IN AND OUT OF THE EAGLE 23

The 2002 C.G.I. Dan Dare TV series was heavily criticised by fans for changing Digby from a Wiganer to a cockney. Digby was voiced by the British actor Julian Holloway, son of London born Stanley Holloway, who famously performed the monologue The Lion and Albert and many other humorous narrative poems in a Lancashire accent. Julian himself could easily have portrayed Digby as a Lancastrian, having inherited his father’s talent for mimicking accents, but the misguided decision to relocate Digby came from the producers. Ironically, Greg Ellis, the actor who voiced Dan Dare in the series, actually comes from Wigan!

The new Eagle originally featured the adventures of Dan Dare’s great great grandson in its pages, but in a short flashback in 1983 it suggested that the original Dan had really been an R.A.F. pilot in the Second World War who travelled through a time warp to the 1990s. There seemed to be no point to this ‘revelation’ especially as it contradicted long established facts, but it was actually reported to tie in with the planned live action Dan Dare TV series, slated to star James Fox as Dan and Rodney Bewes as Digby. Bewes was a keen fan of Dan Dare and a member of the EAGLE Society. In his 1983 autobiography Comeback, James Fox commented on the role of Dan for which he had recently been cast, describing him as a Second World War fighter pilot who travels forward in time to become a space pilot.

Of course ATV's live action series was never made, but in a 2015 interview James Fox suggested that although he is now too old to play Dan, he could play Sir Hubert Guest instead! The aborted series was first mooted in the mid 1970s and in 1979, Gareth Hunt, fresh from his success in The New Avengers was reported to have been cast as Dan. Remarkably, in a poll conducted by 2000 A.D. comic, also in 1979, Gareth Hunt was the readers' choice to play their revisionist version of Dan Dare, as drawn by Dave Gibbons.  

In 1991 a short TV pilot was made by Zenith Productions in an effort to interest TV companies in a Dan Dare series. Robert Bathurst played Dan and Geoffrey Hughes played Digby. Like Rodney Bewes, Hughes was also a keen fan and in his role as Eddie Yeats in Coronation Street was once shown reading a copy of the 1980s EAGLE. Unfortunately a series was not picked up.   

 The only time a live action Dan was seen on TV was in 1987, when he and Digby, played by Niven Boyd and Jimmy Yule respectively were featured in three advertisements for Mobil Oil. 

THE EAGLE SOCIETY 70th ANNIVERSARY GATHERING IN SOUTHPORT 2021

 Report by Reg Hoare

For those who gathered for the 2019 meeting in Scotland, it would have been unbelievable at that time to think it would eventually be some two and a half years before the seventieth anniversary of the launch of EAGLE could take place at Southport. Originally scheduled for April 2020, the Society finally gathered on the nineteenth to the twenty first of October 2021. The fact that it happened at all was due in no small measure to the persistence of Darren Evans, David Britton and Bob Corn in particular, who between them were determined that the ubiquitous virus would not prevail, despite the Mekon's efforts to ruin our special occasion. Needless to say, the Bliss Hotel overlooking the waterfront promenade at Southport came up to expectations and provided comfortable rooms, conference facilities and good food.   

It was pleasing to see so many attending again, including the regulars, but noticeably this time, some not so regular made the special effort for the seventieth. Your scribe was particularly pleased to see Rod Barzilay again, known more to members for his past efforts on Dan Dare work, notably with his creation of Spaceship Away. However we were all very sorry to see Will and Anne Grenham depart early on the Wednesday morning due to Anne feeling unwell. We wish her all the best for a speedy recovery. Anne has contributed much work in the past for the Society as a proofreader for EAGLE Times and we all look forward to seeing her again next year. 

The programme of events was designed to follow the usual pattern over the three days, not least with Steve Winders opening the proceedings on Tuesday evening with another of his wonderful monologues titled A Foreign Country. Steve's contribution in this respect is quite unique, being both clever and zany and has become almost the highlight of the Gathering. It will appear in the Christmas edition of EAGLE Times and is recommended reading.

Peter Dyer of Southport completed the first day with a very 'EAGLE' type talk entitled Southport Beach and Russian Rockets. Peter is a member of the British Amateur Rocket Association whose local members attempt (with some success) to launch small home made rockets on Southport beach. He produced film of these attempts, showing some spectacular efforts and demonstrating a most unusual hobby. He also brought in several of his rockets. He had become interested when his father bought him a spacesuit when still at school and started launching rockets at thirteen, having been a regular fan of Journey into Space on B.B.C. radio and Dan Dare on Radio Luxembourg as a young boy. Apparently it is not against the local by-laws to launch rockets from the beach, but they take precautions against any problems through insurance! 

The main and only full day, on Wednesday was initially devoted to and outing by coach to Liverpool and a trip on the Mersey Ferry accompanied by the famous song by Gerry and the Pacemakers. Unfortunately it was a wet and murky day, with the views along the Mersey not as clear as normal. Nevertheless, it was an enjoyable experience. As soon as we arrived there was an excellent photo opportunity for our own resident photographer (Paul Napp) at the famous Beatles statue. Paul always manages to capture the key moments of any EAGLE meeting and this was one of those occasions when his expertise was on display.

