These really should've been in the last lot of Target books I posted. They are here instead and bring to an end Matt Smith's time on Doctor Who.
(The second 'Day of the Doctor' cover contains an obscure reference for fans of long-standing and one that still leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.)
I was a bit bored yesterday and did these...
Re: The 'cauliflower leaves' one. You had to be watching EastEnders last week to get the joke. Not that there is one anyway...
There's an awful lot of missing episodes of Doctor Who from the 1960s.
Most fans agree that it should never have happened in the first place.
But there could have been some hope if one of the many companies producing licenced Super8 movies had stepped in and released episodes of the series on film.
If only...
I was going to wait until new Doctor Who's tenth anniversary next Saturday before posting this cheeky piece of artwork (based on an early 80s classic) but I thought - what the heck! - why not today instead?
What's that I hear you all say? The anniversary of new Doctor Who was last Thursday? The 26th March?
Well, yes it is... technically! But I'm the sort of person who attaches a lot of meaning to things feeling right. Last Thursday did FEEL like the anniversary. To me, new Doctor Who started on Easter Saturday 2005. And next Saturday is that date ten years on for me.
So do forgive me this little foible. I'm saving myself up for next Saturday.
If you need any further convincing then see ITV - who are celebrating the anniversary by launching a reimagined version of one of their own highly successful telefantasy TV shows from the sixties on that day in the form of 'Thunderbirds Are Go'.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery!
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When I see those little overpriced twee models of country cottages and post offices, I always think they look naff and tacky.
Then as I ponder who on Earth would fork out their hard-earned cash to own them, I contemplate "Wouldn't UNIT HQ - the one we see in 'The Three Doctors' - make a charming addition to the collection?"
Then I regain my sanity and get back to doing my food shopping...
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Hot on the heels of the Taran Wood Beast teddy bear comes this delightful little product from those lovely people at the Little Missy Doll Company.
You really should buy one!
It will love you to death...
What's not to love about the Taran Wood Beast?
He's the little chap who terrorises Romana in episode one of the Doctor Who adventure 'The Androids of Tara' and is quickly dispatched by the electro-sword wielding Count Grendall.
Some petty folk quibble at the paucity of the costume of this magnificent creature whilst other cast pithy comments of sarcasm in its general direction.
I recall some years back, someone in Doctor Who fandom - I forget the genius - who suggested that the "beast" was in fact a Taran villager in a traditional costume employed by the Count to wander around the forests of Tara and provide sport for the planet's huntsmen since all mammalian life on the planet had been hunted into extinction over the centuries. It's a nice bit of ret-conning isn't it?
I prefer the reality of the fact that the then production team had run out of money. They had to made do with an old gorilla costume and something from the Blue Peter Makes shed for the head! It's a lot more feasible.
I still love the little guy so I'm approaching the BBC licencing bods with a view to produce this...
See also "The Official Doctor Who Writers' Commemorative Plates Collection"
Nearly there.
Here's Matt Smith's final full series of Doctor Who episodes done up as Target books.
Not long now... then I can back to something more productive like earning a crust!
This week marks ten years since the BBC decided that Doctor Who wasn't a crappy old TV show it was still highly embarrassed by so to celebrate, here's a selection of titles that weren't in the first vanguard of merchandise in 2005.
Looking through their back catalogue of books that had been released based on the series, someone at the BBC saw the short-lived Target range, 'The Companions of Doctor Who'. These were a handful of books that were based on the lives of some of the Doctor's most popular travelling companions. Three were published including 'Turlough and the Earthlink Dilemma' by Tony Attwood and 'Harry Sullivan's War' by Ian Marter.
The new books took these as their templates and applied them to two of the characters from the new series.
Although there is no record of this, the covers seem to suggest that the contents of the novels were simply edited versions of the original ones with the characters of Turlough and Harry Sullivan replaced with Jackie Tyler and Captain Jack respectively.
They certainly weren't new novels as Ian Marter was uncontactable during rights negotiations for the books on account of his death some twenty or so years earlier.
Alas, it wasn't until after contracts had been signed and covers designed that someone pointed out it how unsuccessful the original range was and decided to call it a day.
Here's the covers anyway...
Another week. Another year in the life of Target Books ongoing journey to chronicle the new adventures of TV's favourite time-travelling Time Lord from space.
This is series 6 featuring Matt Smith as Dr. Who and takes our hero up to the 2010 Christmas special - and another episode with a title that doesn't fit the Target template!
Thank you!
The Target Books juggernaut moves on!
New stories! New Doctor! New logo! Same old 126 pages of description and dialogue...
To celebrate the dawning of a new eleventh Dr. Who, the marketing bods at Whallen have pulled out all the stops and produced an A4 glossy poster of their forthcoming titles.
It'll be in the post to all good bookshops shortly and managers can use blu tac to stick it prominently in their shop windows where the public can see for themselves the excitement ahead!
(If they don't use it, can they mail it back to them as they only have a print run of 500 and fourteen of them were a bit smudged. Thanks.)
