Frontier Worlds

Zine
Title:	Peter Anghelides & Anthony Murray & Peter G. Lovelady
Publisher:	Interplanetary Bandros Production
Editor(s):
Date(s):
Series?:
Medium:	print, zine
Size:
Genre:
Fandom:	Blake's 7 & Doctor Who & multimedia
Language:	English
External Links:
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Peter Anghelides (right) pictured with Frontier Worlds

Frontier Worlds is a gen multimedia anthology with includes fiction - it was edited by (among others) Peter Anghelides, who would later go on to write profic for both Doctor Who and Blake's 7, including a Doctor Who Eighth Doctor Adventure called... Frontier Worlds.

This same trio also wrote Tarial Cell One: An Alphabetical Directory to Series A of Blake's 7.

In 2016, Anghelides wrote about how work on this fanzine allowed him and his fellow editors to visit the B7 set:

The Blake’s 7 episode we went to see recorded in 1981 included the destruction of Xenon base, the final crash of Scorpio into a forest, the return of Blake, his death at the hands of Avon, and the killing of all the main cast. So you can imagine the confidentiality agreement we had to sign before they would let us into the studio.

None at all. We just turned up.

With the benefit of hindsight, it’s all the more surprising we were invited. It came about because the three of us ran a modestly successful fanzine called “Frontier Worlds”. Our friend Jeremy Bentham had worked on the original Doctor Who Weekly, and he’d suggested that we send a portfolio of our work to Stewart Wales, the editor of Marvel’s new tie-in magazine Blake’s 7 Monthly. Stewart saw enough potential to invite us to a meeting in London, and while we were there we could also visit the set of the TV series.

There are at least three special issues of this zine, which are novelizations of Who and B7 episodes (at bottom of this page).

General Reactions and Reviews

Here's a classic oldie. The info comes out of Emma Abraham's invaluable B7 A-Z, supplemented by photocopies of the B7 material from #s 13/14 and 15 (that's why the listings for those two issues are more complete).

I know at some point I must also have read #18, because Sarah Berry's grim PGP story "Moonwind" (reprinted in the webzine, The Aquitar Files) made a strong impression on me. But I don't have the zine; I think I must have borrowed it from someone a few years ago.

There was B7 in the older issues of the zine, but no details are currently available. #18 was the last issue

Well, I finally came across Frontier Worlds #s 4 and 5. Would you believe, the first four issues of this zine were produced with ditto! What a blast from the past. I wonder how old you have to be to even recognize the stuff? Printed in smudgy blue on slick paper, from typed stencils; commonly used for school homework assignments, in my day, which is quite some time ago now.

For the "Blake's 6 and a Bit" cartoon in #4, they did use better quality photocopying. And #5 is entirely photocopied (or offset? I'm not sure how to tell the difference). Una's guesses about the contents of #5, based on the comments in #6, turned out to be spot on.

BTW, what's "Bandros," the original name of the press? Something from Doctor Who?

There were also apparently reprints of #s 1-4 together, and #s 5-6 together, so maybe I'll see the first three issues one of these days.

If any of you zine collectors have #s 1-3 of this classic B7-DW zine, please speak up and let us know what's in them. Following Una's method, we can deduce that parts 1-3 of "Paradox" were in the early issues, but what else?

It’s difficult to capture what a revelation this was now to my eleven-year-old self. Jeremy Bentham’s fan-informed articles in Doctor Who Monthly gained the context I’d always inferred. I knew they were a projection of a parallel universe of fan commentary into the mainstream, but now I managed to see part of that normally hidden world for the first time. I learned that there were lots of people who thought about Doctor Who in similar ways to me, and about Blake’s 7 too as Frontier Worlds covered both series. Indeed, Steve Bowkett’s post-‘Blake’ story ‘Choice’, the first of Frontier Worlds‘s Blake’s 7 ‘Series E’ series, revealed to me a more cynical interpretation of Blake’s 7 distinct from the idealistic action-adventure reading I’d given it since I was seven. Martin Wiggins’s review of K9 and Company conveyed to me just how hostile an older generation of fans than mine was to its robot dog protagonist, of which I’d always been (and remain) rather fond. The most memorable article was probably the piece by editors Peter Anghelides (aforementioned) and Peter Lovelady and former editor Anthony Murray about their set visit to ‘Blake’, unaware that they were watching studio sessions for the last episode of Blake’s 7 until they saw the regulars perform their death scenes. The article has an entertaining B-plot about the writers’ attempts to break into writing for Blake’s 7 Monthly – Marvel UK’s not-quite-sister title to Doctor Who Monthly. As with all fan productions, there’s a social history in the lithography and the Letraset, with hints of the world beyond, of ‘University work’ and personalities in the then small world of active Doctor Who fandom, and a seriousness even in the humorous articles which roots Frontier Worlds in a particular phase of post-war British self-expression and which predates both the visceral panic of the cancellation-wary late 1980s and successfully avoids, moderates or sublimates the self-criticism or worse which seemed to pervade a lot of Doctor Who fan writing later in the decade.