Darren had kindly given us all the afternoon off for free time to explore the area and museums in particular. Your scribe found it a nostalgic occasion, having passed through the area several times in the sixties and seventies on the way to the Isle of Man TT Races, although the docks area seemed unrecognisable from those days. 

We returned to the Hotel for our seventieth anniversary dinner, complete with the celebratory cake. Our main talk was given by Keith Hick who is a civil engineer and architect, titled Donald Campbell and Bluebird K7. Our special guest was Gina Campbell who is the daughter of Donald and granddaughter of Sir Malcolm Campbell and herself a record holder of Ladies' Land and Water Speed Records in her own right. 

In a Q and A session she gave a vivid account of those record-breaking days involving Donald and the terrible day when her father was killed on Coniston in his last record-breaking attempt on water. Donald achieved both land and water speed records in the same year (1964) but was eventually killed in 1967. Gina is the last of the dynasty and it was not until 2001 that they managed to recover her father from the water and give him a church funeral. A truly engrossing story which went on to nearly midnight. We were all indebted to Darren for arranging such an interesting and famous speaker for the evening. 

On the Thursday morning of our Gathering we were treated to three talks. The first was by our own David Britton, who usually speaks on Riders of the Range, but this time it was a talk entitled Storm Nelson - Talking Up a Storm. Although this particular strip was not the favourite feature of any of the EAGLE characters whenever a survey was constructed, it did appear in 44% of all the EAGLES, running from Volume 4 No. 26 until Volume 13 No. 9, comprising some eighteen stories and 433 episode, including one repeated in error! It was written by Edward Trice (Guy Morgan) and drawn by Richard Jennings and sometimes Giorgio Bellavitis, who David suggested drew clearer drawings. It was an interesting study by a member who writes regular articles for EAGLE Times on a variety of subjects. In conclusion, David informed us that the Society had received phone calls in the light of this special anniversary, from Colin Knight, Ron French and Isobel Ryan (the younger daughter of John Ryan). 

The second talk of the morning was by again our very own Eric Fernie, titled Three Reminisces, a Parallel and Something Else. A highlight of this piece was his recollection of meeting Marion Ryan (daughter of John Ryan), who had no record of her father's work for EAGLE, so Eric helped her to acquire copies. Brought up in South Africa, Eric met a fellow countryman while walking in Southport, having recognised his distinctive accent. A fascinating parallel and one of Eric's usual interesting anecdotes. 

John Freeman completed the session with a talk entitled Down the Tubes about strip magazines today. John is professionally involved with modern day publishing of action adventure comics for both children and adults. His early influences were Pip, Squeak and Wilfred, Rainbow, TV Century 21 and Arthur C. Clarke's books. He became a graphic designer and editor for Marvel U.K. and worked on Doctor Who, Ghostbusters and Star Trek. He also worked on I.P.C.'s Vulcan comic. He launched strip magazine in 2011, which was part of Print Media Productions' plans for new comics for the U.K. He opined that if Frank Hampson had continued working on Dan Dare beyond Terra Nova, he would have kept abreast of scientific developments and discovery. He liked the idea of weekly comics, like EAGLE where the next edition is there the following week, unlike the American comics which lack consistency. 

We concluded as usual with the obligatory EAGLE Society Members Meeting, conducted ably by Darren. Bob Corn (our worthy Treasurer) took us through the accounts, showing a healthy bank balance and a membership currently standing at about 140. It is intended that we meet again next year in Greenwich, probably in June, but final plans will be settled by the Team in due course. There was a vote of thanks to David Britton for all his past Committee work and although he is no longer on the Committee due to other commitments, he remains an integral member of the Society and in particular as a contributor to EAGLE Times. Your scribe offered the usual thanks on behalf of the lay membership and congratulated the Team on all their efforts and in particular to Darren Evans, (not to mention Susanne for all her forbearance), in running the whole show.

Although the official Gathering had now concluded, some members had arranged a visit to Churchtown to have another look at the Old Bakehouse, where Dan Dare was first produced, as it has been restored since our last visit. This was followed by a visit to the Hesketh Arms for lunch. Your scribe cannot comment on this visit as both he and his lady wife were off to Blackpool to see family and in your scribe's case (much to Steve Winders' delight as a Preston supporter), to watch Blackpool v Preston North End at Bloomfield Road. By coincidence, so were Mike and Kathy Miles, but not to watch football. By the way, Preston lost!      

THE BAKEHOUSE VISIT       by Darren Evans

Seven of us made the trip over to the Bakehouse, four of whom had never visited before. We had prearranged the visit with Mr Henneker, who seemed to enjoy the visit as much as we did. We stayed longer than I expected. Afterwards we all went to the Hesketh Arms for something to eat. The visit was rounded off with a pleasant walk around the Botanical Gardens (to walk off the food) before we went our separate ways. All enjoyed the trip and found it worthwhile. The picture (right) shows the inside of

 the Bakehouse today and below shows the exterior.