Temporal Discussion Special: The Eye Shield – Issue 71
Martin H hosts a talk between Paul McIntosh and Jake Collins about the much-loved Knightmare fanzine.
The special is dedicated to TES facilitators Ray Headley (1938-2024) and Jo Collins (1952-2011) without whom The Eye Shield would never have “seen” the light of day.
Guest editor: Jake Collins
You can read all the previous issues of The Eye Shield here
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Theme music: 'The Castle of Confusion (Series 4 Edit)' by Chris Jerden-Cooke
Ah, so that’s what Jake sounds like – I’d always been wondering!
TES was a huge part of my life, having been a reader/contributor since the very first issue (although I think my most notable contribution to the ‘zine itself was a very easy wall monster wordsearch!). I even remember adding an excited “Eye Shield came!” to my paper journal when an issue landed on my doorstep one March.
Incidentally, I was also never a member of KAC, but I only found out about TES via a ten-second ad after a repeat on Sci-Fi! I only sent an SAE out of idle curiosity!
I had the honour of meeting Paul at Knightmare Convention and was surprised to find him to be shorter than I imagined, but still in possession of his Madness Doc Martens! After the demise of TES with Issue 9, I kept a bit of the spirit alive in Pooka Times (and online, of course!), but it was never really very much.
My own story as to how I found out about the end of KM is different from the three of you! I applied to audition for Series 9 – I would have been nine at the time, probably too young for the show, but would have been almost eleven in Summer 1995. As an applicant I got the fabled bright blue letter spelling doom a few months later. It did promise to keep my team in mind for the next series of Virtually Impossible, which was then also shelved! (I made an excited call to my best friend immediately, telling him we’d been shortlisted for VI while not realising this meant no more KM until after that!)
I still love KM, and still watch the show – and it continues to have an impact: as recently as last week, I found myself explaining what a pooka was to a colleague! At the age of 39, I clearly still have the same interests!