The dramatic stamp issue celebrating the best of Science Fiction features six authors and one of their key works: Mary Shelley 'Frankenstein'; H G Wells 'The Time Machine'; Aldous Huxley 'Brave New World'; John Wyndham 'The Day of the Triffids'; Arthur C Clarke 'Childhood's End'; and Doris Lessing 'Shikasta'. The stamps, designed by six individual artists, are issued in three se-tenant pairs.
The BLCS 5000 cover celebrates Mary Shelley's novel published in 1818 and often seen as the precursor to the whole science fiction genre. The cover image reflects the macabre atmosphere of the novel and the pictorial London NW handstamp shows Frankenstein's creature in silhouette.
