February 1985 - Marvel UK monthlies, 40 years ago this month.

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Everybody loves a good old cockney knees-up.

Therefore, the world must have been delighted in February 1985 when the BBC finally launched a chuckle-packed answer to ITV's Coronation Street, with the debut of its South Eastern counterpart Eastenders.

Meanwhile, further north, around 4,000 striking coal miners returned to work, meaning that only just over half the nation's colliers were now still on strike.

Further afield, it was a month which saw the border between Gibraltar and Spain reopen for the first time since General Franco closed it in 1969.

And what of the charts? Just what were we singing while all that was going on?

We were singing I Know Him So Well by Elaine Paige and Barbara Dickson because that record spent the whole of February atop the UK singles chart. As we all know so well, that was written by the two blokes from ABBA along with Tim Rice from Andrew Lloyd Webber and was from that trio's musical Chess.

That was clearly a stable chart but the associated album listings were far more volatile, with no fewer than four LPs hitting the top spot in a month which only possessed four weeks. Those LPs were Foreigner's Agent Provocateur, Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA, The Smiths' Meat is Murder and Phil Collins' No Jacket Required.

It's fantastic news for lovers of space sagas, as the mag with all the latest sci-fi goss takes a look at the brand new movie Dune, with the help of its director David Lynch. 

This issue also serves up an interview in which Superman producer Ilya Salkind talks about his latest project Santa Claus.

Plus, there are insights into the making of The Last Starfighter and Arnie's current offering The Terminator.

It would appear, from the cover, that the normally, shy, quiet and introverted Colin Baker speaks out.

There's also a look back at the Tom Baker era serial Revenge of the Cybermen and an interview with Michael Bryant who directed it and several other stories in the 1970s.

There's an investigation into whether the show's unsuitable for children, and the final part of the magazine's latest comic strip; the one the world knows only as Polly the Glot.

Plus, for those who still miss her, there's a pin-up of dagger-wielding jungle queen Leela.

It looks like it's bad news for Britain's greatest hero when he's captured by Slaymaster and the Crazy Gang.

Meanwhile, the Daleks' worst enemy Abslom Daak  encounters a Massacre on Mazam.

And Night-Raven's up against the menace of Blind Justice.

Then, John Tomlinson and Jeff Anderson bring us Part 2 of The Paragon of Painthorpe Street before Steve Parkhouse and Jerry Paris complete the proceedings, with the Freefall Warriors in A Cat Out of Hell.

Marvel's adaptation of Conan the Destroyer continues unabated and I predict it'll feature much action from Grace Jones' character.

Apparently, there's also material in this issue that we'd associate with the tragically defunct Mighty World of Marvel but I don't have the slightest clue just what that material might be.

I do, however, wear a suspicion we'll also be treated to a profile of Conan creature Robert E Howard. Though, let's be honest, profiles of Robert E Howard are always a bit depressing.