Q) Can you tell me what the serial numbers on the Starship Enterprise stand for? Many thanks.

A) It doesn’t stand for anything.

The Star Trek Encyclopedia states:

“NCC doesn’t stand for anything. It was devised by Matt Jefferies, art director of the first Star Trek series. Jefferies, who is a pilot, based NCC on 20th century aircraft registration codes. In such 20th century usage, an “N” first letter refers to an aircraft registered in the USA. A “C” second letter refers to a civil aircraft.

Jefferies added a second “C”, just because he thought it looked better. Think of it as being like the arbitrary three-letter code that’s part of automobile license plate numbers in many states.”

Great Scifi For Trekkers!

Following on from a question submitted a few days ago entitled: Of Scientists, Mutants, Androids, Time Travel And Tubes a few people have contacted us with their answers!

A) re: what film. it resembles a plot out of an old Star Trek episode

A) It sounds like the Time Travelers way back in 1964 (I think) - although some of the storyline mentioned does not seem to fit - scientists looking through a video screen is certainly featured in this movie.

A) The film that i’m thinking of is Dark Drive check it out thats what it sounds like.

If you’d like to ask a question, or answer this or any question in the Scifi QA area, then talk to us!

Science Fiction / Fact Bled Into Popular Music

As the Soviet Union and United States battled to win the early 60s space space, one of the music vicors emerged from London’s Holloway Road. Named after the world’s first communications satellite (nod to Arthur C. Clarke) launched on 10 July 1962, Telstar made the Tornados the first British group in the pre-Beatles era to have a US chart-topping single as well as topping the charts in the UK.

It also confirmed Joe Meek, a former Royal Air Force technician and the man who penned and planned space-age sound, as one of the era’s most successful producers.

The group - Alan Caddy, Hienz Burt, Roger Jackson, George Bellamy and Clem Cattini - briefy rivalled the Shadows as Britains’s premier instrumental combo, scoring UK a Top 5 follow-up with Globetrotter and three lesser hits in 1963 including The Ice Cream Man. But having survived Hienz’s departure for a solo career they split in 1965 with vocal groups clearly in ascendancy; Cattini went on to become British’s top session drummer.

If you like a good beat, and some weird sounds - go for it, get the album; or go get the single Telstar.

It’s a shame they got wiped out by vocal bands, because they actually do have voices on some of their songs, but to me they are a bit short - they’re still wanting to do their future sounds of Telstar - they had much more in them. I kinda hark back to this time, I don’t remember the last time someone wrote a song actually based or named after technology.

It gets me into the mood of 60s scifi.

It could also bring me onto another subject: why aren’t the general public as enthused and excited about space flight as they were in the 50s and 60s?

“I Am Not A Number, I Am A Free Man!”

James@BDO has mentioned that there is talk of a remake of the cult 60s classic The Prisoner. Quoting from his post he says, “The Prisoner was half genius, half utter rubbish and (more importantly) a product of it’s time.”

This observation is spot on - it was a product of its time. Nowerdays, similar concepts have been done to death. LOST is probably a similar example - people put in situations which are just plain weird, evoking paranoia and rebellious actions against the unknown. Cube and Cube Zero are other examples (Cube 2 was substandard, so I never include that in a list of Cube movies). Unless something unique is injected into this adaptation, I can see it just being the same old same old (with shed loads of CGI probably).

I also believe that when casting, they should look for unknown (British) actors, primarily because the idea of The Prisoner relates to everyday Joe Bloggs folk and it was based upon a British Secret Service agent. Oh no, I forgot: They’ll probably cast Tom Cruise, set it in America and computer FX it upto the hilt - and call him Number 7 instead.

Christopher Nolan is set to direct it, which is the only positive side. But I can’t help thinking it’s a bad idea to even contemplate doing a movie.

Times have changed, the viewing public’s expectations have changed, we’ve moved on.

