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)

If you liked this post (or indeed, any of the 400 odd others I've done over the years), why not buy me a coffee at my Ko-fi profile. The link is here

DVD covers for cult TV stuff not released on DVD yet...

Here's a couple of full covers for cult TV stuff not yet released on DVD for various reasons...  

Counterstrike was a short-lived science fiction thriller series produced in the late sixties by the BBC. It starred Jon Finch as Simon King - a man from another galaxy who attempted to thwart an invasion of Earth by his own people. Only four episodes (the first four) exist. One episode of the original run was never shown and is amongst the missing ones. 

The first series of ITV's Freewheelers does exist in its entirety but is very poor quality. Only the sixth series has been released officially. It's also been rerun on Talking Pictures TV. The later colour series - although available in fan circles - only exist as VHS dupes. 

If you have any suggestions for other rarieties that 'need' liberating with DVD covers (whether the episodes exist or not), let me know on the Twitter feed.

If you liked this post (or indeed, any of the 400 odd others I've done over the years), why not buy me a coffee at my Ko-fi profile. The link is here.

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. 

Rubbish ITV Melkur Sit-coms...

I tend to shy away from doing other folks' suggestions as they are often impossible to realise with the imagery available to me or... well, they just aren't funny enough to grab my funnybone. 

But having been challenged to join in the mischief created in a Twitter thread by @2hrTV following a plea from @The_Cybermatt to Terrance Dicks to stop using the word Melkur in his chapter titles for the novelisation of Doctor Who and the Keeper of Traken (!), I couldn't resist knocking up some visuals for Melkur ITV sitcoms... as you do. 

They're all based on Network DVD covers... and I've included a Frankie Howerd one at @2hrTV's request... 

The posting of these on Twitter has resulted in me being barraged with lists of other rubbish ITV sit-coms with the word Melkur added. 

You can understand how even the funniest joke can wear very thin after a short period of time. 

But then again, that's Twitter humour for you...

(A warning was also received from reader @Gary_Gillat that it does not become us to mock the Melkur. Point taken. I will stop.)

Vintage Patrick Troughton DVD box set as well....

Despite my comment about not thinking a Patrick Troughton Dr WHO DVD box set would work visually in that "olde-60s worlde" style, I did one anyway...

And a variant one for the actual forthcoming Series Ten release featuring everyone's favourite Dr WHO batman...

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.)

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... 

 

The Rozzer Files - Now Available to Treasure on DVD!

I've been asked to do a DVD cover for something I've never heard of. 

This is it...

No. I didn't think you had as well.

I've watched an episode and it's not very good but don't tell the clients that. 

Thanks. 

Front cover - click for larger

Inside cover - click for larger

Quatermass and the New Covers...

I've not done much since the current series of Doctor Who ended - mostly on account that Christmas is a bit of a busy time for me.

In what little spare time I had, I managed to revisit the original BBC Quatermass serials again. 

As long time followers of the blog know, I was never too impressed with the cover that the BBC gave the trilogy when they released it on DVD back in 2005. I knocked up one of my own instead based on the old Penguin books template. It was one of my first efforts in designing such things in Photoshop.

I've gone back to that design and created some faux paperback covers for the series. All of the images were originally black and white and have been tinted by me. I also had to sneak a pic from the Hammer film of Quatermass II as the sum total of usable on set stills from that serial numbers only two. 

I think they capture the flavour of the serials. I hope you like them. 

BBC Worldwide's Plans for Doctor Who on DVD in 2015

If you want to own the complete series of Classic Doctor Who on DVD then you're pretty much living in cloud cuckoo land. At least, that's the opinion of BBC Worldwide. They have confirmed that the DVD of The Underwater Menace has been officially cancelled. Citing the reasons for this, they stated that it was due to the fact that the company producing the animated versions of the two missing episodes has ceased trading and they do not want to release orphan episodes on their own. 

However, a recent tweet from BBC Worldwide suggested that they still planned to release more Classic Doctor Who in the future. 

???

What is happening? Has the work experience guy who handles their Twitter account noticed that there are still many Hartnell and Troughton stories that remain unreleased little realising that a quick check of the archives will confirm they are currently missing (or at least in the hands of a madman with a box of magnets)?

Anyhow, closer examination suggests that the new 'Classic' Doctor Who DVDs may be a little desperate to say the least.