Two brand-new novellas by BAFTA-nominated scriptwriter and novelist, James Swallow…
From New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling author, James Swallow, comes two novellas set within the worlds of two iconic Gerry Anderson TV shows, Space: 1999 and UFO. The novels will be published by Anderson Entertainment, the company founded by Gerry Anderson MBE – the man behind such iconic TV shows as Thunderbirds, Stingray, as well as the live action series Space: 1999 and UFO.
Author James Swallow:
“Growing up, Space: 1999 and UFO were a big part of my sci-fi landscape, so it’s been great fun for me to revisit these characters to tell some exciting new stories. Gerry Anderson’s creations are unique retro classics, and I’m thrilled to be teaming up with Jamie and everyone at Anderson Entertainment for this new era of adventures.”
Jamie Anderson, Managing Director of Anderson Entertainment and Gerry Anderson’s son acquired World All Language rights to the novellas directly from the author, who is a life-long fan of Gerry Anderson’s classic TV shows.
James Swallow continues the adventures of Moonbase Alpha and S.H.A.D.O with these brand-new stories which are set within the worlds of two of the biggest live-action Anderson properties and are an official part of the Space:1999 and UFO canons.
Both novellas are published on 13 September 2024 for ‘Breakaway Day’, which is a significant day in the Space: 1999 universe and a milestone for fans- the date that Earth’s moon was blown out of orbit by a massive nuclear explosion in the first episode of the series. The books will be published in a limited-edition hardback and paperback, with eBooks to follow at a later date.
Space: 1999 The Armageddon Engine:
Adrift in deep space, Commander John Koenig and the people of Moonbase Alpha face an uncertain fate when a planet-killing alien weapon at the heart of a sinister cloud diverts their lost Moon on to a fatal trajectory.
As each moment brings the Moon closer to total obliteration, Koenig leads a desperate mission into the unknown to save all life on Alpha. Does hope lie within a rag-tag colony of refugees hiding in the shadow of devastation? Or can the Alphans find a path into the heart of the war machine and end its destructive rampage? With time running out, the answer will mean the difference between survival… or annihilation.
UFO Shadow Play:
The last line of defence in a clandestine war, SHADO is all that stands between humanity and a force of alien invaders – and leading that fight is the uncompromising Ed Straker, commanding Earth’s defenders around the clock.
But what happens when the man at the top is pushed too far?
After an experiment goes wrong, Straker awakens from a coma with missing memories and strange hallucinations that threaten his grip on reality – but is it the result of alien interference, or has the commander’s iron will finally cracked?
Managing Director of Anderson Entertainment Jamie Anderson:
“We started to publish non-fiction titles in late 2021, and since then we’ve been working with our partners at ITV Studios to create brand new stories based on these amazing TV shows. Working with James has been a real pleasure, he’s a genuine fan and we’re sure that they’ll appeal to long-time as well as new readers. We have much more to come”.
At the end of the 1960s, Gerry Anderson moved from Supermarionation into live action with the darker series UFO. UFOs were becoming a more and more popular topic in the 1960s, and in the mid-1960s the first heart transplants were taking place. The timing was perfect to design and produce a brand-new series concerned with Earth defending itself from aliens intent on harvesting human organs to be transplanted into their own bodies. UFO was born.
Space: 1999 entered production in 1973 and would run for 48 episodes over the next two years. The series followed the adventures of the inhabitants of Moonbase Alpha, a human colony stranded on the Moon after it gets blown out of Earth’s orbit by a massive nuclear explosion. Hurled off into deep space, the Alphans struggled to survive in an overwhelmingly hostile universe long enough find a new planet to call home, whilst also exploring what it truly meant to be human as their journey continued.
Space: 1999 The Armageddon Engine and UFO Shadow Play novellas are available to buy from gerryanderson.com from Friday 13 September.
Gerry Anderson’s career spanned 60 years over which he created and produced some of the world’s most beloved children’s television series, including Thunderbirds, Stingray, Captain Scarlet, Space: 1999, Terrahawks, Space Precinct and many more – some with his second wife, Sylvia. Years before the word ‘brand’ was popularly applied to television, Gerry’s name came to represent an inimitable style of entertainment that proved hugely successful around the world – he has become the UK’s equivalent of Walt Disney.
www.gerryanderson.com
