BBC Schools and Colleges

BBC Schools, also known as BBC for Schools and Colleges, is the educational programming strand set up by the BBC in 1957, broadcasting a range of educational programmes for children aged 5–16. From launch until 1983, programming was based on BBC One during the daytime, before programming was transferred to BBC Two when BBC One gained its own daytime schedule. The strand remained on BBC Two for many years after, supplemented by the 'Class TV' strand on the CBBC Channel. Today, BBC Schools programmes are part of the BBC Learning Zone overnight service. The BBC began broadcasting schools programmes on BBC Television in the Autumn of 1957 in the afternoons. Morning transmissions began on the 19th September 1960.

The Pie Chart

From September 1960 until September 1974, the presentation was a black and white card with a pie chart split into 5 segments with a BBC logo in the bottom right corner. The pie chart segments disappeared with the seconds and was operated via a mechanical model. They were introduced, from 1969, by a special version of the BBC One Mirror Globe, but without the 'Colour' legend, as schools programmes were still in black and white while the rest of BBC One's programmes were in colour.

The Diamond

The Blue Diamond 1974 - 1975

In September 1974, the presentation was changed to a blue diamond on a black background with the BBC One legend. It was commissioned to mark the start of schools programmes in colour, and consisted of the three diamonds of increasing size inside one another, first forming out of the background before pulsating and splitting into smalled diamonds, before eventually decreasing altogether. The colour scheme was changed following the BBC One rebrand of image to orange on a navy blue background with, unusually, an orange legend.

The Yellow Diamond 1975 - 1977

This was accompanied by an orange version of the BBC One Network clock. A still version of the diamond was occasionally used on the channel, with a double lined version of the BBC1 logo. This was accompanied by a similar version for BBC Two with double lined BBC2 logo, for occasions when schools programmes were transferred to that channel.

The Dots

In September 1977, presentation was again changed to a countdown clock of disappearing dots around a spinning 'Schools and Colleges' legend. A white BBC1 legend was underneath, with the altered network clock discontinued. The spinning Schools and Colleges legend was in fact unintended and was a result of an issue with the mechanical model used. This was amended by the following summer. By 1981, the new corporate double lined BBC1 logo was added to the model in replkacement of the old one, however this amended model only lasted three months, as the whole mechanical model was replaced by a computer generated version. The primary difference was that the dots, instead of fading to the background colour of blue, they instead faded to black.

Upon occasions when the schools strand was transferred to BBC Two, a version with the BBC2 double lined logo was used the 2 legend replacing the BBC1 legend. Following the switch to electronic, the BBC2 version was also recreated, however during the Falklands War, a version with a hastilly added BBC Two ident was used, with the replaced region being the orange logo on a black background box.

At around this time, special holding captions with the phrase 'Follows Shortly' were beginning to be used for junctions longer than the 90 seconds that the ident required. During a junction, the follows shortly caption would be shown over music before the screen faded into the ident.

Following the rebrand of TWO to BBC2, including the introduction of the 2 idents, no special strand was set out to mark schools programmes. The 'Follows Shortly' captions were phased out in place of promotions of other appropriate programmes, through static programme captions. In 1995, following the launch of the BBC Learning Zone some programming, generally the secondary education programming, was transferred to the new overnight service, as more schools were showing recordings of the programmes rather than the programmes live and by the mid 2000s even the primary schools programming had left the daytime schedules.

Since the launch of the CBBC Channel, their remit has resulted in their need to show schools programming. They resulted in this by theClass TV strand, shown during schools hours for a few hours, usually repeats of previous programmes, rather than new programmes. In 2008, the CBBC remit was altered to remove the schools element from the channel.

Today, all schools programmes are shown overnight on the BBC Learning Zone. And that as they say was that, the end of an era. God bless Schools and Colleges!

Self Indulgent Fergie - Whinging again!

The Duchess of York said not being invited to Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding was "so difficult" for her to cope with. In an television interview with chat show host Oprah Winfrey, Sarah Ferguson revealed she spent April 29 in Thailand.

