Great Cult TV Christmas Presents of Yore!

A selection (well, three) of toys that may have filled the sacks of eager young cult TV fans in days gone by.

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.

 

Doctor Who series 11 Target Books - part one

Well, the new series of TV's Dr Who is well underway and Jodie Whittaker is now a fully fledged Time Lord. The reaction seems to be overwhelmingly positive and certainly the ratings are very good. 

The series certainly needed a proper reboot (not just a new Doctor) and Chris Chibnall has given it a shot in the arm with a 'back-to-basics' approach to both the show's look and its storytelling. To me it feels fresh and stylish whilst at the same time holding on to those quintessential elements that makes the series unique amongst its peers. 

Change is good. Much as I loved Peter Capaldi's final run as the Doctor, the series itself was starting to become repetitive and formulaic. I might be 54 years old but I still have the attention-span of a teenager and get bored easily. 

I had planned to stop doing my Target book covers with Capaldi's final turn as the Doctor, and concentrate on more unique designs and stuffs. They had started to become a bit of a chore and repetitive. But for some reason, watching Jodie Whittaker's first episode fired up my creative juices and I decided (very much at the last minute) to carry on and do some more. 

There's also the challenge of the lack of pre-broadcast images and information which I actually like. It's like working under the same pressures as some of the artists on the original target covers worked under. (Remember The Five Doctors and Destiny of the Daleks covers?).

Here are the first four:

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.

The Official Public Eye Enquiry Agent Playset!

Public Eye is back on British television thanks to those nice people at the Talking Pictures television channel. Quite probably one of the best detective series to come out of the telly box ever, Public Eye debuted in 1965 on ITV and chronicled the exploits of one Frank Marker - a rather grubby looking enquiry agent in a dirty mac three years before Columbo purchased his... 

Obviously its broadcast cannot go without celebration so I've dug up this little gem from the golden age of TV tie-in toys. Devotees of The Man from UNCLE may recognise the product as a thinly disguised version of the UNCLE toy trenchcoat that is now much sought after at collectors fairs and online auction sites. Back in those days, it was almost a tradition that toy manufacturers would merely adapt existing products to suit current trends and licences. And this was no exception. 

Mint versions of the Public Eye Detective Outfit Playset can go for literally tens of pounds these days and are rarely seen intact (if at all). I certainly haven't seen one on sale. 

Ever. 

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.















10/10/2018: Edited to add this spoof modern Radio Times cover I knocked up for the series and posted on Twitter. 

Four Doctor Whos... One Radio Times Cover!

Here's the first four Doctor Whos on the cover of the current Whittaker-flavoured Radio Times. 

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.

Season 20 Now on VHS - Complete and Edited!

I done season twenty of Doctor Who.

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.

Alternative 60s 'Dalek' Books

Terry Nation and his mates produced three Dalek annual-style books back in the 60s. The Dalek Book, The Dalek World and The Dalek Outer Space Book. Needless to say, they are classics of their kind. Pure Nation and pure Dalek-ness. 

I did some sporadic abuse on the covers many moons ago to produce some alternate versions but it was early days and the work on them was a bit variable. So I've gone back to them and created something a bit more slicker. I'd even added a new Quarky varient...

These are they... 

Hardback notebooks based on these designs (along with some others that may be familiar to regular viewers of my tat) are now available from my RedBubble store here.

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.

Jeremy Thorpe - Danger Man!

Wasn't A Very English Scandal a brilliant piece of telly?

There are those of us who remember the pre-scandal Jeremy Thorpe as a regular fixture of sixties television. Who can forget his weekly exploits in Danger Politician? 

No?

Well, here's some stuff to jog your memory...

Day of the Juliet Bravos

It's been sometime since I've had some Juliet Bravo fun so the fact it's now being screened in the mornings on Drama is as good an excuse as any to post some daft bits what I've done recently...

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...

 

Fonko Pups Taran Wood Beast from TV's Dr WHO!

In lieu of the Official Doctor Who Figurine Collection releasing an eagerly awaited 'Taran Wood Beast', here is a version in the style of those shitty generic plastic pre-school models that young folk are so fond of parting with their money for. 

If you do want to pay good money for this, you can get it on a T shirt at RedBubble here.

Some more 70s Dr Who toys...

Here's a couple more Dr Who toys from the 70s that manufacturers never got round to even thinking about, let alone actually making. 

*Batteries not included.