Having recently returned to doing some Target book covers following a break, my fingers got a bit itchy to do something new... so here's a preliminary cover for the first episode of Doctor Who series 10.
No blurb for it as I know bugger all about the story's content.
And yes, it is THAT still of Pearl Mackie!
It reminds me of the unused cover for the original series' The Twin Dilemma which was just an Andrew Skilleter painting of Colin Baker on a starry background.
Or the generic photo of Peter Davison used on his first novelisation The Visitation...
But at least mine makes a tiny effort to reflect the story title. Bill does have a little star in her eye. My, that's got to smart...!
The complete range of my faux Target book covers - from An Unearthly Child to The Husbands of River Song is accessed by clicking here.
The most recent series featuring Peter Capaldi is accessed by clicking here.
He might be 2016's Time magazine Person of the Year but Donald Trump will luckily be long gone by the year 4001...
And then there's the regional editions of the magazine...
As a Christmas treat for all of you lovely people, I've gone back to some of my old Doctor Who Target book covers - in particular, the Christmas specials - and re-worked them into full covers.
Yes, I have had a bit of time on my hands this week but things should get back to normal shortly and an absence of new posts over the next week or two should confirm this.
Oh, and a happy Christmas to all of you at home! x
Another idea based on someone else's tweet... probably Clayton Hickman again. He always seems to have the best ideas.
It's that time of the year folks!
It doesn't seem a year since the BBC aired a new episode of Doctor Who. Well it does actually... Series nine - twelve episodes worth - were followed mere weeks later by a Christmas special. And then... nothing.
Until now. As the tenure of show-runner Steven Moffat moves towards its climax with all the urgency of a a slug in an oil slick, we're being treated to the 2016 Christmas special episode.
And - more out of habit - I've produced a Target book cover for it. I've no real idea what it's about save the fact that it features a superhero called The Ghost and is set in New York (though it was filmed in Bulgaria). But lack of info hasn't stopped me before...
So here it is, a few weeks early...
The Century 21 range of mini-albums were a staple of every Gerry Anderson fans record collection in the 60s. Each release was a 33rpm EP and featured "21 minutes of adventure". Although the 21 minute tag was correct, the term 'adventure' was more loosely applied. Some were abbreviated audio adaptations of episodes of Thunderbirds whilst others saw the listener taken on tours of Marineville and NASA rocket launches courtesy of Troy Tempest and Steve Zodiac respectively. Sometimes they were even canon-blasting original adventures for Lady Penelope and Captain Scarlet.
For some reason, Century 21 stopped producing their mini-albums following Captain Scarlet & The Mysterons.
There are those of us who would've appreciated the range going on throughout the later Gerry Anderson productions...
It does what it says on the cover...
TV's Dr. Who has always been a helping kind of person and he's recently revived his 'popular' range of Doctor Who Discovers books from the 1970s with a selection that will help the reader find their way through the murky mire that is modern politics.
You can even get one free with the the Christmas Radio Times.
How nice is that?
Splendid chap. All of him!
Here's something you don't see on eBay much. In fact, you don't see it at all. It's the not widely known sequel to Target's 1976 Doctor Who Monster Book.
Women's lib was very popular in some parts of the 1970s and a book about the womans of Doctor Who seemed like a good idea at the time...
Sadly it wasn't...
Here's some selected pages anyway.
I'm really sorry that I've not really added much to the blog this month. I've definitely not given up on it. The past few months have been very busy. I've had to adapt to a new daily schedule and role. This is starting to settle down and I'm finding out what I can now achieve outside of my new family commitments.
I have a couple of projects that I'm working on as well as some ideas of how to develop the blog and some of the concepts it's thrown up over the past few years.
The silly, off-the-wall stuff will return hopefully over the next month or so...
In the meantime, here's a few random samples of future projects to look forward to.
All the best,
Andy x
The author Paul Cornell put the cat amongst the pigeons last weekend on Twitter. He suggested that the name of the lead character in TV's longest running science fiction series is called 'Doctor Who'. I didn't see the original piece but I did the see the aftermath.
Here's my four-penneth and I think it goes something to clarifying Cornell's original suggestion.
Yes, he is called 'the Doctor'. This is what he refers to himself as and what characters within the narrative of the series call him.
However, outside the show - in the real world that us mortals inhabit - he is often referred to as 'Doctor Who' (or sometimes in print, abbreviated to 'Dr. Who' - see World Distributors, TVComic etc...) In the real world, it's done to differentiate between the character of our favourite Time Lord and medical professionals in general. For example, the question "Have you seen the new Doctor?" could refer to the start of a discussion on Peter Capaldi's first appearance as the lead character in the BBCtv series or to the new GP who's just started working at the local practice. It's more clearer what is being talked about if the term "Doctor Who" is used for the former and "the Doctor" is used for the latter - especially when engaging in conversation with non-fans.
There's exceptions to every rule of course. It wouldn't be reality if there weren't. Back in the early days of the series, 'the Doctor' was referred to in script directions as 'Doctor Who'. This was allegedly to differentiate the character from any actual doctor that appeared in the script. It also ended up being used on the lead actor's credit in the closing titles. As such, new members of the production team - step forward Mr. Gerry Davies - were easily confused. The climax of episode one and the start of episode two of The War Machines in 1966 sees characters on screen refer to William Hartnell's character as 'Doctor Who'. There's also the Doctor signing a document a few stories later as 'Dr. W' and using the pseudonym 'Dr. von Wer' (German for 'Dr. Who'). I'm sure there were letters to Junior Points of View and the production office about this... After all, Twitter hadn't been invented then...
To conclude, as far as I am concerned, it's okay to call him 'Doctor Who' (or 'Dr. Who') outside the context of the series narrative. But woe to any professional scribe who writes dialogue within one of their televised scripts, published novels or audio plays that calls him that... without very good reason! When the phrase "Doctor who?" pops up in dialogue in the show, the lead character will always give the speaker a funny look. It's because he doesn't like it one bit...
Here's a rare issue of Whovians In Love that sums up the passion of fan opinion...
The UFO one made a very good friend of mine laugh quite a lot. ("It's funny cuz that's her name!")
The other one didn't so much...
With the online premiere of ClassDW looming in the middle distance of this Saturday, the royal we decided it would be a good (and kind of topical) idea to take a look at some the of the Doctor Who spin-offs from the last season we won't be seeing this Christmas.
Like K9 and Company, they have at least been given the chance of an Annual for their troubles...
It's that time of the year where the shelves of WHSmith become cluttered with collections of kids books with large print, colourful pictures, desperately unchallenging puzzles and enough content to fill a medium-sized thimble,
Yes, it's the annual "Annual" season!
Here's this year's choice selection from the House of Andydrewz!
You can get all these titles from your local Poundland or charity shop from January 2017.
Having recently returned to doing some Target book covers following a break, my fingers got a bit itchy to do something new... so here's a preliminary cover for the first episode of Doctor Who series 10. 