Her ex-husband the Duke of York, who accompanied their daughters Beatrice, 22, and Eugenie, 21, to Westminster Abbey, made her feel part of the occasion by talking to her on the telephone. Asked how hurt she felt by the snub, the 51-year-old former royal replied: "It was so difficult. Because I wanted to be there with my girls ... and to be getting them dressed and to go as a family. "And it was also hard because the last bride up that aisle was me."

Sarah, who was filmed offering an undercover reporter access to the Duke of York for £500,000 last year, said she did not feel ostracised by the lack of an invite. But she added: "I felt that I ostracised myself by my behaviour, by the past, by living with all the regrets of my mistakes, that I sort of wore a hair shirt and beat myself up most of the day thinking and regretting why did I make such a mistake? "Why have I made so many mistakes? So I did spend a good three hours on that."

In the interview, to be broadcast in the US, she said while in Camelia, Thailand, on the day of the wedding, she spent "all morning" talking to Andrew. "He was saying, 'It's okay. Just remember we had such a good day. Our wedding was so perfect'. Because we're such a unit together. He made me feel very part of the day on April 29."

Baccara - Yes Sir I Can Boogie: 1977

"Yes Sir, I Can Boogie" is a 1977 hit single by the Spanish vocal duo Baccara.

Written by Frank Dostal and Rolf Soja, and produced by Soja, this typical slice of disco was a major hit across Europe and became the duo's sole number one single in the UK, spending a single week at the top in October 1977. It did not chart in the United States, despite receiving major airplay in several markets. It is one of the fewer than thirty all-time singles to have sold 10 Million (or more) copies worldwide.

"Yes Sir, I Can Boogie"
Single by Baccara
from the album Baccara
B-Side	Cara Mia
Released	1977
Format	7" single, 12" maxi
Genre	Eurodisco
Length	4:28
Label	R-C-A Victor
Writer (s)	Frank Dostal, Rolf Soja
Producer	Rolf Soja
Baccara singles chronology
- "Yes Sir, I Can Boogie" (1977) "Sorry I'm a Lady" (1977)

Preceded by "Silver Lady" by David Soul

UK number one single October 29, 1977

Succeeded by "The Name of the Game" by ABBA

Those Dinky Days! (Part One)

It's time to pay homage to the Dinky toy.

Dinky 165 Humber Hawk

Dinky 180 Rover 3500

Dinky 289 Routemaster Bus

Dinky Toys are die cast miniature model cars and trucks. They appeared in early 1934 when Meccano Ltd of Liverpool, England introduced a line of "Modelled Miniatures" under the trade mark "Meccano Dinky Toys". The announcement was made in the April 1934 issue of Meccano Magazine.

In 1931 Meccano issued a series of railway and trackside accessories to complement their O scale Hornby Model train sets. Six model cars were produced alongside model track workers, passengers, station staff and other trackside accessories. The cars were basic representations rather that identifiable marques and had die-cast metal bodies, tin plate bases and wheels with rubber tyres. By 1934 Frank Hornby, who owned Meccano Ltd, had expanded the range to include die-cast model ships and aeroplanes, and the range was christened 'Meccano Dinky Toys'. It has been said that the name came from a friend of one of Frank Hornby's daughters, and was likely derived from the Scottish word "dink".

The first set of 'Dinky Cars' being released in 1934. The set of vehicles was designated No. 22, comprising six 1:43 scale models (i.e. O scale) and retailed at 4 shillings:

22a Sports Car

22b Sports Coupe

22c Motor Truck

22d Delivery Van (with same chassis and cab as 22c)

22e Tractor

22f Tank

Dinky 191 Dodge Royal Sedan

Some pre-war Dinky Toys were cast from an impure alloy and today suffer from Zinc pest, making good condition survivors rare today. Some early castings have survived in numbers, whilst it is difficult to find others such as the 28 Series vans that do not have some form of damage. It is believed that lead from Hornby Train production, as well as lead ties from sacks in the factory found their way into the metal, and corrupted it. The first model car available individually was numbered 23a which was a sports car based on an early MG, and by December 1935 there were around 200 different products in the Dinky range even including dolls house furniture. The first model cars were generic representations of vehicle types and were available individually from trade packs of 6. Models would not be available in individual boxes until 1952. In 1935 a new series was introduced which featured accurate likenesses of specific vehicles.