Bill Paxton Pullman Paxton Pullman Might Almost Get To Play With A Sick Stick

These people have said that Bill Pullman is in talks to land the role of playing Philip K. Dick.

And I quote:

Details are thin as the producers of this indie production haven’t yet seen fit to list the film in IMDb’s database. The movie is currently entitled Panasonic (very non-PKD) which will be hell for them come search engine marketing time. Shooting is scheduled to begin next month with musician Matthew “Break My Stride” Wilder taking the director’s chair.

And I end quote.

Check it out. Made me laugh.

By the way, that’s Bill PULLMAN from the ever so cool Brain Dead, not Bill PAXTON from the ever so not cool Big Love. Saying that, they both starred in Brain Dead.

Now the serious questions is: Who will star in a biographical film of the life of Philip K. Dick? (I bet you a vanilla ice-cream the PKD Society won’t let it happen. Ever.)

Let us know who you think would be able to do the PKD biz with the feedback form, and we’ll make you a bit famous - or something.

To be honest, I was going to put up some ideas, but my mind is a blank…

Blimey, you could almost get confused (with the Bills), like when people talk about the Gregs: Greg Bear, Greg Egan or Greg(ory) Benford.

Q) I am searching for the title of a 1960s or 1970s UK produced television sci-fi show. It was about a moon based space station the would intercept random incoming alien space ships. The aliens wore a “space” suit and were liquid breathing.

I thought the show was Space1999 but after reviewing the on-line information this isn’t correct.

A) Ah ha, yes, with the mention of a moon based space station it does sound like Space 1999. After a bit of digging around it appears it could be the TV series UFO (pronounced you-fo and you-eff-oh in the series). Some of the episodes included aliens which breathed liquid. I just love their hair-doos.

The Future Was FAB: The Art of Mike Trim

Thunderbirds, War of the Worlds , Images of Sci-Fi. Artist Mike Trim Featured in NewBook Slated for July Release

“A book of Mike Trim’s design work is a thing to be treasured.” — Richard Taylor

Five-time Academy Award winner & Special Effects Director of Lord of the Rings, King Kong, Master & Commander: The Far Side of the World, and director of Weta Workshop.

In 1964, young Mike Trim answered a newspaper advertisement seeking model makers for a film production crew and embarked on an odyssey that would last for more than four decades. Beginning in the final days of Stingray, Trim went to work as a model maker and designer for Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s television series Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet, Joe 90, The Secret Service and UFO - as well as their feature films: Thunderbirds Are GO, Thunderbird 6 and Journey to the Far Side of the Sun (aka Doppelganger).

Starting out in the model shop, Trim later became Special Effects Director Derek Meddings’ assistant in designing the fabulous futuristic architecture, vehicles, and distinctive look of the Andersons’ imaginative series. Eventually, he assumed responsibility for the majority of the design work for the series as Meddings (who won an Academy Award for his work on the 1978 film Superman) became more involved in feature films.

After contributing a single (unused) vehicle design and model to the series Space: 1999, Trim moved into freelance illustration, creating an iconic cover painting for one of the best-selling albums of all time, Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of the Worlds, in 1978.

The Art Of Mike Trim. Images Of SciFi.

Celebrating more than forty years as a designer, Trim has now collaborated with author Anthony Taylor to produce a full-color collection of his works. The Future Was FAB: The Art of Mike Trim is an in-depth review of the artist’s entire career as a sci-fi designer and illustrator. Featuring hundreds of full-color and black-and-white drawings, paintings, marker comps and photos, the book offers a one-of-a-kind, up-close-and-personal view of how the artist foretells the future at the end of a paintbrush. The illustrations are annotated by Trim via his anecdotes and insights as he worked with the Andersons, Meddings and the crew of Century 21 Films, as well as his experiences as a freelance artist and his account of how the instantly recognizable cover art for The War of the Worlds LP was created. Also chronicled: his techniques and influences, unproduced and upcoming projects, and more. With chapters covering his techniques and early influences, unproduced and upcoming projects and more, The Future was FAB: The Art of Mike Trim is a fitting tribute to an artist whose work has permeated the pop culture landscape for more than forty years, and a meticulous archive of his seminal works in the field of sci-fi art and design.

