The Late Ray Austin

[unclefester]

I notice that Mr. Ray Austin posted on this board a few times in (I believe it was) 2010.

And then if I'm not mistaken he never did again. (Happy to be corrected).

Am I right in saying that? And if so any idea why he came & went so quickly?

In reading everything I could find that he posted on the board I got the impression he didn't want to answer questions for no reward. In other words he wanted to monetize his knowledge & experience.
Or at the very least get a plane ride & fancy hotel for a night or two for television or radio interviews if possible.

Can any of our long time members shed some light on the late Mr. A & the brief time he spent here??

[Frankymole]

Dunno, I don't remember it, sorry.

I do know there were some disparaging remarks, perhaps quotes, about him being considered a bit of a jumped-up stuntman rather than a "proper" director. Maybe that put him off (might not have been on the forum though, just out in fandom generally, probably repeated from a disgruntled writer or technician).

Personally I enjoy all his work.

[unclefester]

Dunno, I don't remember it, sorry.

As best I can gather Ray first posted here on February 14th of 2010.

You welcomed him Franky as well as a number of others

His last post looks like October 18th of the same year

And if my math is correct he personally posted a total of just 4 times total

Just wondered why he stopped posting here

Not sure anyone would really know but imagine how great it would have been to have him as resource!

[dissolute]

He asked the admins to delete some gossipy posts about himself and stopped posting shortly after. He was still involved with the community but not directly with the forum after that.
Watch the videos he appears in from the Lives in the Pictures youtube channel. https://www.youtube.com/@livesinthepictures1381

[Frankymole]

It's nice that some of the movers and shakers behind the show lived long enough to get involved with fandom and the advent of social media.
Do any of the actors or crew (or their agents) use social media these days? You'd think someone like Joanna Lumley would be all over it! Linda Thorson too. I know Ian Ogilvy posts droll stuff on Facebook.
A lot of actors (not necessarily Avengers ones) have had websites but let them lapse.

[Allard]

Ray Austin was in the news concerning some dispute with a garden centre (if memory serves correctly). This was hyped up by media and he was happy to set the record straight and not be maligned by newspapers. He answered a couple of questions and was very nice. But it was a short lived thing.

[unclefester]

He asked the admins to delete some gossipy posts about himself and stopped posting shortly after. He was still involved with the community but not directly with the forum after that.
Watch the videos he appears in from the Lives in the Pictures youtube channel. https://www.youtube.com/@livesinthepictures1381

Thanks to you and everyone else who chipped in

It's nice to get some back story

[mariocki]

Thinking back to that time, Raymond (as he later preferred to be called) was also on a couple of other forums but he stopped posting on those as well. I think he was using those to get in touch with other industry members he’d lost touch with - John Llewellyn Moxey being one of them, I remember.

Linda Thorson is on X/Twitter but doesn’t post much about the show.

[mousemeat]

Mr.Austin had a long career with the series,,,on many levels...he was one interesting guy,,I for one, will miss him..but I will always have fond memories of his involvement