The Network (Man from U.N.C.L.E. zine)

Zine
Title:	The Network
Publisher:	Purple Unicorn Press, London, England
Editor(s):	Jay Felton, Jacqueline van de Poll, Darryl Ransom, Bridget Calvert, Paul Mohamed
Type:	Letterzine/Discussion Zine
Date(s):	1984-2015
Frequency:	Quarterly
Medium:	newsletter
Size:	A4 (210 mm x 297 mm)
Fandom:	The Man From UNCLE
Language:	English
External Links:	WayBack Archive link to newsletter's website & Newsletter's current website
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

The Network was a "letter" or "discussion" fanzine devoted to The Man from UNCLE and The Girl from UNCLE

Conceived and established by British fan Jay Felton, it was published in the U.K. on a quarterly basis between 1984 and 2015 and, during that time, generated a total of 126 issues.

Editors

• Jay Felton: Issue Nos. 1 - 48 (May 1984 - May 1996)
• Jacqueline van de Poll: Issue Nos. 49 - 72 (August 1996 - May 2002)
• Darryl Ransom: Issue Nos. 73 - 82 (August 2002 - November 2004)
• Bridget Calvert: Issue Nos. 83 - 122 (February 2005 - Winter, 2014)
• Paul Mohamed: Issue Nos. 123 - 126 (Spring 2015 - Winter 2015)

Issue Summaries

For further information concerning individual issues of The Network, click on the links below.

Issues 001-048 : Issues 049-072 : Issues 073-082 : Issues 083-122 : Issues 123-126

Format

The Network was A4 in size (8 1/4 x 11 3/4 inches; 210 mm x 297 mm) and initially consisted of a monochromatic photocopied cover and stencil duplicated (also known as mimeographed) interior, bound with a single staple at the top left.

Eventually, the method of production switched entirely to photocopying, in response to the process' falling costs.

From 1996, under the editorship of Jacqueline van de Poll, the newsletter switched to a form of adhesive binding and, finally, professional stapling.

For the greater proportion of its run, the number of each issue was associated with its month of publication (February, May, August, November) but with Issue 86, then-editor Bridget Calvert switched the codification to that of the four seasons (Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter).

In the Man from U.N.C.L.E. series, the titular organisation was divided into various operational sections:

• Section 1: Policy and Operations
• Section 2: Operations and Enforcement
• Section 3: Enforcement and Intelligence
• Section 4: Intelligence and Communications
• Section 5: Communications and Security
• Section 6: Security and Personnel
• Section 7: Propaganda and Finance
• Section 8: Camouflage and Deception

In devising The Network, Jay Felton chose to emulate this, allocating related material to various departments within the journal:

• Intelligence and Communications: Editorials and News
• Communications and Security: Special Announcements
• Letters of Comment
• Records and Information: Features - including episode reviews
• Advertisements
• Policy and Operations: Guidelines for submissions
• Propaganda and Finance: Subscription Information

For the most part, these divisions were retained throughout the time that Jay Felton and Jacqueline van de Poll were producing the newsletter, but were abandoned by Darryl Ransom when he assumed responsibility for the production of The Network in August 2002, and adapted the structure to that of a mainstream magazine.

The page count for each issue varied, depending on the volume of contributions.

History

In a letter published in the August 2000 issue (No. 65), Jay Felton provided the following account of the journal's origins:

THE NETWORK began in 1984 by a slightly indirect route. While scouring second-hand bookshops for the MFU paperbacks which I hadn't been allowed to buy when they were first published, I eventually ended up with spare copies of some (as I replaced them with copies in better condition, with the inner-cover photos etc.). Soon after getting into STAR TREK fandom I wondered if anything similar went on for MFU and a letter to MGM, answered by Norman Felton, put me in touch with UNCLE HQ. I also kept meeting British ST fans with fond memories of MFU, some of whom were also hunting out the books, so I started advertising in the ST club newsletters that I had a few for sale. The response was so encouraging that a club or newsletter along the lines of the ST ones began to seem like a good idea - but I didn't want to step on UNCLE HQ's toes, and besides didn't really have the confidence to start something all on my own, so I suggested to Sue Cole that I could run a British 'section' of HQ. This worked well for a time, but then as the newsletters became ever more infrequent my clumsy efforts to continue providing a good service to the British members were not well received by Sue, and a parting of the ways became unavoidable. I solicited opinions on how to resolve the situation from a number of friends and fellow fans, many of whom urged me to carry on independently, and so I decided to give it a go. I felt a newsletter would be a little more grown-up than a 'fan club', so the first trial issue of TN came into being, consisting largely of the aforementioned opinions! I sent it to 100 people whom I had reason to believe would be interested, and 50 of them subscribed, so it was all systems go from then on! (Though over the years many subscribers and enquirers persisted in calling it a club ....)

-- The Network , Issue No. 65, August 2000, page 12

Felton had outlined the circumstances which had precipitated the creation of the newsletter -- and her hopes for its future -- in the "pilot" issue:

NAPOLEON: COME ON!   ILLYA: WHERE TO?   - The Summit-Five Affair
 
And so, by popular demand, this publication has been launched to fill the gap left by the cessation of UNCLE HQ:Britain.  It will be an independent letterzine, rather than a club to join, but I hope you will all want to become involved and share your interest with other fans.  The kind of contents I would like, besides your letters of comment and opinion, include any news on UNCLE or its stars, reviews and similar articles, maybe a short story or poem now and again.  You send it - I'll probably print it!

-- The Network , Issue No. 1, May 1984, page 10