'Nineteen Eighty-Four' Blu-ray and DVD cover

It's 2021 and this year (this month in fact) marks the end of copyright for much of George Orwell's original works. This includes his novel 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' and the control that his estate has over any dramatic productions of said novel. Thus the BBC is now free to exploit their 1954 adaptation of the novel and release it to the public in whatever form BBC policy dictates - be that DVD, Blu-ray, streaming, broadcast, talking book, read-a-long vinyl LP, etc...

Last year I did some Blu-ray covers for the BBC's 1981'The Day of the Triffids' (I didn't like the official cover) and Nigel Kneale's 'The Creature' (which is lost to the ether anyway). I also did one for the BBC's production of 'Nineteen Eighty-four' but for some reason didn't upload it here. You may have caught a fleeting glimpse of it on the Twitter. He it is in all its 'boot on the face of a man' glory. 

As a bonus, there's also a full size DVD cover that you use to wrap your VHS transferred copy in to keep it warm until the BBC releases the fully restored version later this year.*

* May not be this year. This is the BBC after all.

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Those Classic 70s Doctor Who Spin-off DVDs!

Philip Madeley ( @pipmadeley ) did a Pertweet (see what he did there?) a few weeks back on the Twitter to celebrate the release of the Blu ray of Season ten. As part of that, he asked me to produce some DVD covers which could be popped into actual DVD cases and sold on eBay in aid of charity. The fact that people bid for them means that some folk will buy anything. But thanks to them we raised a tidy little sum for Cancer Research. Thanks to Pip for suggesting it.

These are the finished sleeves. (You'll need to click on them to read the text)

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Juliet Bravo on Blu ray at last!

Following the huge phenomenal popular success of putting old Doctor Who episodes on to the Blu ray disc format, the BBC have decided to extend the idea to other cult TV shows in its back catalogue. 

Following an analysis of social media (and in particular a select group of Twitter movers and shakers), they have chosen Juliet Bravo - the hit 80s police series - as their next project. 

The series was hugely popular in the 1980s for many years and was a permanent fixture of Saturday night viewing until Casualty turned up and spoilt it all. Questions were often asked in the Houses of Parliament, not about the series but none-the-less, they were asked. And schoolboys everywhere filled their playgrounds with the sounds of "I-Am-Juliet-Bravo!!, I-Am-Juliet-Bravo!!". There was even talk of a movie (by two old ladies in a Swindon cafe over a five-item breakfast.). 

It was THAT huge! 

Anyway, here's the covers for the first two releases -available in exclusive steelbook editions - which should hit stores when they are thrown at them from a short distance. 

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The Very Best of BBC DVDs...

A Twitter comment about the blandness of early BBC DVD branding prompted someone to recall the "Best of Doctor Who" DVD covers I did a few years ago. That post is here.

So realising that the original gag hadn't gone far enough, I did some broader versions of them with other subjects. I think the joke has finally worn a bit thin now.

Even More Doctor Who DVD Covers in the style of Target Books...

Six more little variants on a theme... 

More Doctor Who DVD Covers in the style of Target Books...

Here's some more as I've had a lazy Sunday afternoon...

 

Doctor Who DVD Covers in the style of Target Books...

A suggestion from the Twitter this one...A selection of Doctor Who DVD covers but done using the old Target book branding. 

I've used some of my own artwork for this as I wasn't too keen on re-using the original Target artwork. What's the point really? I have used the synopsises from the actual DVDs though so apologies for the typos and grammar. 

Vintage Season Box Sets For The First Dr WHO

The William Hartnell box set cover seemed to go down well so I've completed the set. I don't think the style will suit Patrick Troughton's Dr WHO though. 

Might need a re-think...

(The first Hartnell box set is here.)

BBC DVD Box Art Re-done

After a particularly heavy week, I felt the need to do something a bit more serious so I did something I'd been meaning to do for some time. That was to clean up and re-do the DVD box art I'd created for myself many years ago for the Quatermass Trilogy. I (like so many others) don't particularly like the artwork that the BBC used on the original release. It looked more Evil Dead then classic BBC drama! 

I had based the design on the classic Penguin Books style and it seemed to work. Folks on Twitter have always shown their appreciation on the look. But it was one of the first mock covers I'd attempted in Photoshop and I certainly no longer had the original layered file on any of my current drives. 

So this new version has been created from scratch and includes a back cover more in tune with BBC DVD releases. It even includes the actual bar code from the commerical version! 

I've also done ones for A For Andromeda and a speculative (but vintage) one for the first season of Doctor Who.

Jodie Whittaker Doctor Who Limited Edition Collectors's Blu-ray Steelbook

There. I thought that title would get your attention. 

Here it is. 

With apologies to Lee Binding who does a splendid job on the actual ones... 

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...