Interview: Sub Editor Brian Woodford

On Amalgamated Press:
My career in juvenile publications began at the old Amalgamated Press where I started as a 15 year old. I began as the office junior on a publication called Playhour, a full color gravure publication aimed at nursery aged children.

Bob Prior (later managing director of the Century 21 Publishing books department) and I go a long way back... probably to the middle to late 1950s when he was an office junior on Sun and Comet, and I was the same on Playhour... our office being just below them via a fire escape to the rooftop office they occupied. We used to travel home each evening on the train. I left school some time before my 16th birthday... quite common in those times. I knew I wanted to do something in writing so took a job at the old Amalgamated Press as a messenger boy. Sat in a pool with four or five others and waited for someone to need a message or package delivered. I heard of an opening on Playhour as 'office boy', applied and got it. There was an editor, George Allen, and assistant editor, David Roberts, and a sub-editor whose name slips me. They bought my first script soon after. I think it was about 3 or 5 guineas... quite a lot since I was only making less than £4 per week. If I sold a script I was in the money.

I came across Ron Embleton first at Playhour where he illustrated a King Arthur strip. I sometimes used to ride the tube out to his home near Ilford to pick up his work. We talked once in his studio and he showed me some of his more serious paintings. Very talented but the nature of life is that you do what you have to since food on the table comes first.

Illustration: A young Brian Woodford rides a Vespa for the cover of Top Spot issue 2, dated 1 November 1958. Brian comments, 'As a point of interest the guy shouting on that cover is Alf Wallace. He was editor of Sun and Comet, and later was boss over the Hulton's comics and instigator of Boys' World and Wham.'

I was office junior for what seemed a long time... Playhour, Jack and Jill, Thriller Picture Library and then along came a short lived publication called Top Spot - some excellent strips in this. Top Spot was designed to be a male version of the very successful Valentine which was a top seller for teen girls. I was an editorial assistant on this publication which was launched with huge expectations. In fact, there's a picture of me sitting on a Vespa on the cover of the first or second issue. The publication was a huge failure. Gradually the staff was pared down but because they had so much material bought and paid for it was kept running for some months with virtually no new budget. By then it was just me and an American, Edmund Burke. Ed did some editing, rewrites etc., but I was in essence the editor for those last few months doing layout, editing, writing and so on. It finally folded and I moved then as a sub-editor on Film Fun. (Note: Top Spot merged with Film Fun in January 1960) Did some scripts there, based on current movies, and also text stories of movies. The big perk was being invited to press screenings of all the latest films... even the ones we knew wouldn't be of interest to Film Fun.

Buster On Buster:
Buster was in the planning stage then and there was talk that I might get it as editor. After my Top Spot experience I was assistant to the editor on Film Fun, who at the time was a guy named Jack LeGrande. Jack was a tough ex-glider pilot who had gone in at Arnhem. It was he that told me I was being considered as editor for the new Buster... Buster, of course, being billed as the son of Andy Capp, the very popular Daily Mirror strip. When it came time for the editor to be announced, it was in fact Jack and I didn't even get Film Fun. I guess there were others in line ahead of me. Jack went on to become a group editor, and I know that one of the last editors was Bob Paynter who was a junior on Radio Fun when I first went to Playhour. Not to take anything away from Bob but he was one guy who stayed the course at one place for so many years. I must say there was no bitterness on my part... it was just one of those things.

Back in those Amalgamated Press days there were various groups of comics. Film Fun and Radio Fun, Chick's Own were one section... Lion and Tiger in another... and Playhour, Sun, Comet, Jack and Jill, Thriller Library, Sexton Blake in another. At some point they pretty much came under the control of Leonard Matthews as one group. Knockout was in there too, and had a great script writer in Nobby Clarke. Nobby didn't write his scripts but actually drew them in pencil, complete with boxes and balloons. Great for the artist since he had the layout and everything done for him. I remember when the juveniles moved from the old Amalgamated Press building (Fleetway House) into a new building built next door (still there on Farringdon Street) the move was put under the direction of Colin Thomas. Thomas was old army so was nicknamed Colonel. He planned the move with military precision... loads of memos and maps giving all kinds of directions. Nobby did this great cartoon face on of the elevators with a great tank rolling out directed by Thomas on top... followed by the rest of us, a numberless horde, filling up the rear.