Issue 1

Frontier Worlds 1 was edited by Peter Anghelides & Anthony Murray.

• no Blake's 7
• unknown content

Issue 2

Frontier Worlds 2 was edited by Peter Anghelides & Anthony Murray.

• no Blake's 7
• unknown content

Issue 3

Frontier Worlds 3 was edited by Peter Anghelides & Anthony Murray.

• no Blake's 7
• unknown content

Issue 4

Frontier Worlds 4 was published in 1980 and contains 22 pages. The front cover is by Damian Hughes. was edited by Peter Anghelides & Anthony Murray.

• D. W. Blake, "Paradox: The Fourth and Final Exciting Episode" (Blake's 7)
• Anthony Murray (script) and Damian Hughes (art), "Blake's 6 and a Bit: Coatrac, part 1" (Blake's 7) later reprinted in Blake's Venture.
• Editorial
• Darkling Zone (LoCs)
• Michael Roczip, "Volcano" (Blake's 7)
• Central Control (ads for clubs, zines, etc.)
• P. G. Lovelady, "Tarial Cell: A Progress Report" (Blake's 7)
• Ruth Tiles, "Harvest of Chaos-- Aftermath of Series III" (essay) (Blake's 7)
• unknown Doctor Who content

Issue 5

Frontier Worlds 5 was published in September 1980 and contains 20 pages. It has a front cover by Damian Hughes. was edited by Peter Anghelides & Anthony Murray.

• Anthony Murray, "The Cost of Living" (Blake's 7) later reprinted in The Aquitar Pages.
• Anthony Murray (script) and Damian Hughes (art), "Blake's 6 and a Bit: Coatrac, part 2" (Blake's 7) later reprinted in Blake's Venture.
• Editorial
• Central Control (ads for clubs, zines, etc.)
• "Michael Keating Competition" (answer questions to win zine autographed by MK)
• Peter Anghelides, "Fanviews" (con review of Star One convention)
• Allan Peters, "Gambit" (episode review)
• unknown Doctor Who content

Issue 7/8

Frontier Worlds 7/8 was published in April 1981. Edited by Peter Anghelides & Peter G. Lovelady.

• Harry Cricher, "Blake's 6 and a Bit: Coatrac" (Blake's 7)
• Peter Anghelides, "The Mix" (Blake's 7)
• unknown Doctor Who content

Issue 9

Frontier Worlds 9 was published in June 1981. Edited by Peter Anghelides & Peter G. Lovelady.

• Paul A. Pearson, "The Passing Days" (Blake's 7)
• Peter Anghelides, "Evac" (Blake's 7)
• Andrew Martin, "Sequel" (Blake's 7/Doctor Who)
• Episode guide, Powerplay (Blake's 7) non-fiction
• unknown Doctor Who content

Issue 10/11

Frontier Worlds 10/11 was published in October 1981. Edited by Peter Anghelides & Peter G. Lovelady.

• Steve Bowkett, "Firebird" (Blake's 7)
• Andrew Martin, "Blake's Something Clever" (Blake's 7)
• Anthony Murray, "Shadows" (Blake's 7)
• Interview with Ben Steed (Blake's 7) non-fiction
• Episode guide, Power (Blake's 7) non-fiction
• unknown Doctor Who content

Issue 12

Frontier Worlds 12 was published in January 1982. Edited by Peter Anghelides & Peter G. Lovelady.

• Steve Bowkett, "The Omnithoid" (Blake's 7)
• Review of Blake (Blake's 7) non-fiction
• unknown Doctor Who content

Issue 13/14

Frontier Worlds 13/14 was published in August 1982. Edited by Peter Anghelides & Peter G. Lovelady.

• Steve Bowkett, "Choice" (Blake's 7)
• Jackie Marshall and Val Douglas, "Blake's Who: Writers' Guide, Storyline, Further Ideas" (Blake's 7)
• Steve Bowkett, "Avon" (Blake's 7) poem
• "Darkling Zone" (lettercol) (Blake's 7) non-fiction
• "Free! FW Expressionometer" (Blake's 7) non-fiction
• Allan Peters, "Maloney" (The Producers, #7) (Blake's 7) non-fiction
• Peter G. Lovelady, "Lorrimer" (The Producers, #8) (Blake's 7) non-fiction
• Andrew Martin, "Volcano" (episode guide) (Blake's 7) non-fiction
• Peter Anghelides, Peter G. Lovelady, and Anthony Murray, "Thank God-- They're All Dead!" (visit to set during filming of Blake, with a story based on the ep) (Blake's 7) non-fiction
• Letters from BBC (Blake's 7) non-fiction
• unknown Doctor Who content

Issue 15

Frontier Worlds 15 was published in October 1982. Edited by Peter Anghelides & Peter G. Lovelady.