The Art Of Mike Trim. Images Of SciFi.

AVAILABLE JULY 25, 2006
from Fabgearusa.com, Amazon.com, and book stores worldwide.

All Mike Trim Images Are Copyright.

# # #

The Future Was FAB: The Art of Mike Trim

By Anthony Taylor with Mike Trim

Forewords by Richard Taylor and David Tremont of Weta Workshop

Published by Hermes Press. 128 pages. Trade Paperback, 9×12 inches, $29.95

ISBN: 1932563822

The Book Which Became The Movie Bladerunner.

Don’t be confused by the blurb on the cover. Even though this book was later to become the movie Bladerunner, the movie threw out a lot of substance from the book. The movie is a work of art in itself, but both the movie and book should be taken as seperate enteties, and shouldn’t really be compared.

Rick Deckard is a bounty hunter. In his day job he retires androids. While he’s not doing that, he dreams of owning a real sheep. Animals have become status symbols, whereupon if a real animal is out of the persons price bracket, they can always buy a robot lookalike. But to own a real animal is the ultimate show of esteem.

There are many layers to this story, androids vs humans, should we follow religeon even if it tells us to kill the killers. What is human? What is animal? He comes into contact with a religeous entity which may turn out to be a fake.

I would recommend this book because it is such a high profile story. Then I’d recommend watching the film, and then reading the tons of sidebar essays people have written over the years. Including Philip K Dick’s own essays on it; especially his thoughts on the script writing as it progressed on Bladerunner.

Go get it now, and enjoy.

“Who is Number One?” “You are Number Six”

It’s easy to say that The Prisoner was ahead of its time. It is one of those rare prime time television shows that refuses to disappear in the mists of history. It was produced and released in the 60s, the same time as the Vietnam War, recreational drug use and turbulent times in the US. It is a most unusual on screen display synonym with being trapped, breaking from the norm and not following rules. An anti establishment icon.

The opening scene (especially in episode one - The Arrival) is memorable, showing The Secret Agent (Patrick McGoohan) angrily resigning from his job, then returning to his home to pack for what appears to be a trip. An image of The Agent is Xd out on a photo is shown, then it’s filed away by an electronic arm, into a filing cabinet. (It’s interesting to know that the actual picture used in this shot was the official press picture for Dangerman, Patrick McGoohan’s prior role - though it is unknown and unlikely there was any direct relationship between the two productions). The Agent is shadowed by sinister men dressed in black clothes who look like undertakers, who pump gas under the door and cause him to go unconscious. When The Agent awakes, he finds himself in a replica of his room, and it is only until he draws back the drapes that he sees he is somewhere unknown. Staring at him through the window is a panorama of a beautiful and yet bizarre Village, remeniscent of French architecture. As he wanders around, taking everything in, he sees that people are identified only by numbers. The Village leader is Number Two. The Agent is told by him that he is Number Six.

Most of the episodes see The Agent trying to dodge and outsmart the authorities. Only in a few episodes does he actually try to escape. He is also constantly trying to work out who is Number 1.

It was shot on location at Portmeirion in Wales, which is a beautiful and very real place. I walked round there was I was younger, and I still remember walking down small paths, with nooks and crannies all over, trees growing everywhere, with buildings of all different shapes and sizes hidden away. Water features, including rivers, waterfalls and streams can be seen. It is a most mesmerising place. The location was kept secret from the general public by way of not including the location where it was shot up until the very last episode. Prior to that it said Shot on location.

The Village itself is bizarre and picturesque at the same time. The Agent learns quickly that there are shops, taxis, places for recreation, and that the villagers look somewhat doped.

You can find more product information on this fascinating series here.

Overall: