SERVALAN IN STARBURST

I've  only  recently  unearthed  this  interview  from   STARBURST.


So  here  is  another  nice  tribute  to  the  late   Jacqueline   Pearce.

GARY KURTZ IN STARBURST

Almost  going  un-noticed  recently  was  the  passing  of  Gary  Kurtz  who  produced  the  first  two  STAR  WARS   movies.


He  also  produced   THE  DARK  CRYSTAL ,   RETURN  TO  OZ   and  ahem ...SLIPSTREAM but  its  the  Lucas  epics  that  he'll  be  best  remembered  for.


There  was  scant  coverage  of  his  death  in  the  uk  media which  is  puzzling ,  considering  how  much the uk  was  a  part  of  those  Lucasfilm  epics.


Even  if  George  Lucas  was  the  more  well  known  public  figure,  its  undeniable  that  Kurtz  was an  equally  significant    '  force  '   in  the  actual  production  of  those  movies   especially   EMPIRE  STRIKES   BACK,   still  widely  regarded  as  the  best   Star  Wars  movie  of  all.




Here  is  a  vintage  interview  with  Kurtz  in   STARBURST   at  the  time  of   EMPIRE's  release :

JACQUELINE PEARCE IN STARLOG

So  farewell  then  to   Jacqueline  Pearce ,   another  icon  from  the  Star  age.


Despite  her  many  genre   roles  including  several  Hammer  horrors  and  a  guest  spot  on  Dr Who ,  she  will  be  forever  immortal  as   Servalan ,   the  arch enemy  of    BLAKES'S  7..


Coverage  of   her   passing  was   disappointingly  thin  in  the  uk  media so  to  compensate  , here is an  interview  with her in   STARLOG.




Maximum   power   !

ELLISON IN SCI-FI UNIVERSE

SCI - FI  UNIVERSE  must rank as one of the best  genre magazines to emerge from the glut of  similar titles during the 1990's. 


And their interview with the late Harlan Ellison was a humdinger.


The irascible writer made no secret of his loathing for both the phenomenon of   STAR   TREK  and its fans.


This was actually one part of a three part interview,  the other parts being published in  COMIC BUYERS  GUIDE   and  HERO ILLUSTRATED .


Sadly I don't have those parts to hand for scanning. 

ELLISON REVIEWS ST:TMP

Again,  from the pages of   STARLOG  -  Harlan Ellison's  review of   STAR  TREK :  THE MOTION   PICTURE.

ELLISON VS CONNERY

After  taking Mark Hamill to task over  STAR WARS ,   Harlan Ellison also subjected  Sean Connery to the same treatment over his remarks on the script for OUTLAND.




First of all, the interview with  Connery :

and then Ellison's angry riposte a few issues later :

WHO - ZINES IN SFX

From a recent issue of   SFX,   a nice if  rather brief article on Dr Who fanzines .

ELLISON IN FUTURE LIFE

Another interview with the late  Harlan  Ellison,  this time in   STARLOG's  sister title   FUTURE LIFE .


At one point,  Ellison also wrote a regular column for the magazine.

ELLISON VS HAMILL IN STARLOG

After  Harlan  Ellison's  famously  negative  review  of    STAR WARS  ,    Mark Hamill   retaliated in  this  STARLOG  interview  :

Needless to say ,  Ellison  dashed off an angry letter in reply  ;

The pair later made up after Ellison wrote a more positive review of   EMPIRE  STRIKES  BACK.


The writer also took Sean Connery  to task in another letter over the  script for   OUTLAND.




I also recall an Ellison interview from the 90's magazine  SCI-FI  UNIVERSE  in which his antipathy for STAR TREK  and its fans reached new heights.


His involvement with  BABYLON 5  would partly account for this since the two shows were by then deadly rivals.


I'll post that interview here at some point.

HARLAN ELLISON IN STARLOG

Life   was never dull when the late  Harlan Ellison was around.


As these interviews from  STARLOG  prove,  he didn't suffer fools gladly  and took no prisoners .


But he  was always entertaining and  gave  great  quote.


Love  him or loathe him ,  agree with him or disagree ,  he was impossible to ignore.


Despite his  aversion to  Star  Trek  and being  labelled a  sci-fi writer,   he was very much  a major force in the genre.


At one point during the 90's,  it seemed that I couldn't go into  Forbidden Planet  without  buying some new collection of his work  including the original script book for  City on the Edge of  Forever.


And he was a frequent presence in the pages of   STARLOG  during its golden era  (   issues 1- 100  )


Apart from these interviews,   he also contributed a  memorable  review of   STAR  TREK : THE MOTION  PICTURE  and  several angry letters on various actors who had  annoyed him.


Here  is an interview from  STARLOG  issue  8 :

and from issues 100 -101  :

BOY OF THE ROVERS ?

Here is some coverage from last weekends papers on the re-boot of   ROY  OF  THE  ROVERS.


Old Roy seems to have de-aged somewhat   !

CHILDHOOD ' S END - THEN AND NOW

You may recall a  more  recent sci-fi  mini-series called     CHILDHOOD'S   END   in which Charles Dance appeared as a demonic looking alien  :

I cant be the only viewer who was reminded of    Tim Curry's  character from  LEGEND.  ( 1985)

The plot concerned a race of  benevolent aliens who visit earth and improve the quality of life for humanity.






However in a chilling twist,  it turns out they were not so benevolent after all and were in fact just fattening us up for slaughter.






But how many of you know that this  show was being touted as far back as  1981  in the pages of STARLOG  ?

The art depiction of the aliens is actually quite close to how they were eventually realised.


The producer clearly had high hopes of getting the show made but  sadly it didn't happen at that time ,  presumably due to the  high costs involved.