SF Fantasy Cardiff (SFFC)

SF Fantasy Cardiff (SFFC) was a Cardiff-based group that evolved from the DWAS (Doctor Who Appreciation Society) Cardiff Local Group (CLG). I was a member in the early days and even helped to organise it a bit before I finally lost interest in about 1992! I designed a logo and poster (pictured) which was used to advertise the group locally. They were primarily displayed in Cardiff's central library and in the Forbidden Planet shop.

The Cardiff Local Group became the SFFC in an attempt to boost membership. Interest in Doctor Who had waned considerably following the cancellation of the series in 1989, and it was decided that we should "branch out" into general Science Fiction and fantasy in order to survive. Most members already liked Star Trek: The Next Generation and Blakes 7 so why not? Personally I wasn't so passionate about much apart from Doctor Who, but the idea made sense. And so the Cardiff Local Group was reborn as the SFFC. Admittedly it was a wasn't a great name, and it made us sound like some kind or regulatory authority rather than than a a group of teenage sci-fi enthusiasts, but for some reason it stuck, and I believe that it continued for a few years after my departure from the group. Eventually the SFFC transformed into a group called Timeless, that is still running to this day. A much better name I think!

SF Fantasy Cardiff publications

The SFFC had two regular publications when I was a member. Firstly, it had its own fanzine called CSO, named after the usually dodgy Colour Separation Overlay effect used in many episodes of Doctor Who for back-projection (by the way, CSO was refered to as Chromakey by the entire world apart from the BBC for some strange reason). I put together the first issue of CSO myself (pictured) with the aid of contributiors from the group, I don't know who designed/edited the second issue. I'm pretty certain that there was a second one, but it was after I left the group and I never saw it. If anyone one has a copy, please email me some .jpegs and I'll update this post.

The second publication was simply called The Newsletter (pictured), this was simply a continuation of the CLG's former publication of the same name. As with CSO, I put together the first SFFC one (issue 13) - a really simple 2 pager, and somebody else handled the more substantial future issues after me. The cover of issues 16 and 17 are also pictured below as examples.

Above: "The Newsletter". L-R: Issue 13 (my issue), issue 16 and issue 17.