Eagle and Swift

The Eagle comic was launched on 14 April 1950, the brainchild of the graphic artist Frank Hampson. The Eagle became wildly successful selling nearly a million copies a week. The cover story in this issue features the legendary character Dan Dare 'Pilot of the Future'. In the strip drawn by Keith Watson, the alien Xel has taken over the Post Office Tower with the help of the 'bored teenagers of London'.

The Post Office Tower was opened operationally by the British Prime Minister Harold Wilson on 8 October 1965. It was then opened to the public by Postmaster-General Anthony Wedgwood Benn and businessman Billy Butlin at 3pm on 19 May 1966. The General Post Office hoped to use popular science fiction to promote the achievements of British science and technology and to create a buzz around the opening of the Tower the following year.