• David Tulley, "A Man Called Blake" (S4; B) (Blake's 7)
• Peter Anghelides, "Exits" (FW Series E, #2) (Blake's 7)
• Tony Atwood, "Blake's 7: Afterlife" (summary of forthcoming novel) (Blake's 7)
• "Darkling Zone" (lettercol) (Blake's 7) non-fiction
• Allan Peters, "Cygnus Alpha" (episode guide) (Blake's 7) non-fiction
• David Owen, "Tape Decks and Toilet Rolls" (set visit during filming of Power) (Blake's 7) non-fiction
• FW Poll results (Blake's 7) non-fiction
• unknown Doctor Who content

Issue 16

Frontier Worlds 16 was published in 1982. Edited by Peter Anghelides & Peter G. Lovelady.

• Val Douglas, "Rendezvous" (Blake's 7)
• Review of The Way Back (Blake's 7) non-fiction
• Set visit during Orbit (Blake's 7) non-fiction
• B7 abroad (Blake's 7) non-fiction
• unknown Doctor Who content

Issue 17

Frontier Worlds 17 was published in May 1983. Edited by Peter Anghelides & Peter G. Lovelady.

• Lillian Shepherd, "Hub" (Blake's 7)
• Val Douglas, "Beware of Greeks" (Blake's 7)
• Andrew Martin, "Flight Plans" (Blake's 7)
• Steve Bowkett, "Backlash" (Blake's 7)
• unknown Doctor Who content

Issue 18

Frontier Worlds 18 was published in 1983 and contains 51 pages Edited by Peter Anghelides & Peter G. Lovelady.

cover of issue #18

• Andy Lane and Justin Richards, "The Long Waiting" (Blake's 7)
• Sarah Berry, "Moonwind" (Blake's 7)
• David Tulley, "Punchline and Juryrig" (Blake's 7)
• David Richardson, "Agency" (Blake's 7)
• one of the earliest pieces of fan fiction written by Paul Cornell (Doctor Who)
• other unknown Doctor Who content

Special Issue 1

Cover by Tony Clark

Frontier Worlds Special: Logopolis is a novelization by Peter Anghelides and Peter G. Lovelady of the episode (written by Chris Bidmead). It was published in 1982. The cover is by Tony Clark.

In 2016, Anghelides made a PDF of the zine freely available for download. At this time, he commented on the production of the fanzine:

Peter [Lovelady] and I thus concluded that “Logopolis” might not be well-served by the kind of Target novelisation then being written. Because we were publishing our fanzine Frontier Worlds around this time, we ambitiously decided that we’d do our own novelisation. Peter had written up a dialogue transcript from the TV. And I had my video recording. So I used those to write a novelisation under our Frontier Worlds imprint as a not-for-profit fanzine.

This was before we knew that Christopher H Bidmead was writing the Target novelisation. He is the author of “Logopolis,” and the Season 18 script editor to boot. He very graciously agreed we could publish our version. Through a contact in the Doctor Who Appreciation Society, we also wangled to talk with John Nathan-Turner backstage at a London convention, and he said he was OK with us publishing our version as long as it did not appear before the official Target version.

So that’s what we did. Tony Clark drew the cover. In those days, desktop publishing and typesetting would have been ruinously expensive for students, so I typed up the text and did all the wonky letter transfers (the back cover features some especially wobbly Letraset).

Special Issue 2

Cover by Andrew Martin

Frontier Worlds Special: Blake is a novelization by Peter Anghelides of the episode (written by Chris Boucher). It was published in 1985. Andrew Martin drew a cover, and Tony Clark created a new Blake’s 7 logo.

In 2016 Anghelides made a PDF of the zine freely available for download.

Special Issue 3

Cover by Andrew Martin

Frontier Worlds Special: Shadow is a novelization David Tulley of the episode (written by Chris Boucher). It was published in 1986. Andrew Martin drew the cover, and Tony Clark's logo was again used.

In 2016 Anghelides made a PDF of the zine freely available for download. At this time, he commented on the production of the fanzine:

The success of my 1985 Blake novelisation prompted me and my pals to consider publishing further Blake’s 7 TV adaptations. Chris Boucher had been very helpful by allowing us to adapt his script for the series finale, and kindly agreed we could publish a similar not-for-profit version of his Season B story Shadow. David Tulley (pictured here in 1985) was a contributor to the Frontier Worlds fanzine. And like me, Peter, and Tony, he was a student when the TV series aired. We were pleased when David said it was one of his favourite stories, and that he’d like to write the novel.