Although much of the action in Jeff Hawke takes place in exotic extra-terrestrial locations , the Earth to which Jeff and co. return is one

familiar to us today. It is not a futuristic world of flying cars and needle-shaped buildings , but is the world of the nineteen sixties : a world of London taxis and country pubs, of local bobbies and familiar city landmarks. This familiar and prosaic world not only anchors the stories in a believable reality with which we can easily identify, but also serves as a foil which makes the extra-terrestrial events more fantastical because of the the contrast which it sets up. Sydney Jordan and his long time co-writer, the talented Willie Patterson, took this familiarity a step further by even introducing real personalities of the time into the strip. A familiar face to TV viewers of the late 1960’s and 1970’s was Peter Fairley , ITV’s science correspondent during those important years of the space-race and moon landings, and Peter duly made an appearance in the JH strips.

In reality, Peter Fairley would appear regularly on ITV explaining the latest developments in space exploration   and astronomy, including the NASA Apollo missions. He was a clear exponent of his subject and was popular with both adults and

younger viewers.

Starting off as a science correspondent for the Evening Standard , he moved on to radio and later to television where he became  ITV’s science editor.

His popularity with younger viewers can be seen in his frequent appearances on MAGPIE and in numerous books and articles on space aimed at children.

In the world of Jeff Hawke Peter appears in a story called TIME OUT OF JOINT, where, in his familiar role of science presenter he is explaining to TV viewers ,Hawke’s latest mission to the moons of Jupiter. He talks his audience through Hawke’s live transmission from Europa, and when the transmission goes down he handles the situation with all the coolness and professionalism that he displayed in real life.    Skipper Prossit