The Journey(s) of Ian

Another face from my youth, the bright and attractive actress Elisabeth Sladen, who played the 'Dr Who' companion Sarah Jane Smith, has passed away, and at the relatively young age of 63. I remember her as the companion of John Pertwee and Tom Baker. She played a feisty investigative reporter, turned time travelling companion—a part she played well. I recall her time on the show fondly, and was sorry when she left. She did return to the series from time to time ( :) ), but, for me, it will always be the 70s. Elisabeth Sladen 1948-2011 RIP.

Yuri Gagarin holds a rare place in human history, of a type which is shared by the first person to tame fire, to discover crop cultivation, to invent the wheel. Each of these events demarcates a profound change in human history. Fifty years ago, on April 12th, 1961, the Russian hero Gagarin did just this, by becoming the first man to leave the surface of the Earth, take the first steps beyond the bounds of our home planet, and to fly through space. At that time the cold war at its coldest—school children were preparing for nuclear holocaust by hiding beneath their desks. The dangerous struggle between east and the west was expected to erupt inevitably into nuclear war at any time. Against this background Gargarin climbed into his small, cramped Vostok 1 capsule and waited for the signal to launch. It is true to say that his flight was a propaganda stunt, and that without the superpower competition Gagarin might never have flown, howev...

Anne Francis was the female star of the science fiction movie classic 'Forbidden Planet' (1956). A movie I have always enjoyed and have always seen as one of the great SF movies. Anne Francis played the role of the innocent, but sexy daughter of the 'mad scientist', Walter Pigeon. Perhaps not conceived of as a serious role, however, she balanced the two male characters (her father and the starship commander, Leslie Nielson) and made the movie engaging on a human level. As an actress her career was successful, but not wildly so. She starred here and there, but never became a name, however, she will always be remembered by SF fans for that one role, back at the dawn of the era of the science fiction movie: Altaira Morbius. Anne Francis with the late, great Leslie Nielsen.