Illustrator Frank Hampson's lantern-jawed space hero, Dan Dare, uses two good British fists to land a knock-out blow on post-war austerity's chin

This programme from 1978 features an interview with Frank Hampson, the illustrator who created Dan Dare, the character who appeared in the boy's comic, The Eagle. In the interview Frank described how boys of the post-war austerity era craved something exciting, optimistic and above all colourful to relieve the drabness that hung over Britain at that time. Heavily influenced by American comics and pulp novels of the Thirties, Frank explains how their dynamism, high-concept aesthetics and levels of believable detail made them vastly superior to their British equivalents. Originally intended to be a religious magazine for boys, the Eagle, with Dan Dare on the front-cover, became one of the most popular boy's comics of the period, despite the continuing paper-shortages of the time. Frank relates how the production schedule required him to hire a number of his art-school friends to work on stories and illustrations using his storyboards and designs as templates. Frank also mentions that the key to the success of Dan Dare lay in crediting his young readers with the same level of interest and intelligence as himself. The demise of the Eagle after it was sold by its owner to Odhams Press led to Frank taking on other work. He illustrated several editions of the popular Ladybird books and after being treated for cancer late in life, he embarked on an Open University course which he thoroughly enjoyed.