Paul,

I normally place at least 500 ml of developer in the tank. So to confirm whether there was enough in there to begin with, I placed the empty reel in the tank, put the light proof lid on and filled it with water. I then tipped the water out into a measuring jug, which ended up being about 400ml, and when I took off the lid, the whole reel was immersed in water, so I think the film is being immersed in the correct amount of developer.

I think I've got it down to the tank/reel combo, maybe it something I was doing incorrectly. There is a back thingy that slides down the inside of the reel, which, according to the instructions, is placed in a certain way, but I can't remember which was I had it, so maybe this black plastic thingy is my problem. I'm going to try a short piece of unexposed film and see how that turns out. Another option is to try shooting with my Pentax (which I know is good) and see how that turns out. Maybe the battery in my A1 is on the way out. Who knows?

Anyway, here is a picture to possibly shed some light on the issue (sorry about the pun )

Cheers,
Dan