Doctor Who Series Nine - Modern Book Covers

One of the problems doing those faux Target book covers for series eight and nine of Doctor Who was the lack of visual material available for them prior to the actual broadcast of the episodes. I argued that if the covers were being done in the 70s/80s, then the cover artists would be in a similar situation... And they were. Check out the covers for Destiny of the Daleks and The Five Doctors. 

Now with the episodes well and truly in the past (and the threat of a new series - and new covers (!) - mere weeks away now), I thought it would be fun to revisit the last two series and take advantage of the plethora of photographs available across the Internet to produce them. 

I also wanted to hone my Photoshop skills to produce something a little more modern and commercial. As such, I've designed them to look like modern novels - of the kind currently produced by BBC Books. And just to put my own mark on them, I've given them my own logo of sorts. Well, it's just letters in a fancy font really... but you get the gist.

Even More Unreleased Doctor Who Toys...

It's been an odd Sunday for me. For once I've had bugger all to do...

Then I had a bit of inspiration. That was at around 8.45am. 

It is now 7.45pm and as well as cooking and eating a full Sunday roast, I've 're-discovered' these little treasures from more guilty times...

The EastEnders Beetabix Promotion - Free Figures In Every Pack!!!

Card from the original Weetabix promotion

One of the most popular Doctor Who commercial promotions of the 70s was run by Weetabix when they offered free cardboard figures of the Doctor and his friends in every packet. 

It was so popular, they did it twice with the TV Time Lord and ran similar promotions with Disney characters, Asterix and one for Star Trek The Motion Picture. 

Here's something I knocked up based on the second Doctor Who promotion. Each box of Weetabix contained four figures - three 'monster' cards and a "Secret Message From Time Lords" (sic). The monster cards could be slotted into one of four game boards that adorned the back of each pack and became forfeits for landing on specific squares during game play. 

My little effort follows the same format but with modern EastEnders characters instead... Playing the game makes an exciting alternative to having to watch the series at the moment...

You could also try to decode the secret messages from Mr. Papadopoulos... if you really want.

That Third 60s Doctor Who movie...

Way back in the mists of time, the Walt Disney Company expressed an interest... an interest mind... in making a motion picture based on John Lucarotti's 'Marco Polo' serial for the first season of Doctor Who. Needless to say, it didn't go much further than an enquiry.

In the end, the movie making was left to Milton Subotsky and Max Rosenberg - who bought the rights to Terry Nation's first two Dalek tales and made 'Doctor Who and the Daleks' and 'Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150AD'. There was some thought given to a third one based on 'The Chase' but the failure of the Daleks to light up the box office a second time meant it didn't get any further than the earlier Walt Disney effort.

The upshot of me writing all this is to set up this cinema poster someone on the Twitter ( @outonbluesix ) suggested I do a poster for the Marco Polo one. 

So I did... but re-worked it as a Subotsky/Rosenberg production instead of a Disney one.  Just so you know...

Doctor Emu - Rare Merchandise...

The recent Time Capsule article by Gary Gillette in Doctor Who magazine (508) featured a short but detailed look at the handful of Doctor Who spoofs on Emu's Broadcasting Company in the late 70s. 

I used to love these - as well as the show as a whole. There's something about a timid Australian with huge ginger sideburns and a moth-ridden, homicidal emu puppet that appealed to me back then. 

Sadly, it must be one of the few Doctor Who-based BBC comedy sketches that didn't turn up as an extra on one the official DVDs - despite the fond memories fans of a certain age have of them. 

In honour of my fellow Emuvians, I've knocked these up in celebration of the resurgence of the wirly Time Bird and his never-ending battle with the deadly Dustbins...