Games

Sadly, the news has broken that veteran actor Robin Sachs passed away last week at the age of 61.   As Ethan Rayne on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Sachs is known for bringing his distinctive gravelley voice to numerous science fiction and fantasy roles on TV and film. He is best-known for his portrayal of Ethan Rayne, arch-enemy of Rupert Giles, in four episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer . He also had multiple appearances on Babylon 5 , in which he played two roles, although, confusingly, each role had two names. He played the role of Hedronn, a member of the Minbari Grey Council, in two episodes and the TV movie In the Beginning . In the latter his character was inexplicably renamed Caplann. He also appeared as the Narn captain (and later general) Na'Kal in four episodes of the show, with the character now being called Na'Tok in his latter two appearances. Sachs is the latest in a surprisingly large number of actors who worked on Babylon 5 to pass away before his time. Playing...

On Boxing Day it was announced that Gerry Anderson had passed away at the age of 83. Anderson was one of the most famous figures in UK TV in the 1960s and 1970s, working on a number of science fiction and fantasy shows. However, he will always be closely associated with a number of children's series featuring puppets operating highly-detailed vehicles: Supercar , Fireball XL5 , Stingray , Thunderbirds , Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons , Joe 90 and Terrahawks .   In addition to his puppet shows, Anderson created several live-action SF series: UFO , Space: 1999 and Space Precinct (as well as the non-SF The Protectors ). Despite his fame and his shows' place in popular culture, he was unable to find a format with longevity: aside from Terrahawks , none of his shows lasted more than two seasons. Thunderbirds returned with a live-action movie in 2004 which Anderson was not involved with, criticised heavily and was panned on release. Anderson did produce a two-season revival o...

Ralph McQuarrie, the concept artist who designed much of the look of the original Star Wars movies, has passed away at the age of 82. McQuarrie played a key role on the original Star Wars film, designing R2-D2, C3-PO and Darth Vader. He also created the final look of Chewbacca ( drawing inspiration from a John Shoenherr painting for, of all things, a George R.R. Martin short story). He had a cameo appearance in The Empire Strikes Back . Many years later, he was asked to work on the prequel trilogy but declined. McQuarrie also worked on Raiders of the Lost Ark , Stark Trek IV: The Voyage Home , *batteries not included , E.T. , Jurassic Park , Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Cocoon , winning an Oscar for the latter. He also played a key role as a concept artist on the original 1978 TV series of Battlestar Galactica and did some work for the aborted Star Trek: Phase II TV project before it was abandoned. George Lucas had this to say about his colleague: "I am deeply sadde...

Samuel Youd - better-known by his pen-name, John Christopher - passed away on Friday at the age of 89. Christopher is best-known for his adult SF disaster novel, The Death of Grass (1956), and for his YA SF series, The Tripods (1967-68, 1988). The Tripods depicted the aftermath of an alien invasion of Earth, in which humans are forced to wear mind-controlling 'caps' by the three-legged titular aliens (who ride around in HG Wells-esque war machines). The BBC adapted the first two books into a TV series in 1984-85, and rumours of a film version of the trilogy have abounded for years. Youd also wrote detective and mainstream fiction under a variety of pseudonyms, including Hilary Ford, William Godfrey, Peter Graaf, Stanley Winchester, Peter Nichols and Anthony Rye.