The Material

Return of the Eight
My major Press Gang fan fiction has its own page. WARNING: This novel-length project has been shelved after only four chapters. Apologies.

Finishing Up
A precursor to Return of the Eight, showing a bridge between the show and the above story.

First Meeting
Spike had been at Norbridge for four years prior to the show. A very short script of a possible first meeting.

Press Gang: The Rock Opera
An outline of how I would turn PG into a rock opera, with all the songs by Queen. No, seriously.

Press Wars?
Kevin said only some things cross-over well to Press Gang. I said he was wrong, anything could be done. He dared me to write a Star Wars crossover with Lynda as Darth Vader. I did. I think it's funny.

Press Wars Part 2
An even sillier extension of the first part, that turned into probably the only Press Gang erotic fan fiction ever written. It's only real purpose though is the one gag at the end. But it's a good gag.

Love. Passion. Drama. Youth Journalism.

For those who don't know, Press Gang was one of the best TV shows ever made. It was hugely revolutionary, broke down taboos in children's television, presented adult level drama and characterisation, and won heaps of awards. It was brilliantly scripted by Steven Moffat, portraying realistic characters, dialogue and adolescent settings. The characters are complex and deep, wonderfully drawn and hugely engaging, particularly the heroes, Spike and Lynda. The plots managed to tackle serious issues constantly without ever preaching, and to the shock of many censors. On top of all this, the script was packed with comic vibrance, and remains eminently quotable.

The show first aired in England on January 16th, 1988, and in Australia a year later. The fifth and final series (43 episodes in total) appeared in 1993 and 95 respectively. Though aimed mostly at teenagers, the show proved very popular to all ages, across the world. Perhaps due to the many re-screenings of it on the ABC, it has gained a very strong following down under. The show is famous for catapulting Julia Sawalha (Absolutely Fabulous, Pride and Prejudice) to fame, and if you recently saw Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, you might have noticed a few people whispering "Press Gang" under their breath when Dexter Fletcher appeared as Soap.

The basic plot thread tells the story of a tempestuous love-hate romance between the principals, Spike (Fletcher) and Lynda (Sawalha). Their relationship is similar in many ways to that of Benedict and Beatrice in Shakespeare's Much Ado, and they remind me of Pygmalion with the genders reversed (and the author has admitted one of his chief inspirations was David and Maddie from Moonlighting). Lynda, straight-A golden-girl student and editor of a teenage newspaper can handle anything. Except the attentions of class clown, juvenile delinquent Spike, who is forced to join the paper of be expelled. Spike unexpectedly falls head over heels for Lynda, but her many insecurities and neuroses make it difficult for her to return that affection. And when their personalities clash, the sparks sure do fly....

Behind all this is a great parthenon of a support cast, countless subplots and the ups and downs of both professional journalism and studying senior. And it all comes together as one coherent, moving story. It's a bit good, really. My favourite episode is At Last a Dragon and my favourite character is Kenny Phillips.

The fuel for this obsession is mainly fanned by two things: the fan fiction I'm writing, and the PG Mailing List. As mailing lists go, this is a good one: small and familial, but not exclusive, nice and quiet, but not dull. And full of very nice people indeed, all of whom have infinite patience with me when I chuck the occasional tantrum. :-)

This list is part of the official Press Gang Page, so if you want to subscribe, pop over there. It is hosted and run by Matt Saunders. Along with the mailing list, this site also has some background info, a few good character pics (here's my favourite (sigh)) and not one but two great episode guides! (this one which is less detailed, but looks pretty and doesn't have any spoilers and this one which is pure text but much more exhaustive.) Plus, a far more complete list of PG pages then this one. And you can download the theme tune!

An equally good and well detailed episode guide can be found on Matthew Newton's Press Gang pages. This guide is accompanied with a fantastic Chronology of the show, and other informtation.

Yet another fabulous look at this show is this article, by Dave Rolinson, which appears on the circus TV site. Also featured is a brilliant interview with the man himself: Steven Moffat! Plus you can read Steven Moffat's final word on the long lost PG Movie "Deadline", and some fan fiction...which belongs in the next section!

There are a few other PG sites worthy of note. Thanks to strong fan support, the IMDB has plenty on PG, its stars and its quotable lines. Ruth Sanders is in the process of making her personal shrine, while Nicole Mayer features Spike and Lynda on her brilliantly executed Soulmates Web-Page.

Of course, my love of PG is fired somewhat by my belief that Julia Sawalha is one of the most beautiful women alive, a veritable sex goddess. Fans of Julia might enjoy the Julia Sawalha Appreciation Society, and their webring. Another of my favourite Julia pic sites is this one.

Fan Fiction

Many people have tackled fan fiction on PG. Kevin Nauta has written an immense body of work. A lot of this stuff is a cross-over with Doctor Who, inspired by Matthew Newton's original Who-PG piece. Nicole Mayer has written a few shorter pieces, all of which are superb.

The Circus page also features this story. Finally, Alli has this page, which contains links to most of the other FF on the web, a story of her own, and a round robin co-operative story written by a bunch of people on the mailing list. Good stuff.