Series 30 included:

30a Chrysler Airflow Saloon

30b Rolls-Royce

30c Daimler

30d Vauxhall

A scale model of the Pan American Airways flying boat "Clipper III" that took part in the transatlantic experimental flights between Botwood, Newfoundland and Foynes, Eire in the summer of 1937. The flights were carried out in co-operation with Imperial Airways. The "Clipper III" is a Sikorsky S-42-B flying boat of all-metal construction. It is fitted with four Pratt and Whitney Hornett air-cooled engines, and is capable of a top speed of 188 mph. The normal range of the S-42-B is 1,200 miles, and therfore extra fuel tanks were installed in the "Clipper III" for her Atlantic flights.

Damage to the tail and crazing to the nose of the model is due to Zinc Pest, a particular problem with the Dinky aircraft of this age.

An American Werewolf in London - 1981

An American Werewolf in London is a 1981 British-American horror comedy film, written and directed by John Landis. It stars David Naughton, Griffin Dunne, and Jenny Agutter.

The film starts with two young American men, David (David Naughton) and Jack (Griffin Dunne) on a backpacking holiday in England. Following an awkwardly tense visit to a village pub, the two men venture deep into the moors at night. They are attacked by a Werewolf, which results in Jack's death and David being taken to a London hospital. Through apparitions of his dead friend and disturbing dream sequences, David becomes informed that he is a werewolf and will transform at the next full moon.

Shooting took place mostly in London but also in Surrey and Wales. It was released in the United States on August 21, 1981 and grossed $30.56 million at the box office. Critics generated mostly favourable reviews for the film. The movie won the 1981 Saturn Award for Best Horror Film and an Academy Award for Outstanding achievement in make-up. The film was one of three high-profile wolf-themed horror films released in 1981, alongside The Howling and Wolfen. Over the years, the film has accumulated a cult following and has been referred to as a cult classic. Empire magazine also named An American Werewolf in London as the 107th greatest movie of all time in September 2008.

The film was followed by a 1997 sequel, An American Werewolf in Paris, which featured a completely different cast and none of the original crew, and is distributed by Disney's Hollywood pictures.

Two American college students, David Kessler (David Naughton) and Jack Goodman (Griffin Dunne), are backpacking across the Yorkshire Moors. As darkness falls, and they decide to stop for the night at a pub called "The Slaughtered Lamb". Jack notices a five-pointed star on the wall. When he asks about it, the pub becomes very quiet. The pub-goers start acting very strangely. The pair decide to leave, but not before the others offer them pieces of advice such as "Beware the moon, lads" and "Keep to the road." Whilst conversing with each other and wondering what they meant, they wander off the road, onto the moors.

Back at the pub, the owner gets very distressed and suggests that they go after the pair. As she says this, a sinister howling is heard. The rest of the pub-goers, having barricaded the door, decline. Back out on the moors, Jack and David have also heard the howls, and they seem to be steadily getting closer. They start back to the Slaughtered Lamb when they realize they are disoriented and lost on the moors. A full moon comes out from behind the clouds, and they remember the advice they were given earlier. The noises get steadily closer until they are stopped by a supernaturally large animal. The animal attacks both of them, and kills Jack. The animal is then shot and killed by the pub-goers, who have now emerged. David survives the mauling and is taken to a hospital in London. When he wakes up three weeks later, he does not remember what happened and is told of his friend's death. David is questioned by an arrogant inspector, and more understanding sergeant and learns that he and Jack were supposedly attacked by an escaped lunatic. David insists that they were actually attacked by a large wolf. But the inspector had already been told there were witnesses and an autopsy report of the maniac, so they deduce that David is suffering from shock. David has several nightmares at night (one of him running through the woods, decapitating and eating a deer, another of him in a hospital bed with a monstrous fanged face, and finally him at home where his family is attacked by Nazis with monstrous faces).

