That Doctor Who Calendar 2019 - continued...

Well, as is always the case, I got carried away and did the rest of the calendar. 

Had to get it out of my system... 


The rest of the calendar is here.

The Seventh Dr. Who's Inappropriate Target Book Covers

Publicity photographs from any television series usually fall into three categories. There are those that legitimately depict an actual scene from the show. Soap operas get through loads of these and their stars have become adept at freezing in dramatic positions - usually mid-punch during a fight - so that their photographers can capture that all important moment for the many TV guides and soap mags that feed off them. There are also behind the scenes shots either depicting directors and cameramen on set pointing at things or rehearsal shots showing actors in various states of dress. In Doctor Who's case, who can forget the sight of Jon Pertwee's colourful trousers worn to rehearse Inferno back in 1970 and subsequently in almost every studio photo from said serial.

Then there's the actual bona fide publicity still. The shot, usually taken by a member of the press and not necessarily on set, where the cast are posing for pictures that will hopefully make the papers. You know the short. Three genuine Doctors, a replacement and a wax dummy standing on and around Bessie to promote The Five Doctors back in 1983 is a classic example.

It's these photographs that are celebrated here. Ones that should never have been let loose near a designer let alone actually used on the cover of the story they were originally designed to promote in the press. 

These covers all hail from the Sylvester McCoy years - a vintage time for the press shot. Some of them bend the rules a bit but all of these covers are wholly inappropriate in their own way despite using genuine stills from the usually vast library from their respective productions. 

Rubbish Publicity Shots Used On Doctor Who Book Covers...

The title of this post says it all really - though it's a bit clunky. 

During JNT's time on Doctor Who, there was a rash of these sort of publicity stills - usually the Doctor, his companion and a guest star doing high kicks with a prop (a birthday cake?). Unsurprisingly, none of these tended to go much further than the following day's newspaper or the front cover of a 90s Official Doctor Who Magazine cover. 

Over the past few months, I've filled in time using some of them to create some ghastly book covers that - for me - sum up the ever-so-slightly camp Art of the Doctor Who Publicity Stunt! 

(You've probably seen the Silver Nemesis one before... but what the heck..)

Doctor Who and the Dark Shadows...

For some reason, the novels based on the US daytime gothic soap Dark Shadows were available in the UK. At least that was the impression I got. They seemed to be a staple in local remaindered bookshops and second hand book stalls during my teens. This was strange. Strange because the series wasn't shown in the UK - at least not until the digital age when the SciFi channel bought and broadcast it for a short time. 

I only say all that to put these three little efforts into some form of local context. I've no other reason to offer for what I did at a loose end the other Tuesday night anyway... 

Someone in the UK might find them amusing... 

Classic Doctor Who novels re-branding - the seventh (and eighth) Doctor

And finally on to Sylvester McCoy...

I created a new logo - obviously based on the one used at the time. I commented on Twitter that it's an ASDA Smart Price version of it - for companies who can't afford the licencing fee... Some folk were even kind enough to say it was better than the original! They have no taste...

I also make no apologies for the Silver Nemesis design... You can safely assume I am not a fan of that story...

And here's the 1996 TV movie. 

Technically a Sylvester McCoy story - he IS in it... and it saves having a single page for the eighth Doctor's solo outing...