Z Cars paperback, c.1965

Whilst creating a Pinterest board for my Cult TV paperbacks, I realised that there were a few in my collection which I had not shared on this blog. And, as I always seem to be apologising for the sporadic content on this blog, this seems like an excellent opportunity to put both right.

The Cult TV series depicted on the paperback below is none other than Z Cars. During my research into finding some additional information to share, I was under the, apparently common, illusion that the series was called Z Cars because of the Ford Zodiacs and Ford Zephyrs used. Turns out it was actually based on a fictional call sign. Reading more into the history it seems that a staggering 799 episodes were made between 1962 and 1978, which I find hard to believe. What's a huge shame however is that many of these seem to have been wiped. Whilst we seem to get regular re-runs of other Cult TV classics like The Avengers, The Sweeney, etc. I'm not sure I've ever seen Z Cars other than when it was originally released.

Z Cars - Barlow on Trial, front cover of paperback, c.1965

Z Cars - Barlow on Trial, back cover of paperback, c.1965

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Theme Thursday - Paper

This week's theme, 'Paper', for Theme Thursday was a bit easier for me as I have paper absolutely everywhere. Whether it be in vintage postcards, stamps, books, magazines, I'll have it. In fact to some extent I was spoilt for choice. I eventually decided on a selection of paperbacks relating to another of my passions, Cult TV series from the 1960's and 1970's. Here are a selection ...

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Theme Thursday - Monster

A great choice of theme this week on Theme Thursday - Monster. Below are scans of my paperback copies of novels by one of my favourite authors, John Wyndham, both featuring monsters of one kind or another. The first paperback is 'The Day of the Triffids', originally published in 1951, this is the 1965 Penguin paperback version. My first encounter with Triffids was watching the 1980's TV series, which I thought was much earlier so perhaps it was the 1962 film version that I saw some time in the late 1970's. Either way, I remember it vividly and being very scared at the time.

The second paperback is 'The Kraken Wakes', which is also the title of a poem by Alfred Tennyson. Wyndham's novel was first published in 1953 and the version here is Penguin's 1973 version. As far as I can tell this has never been made into a film, although I'm sure the plot has been used in various 'creatures from the deep' type films.

As usual, lots of vintage magazines and books on my web site, and also vintage postcards

Vintage Cult TV Paperbacks - The Man From U.N.C.L.E

As promised several times, I have finally got around to creating a blog entry for my collection of paperbacks from The Man From U.N.C.L.E. I'm assuming it needs little or no introduction, but just in case, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. was a US TV series which ran from 1964 to 1968, featuring two secret agents, Napoleon Solo (Robert Vaughn) and Illya Kuryakin (David McCallum) who work for a secret organisation called U.N.C.L.E (the United Network Command for Laws and Enforcement). Their rivals were called THRUSH and, of course, were dead set on world domination and destruction.

I can't remember when I saw my first TV episode, probably during a 1970's re-run I would imagine, but I remember being fascinated from the very first few seconds. I picked up these paperbacks about 10 years ago at various locations, 2nd hand book shops, cahrity shops, book stalls at village fetes, etc., but have not come across any for a while now. I have numbers 1 - 5, 7, 10 and 11, so a few gaps, but also it looks as though there were no fewer than 23 in all.

Finally for today's post, I've also included the only Girl From U.N.C.L.E. paperback I have, and in fact the only one I have ever seen. Furthermore I've never seen any of the TV episodes although there would seem to have been 29. They featured Stephanie Powers, who later went on to appear in Hart to Hart with Robert Wagner, and Noel Harrison, and ran from 1966 to 1967.

 

 The Man From U.N.C.L.E. paperback, by Michael Avallone

 The Man From Uncle paperback no 2, The Doomsday Affair, by Harry Whittington

 

 The Girl From U.N.C.L.E. paperback no 1, The Global Globules Affair, by Simon Latter

I hope this posting satisfied those who were waiting for it. Maybe I'll feature my U.F.O. paperbacks next time.

Check out my web site for vintage postcards, vintage books and magazines and records and CDs

Vintage Cult TV Paperback - The Persuaders / Tony Curtis

Having decided to stay with the theme of 1960's and 1970's Cult TV classics, my blog entry was an easy choice following this week's sad news of the death of Tony Curtis. I have probably seen most, if not all, of the Persuaders TV series, but I only have one Persuaders paperback. It wasn't however until I read a few of his obituaries that I realised quite how many films he'd starred in, and also that he was an established artist whose paintings sold for thousands.

What I particularly liked about The Persuaders was the interplay between Roger Moore, the artistocratic englishman, and Curtis, the Brooklyn wannabe playboy, and the cheesy, but constant, humour - they must have had a blast filimg it. The semi-exotic Riviera locations add a further sense of the bizarre as the two jet-setting playboys get themselves into all sorts of trouble. Hopefully over the next few weeks there will be some Tony Curtis documentaries and films shown on TV.

The Persuaders! Book One, by Frederick E. Smith, c.1971

Back cover of the first Persuaders paperback

 

 More vintage books and magazines and also vintage postcards can be found on my web site

Vintage Cult TV Paperbacks - The Avengers

Hello everyone! This is my first entry in my new blog. Having had a blog dedicated to vintage postcards for a while now, I decided it was time to branch out and share some of my other vintage interests, particularly (but not exclusively) vintage magazines and vintage books. For my first post I thought I'd feature some paperback books from the great 1960's and 1970's cult TV programmes, The Avengers and The New Avengers.

I'll start with The Avengers as this show was, and probably still is, one of my favourite 1960's TV shows. I wasn't old enough to remember the originals with Cathy Steel, Emma Peel and Tara King, but thanks to regular TV re-showings I think I've seen pretty much all of them now.

I'm also fascinated by what's often referred to as Avengerland, which is basically the area covering the locations of much of the filming. It's on my list of places to visit - just need to find the time.

The Avengers, The Magnetic Man, c.1968 (front cover)

Curiously the front cover seems to feature both Tara King and Emma Peel. As far as I recall they were only in one episode together which was when Emma left and Tara entered, and it wasn't this episode.

The Avengers, The Magnetic Man, c.1968 (back cover)

This is alas my only Avengers paperback, and quite late in the series, but I do have several New Avengers ones which of course feature Joanna Lumley. Although I prefer The Avengers to the The New Avengers, the latter will always have a fond place in my memory as they were my first exposure to the world of John Steed.

The New Avengers - House of Cards, by Peter Cave, c.1976

House of Cards was the first New Avengers paperback and for some reason I have two copies, so if anyone has a copy of number 2 (The Eagle's Nest) or number 4 (Fighting Men) they'd like to trade, please get in touch. I've only just noticed that only Steed and Purdey appear on the cover.

The New Avengers - To Catch a Rat, by Walter Harris, c.1976

This was the 3rd paperback released, this time with Gambit also featuring on the cover.

The Cybernauts - A New Avengers novel by Peter Cave, c.1977

This was the 5th paperback to be released. This was of course not the first time the Avengers came across the Cybernauts, as they made an appearance in the one of the Emma Peel episodes. This book is actually called The Last of the Cybernauts, but I guess that was perhaps a bit lengthy to show on the cover.

So, I'll finish the first entry of my new blog here. Would love to know what you think so please feel free to leave a comment. I'll be back with further updates over the course of the next few weeks, probably covering The Man From Uncle, The Saint, U.F.O and others. I'll also be sharing some of my vintage motor magazines and vintage photogtaphy magazines which are interesting just for the adverts alone.

More vintage books and magazines and also vintage postcards can be found on my web site