Doctor Who - Season Fourteen on Target

Now this for me is the apex of classic Doctor Who quality. The series' budget was certainly never spent better on a season where - in their own ways - each story is a classic. 

From the glorious rich renaissance atmosphere of 'The Masque of Mandragora' to the seedy grim London of 'The Talons of Weng-Chiang', the series never really hit the consistent quality that it had here - before or after. 

And the ratings reflected this with the series hardly out of the weekly top twenty. 

I could go on forever acknowledging the genuine scariness of 'The Robots of Death' and the shocking revelatory thrills of 'The Deadly Assassin' (especially THAT episode set in the matrix!!) But this is a blog that shows of my measly art. 

So here are six retro Target interpretations of the greatest season of 20th century Doctor Who!

Most of these designs are available printed on stuff like T shirts, clocks and shower curtains from RedBubble. The link is here>>>

Doctor Who - Series Five on Target

Back to catching up with my faux Target covers. 

A few months ago, for some reason known only to my raddled subconscious, I ended up doing 70s style Target covers for the current run of Doctor Who series-by-series... but in reverse. This meant I started with series ten and worked my way back to series five. Thus if you accept the fact that one gets better and better, the more you perform a task, then these selections of Target book covers will get progressively worse as I'm post them in series order beginning with Matt Smith's debut series. 

I liked Matt's debut series but not as much as series seven and certainly more than series six. I hope this shows with this selection. 

Particularly pleased with the one for Amy's Choice. This really was a great example of Doctor Who doing a unique standalone tale which needs no introduction or follow-up. It's got a beginning, a middle and an end... And that's it. No necessity for a prequel or a sequel. No need for Toby Jones' Doctor to return as a villain in a Big Finish spin-off set in a dreamscape where he traps a different character from the Doctor's past every episode... The story is a nice enclosed little tale of its own. I'm surprised Simon Nye didn't write at least another script for the series but there you go. 

Anyway, here goes... 

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Doctor Who - Season 24, 25 and 26 on Target

I know what you're asking... Where's season 23 - the 'Trial of a Time Lord' one?  Well, I already did it some time ago - before all this lockdown Covid stuff - about two years ago. You can find it here. 

The design of these covers harkens back further to the original Target line which feature a simple text 'logo' in a uniform black across all the titles. Why have I reverted to this? Well, I'll let you into a little secret. The remaining seventh Doctor titles were all done first... Hence the sudden switch to the neon logo from season 25. These were the ones I started off this new batch of covers with before going back to the fifth and sixth Doctors. In fact, I ended up doing all those in reverse for some reason. God alone knows why... My brain works funny when it's being creative. Logic and order seem to be thrown out of the window... 

Anyhow, here's the entire run of Sylvester McCoy adventures - placed into one post because there's only twelve of them. I hope you like the variety of style they represent. 

Season 24

Season 25

Season 26

Some of these covers are available as 'exploded' versions on RedBubble.

If you've enjoyed viewing this page, then you can show your appreciation by purchasing my a coffee via my Ko-fi account here. Thank you.

Doctor Who - Season 22 on Target

Confession time: I don't like 'Revelation of the Daleks'. I feel that 'Vengeance on Varos' is by far the best story from season 22 - imaginative and different, it plays with the television format and just about riffs on its post modern themes. 'Revelation' on the other hand gives the Doctor a passive observer's role and one wonders if his presence is actually a hinderance to the plot. The colourful characters that writer Eric Saward weaves through a storyline of betrayal, dark secrets and intrigue are far more interesting to watch than the Doctor. His multi-coloured coat seems more like a beacon now to remind us he's still there. Which is sad really as by this point I'd grown to like Colin Baker's portrayal. 

Ah well, never mind. It'll be back next year anyway... won't it?

Some of these covers are available as 'exploded' versions on RedBubble.

If you've enjoyed viewing this page, then you can show your appreciation by purchasing my a coffee via my Ko-fi account here. Thank you.

Doctor Who - Season 21 on Target

Here's season twenty-one. I remember enjoying this season. A vast improvement on the previous two and Peter seemed to be getting into his stride. Sadly, the writing was on the wall. Dreadful irony that his final story proved to be one of the greatest Doctor Who adventures of all time...

(BTW - the change of style for the final story of season 21 is a deliberate artistic decision that is sadly not followed up with the following season.)

Some of these covers are available as 'exploded' versions on RedBubble.

If you've enjoyed viewing this page, then you can show your appreciation by purchasing my a coffee via my Ko-fi account here. Thank you.

Doctor Who Season Twenty - on Target

Let's be honest, season twenty of Doctor Who was a bit of a mess at the time. Allegedly each story featured an element from the Doctor's past only after it was pointed out to the producer late into production causing much confusion for the eager fan. And these past elements were only bolstered by the fact that the Black Guardian featured in half of them... Although not as bland as the previous season, this one does at least have a bit of colour with the return of The Brigadier, a sequel to Kinda, sailing ships in space and a trip to Amsterdam. 'The Five Doctors' always gets bolted onto the end - mostly for convenience as it fills the gap left by a four-part story featuring the Daleks that was abandoned due to a strike. I have also made such a move... 

To attempt to be different, I thought it would be fun NOT to include any of the Doctors on the novelisation of the anniversary story. To be honest, there is so much in The Five Doctors worthy of the cover besides them, it would end up cluttered... as many fan pieces bear witness to. Keep it simple and to the point was the advice of my lecturer at university... It still looks a bit cluttered but it does at least solve the problem of putting a prominent Tom Baker in the design. 

Some of these covers are available as 'exploded' versions on RedBubble.

If you've enjoyed viewing this page, then you can show your appreciation by purchasing my a coffee via my Ko-fi account here. Thank you.