The 52nd issue of TV Century 21 was dated January 15, 1966.
It brought the magazine's first major shakeup in design and format since it had launched one year prior. Featuring a newly redesigned masthead, the cover heralded the arrival of the new Thunderbirds comic strip, which replaced Stingray in the magazine's centre spread. As the previous edition had reported, also being introduced this issue was a one-page black and white serialised Get Smart comic strip, as well as the expansion of 21 from one page to two. Also introduced was The Munsters as a one-page black and white comic, as well as Dateline 2066, a further page of news from the future that helped to expand TV Century 21's world-building.
Leaving the magazine was Burke's Law, Supercar, Lady Penelope, and Lady Penelope Investigates. The latter two series would be moved over to the new dedicated Lady Penelope magazine from the following week.
Contents[]
21 Special Agent[]
If You Can't Stand the Heat, part one: Nine men are killed in mysterious circumstances at the Melong cahelium mine on Venus after the temperature in the mines unexpectedly increases. The World President tasks the Universal Secret Service with investigating the matter, and Agent 21 takes up the case. 21 makes a visit to the mine to check the circumstances out first hand, and learns that a team of four miners have volunteered to venture back inside the affected section of the mine - but is amazed to watch as the protective lead shield they are using to venture in melts right before his very eyes...
Stingray[]
The Flying Fish, part one: Trouble erupts at Marineville after Ernest Halvic, a missle expert, defects from the World Aquanaut Security Patrol and escapes to Titanica with X20. He is pursued by Nichols, a Marineville security officer, who is forced off the road and into the sea by two Aquaphibians. With the airlock in his car still intact, he puts out an emergency call, and when the crew of the Stingray recover him, he can only utter two words... "flying fish"...
My Favourite Martian[]
Fancy Dress: Martin and Tim attend a fancy dress party. Although Tim decides to dress up as a pirate, Martin realises he has a perfect opportunity to go out in public with his antennae out by 'dressing up' as a Martian.
Contact 21[]
No letters are published in this week's edition. Instead, readers are told they can get access to discounted model guns if they collect six special tokens, with one being printed each issue for the next seven weeks. A report direct to agents states that over the past week an organisation known only as N.F.T.R.S. have stolen top secret plans from the World Senate. Any agent who knows any information about the initials is urged to write in.
This week's competition sees 100 Dalek Bagatelles up for grabs, with entrants having to decipher a partially corrupted message that has been received on Skaro which details an upcoming attack.
The Munsters[]
The Munsters are forced to call for a vet after Spot, their fire-breathing pet reptile, stops eating. Not knowing what he's getting himself in to, the vet is all to happy to help - until he realises the "four footed friend" lives in the dungeon, and isn't so happy to get a visitor!
Thunderbirds[]
- See also: Thunderbirds (TV21)
Blazing Danger, part one: Lady Penelope and Parker visit Tracy Island for the first time and meet the members of International Rescue. The British agents get to watch first hand as Thunderbird 3 launches in order to deliver John to Thunderbird 5. Meanwhile, in the forests of Canada, Sam Lincoln prepares to make his move against his business partner Jack Farrel...
Dateline 2066[]
A weekly dose of news from 2066, featuring the following stories:
- Custard Pie Hits Judge: Judge Benshar of the Kahra main court sentences James Fitzroy, a pastry cook from Jupiter, to nine months imprisonment. Upon hearing the news, Fitzroy launches a custard pie at the judge, which earns him a further six months.
- Sea Disaster! Atom Ship Hits Iceberg, by Tom Halern: The atomic vessel Einstein has crashed into an iceberg at 70 miles an hour. Thanks to the sea rescue base at Newfoundland, all but four of the 16,000 are rescued. An enquiry will be held to determine how such a vessel, with all its modern safety features, could end up in a disaster like this.
- Atlantic Tunnel: The World Senator for Mexico, Clive Malaques, proposes constructing an Atlantic Tunnel between the Americas and Europe, suggesting it would speed up the transport of goods between the two landmasses. Such a project is estimated to cost about 27 billion pounds.
- New Space Fighter, by our Space City corespondent: Electrode 909, the newest space fighter, has been unveiled to the World Space Correspondents. Powered by atomic engines, the 909 can travel at velot 0.9 (just below the speed of light) and carry one hundred neutronic missiles.
- Yarek Abandoned: The Space Mining Company announces they have ceased operations on Yarek, a planet mined for its supply of spinite crystal.
- Weather: The World Weather Control announces that seven inches of snow will fall in England and Wales today.
- U.T.O. Says No: The Universal Trade Union rejects a five pound pay rise as not being enough.
- Space Station Crash: The Venus to Earth express rocket has crash landed at Space Station E-5 after sustaining damage from an unexpected meteor shower. Space City has opened an investigation as to why the newly formed Meteor Tracking Agency did not detect this.
- TV21's First Year: Reflecting back on the past year of TV21, 8,061 prizes have been given away to readers in the previous 51 issues.
The article on the Atlantic Tunnel would be one of a series, which would eventually tie into the Thunderbirds comic story Atlantic Tunnel. The New Space Fighter article tied in to the Fireball XL5 story that begun that week.
Get Smart[]
Story one, part one: Chief puts out an urgent call for Maxwell Smart, Agent 86, after a new job is assigned to him. The Russian president, Mikhal, is coming to American and 86 needs to make sure he is not hurt or kidnapped during his visit. However, Chief begins to worry if he's put the right agent on the job...
Fireball XL5[]
Electrode 909, part one: XL5 is on routine patrol when the craft gets caught up in an asteroid belt and takes up a collision course. Unable to navigate themselves out of it, the crew can do nothing but watch as they crash into one of the asteroids - but it turns out to all be a training exercise, one which they have miserably failed. The crew in the dummy XL5 are a group of three astronovices, who are hauled up in front of their fellow students and made an example of, before Colonel Zodiac delivers a lecture to the ampitheater. Nothing the novices are still hurt after their earlier failure, Zodiac tries to give them a bit of encouragement, but one of them, Snyder, decides to pick a fight with the Colonel instead...
International Rescues[]
- See also: International Rescues
The Lengede Mine Disaster: The first instalment in a new series documenting real-world historical rescue efforts. This week explores the Lengede mine disaster, detailing the rescue of three men who were trapped in an air pocket after the mine at Lengede flooded. In the real world, this event inspired the creation of Thunderbirds.
Corgi Model Club[]
The Club looks forward to the upcoming Monte Carlo Rally of 1966, which will be held on the coming Friday. Although over 200 cars will compete, the writer of the column favours the Mini-Cooper, which has won for the previous two years, but alternatively supports either the Rover 2000 or the Citroen DS.
Cosmic Capers[]
Weekly funnies section. This week, a protest about the underground toffee factories on Uranus ends abruptly after a portion of road collapses, promising further protests about the poor road conditions. Elsewhere, workmen finish a bridge from the Earth to the Moon despite only having supposed to build it over the English Channel, a group of aliens kidnap some boy scouts only to struggle to light a fire, and a young boy dressed as an astronaut is told to "blast off up to bed".
The Daleks[]
The Archives of Phryne, part one: The Daleks prepare for their upcoming war with the Mechanoids by searching their nearby region of space, looking for weapons they can harness. They come across the moon of Phryne, which they label as a dead planet after registering no life signs. However, nearby is the planet of Phryne itself, shielded from detection by an invisibility shield. However, Dalek suspicion is aroused after the Black Dalek Leader realises the moon must be part of a solar system, and therefore there are further planets hiding from them...