The Doctor Who Christmas Special 2021

As you well know, each year since Doctor Who lost the Christmas Day slot, I've had a go at creating my own Christmas-themed episode. I've done three so far and the running gag sadly shows no sign of flagging.

2021 posed a little bit of a problem as it was post-Flux and would've been one of the final episodes for Jodie Whittaker. In the end, I put something to together that featured the thirteen Doctor teaming up with the fugitive Doctor for a 'What If?' style tale. 

'Whatever Became of Christmas?' sees the Doctor returning to Earth to celebrate the festive season with her friends. However, when she exits the TARDIS she discovers that despite it being Saturday 25 December 2021, the shops are open, there's no decorations up and nobody has heard of Christmas. As stumbles around Sheffield, her actions are being watched... But by who? 

Here's a Radio Times cover previewing the episode. The series also used to have an RT cover in the run-up to the double issue and heralded their preview of the rest of the festive telly delights and Mrs Brown's Boys. Folks seem to have been fascinated by my choice of colour for Jodie's T-shirt. I put her in a green one for the second special simply to differentiate her from earlier choices and it seems to have stuck for the following specials. This time I've paired it with a deep red coat to contrast with it. This allowed the Doctor to have a Christmassy colour scheme to her look (red and green) to contrast against the lack of colour in the Xmas-less Sheffield. 

Here's the RT billing for Christmas Day. Again the running gag of the special preceding Call the Midwife is played out again. This time it's a football version of the popular family drama. The synopsis is a bit long-winded for the Radio Times but it gets across the plot. 

And finally the Blu ray cover which for some reason I always seem to complete first.

As a bonus, I've also done textless versions of both pieces of art. 

Heaven only knows what I'm to do for the 2022 Christmas special. It will be post-regeneration and chances are the Doctor will still be faceless before their debut in 2023... Ho, hum! It keeps you on your toes does Doctor Who!

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The Avengers '98 - The Director's Cut DVD/Blu-ray covers

'The Avengers' movie released in 1998 has to be one of the biggest disappointments ever in the history of movies... at least for me. I was genuinely looking forward to it having missed out on the opportunity to visit the set the year before. A stuntman friend of mine was doing some work on the film and needed some help with his gear. He knew I was a fan of the original series and tried to get in touch with me. But this was a few years before the advent of mobile phones, so his calls to me went unanswered as I was at the day job helping Sooty to put on a show at The American Adventure Theme Park.

When the film was released, it got blistering reviews. And it's easy to see why. The film was a mess and its narrative virtually incomprehensible. There were rumours of it being a troubled production. The film seemed to have very short running time for a so-called blockbuster. There had been no preview screenings for the press prior to its public release. Indeed its premiere was virtually non-existent. And what's more, even more sinister, was the fact that Sean Connery's face appeared nowhere in the Titan Magazines special published to coincide with the release (save for a shot of him in a full page ad for another publication).

Titan Books had also published a novelisation written by Julie Kaewert. Kaewert had used the original screenplay and the book revealed many omitted scenes and the plot actually made more sense. Indeed, it was one of those rare occurrences where the novelisation was actually better than the film!

Adding to the ignominy of the film's reputation (at least on a personal level). I was browsing a second hand VHS stall at the local flea market one Saturday and found, to my surprise, a brand spanking new copy of the film on VHS. It was the Saturday before the Monday the film got its official release on the medium. The VHS was a genuine copy and the tape inside had been played for about ten minutes. You can picture the history... Reviewer gets preview copy - Watches ten minutes of it - Gives up - Can't wait to get shot of it - Sells it on to a second hand stall - Rescued by fan out of pity.

As the years rolled on, stories of the production and the apparent existence of a 'Director's Cut' started to fly around filmdom.

Fast forward to last year and I was approached by Dan Martin who runs a Facebook page dedicated to getting the 'Director's Cut' released on Blu-ray. He wanted a faux cover as a proof of concept to put on social media to drum up some support for the campaign in the wake of 'The Snyder Cut' of 'Justice League' getting a release.

How could I not refuse?

Here it is with a few variants. Hopefully it speaks for itself. It's different to the original artwork. Not TOO quirky or stylised with the fun being emphasised through the use of old BBC weather symbols in the background. I also slipped in the union flag/rampant lion symbol which, although from 'The New Avengers' fitted in with the flavour of the design - especially since its a symbolically burning icon behind Sir August. 

Hope you like it and I'm still waiting for the call from Warner Bros either to ask me to produce a final version of the cover or to issue a take-down order.

Here's some textless versions of the artwork.

And a selection of logo variants too...

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'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.

Click for larger. Right-click to save. Any problems, tweet me.

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Three Blu-ray Collector's Edition Things...

I had to leave this post for a few days whilst I did another cover. I like things in threes - so I needed a further cover to add to the two I had planned for this post.

But what to do? 

I seem to have done everything I wanted to do with these designs. Then I thought, how about a steelbook Blu-ray for something that is missing from the archives that isn't Doctor Who? So I set to work on creating a quick and dirty design for Nigel Kneale's long lost teleplay The Creature from 1955. It tends to get forgotten about what with being surrounded by Quatermass serials and Nineteen Eighty-four. But it did have the honour of a Hammer movie version (which is actually superior and better known that that awful film of Nineteen Eighty-four starring Edmond O'Brien.).

I might do a steelbook cover for Nigel Kneale's Nineteen Eighty-four at some point. Though I'd better hurry as 2021 marks the year that Orwell's works enter the public domain and we stand a chance of having the play finally released on DVD/Blu-ray. 



Anyhow, here's some Blu-ray covers what I did over the course of a few weeks. 

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A Very Dalek Christmas...

Last year (or rather Christmas 2018), there wasn't a Doctor Who Christmas special. It actually went out on New Year's Day. It didn't feel right. Over a decade of Christmas teatime specials and suddenly it was gone. 

Well, you know my attitude. If you want something that you can't get then make it yourself... and sod 'em. 

Which is what I did - producing the Radio Times cover and Blu-ray packaging for my own made-up Doctor Who Christmas Special 2018 in which the thirteenth Doctor and her fam battle the Weeping Angels who are using their images on Christmas cards to bring terror to the festive period. "The image of a Weeping Angel IS a Weeping Angel!"

Fast forward to Christmas 2019 and we don't even have a New Year's Day special. Actually, it's just the first episode of the new series - special but not special in a SPECIAL way. 

So i did another one. This time featuring the Daleks who are using the front of a travelling festive holiday fair to infiltrate the US defence system during Christmas 1962. (And the DW producers say they've ran out of Christmas ideas for the specials...)

Here is the visual result in the form of the Radio Times and the official Blu-ray release. 

Happy Easter folks. x

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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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Doctor Who Christmas Special 2018 on Blu ray...

In the absence of a Christmas special for TV's Doctor Who this year*, here's an artist's impression of what one might look like... 

Click to read text.

*There actually is one... however a.) It doesn't feature Christmas  and  b.) It's being broadcast the following week on New Year's Day.







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The Complete Doctor Who Season 19 Box Set... on VHS!

It's only a few months until the nineteenth season of Doctor Who makes its debut on shiny new Blu ray discs. 

Here's a version for the more budget conscious fan with too much spare shelf space... and a yearning for 80s tech nostalgia.

 

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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...