Battle for Britain (Private Eye) 1986, at about the time when Parliament was about to go into recess. When the series ended in 1987, it was replaced by "Dan Dire, Pilot of the Future?", which took a similar comic-book view of politics. This time, the model was Frank Hampson's artwork for Dan Dare, as seen in the popular 1950–1969 comic for boys "Eagle". In keeping with the science fiction theme, Kinnock became "Dan Dire" (the questioning title was over whether or not he would ever be Prime Minister); Mrs Thatcher became "The Maggon" in reference to Dan Dare's arch-enemy The Mekon; and Owen became "Doctor
Dan Dare with the song "Dan Dare" The relaunch of the Eagle Magazine in 1982 saw a free single giveaway of a track called "Dan Dare" by the group Loose Talk. Characters inspired by or based on Dan Dare have appeared throughout British popular culture. One example is Wing Commander Leyton in "British Summertime" by Paul Cornell, which juxtaposes the utopian future portrayed in the original comics with the Britain of today. In the 1980s, "Private Eye" published "Dan Dire, Pilot of Future?". Dire was based on politician Neil Kinnock, the question being whether he'd ever become Prime Minister. Dire's enemy was