Things get stranger when Jack, now a reanimated corpse, comes to visit David, who explains that they had been attacked by a werewolf, and stating that David himself is, in fact, now a werewolf. Jack urges David to kill himself before the next full moon, not only because Jack is cursed to exist in a state of living death for as long as the bloodline of the werewolf that attacked them survives, but also to prevent David from inflicting the same fate on his eventual victims.

Trying to see if David is indeed telling the truth, his doctor takes a trip to the Slaughtered Lamb. However when asked about the incident, the pub-goers deny any knowledge of David, Jack or the wolf. But one distraught pub-goer speaks to the doctor outside the pub and says that David should not have been taken away, and that he and everyone else will be in danger when he changes. After more investigation, the doctor finds out that the police report was "misplaced", and that David's wounds were cleaned and dressed before he was even looked at. The doctor is convinced that the whole town was lying, and that David was indeed attacked by an animal, though he's not completely convinced it was a werewolf.

Upon his release from the hospital, David moves in with Alex Price (Jenny Agutter), the pretty young nurse who grew infatuated with him in the hospital. He stays in Alex's London apartment, where they later make love for the first time. Jack suddenly appears to David again and tells him that he will turn into a werewolf the next day. Jack advises David to take his own life; otherwise he is doomed to kill innocent people who will then become the living dead. When the full moon rises, as Jack had warned, he begins to feel excruciating pain before stripping nude and turning into a werewolf. In his werewolf form, David walks on all fours, is covered in shaggy gray fur, is larger than a regular wolf, and has a savage demonic face with horrifying fanged jaws. He prowls the streets and the London Underground and slaughters six innocent Londoners. When he wakes in the morning, he is naked on the floor of the wolf cage at London Zoo with no memory of his nocturnal lupine carnivorous adventures, but unharmed by the resident wolves.

Later that day, David realizes that Jack was right about everything and that he is responsible for the murders of the night before. David encounters Jack (in an advanced stage of decay) in a cinema in Piccadilly Circus, this time accompanied by David's victims from the previous night. They all insist that he must commit suicide before turning into a werewolf again. While talking with them, night falls and, consequently, David turns into a werewolf again and goes on another killing spree. Following a horrific melee, he is cornered in an alley by the police. Alex arrives to calm him down by telling him that she loves him. Though he is apparently temporarily softened, he is shot and killed when he lunges forward, returning to human form in front of a grieving Alex as he dies.

Action Man: (Part Two) 1993 - 2006: The return.

From a collectors perspective, the 1993 return of Action Man figure was disappointing. To kids it was very exciting. The Hasbro figure seemingly learnt nothing of the lessons from the vintage Palitoy Action Man, which by its retirement was an exceptional toy that reached its final guise by a process of evolution. The new figure appeared to throw away the textbook and start again to a degree, and with it valuable lessons which could be learnt from the past. The new figure didn't hold complex poses, had clumsy hands that would not hold the new out-of-scale weapons, and was made crudely by comparison to its 30 year old 'father'. But children's play patterns had changed, a generation on, now the formula was to sell the figure and clothing and accessories in one purchase. Children were now more likely to reject the purchase of additional accessories at 80% the price of a new figure - they would rather pay the extra for another figure!

The original Palitoy Action Man had soul and a kind of dignity - His early uniforms were copies from the Second World War. It seemed every kid in the 1960s and 1970s had a Father, Uncle or Grandad who served during WWII and we as children acted out the heroic acts of those special family members with Airfix kits and Action Man. We all wanted the Astronaut figure when the Apollo 11 mission landed man on the moon.

The new Hasbro Action Man's initial uniforms by comparison were generic, contrived and unauthentic. The new Hasbro theme was an all-action fictitious hero, day-glo clad, multi-weaponed eco-warrior, positioned somewhere between James Bond and Indiana Jones (who had the scar first?) and any number of extreme sports personalities! The new Hasbro Action Man gained new foes such as Dr. X, No-Face and Professor Gangrene. Again, draw comparisons with all of James Bond's myriad of evil foes, with their signature clothing and clumsy henchmen! The Action figures came comparatively cheap, and typical children would own a multitude of figures, but uniforms and weapons were commonly bonded onto the figure so exchange of clothing and weapons, and ultimately inventiveness in play were now partly gone. Action Man's head sculpt changed many more times than the original, which is a strange policy to adopt, but the tell-tale Action Man trademark scar remained.

