Cartoon by Robin Hill

Terracon 77

 I really don't remember how this happened. I was working for BT in London, and heard about this, probably through one of the fan clubs I had discovered existed.

I duly registered, booked a hotel room and waited for the big day. I decided that I would drive up to Liverpool as I had never been there before, and might need to go out for a roam.

 At some point before the event, I had a call from one of the organisers (I think that it was Dorothy Owens) asking if I would be so kind as to pick up something for the display area from an advertising agency in Paddington. I agreed (bearing in mind that this was my first contact with Dot it shows the mentality of Trekkers) and made arrangements to collect 'it' on the 9th prior to my journey.

'It' turned out to be one of the martian puppets used in the successful Cadbury's Smash potato adverts on the TV. Problem #1, it was as tall as I am. Problem #2, it doesn't dismantle easily. I removed the 2 antennae to make it easier to get him into the car and covered him with a blanket as I didn't want anyone to see him. I started the journey up the M1.

It's a fair few miles to Liverpool, so I stopped for a break. Back at the car, I decided to get him out of the back seat, and sit him on the passenger seat. At this point I must explain the mechanics of swivelling his head and making his mouth work were by two cables exiting his bum, so that I found I could sit him in the seat, then work either one with my left hand whilst steering.

 So, now I'm driving up the motorway next to a martian, and as we pass cars I would swivel his head to look at the people in the next car. I'm surprised, in hindsight, that I didn't cause a pile-up ! Certainly, when I stopped for another break on the M6, I returned to find a mob of people surrounding the car. For a moment, I was quite worried that the car had been broken into, but it was a load of truckers who wanted to know where I was going and could I make him talk. Of course I could. The rest of the journey went with any number of lorries that I passed flashing me to say 'hello'. A true classic memory.

When I got to the hotel, I handed over the martian to Dot, then felt a bit of a spare one as I knew no-one there. Then a voice drifted over the balcony. "Are you Robin ?" It was the crew from the Beyond Antares fan club who knew I was arriving at some point. Sheila, Sue, Fran, Donna & Barry welcomed me and invited me to join them, so I was set for the weekend. And it was a brilliant introduction to Trekkers, who were mostly as mental as I was, Star Trek just being a convenient peg to hang it on.