The ‘real’ Max Headroom 
First appearance 
Second appearance 
In the news
On November 22nd 1987, two stations in Chicago, Illinois were hijacked by an unknown individual dressed as Max Headroom (central character from a British movie released in 1985, who was by then starring a spinoff show), using signals that overpowered the official transmission. The timeline was as follows:
- During WGN-TVs The Nine O’Clock News, the screen went black for 15 seconds followed by a 28-second intrusion of ‘Headroom’ (accompanied with a swiverlling corrugated metal panel designed to appear like the ‘real’ Headroom’s backdrop), who rocked around and transmitted a buzzing noise.
- More interesting to us, later that evening at 11:20pm, a broadcast of The Horror of Fang Rock on WTTW was interrupted by the same character, this time able to broadcast the following ‘message’:
That does it!
He’s a fricking nerd (giggles).
Yeah, I think I’m better than [WGN sportscaster] Chuck Swirsky – fricking liberal! Oh Jesus. (giggles and moans)
Go straight to hell, yeah! (giggles)
Catch the wave! (holds up Pepsi can) [this was a slogan from a Coca-Cola ad campaign featuring Max Headroom] (moans)
Your love is fading… (moans, and hums theme to Clutch Cargo) I still see the X! [a reference to the final episode of Clutch Cargo]. Oh, my piles! (moans) Oh, I just made a giant masterpiece for all the Greatest World Newspaper nerds! (giggles and moans) My brother is wearing the other one. But it’s dirty (puts on gloves). Looks like you got footprints on it! (moans)
[Cuts to…]
(An offscreen hand has a flyswatter and begins to spank Max’s bare bottom) They’re coming to get me! Bend over bitch! Ooooh! Oh do it! Ooooh!
‘Headroom’s Doctor Who interruption lasted longer as there were no engineers on duty to change the broadcasting frequency (as the WGN engineers had), and the broadcast ended when the pirate switched it off themselves.
Aftermath and legacy
- On November 23rd, CBS Evening News, WFLD Channel 7, WGN Channel 9, WBBN Channel 2, WMAQ Channel 5 and WLS Channel 7 all reported on the event, all including clips from Horror of Fang Rock.
- On November 24th, WMAQ-TV Channel 5 news jokingly faked an incursion using footage from the WGN-TV night.
- On 24th December 2016, metal band Soul Conversion released a rather kicking demo called The Max Headroom Broadcast Interruption.
But here’s where things get strange…
Of all the TV shows to interrupt, our pirate broadcaster chose Horror of Fang Rock. This is an interesting choice as, author Allen Wold had used the story in a scene in his 1985 novel V: The Pursuit of Diana. In this short scene, the Los Angeles resistance watch a news bulletin, followed by Fang Rock (not only does the description match, but Rock received its LA debut at 17:30 on 26th May 1984, eighteen days after the final installment of V: The Final Battle – which this novel follows up – was broadcast on NBC). Could it be that this strange message from a fly-swatted butt is actually a message from a Visitor that we have yet to decode? Only time will tell…