The innovative Hasbro packaging was a great improvement over the earlier Palitoy Action Man. A 'wall of orange' greeted children as they visited toy shops. Many more vehicles were created than before to enhance the Hasbro Action Man's new missions (or X-Missions!) - transport to come in handy on land, under the sea, across the snow or ready to traverse Dr.X's evil Island. Action Man had new allies too - the Australian skateboarding 'Flint', and Red wolf the Native American archery specialist.

Hasbro finally pulled the plug on Action Man with some remnants remaining in stores for early 2006 - now Hasbro was marketing the smaller Action Man A.T.O.M figures (Alpha Teens on Machines) easing these gently in (12" figures at first) to win the affections of the children and subtley replace the Action Man for good, the smaller plastic figure again positioned to be Action Man's new successors (David beats Goliath once again!)

1996 - Action Man Collector's Edition

Hasbro UK Ltd celebrated Action Man's 30th Birthday in 1996 with the issue of a 30th Anniversary Collector's Edition, limited edition boxed Action Man that was more akin to the original Action Man of 1966. He had painted hair, and many accessories based on the 30 year old recipe, only for some reason everything was at a larger scale. It came in a special edition window box, and included inside a reproduction box that was similar design to the first box, albeit in a shoe-box 2 piece shape. The limited edition number of five digits is to be found inkjeted in black to the small of his back. Because of its intended resemblance to it's 30 year old big brother, comparison of the two figures is inevitable. So compare if you will the two Action Men as they stand shoulder-to-chest! Note especially the height difference, and the size of the 1996 Action Man's hands!

Radio Times - Last of the Summer Wine: 1975

A new day and yet another Radio Times front cover from days long gone!

This particular cover features the original stars of, Last of the Summer Wine. Bill Owen, Michael Bates & Peter Sallis. Michael Bates was to leave shortly after this cover, due to ill health and was replaced by Brian Wilde.

Radio Times - Sir Norman Wisdom: 1956

And so my fascination with Radio Times front covers continues with this excellent front cover from way back in 1956 featuring the late, great, Sir Norman Wisdom - Mister Grimsdaaaaalllle!

Cloppa Castle - Episode One: Spring Is Sprung

Breakfast has still not arrived and the Queen is most annoyed. She heads over to the kitchen to find that there is a problem with the oven and that Mudlin the Wizard has been unsuccessful at producing breakfast via magic. She heads off to find the castle inventor and only brains in the place, Cue -ee-dee. He is busy making a new weapon for the war against the Hasbeenes. The weapon appears to be working correctly as it promptly send him through the ceiling and out of the castle. Pretty soon it is time for battle and as usual the Hasbeenes are up to no good in the never ending attempt to take the castle and grab the oil. The battle commences with the Hasbeenes trying to break down the castle gates with a battering ram. Cue-ee-dee's machine saves the day by springing all the enemy soldiers out of the castle. Beosweyne makes his usual threat to take the castle as he flies backwards over the tree tops.

Paper Lace - Billy don't be a Hero: 1974

"Billy Don't Be A Hero" is a 1974 anti - war song by Paper Lace and was also recorded by Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods. It was written by Mitch Murray and Peter Callender.

Because the song was released in 1974, it is often associated with the Vietnam War, though it actually refers to the American Civil War as evidenced by the "soldier blues" (the Union Forces) in the lyrics and on the cover of the single album. Also, A 1974 music video shows the band performing in Union uniforms. A young woman is distraught that her fiancé chooses to leave the area with an Army contingent passing through the town and go with them to fight. She laments,

"Billy, don't be a hero! Don't be a fool with your life!

"Billy, don't be a hero! Come back and make me your wife!

"And as Billy started to go, she said, 'Keep your pretty head low!'

"Billy, don't be a hero! Come back to me!"

The song goes on to describe how Billy is killed in action in a pitched battle after volunteering to ride out and seek reinforcements. In the end, the woman throws away the regret letter notifying her of Billy's "heroic" death.

