' with the 'daddy' of them all - JAMES BOND.  I hear what you're saying - 007 is a movie tie-in, not a TV one, but you're only half right.  The broadcast rights to the Bond films were sold to ITV in 1974, and Dr. NO was first shown on TV in '75, so Bond has been a television staple for over 40 years.  However, I admit it's a fine line, as the Annuals were issued while his movie incarnation yet appeared only in cinemas.  (Programmes about James Bond had been televised though.)

Above is the 1969 JAMES BOND Annual, and the fact that it was the last of three before they were revived by another publisher (this time titled 'Special', not 'Annual')  in 1979 (for '80), suggests that they weren't the best-sellers one would imagine they'd be.  Collectors' items now for certain, but apparently not at the time they were originally published.  Anyway, that's perhaps a subject for another post, but, for the moment, let's look back to 1969 when Bond's licence to star in Annuals was revoked (for a few years) after the very publication before you.

This Annual contained text stories, features, and picture strips (a collection of the LIVE & LET DIE newspaper strip).  Incidentally, there's a page missing from my copy of this Annual - can anyone supply me with a scan of it?  It'd be greatly appreciated.  (Update:  Thanks to BARRY PEARL for supplying scans of both sides of the missing page.)

TV TIE-INS Of The TIMES: PART FIVE - The DOCTOR WHO ANNUAL 1966...

Dr. WHO and related images copyright BBC TV

WORLD DISTRIBUTORS must've thought their 1966 Dr. WHO Annual would be a sell-out as they printed quite a number of them.  However, they were left with a high volume unsold, so the next Annual had a lower print run, meaning that, today, it's an even bigger collectors' item than the first and commands a much higher price.

I'd imagine the fact that the book was filled with text stories and no comic strips made it less attractive to young readers, which is why the 1967 Annual included at least one that I know of - MISSION To DUH.  Although the illustrations in the Annual you see here weren't particularly great, the likenesses of WILLIAM HARTNELL were usually spot on.  One day I must sit down and read the stories.

Here's a taste of what you missed if you didn't have this book back in the day.  And if you did, you now have a pleasant reminder.  I often amaze myself with my generosity to you all, I really do.

Coming in Part Six - JAMES BOND Annual 1969.

BABE Of The DAY - LYNDA CARTER...

Ah, LYNDA CARTER - now

she's what I call a woman.  Isn't she

wonderful?!  Now where'd I put my

 trusty drool cup?  It's needed.

JOHN STEED & EMMA PEEL - The AVENGERS...

The AVENGERS images copyright ABC TELEVISION Ltd

The AVENGERS was big in America, so a comicbook based on the show was a racing cert.  It couldn't be called 'The Avengers' though, as MARVEL had that title sewn up.  So when GOLD KEY eventually released the mag in 1968 (comprised of reprints from the strip in Britain's TV COMIC) it was simply named JOHN STEED EMMA PEEL - without even an ampersand.

I acquired this comic recently, but unfortunately there's a few pages missing from the end of the first story.  If you have this comic and can supply me with scans of the absent pages, it'd be very much appreciated.  Let me know in the comments section, along with any reminiscences you have of this particular mag.

Enjoy the pictorial reminders laid out before you, Criv-ite chums, and savour some comic strip magic of the swinging '60s.

  

Copyright relevant owner

Copyright relevant owner

BABE Of The DAY - LINDA THORSON...

I don't think LINDA THORSON

has ever been in a BOND movie, making

her the only female AVENGER who hasn't.

Hardly fair, is it?  C'mon, EON, there's still

time to rectify your oversight - make her a

 Bond Girl of some description soon.

(BOND) BABE Of The DAY - SHIRLEY EATON...

Huh, I've never been so insulted! 

SHIRLEY EATON asked me to drop my

kecks, then whipped out binoculars to study

the 'goods'.  Okay, I was a fair distance away,

but it hardly instils confidence in a fella, even

one whose nickname is 'Whopper'.  ('Cos

I happen to like a burger or two.)

DALEKS CAKE-TESTING ON BLUE PETER...

No, foreign readers, BLUE PETER isn't a soft-porn television channel - it's a long-running BBC TV children's programme.  Here are two short clips of a couple of DALEKS hamming it up something chronic for the cameras.

PART FOUR Of TV TIE-INS Of The TIMES - The AVENGERS ANNUAL 1970...

The AVENGERS copyright ABC TELEVISION Ltd

The AVENGERS Annual for 1970 is undoubtedly the best of the four books I've shown you so far.  It had fewer pages, but more comic strips (three, and better drawn too) and a higher quality of illustrations for the three text stories.  With three features and two pictorial features, it was a decidedly superior publication to most other TV tie-in books of the period.  Issued by ATLAS PUBLISHING COMPANY Ltd., and not WORLD DISTRIBUTORS, it's one of the gems of my collection.  You might find one on eBay.

When The Avengers TV show started in 1961, Dr. DAVID KREEL (played by IAN HENDRY) was the main character, and JOHN STEED was his assistant.  When Hendry quit the show after the first series, Steed became the main character, with a succession of female assistants.  (First, CATHY GALE, played by HONOR BLACKMAN, then EMMA PEEL, played by DIANA RIGG, and finally TARA KING, played by LINDA THORSON.

