Fast Forward (magazine)
Encyclopedia
Fast Forward was a weekly children's magazine launched in September 1989 by the BBC
to compete with Look-in
. It was aimed at seven- to 14-year-olds and was promoted heavily with trailers shown on Children's BBC
. Circulation started at 210,000 copies per week, reached a peak of 340,000 in March 1990, but fell to 150,000 by Spring 1991. Fast Forward generally sold around 40% to 50% more copies than Look-in on a weekly basis.
poster of New York
.
The magazine usually contained a number of cartoon scripts of celebrities and presenters who appeared on Children's BBC, such as Jimmy Savile
and Andi Peters
. It also regularly contained material relating to Edd the Duck
and Gordon the Gopher
, as well as an EastEnders
-based comic strip.
In September 1990, the BBC also relaunched the Number One
pop music magazine aimed mainly at girls. In early 1992, the Number One magazine was incorporated into Fast Forward.
At the start, the magazine only covered BBC programmes, but from March 1991 it also covered ITV
and C4
– it was able to do so due to the deregulation of the TV listings market. (This also enabled the BBC's main television magazine, the Radio Times
, to include listings of rival terrestrial channels.)
Fast Forward could be considered to be a replacement for a less successful earlier children's magazine, Beeb
. Like that earlier title, it disappeared from the market in September 1995, as had Look-In eighteen months earlier, leaving no specifically TV-oriented magazine for young teenagers on sale in Britain. In 1995 Top Of The Pops Magazine was launched, effectively catering for the Number One market.
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
to compete with Look-in
Look-in
Look-in was a long running children's magazine centred around ITV's television programmes in the United Kingdom, and subtitled "The Junior TVTimes". It ran from 9 January 1971 to 12 March 1994...
. It was aimed at seven- to 14-year-olds and was promoted heavily with trailers shown on Children's BBC
CBBC
CBBC is one of two brand names used for the BBC's children's television strands. Between 1985 and 2002, CBBC was the name given to all the BBC's programmes on TV for children aged under 14...
. Circulation started at 210,000 copies per week, reached a peak of 340,000 in March 1990, but fell to 150,000 by Spring 1991. Fast Forward generally sold around 40% to 50% more copies than Look-in on a weekly basis.
Format
The centre pages of Fast Forward magazine usually included a pull out poster. This would often be of television celebrities of the time, although on one occasion an edition was sold with 3-D glasses and a 3-D anaglyphicAnaglyph image
Anaglyph images are used to provide a stereoscopic 3D effect, when viewed with glasses where the two lenses are different colors, such as red and cyan. Images are made up of two color layers, superimposed, but offset with respect to each other to produce a depth effect...
poster of New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
The magazine usually contained a number of cartoon scripts of celebrities and presenters who appeared on Children's BBC, such as Jimmy Savile
Jimmy Savile
Sir James Wilson Vincent Savile, OBE, KCSG was an English disc jockey, television presenter and media personality, best known for his BBC television show Jim'll Fix It, and for being the first and last presenter of the long-running BBC music chart show Top of the Pops...
and Andi Peters
Andi Peters
Andi Eleazu Peters is an English television presenter and television producer.-Education:Peters was educated at Emanuel School, a co-educational independent school in Battersea, in south-west London.-Life and career:...
. It also regularly contained material relating to Edd the Duck
Edd the Duck
Edd the Duck is a popular puppet mallard. He has green hair and appeared on the CBBC interstitial or in-vision continuity programme alongside presenters Andy Crane and Andi Peters...
and Gordon the Gopher
Gordon the Gopher
Gordon the Gopher, also known as Gordon T. Gopher, an English puppet gopher who first appeared on Children's BBC between 1985 and 1987, presenting television shows with Phillip Schofield on the interstitial or in-vision continuity programme The Broom Cupboard...
, as well as an EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
-based comic strip.
In September 1990, the BBC also relaunched the Number One
Number One (magazine)
Number One was a British magazine dealing with pop music. It ran for nine years, mostly during the 1980s and was aimed at a mainly teenage market.- Overview :...
pop music magazine aimed mainly at girls. In early 1992, the Number One magazine was incorporated into Fast Forward.
At the start, the magazine only covered BBC programmes, but from March 1991 it also covered ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
and C4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
– it was able to do so due to the deregulation of the TV listings market. (This also enabled the BBC's main television magazine, the Radio Times
Radio Times
Radio Times is a UK weekly television and radio programme listings magazine, owned by the BBC. It has been published since 1923 by BBC Magazines, which also provides an on-line listings service under the same title...
, to include listings of rival terrestrial channels.)
Fast Forward could be considered to be a replacement for a less successful earlier children's magazine, Beeb
Beeb (magazine)
BEEB was a short-lived, weekly, children's magazine centred around the BBC's most popular programmes at the time of its publication. It was published by Polystyle Publications and was created as a competitor to ITV's Look-in magazine. It lasted 20 issues between 29 January 1985 and 11 June 1985...
. Like that earlier title, it disappeared from the market in September 1995, as had Look-In eighteen months earlier, leaving no specifically TV-oriented magazine for young teenagers on sale in Britain. In 1995 Top Of The Pops Magazine was launched, effectively catering for the Number One market.
Comic strips
The following comic strips appeared in Fast Forward:- EastendersEastEndersEastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
- Bread (TV series)Bread (TV series)Bread was a British television sitcom, written by Carla Lane, produced by the BBC and screened on BBC1 from 1 May 1986 to 3 November 1991....
- Grange HillGrange HillGrange Hill is a British television drama series originally made by the BBC. The show began in 1978 on BBC1 and was one of the longest running programmes on British television...
- The FlintstonesThe FlintstonesThe Flintstones is an animated, prime-time American television sitcom that screened from September 30, 1960 to April 1, 1966, on ABC. Produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, The Flintstones was about a working class Stone Age man's life with his family and his next-door neighbor and best friend. It...
- Gordon the GopherGordon the GopherGordon the Gopher, also known as Gordon T. Gopher, an English puppet gopher who first appeared on Children's BBC between 1985 and 1987, presenting television shows with Phillip Schofield on the interstitial or in-vision continuity programme The Broom Cupboard...
- Peabrain was a little green environmentally friendly alien, dressed in a red t-shirt.his aim was to save the planet but ended up in the fast forward office where he would annoy the staff often leading him into strange adventures thatgot him into trouble.
- TV Centre