Paper Lace's version of "Billy Don't Be a Hero" hit number one on the UK singles' chart on March 16 1974. The band made plans to release it in America but the song was covered and released by Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods. Their version was rushed out before Paper Lace could release and it hit no 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. on June 15. Subsequently although Paper Lace had the chart-topper in the UK, its version stalled at #96 on the Billboard Hot 100. The Bo Donaldson version failed to chart at all in the UK.

"Billy Don't Be a Hero"
Single by Paper Lace
from the album Paper Lace
B-Side	"Celia"
Released	1974
Format	7" single
Genre	Pop protest song
Length	3:59
Label	Mercury
Writer(s)	Mitch Murray, Peter Callander
Paper Lace singles chronology
"Billy Don't Be a Hero" (1974) "The night Chicago Died" (1974)

Classic Bond - Thunderball: 1965

The phenomenal success of Goldfinger (d. Guy Hamilton, 1964) and the global appetite for greater spectacle and increased fantasy clearly indicated the way forward for the 007 franchise. "Here comes the Biggest Bond of All!" screamed the posters for Thunderball (1965), confirmingEon's new approach. At its most obvious, this was signalled by the movie's huge $5.5million budget and the fact it was the first to be filmed in Panavision widescreen.

More significantly, however, Thunderball departed from the tight narrative structures typified by its predecessors and introduced a more episodic format, in which sprawling action sequences are included for visual effect as opposed to plot advancement.

The most obvious example remains the vast, climactic battle, shot by underwater expert Lamar Boren and employing 45 scuba divers as extras. Director Terence Young clearly felt he was out of his depth shooting these scenes: "all that underwater stuff was anti-James Bond," he later commented, "Because it was slow motion". However, inventive choreography and John Barry's relentless score help rescue the sequences, and aqua-action became a staple of the series.

Thunderball also ushered in the voluptuous villainess who cannot be turned by Bond's sexual and ideological persuasiveness. Domino, played by former Miss France Claudine Auger, exemplifies the archetypal submissive 'Bond girl', but Fiona Volpe (Luciana Paluzzi) - a strong, intelligent enemy agent - created the template for tough, independent females which still endures.

Ken Adam's sets represent another triumph. SPECTRE's cold, gleaming, ultra-modern boardroom, for example, contrasts wonderfully with the Secret Service's conference chamber, a marble and mahogany vision of traditional Colonialism. The juxtaposition quietly implies that the older, more British virtues remain the most reassuring and legitimate.

Although less taut than the opening three Bond movies, Thunderball offers enough to recommend it. John Stears's Oscar-winning visual effects, Ted Moore's lush photography and the spectacular sets all conspire to make this a visually arresting piece of work. Connery's cool, charismatic Bond remains compelling, and he clearly enjoyed working with Young again, who allowed him to improvise many of the film's trademark one-liners.

This was more extravagant and less realistic than previous Bonds, and its takings were unsurpassed until The Spy Who Loved Me (d. Lewis Gilbert, 1977). Producer Albert R. Broccoli in particular noted the correlation between cinematic excess and success, and resolved to replicate the formula. As Bond mutters after harpooning the evil Vargas (Philip Locke), "I think he got the point."

THE

MONTHLY FILM BULLETIN

Published by

THE BRITISH FILM INSTITUTE

Volume 33, No.385, February 1966, page 20

THUNDERBALL (1965)

