The 1st issue of TV Century 21 was dated January 23rd, 1965.
While largely focused on the prior AP Films productions Fireball XL5 and Stingray, the issue did feature the start of a new comic strip featuring Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward and Parker.
Contents[]
Burke's Law[]
Who Killed Wilbur Trent?: Amos Burke, the captain of the local police's homicide squad, and detectives Les Hart and Tim Tilson, attend the scene of Wilbur Trent's murder. Trent was an eccentric millionaire who lived in a quiet country house, and kept an Eagle as a pet. Burke deduces that Trent's nephew is the only one to benefit from his murder, but when he invites the nephew over to Burke's house, the pet eagle tries to attack him. Burke realises that the killer had to have been familiar to Trent and the eagle or else it would have gotten in the way, and so suspicion falls to the manor staff...
Fireball XL5[]
The Batmen, part one: Fireball XL5 is sent out to investigate a mayday from area 4 of sector 25. The XL5 crew discover a freighter in that area, but are concerned when the freighter shows no sign of life and all of the bay doors are open. Steve Zodiac ventures out into space to board the stricken vessel, but quickly finds out the ship is full of giant, humanoid bat-like figure. Steve is able to shoot his way past the bat-men and get to the crew in the cabin, but more of the bat-men are on their way, and Steve has too much to contend with on his own...
The Truth About Space[]
Educational piece on space written by Roger Dunn, a member of the British Interplanetary Society[1]. The column aims to dispel myths about space and try to sort out where the line between science fiction and reality lies in a world where man has not yet landed on the moon.
My Favorite Martian[]
Meet Uncle Martin: A Martian crash lands on Earth while studying the planet and is found by Tim O'Hara, a reporter from the Los Angeles Sun. Unable to repair his ship due to Earth's relatively primitive technologies, the Martian is forced to become Tim's uncle Martin while he desperately tries to return home. This week, Martin is convinced he has found the right type of fuel to get his ship going again, but the sight of a flying UFO causes a businessman that Tim is trying to interview to crash into a tree.
Contact 21[]
Judith Perle and Robin Green, the issue's special agents
Readers' letters section. Running the section is Twenty One, the leader of vast Secret Service organisation, who informs readers that they are all now Special Agents and can use their Identicode (which came with the issue as a free gift) to decode the secret messages littered throughout the magazine.
Images of special agents Judith Perle from Nottingham and Robin Green of Dunstable are published, the first Special Agents.
As part of Contact 21, there is also a weekly giveaway. This week, 200 Stingray records are available to a subset of Secret Agents - to enter, eligible Agents would have to fill out a coupon, pick their six favourite features of TV Century 21, and send them along with their Identicode to the TV21 offices.
Stingray[]
The Monster Jellyfish, part one: The World Aquanaut Security Patrol are on alert after two aircraft carriers disappear within a month of each other. With a third set to take the water, the Stingray submarine is assigned to escort it. As the vessel pass the Isle of Lemoy, surface agent X20 lets his master Titan know that his enemy Troy Tempest is in the area. Soon, the crew of Stingray will not only have to fend off Titan's attack, but also a mysteriously large jellyfish that threatens to swallow them all whole...
Oceans of Mystery[]
An artist's impression of a new under-sea craft developed in the USA
David Stefan, editor of an unidentified yet "popular science magazine", writes a real-world column about the oceans and the challenge it is to explore them.
Supercar[]
After days on end locked in his laboratory, Dr Beaker emerges triumphant: he has invited a magnificent machine that is capable of transporting anyone anywhere in time and space. However, Mitch the Monkey walks under its beam and finds himself instantly transported to the Indian village of Jalpurah. Mike, Jimmy and Popkiss head over as fast as they can in Supercar while Beaker stays behind to refine his invention. It turns out they have stumbled upon some sort of secret arrangement being made, and Mitch threatens to disrupt it.
Orbit Over[]
Spain: An educational piece about the real-world country of Spain, thanks to a report delivered by TV 21's space satellite.
Lady Penelope[]
- See also: Lady Penelope (comic)
Mr. Steelman, part one: Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward sets up the perfect trap for Nosey Parker, a specialist burglar and safe-cracker. She needs his skills in order to break into the Luthvian Embassy in order to retrieve something important from a safe located inside, and blackmails him with evidence which will put him in jail for 20 years. Forced to do as she asks, Parker quickly learns that the hyper-relaxed titled lady lives a very different lifestyle than one would presume...
Lady Penelope Investigates[]
- See also: Lady Penelope Investigates (series)
Roger Moore
Roger Moore: Pauline Harding from Gerrards Cross asks, "Roger Moore plays a SAINT on television... was he a SAINT at school?" In order to answer, Lady Penelope dons a wig and goes undercover as an extra on a film set where Roger is currently filming. When directly asked, Roger insists he was a saint, but when Lady Penelope rings up his old school they insist otherwise.
Roger Moore would later be "investigated" by Lady Penelope again in issue 13 of the Lady Penelope magazine.
Cosmic Capers[]
The 'funnies' page, featuring humorous articles and comic strips. This week, robots are threatening to go on strike over oil-breaks, Commander Zero orders the investigation of a house cat in space, historians on Mars are looking for a century old type of singing Beetle, and Zoony the Lazoon terrifies a tourist using a telescope.
Unique to this week's instalment is a real world letter from editor Alan Fennell welcoming readers to the new magazine and the futuristic world of 2065.
Barry Gray, in his weekly column at the bottom of the page, talks about the making of the Stingray mini-album at the PYE recording studios, tying in with the giveaway in Contact 21.
Corgi Model Club[]
Some of the Monte Carlo rally's past winners are illustrated
Bill Baxter, the secretary of the Corgi Model Club, welcomes readers to TV21's weekly column about Corgi, where he will write about upcoming model releases and relevant topical news about previous releases. This week he is talking about the upcoming 1965 Mote Carlo rally.
[]
Portuguese Men-of-War: Educational piece on the Portugese Man-of-War, a type of poisonous jellyfish with long tentacles that are able to inflict pain on anyone who steps on them long after they wash up on shore. They are so named because they often wash up on shore in their thousands which can be seen as launching an attack on beach-goers.
The Daleks[]
Genesis of Evil, part one: Skaro, a planet deep in Hyperspace, is home to the peaceful Thals who live in constant fear of attacks from the Daleks, a race of blue skinned humanoids who inhabit the landmass across the Ocean of Ooze. The Daleks eventually discover pure cobalt in a nearby mountain range, which they use to create a giant 'neutron bomb', which they intend to use to destroy the Thals once and for all. In preparation, the Daleks overthrow the pacifist leader of their War Council and prepare a radioactive casing for use following the bomb's detonation. However, their plans come undone when a meteor shower rains down on Skaro, and directly towards the facility where the neutron bombs are being stored...
Footnotes[]
- ↑ In reality, Roger Dunn was a pseudonym of Bill Dunn, a press attache at the American Embassy.