The series was revived in 1976 under the title The NEW AVENGERS, with new assistants, but it's the original version I'm focussing on in this present post - so ignore the assistants behind the curtain.  (Don't worry, the meds will kick in shortly.)

Coming soon(ish) - DOCTOR WHO ANNUAL 1966.

(BOND) BABE Of The DAY - JULIE EGE...

Here's lovely JULIE EGE

to remind all rugged he-men (such

as myself) just what we were created

for.  That's right - to pay for every-

thing and carry the shopping. 

TV TIE-INS Of The TIMES: PART THREE - The MAN From U.N.C.L.E. ANNUAL 1967...

The MAN From U.N.C.L.E. copyright METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER

The MAN From U.N.C.L.E. was big - very big.  It was probably the closest thing to JAMES BOND that viewers of a certain age could watch before they were old enough to see 007 in his own big-budget movies.  And NAPOLEON SOLO had been created by Bond author IAN FLEMING himself, thereby lending an air of secret agent authenticity to the show developed by SAM ROLFE for TV.

I had an attache case with U.N.C.L.E. badge and gun, plus the ID card that one sent away to the RADIO TIMES for - and it was free!  I don't remember ever buying any of the Annuals though, of which there were four.  The first one (above) was for 1967, and there were ones for '68, '69 & '70 as well.  There was a comic album issued in 1966, and two Television Picture Story Books for '67 & '68.

The comic strip in the '67 Annual was reprinted from a GOLD KEY Man From U.N.C.L.E. comicbook, but the remainder of the contents were predominantly text stories.  WORLD DISTRIBUTORS was the publisher for all three of the Annuals we've seen in this blog series thus far, and this was the format of most of their output at the time.  No doubt it was down to budgetary restraints, but I can't help think that they missed a trick by not having more comic strips in their many hundreds (at least) of Annuals over the years.

It's strange to think that the first Annual was issued only the year before the TV show was cancelled, and that they continued for a year (the 1970 Annual was issued in 1969) past the show's demise.  However, I guess it continued in repeats for at least a year or two afterwards.

Coming in Part Four - The AVENGERS Annual 1970.  Don't miss it!

And, below, my two U.N.C.L.E. ID cards, followed by my badge.  Lucky me, eh?

BABE Of The DAY - JENNY HANLEY...

JENNY HANLEY is a bonnie

lassie who most UK viewers likely

best-recall from THAMES TV show

'MAGPIE', when she took over from

SUSAN STRANKS.  She was doubt-

less in a number of other things as

well, but I don't recall even one of

 them.  How about you Crivs?

PART TWO Of TV TIE-INS Of The TIMES - DANGER MAN ANNUAL 1967...

DANGER MAN copyright relevant owner

In the first two series of DANGER MAN (which was broadcast under different names in different countries), JOHN DRAKE was an Irish-American working for an intelligence organization based in Washington DC in the USA.  After its initial run from 1960-'62, the show disappeared for a couple of years, until it was revived in 1964, with secret agent Drake now being of British nationality and working for a government department known as M9.

The show ended in 1968, and actor PATRICK McGOOHAN next popped up in The PRISONER.  McGoohan always denied that the Prisoner was John Drake, but this was doubtless prompted only by copyright issues, as there were several clues scattered through the 17 episode series that both characters were indeed the same man.

There were two Danger Man Annuals in 1966 & '67, plus a Television Story Book for 1965, but this one is all I have in my collection.  A few comic strips would've made it more interesting in my estimation, but it's a nice little reminder of the age in which it was published.  Maybe one day I'll acquire the others.

Coming in Part Three - The MAN From U.N.C.L.E. Annual 1967.  Don't dare miss it.

    

Interesting to see this scene from the JAMES BOND movie From
RUSSIA With LOVE on the back of a DANGER MAN Annual 

TV TIE-INS Of The TIMES: PART ONE - The SAINT ANNUAL 1970...

The SAINT copyright The Estate of LESLIE CHARTERIS

The SAINT ran on TV from 1962 to '69 and was a great success, particularly in the United States, where it was hugely popular.  (Early episodes based SIMON TEMPLAR in America, aiding its acceptance in the country.)  ROGER MOORE became the first British 'TV' millionaire due to the show being a massive worldwide hit.  There were three* tie-in Annuals to Moore's incarnation of the show (for 1968, '69 & '70) and a TV Picture Story Book for 1971.  Also, there were two Annuals issued for IAN OGILVY's revival of the character in RETURN Of The SAINT for the years 1979 & '80.

(*There was a fourth book in 1970 for '71, described as a 'Television Picture Story Book', but it was only an abridged reprint of the previous year's Annual, though with a different cover.  There was also a Saint book published in the Netherlands the same year as the U.K''s first Saint Annual, but again, it wasn't called an Annual.)

I only have the above Annual for 1970 (issued in '69), and as you can see from the accompanying pictures, it was a mixture of text stories and comic strips, although the former outnumbered the latter.  Still, it's a nice little reminder of the time when The Saint was a feature of British TV for most of the '60s.  Roger would go on to star in a new ITC show, The PERSUADERS (along with TONY CURTIS), and then play another iconic figure (from the world of cinema) called - h'mm, what was his name again?

Coming in Part Two - DANGER MAN Annual 1967.

(Update: I've since added a couple more Saint Annuals to my collection.)

Bet you didn't know that 'ELIZABETH TAYLOR' guest-starred
with The SAINT, eh?  Only in this story in the Annual though