SPECTRE, the International Crime Syndicate, plans to hijack two atomic bombs from NATO, promising Whitehall not to wipe out two cities so long as a ransom of £100 million is paid. The signal for Whitehall's acceptance is that Big Ben should strike seven at six o'clock. The operations are begun at a health clinic near the NATO airfield, when Count Lippe tries to kill Agent 007, James Bond, on an exercising machine. Bond is rescued by therapist Patricia, and retaliates by stepping up the heat in Lippe's steam bath. Meanwhile Fiona, of SPECTRE, suborns Major Derval, of NATO, and has him murdered by a bandaged man at the clinic. The bandages cover the results of plastic surgery: SPECTRE man Palazzi has become his victim's double. Palazzi now flies off with the bombs in a plane which sinks to the ocean floor. He is in turn murdered by SPECTRE executive Largo, who takes the bombs in a submarine to a secret underwater cave. Despatched to Nassau, Bond meets Derval's sister, Domino, who is living with Largo. After losing to Bond at chemin defer, Largo invites him to Palmyra, his secluded palatial estate. Bond falls into Largo's steel-lidded, shark-infested swimming pool, but escapes. He returns to his hotel to find Fiona in his bath-tub. They make love, after which Fiona betrays him to Largo's men. Though shot in the leg, Bond makes a getaway under cover of a local carnival. Fiona follows the trail of blood to a crowded dance floor, where Bond dances with her before manoeuvring her into the path of a bullet meant for him. With the help of Domino, who is shocked to learn that Largo killed her brother, Bond manages to locate the bombs and eliminate Largo and his army of frogmen.

Of course one would rather have Dr. Mabuse. Of course Thunderball is a blatant parody of the genre, all gargantuan sets, paintbox blood, sexless blondes and gadgetry. There is absolutely nothing memorable about it. It is simply there for the moment, to be superficially enjoyed if one likes that kind of thing, and if one can condone the vast cost of such a toyshop trifle. What does it offer?

More polish than usual, for one thing. Terence Young's direction is nothing if not taut, whisking the narrative along with the speed and precision of a jet plane, defying one to express boredom. To achieve this, he has wisely thrown away most of Bond's character detail, the drinks-and-cars expertise, and stripped Bond down to a kinky-looking Superman in red rubber, an outline Sean Connery fills for once admirably and with ease. The gadgets are splendid - hydrofoil, radio-active pill, underwater jet-harness, a health-clinic rack which threatens to rattle Bond's bones to pulp, a black-leather motor-cyclist whose machine fires rockets and who turns out under her crash-helmet to be the delectably treacherous Luciana Paluzzi.

John Hopkins has been brought in on the screenplay to provide some insolent, amatory wit; the post-Strangelove sets are by Ken Adam; Ivan Tors has provided some eerily effective underwater sequences, including a long climactic battle which looks like Agincourt fought with submarines instead of horses. In other words the film is all of a piece, cunning, heartless, extravagant, shamelessly mid-Sixties. Agreed that Adolfo Celi's villain, though perfectly adequate, is no Dr. Mabuse. But then a film like this would be enough to shock the good Doctor back to sanity.

---

The Monthly Film Bulletin was published by the British Film Institute between 1934 and 1991. Initially aimed at distributors and exhibitors as well as filmgoers, it carried reviews and details of all UK film releases. In 1991, the Bulletin was absorbed by Sight and Sound magazine.

Vintage Magazine Covers - January 1976 (Part One)

Another delve down memory lane as I review some magazine covers that were knocking about back in the good old days that were the Seventies!...

Rita Hayworth, Siete Dias Ilustrados Magazine [Argentina] (January 1976)

Elvis Presley, TV and Movie Screen Magazine [United States] (January 1976)

Liza Minnelli, Modern Screen Magazine [United States] (January 1976

Elton John, Photoplay Magazine [United States] (January 1976)

Liza Minnelli, Films Illustrated Magazine [United Kingdom] (January 1976)

Cher, Movie Mirror Magazine [United States] (January 1976)

Sean Connery, Film Comment Magazine [United States] (January 1976

Walker Brothers founder John dies

John Walker, one of the founders of 1960s group the Walker Brothers has died, his spokeswoman said. Walker, 67, passed away at his Los Angeles home after a battle with liver cancer.

Born John Maus, Walker played a pivotal role in the band which scored huge commercial success in the 1960s and 1970s with songs such as Make It Easy On Yourself and The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine (Any More).

His spokeswoman said: "Sadly John passed away yesterday morning Californian time, after a six-month battle with liver cancer."

The band was formed in 1964, when the three unrelated musicians Scott Engel, Maus and Gary Leeds adopted the Walker Brothers name. The group's fame flourished after travelling to the UK in the 1960s.