Sadly when Buster didn't happen, I asked for a move and went on to annuals and such there at Fleetway. Throughout this time I wrote various scripts and whatever was needed for fill as well as editing. It was during my spell at Amalgamated Press (subsequently renamed Fleetway Publications) that I knew people such as Alan Fennell, Angus Allan and Michael Moorcock. Alan and Angus were a year or two ahead of us on the career ladder. Angus had one or two short stories published in Top Spot... I recalled one with the Cyprus terrorists as a background, as he was stationed in Cyprus for his National Service. I think I would be correct in saying that for pure writing ability Michael was a pretty good bet to achieve fame if not fortune.

As I think about it, bits and pieces come back but it is hard to put them into sequence. For instance, I recall very vividly Angus playing clarinet in a makeshift Dixeland group in the office during lunch hours. Michael Moorcock was there but I don't recall if he played anything. I was just a foot tapping spectator. Great days in many ways.

On Hulton & Odhams:
Buster Some time later I was approached and asked if I would like to go over to Hulton's to Boys' World - a high quality but relatively short-lived publication produced out of the old Hulton's building on Fleet Street - because they needed a sub. I went there when an American named Jim Kednner was the editor and Albert Cosser the assistant editor. The department also published Eagle, Girl, and Robin. This small group was eventually moved under the Odhams umbrella on Longacre, and after Boys' World folded I did some fill in work on Eagle (in its dying days then) and was a sub on Wham until moving to Century 21. Wham was a real effort to improve on Beano and Dandy... even luring their top artist Leo Baxendale to the south for the first time. At Odhams I also knew Roger Perry who came to Century 21 after me.

At some point in all that, a decision was made that staffers would not get paid for scripts so most were done by freelancers for a while. I recall on Wham even doing some balloon lettering through an outside agent just to make a few pounds. At some point in there Bob Prior was editing publications for some company that published throughout Europe. I did as a freelance a Playhour type script and captions that were translated into six European languages.

On Century 21:
I don't remember how I came to hear about the opening at Century 21 but I went on to TV21, some time during 1965, working with Tod Sullivan and Howard Elson. I know it had been going for just a relatively few issues when I was hired by Alan Fennell as a sub-editor, I think to replace Gillian Allan who was by then preparing Lady Penelope.

One thing about the comic business. It was never dull... too many creative people to be stodgy or too business-like. Started at 10, finished at 5 with pub lunches in between. Don't know why 10 but it was an old tradition. Even the Century 21 day started at 10. The editorial room for 21 was one large room with a whole bunch of people working there so there was a lot of chatter and ribbing. Someone might come in, Alan for instance, and say: 'Where's Howard?' Pretty soon the whole lot would start up calling Howard Elson, over and over, to the tune of the Halleluja Chorus. Silly when I look back on it but it was typical of the working environment we had. It came as a big shock to me when I went to Canada and worked in a more serious environment.

We did sometimes see screenings of various TV shows. I remember when I first joined Century 21 that Alan Fennell took me down to the studio and we spent time watching production on Thunderbirds. I also saw the most current episode in the screening room. Went down, too, to see The Monkees before that aired on British TV and was included in strips.

Illustration: The Le Mans Disaster, as covered by Brian Woodford for the Thunderbirds Extra 1966.

On International Rescues:
As well as editing I wrote a weekly article detailing true disasters and subsequent rescue attempts (tying in to the Thunderbirds rescue theme), and I was responsible for research and writing on these. I went weekly to the British Museum newspaper reading rooms - I think it was at Collingwood - to gather information on the various actual disasters that were tied in to Thunderbirds.

Most of them came from my own memory of these events. Back then disasters like the Le Mans crash, and the crash of the DeHavilland 110 were big news at the time. The Lewisham rail disater hit close to home as I lived in Forest Hill at that time and remember the terribly foggy night the crash happened. My brother's wife was usually on one of the trains involved but that night because of the fog had left work early. Some I discovered while researching something specific. Generally I liked to do just one per visit to the library (I enjoyed the few hours out of the office). My usual sources were papers like the Mirror because they really wrote these up big time... though I did try to read more than one account to be sure of basic facts.

I am pretty sure I wrote virtually all of the true rescue stories up until I left Century 21 at the end of December 1966. Even after I begin working with Roger Perry and Bob Prior on the annuals and such I still wrote these items for the weekly. I did some of these for the annuals also, but not any of the scripts. There might be one or two that appeared after I left as I assume the idea was continued. The lead time for annuals which makes me suspect that some of the later ones were not my work. A couple of titles I don't recall at all.

I also wrote, with others, the various newspaper themed pieces supposedly reported from Century 21. I did write a weekly strip for TV21 for a spell but my memory tells me it was Lost in Space, taken from a TV show about the Robinson family (Note: Space Family Robinson in Lady Penelope during 1966).

On Writing Scripts:
I have no recollection why Space Family Robinson was not based on the then running TV series. I thought it was Lost in Space, but the memory plays tricks and I will bow to the visual evidence. I did not read any of the American Gold Key comics and to be honest the opening you suggest doesn't even seem familiar. Perhaps I didn't start at the beginning. I am sorry to be vague. I had no particular interest in science fiction or in astronomy but just wanted to tell a visually exciting story. As I recall it was Alan Fennell who asked me to take on the task of writing the script. Many of the scripts for TV21 and Lady Penelope were written by staffers who were generally glad of the opportunity since it meant additional income. I know that other scripts were written by Alan, Bob Prior, who I think did Fireball XL5, Dennis Hooper and Tod Sullivan.

Illustration: The end of the first story for Space Family Robinson in Lady Penelope issue 3, dated 5 February 1966, tying in with the television Lost In Space as best it could - but not written by Brian Woodford.

I must confess to a more mercenary motive as I look back. I think at that time I was making about £26 or £27 pounds per week, about the NUJ standard then for subs. I got 5 pounds per week extra for writing the strip which you can see was a nice bonus... especially so since I was a young father with two kids and a mortgage on a house in Kent.

In my case I did not provide an overall synopsis. I had a rough idea in mind in starting a story but it simply developed as I wrote it. I was usually just glad to have the script done each week. I lived in Ashford, Kent, about an hour out of London so usually I did it on the train ride home from Cannon Street. If I was lucky enough to get a seat it was wrapped up, writing longhand before typing up the final script, by the time I got to Tonbridge. There was no discussion about how long the strip would run and I am not sure I wrote all of it. I have to be honest, however, and confess that I don't recall how long I did the scripts or even what the plots were.

Usually an issue went to press at least 3 or 4 weeks before publishing date so the earlier a script could be put into the artist's hands the better. I do recall one period trying to do more than one script at a time so the artist could get ahead, so to speak. I did not recall that John Burns did the artwork and I don't recall any special contact with him. Various other publications of that time, especially Fleetway publications, used Italian and Spanish artists with whom there was no contact at all, other than an agent.

I believe there is a definite skill in creating a good comic or a particular character. I might not, for instance, compare the Sun with the Telegraph as a newspaper, but I can admire greatly the skill of its writers and editors for hitting their target audience. I believe it's the same with comics. Michael Moorcock is a darned good writer and even in comic strip that ability shines through. Others, Alan Fennell and Angus Allan, for instance, were masters of the 'art' form.

Moving On...:
Thunderbirds Are Go! For some months before leaving England I was involved in editing the various annuals supplementing TV21. Roger Perry was hired as art editor working with Bob Prior on the annuals and a special tie-in 'book' for the Thunderbirds movie. As that section grew they had need of an assistant so I moved over to work with Roger and Bob. Without going into detail, I found it tough working with Dennis Hooper and Tod Sullivan on TV21. Life was a little more sane working on annuals, and how can I say this politely, the associates were a little more compatible.

I enjoyed the short time I spent on the annuals. There was just the three of us... Bob, Roger and myself, which allowed for a great deal of brainstorming... something I enjoyed and felt that I excelled at. Much of the printing of the annuals when I was there was done in Holland. I recall Bob going over to Amsterdam more than once.

After Century 21:
My leaving England for Canada in December 1966 effectively ended my juvenile writing days since there is virtually no such publishing in Canada and certainly none in the western states where I now live. I have sold a couple of children's short stories but nothing for years. I have been completely out of publishing since 1972, apart for three months on Sandy when I was back in England for six months in 1972-73.

During my spell in Canada I worked for McLean Hunter Publishing, publisher of, amongst others, McLean's Magazine... I did not, however, work on McLeans. I was editor of the company's weekly employee magazine, Montreal, editor on a home furnishing business newspaper, and as associate editor on a monthly hardware and power products business magazine. From Canada I moved to Salt Lake City as a staff writer on a daily newspaper The Desert News.

Since that time I've had jobs as director of customer service for the largest supplier of corporate recognition jewelry (I think perhaps a field unique to the US), have run my own art and framing business, and for the past 5 years (now part-time) have been a rep for a wholesale picture framing distributor covering Utah, Idaho, Nevada, Montana and part of Wyoming. It keeps me out of mischief and I certainly have some of the world's most spectacular scenery to travel in. I don't know if you have travelled the American west at all but I find it stimulating in a way that gets into the very soul. Needless to say, I love it.

I now live in Idaho, and am semi-retired. But none of these later jobs were as much fun as TV21. I loved it when I was in it and I recall with pleasure working with Howard to come up with the 'newspaper' ideas. It's not often you can destroy a city like New York and rebuild it in record time.