Doctor Who Monsters in their Natural Habitats!

I did a few pics last year of War Machines and Chumblies out in the wild. I've been doing some more and these are they...

A troop of melkur bask in a jungle clearing in the equatorial region of Melkurus.

Wild quarks stalk the volcanic plains of the planet Dominatus.

The alien voord wander through the idyllic bluebell forests of the second continent of Marinus.

Abandoned special weapons Daleks live peacefully at a charity-funded sanctuary in Dorset.

Repurposed Mechonoids have been running Milton Keynes railway station since 2015. The trains still do not run on time...

The ogron breeding programme at Paignton Zoo was started in 1986 and is responsible for releasing over 200 back into the wild.








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Vintage Target Book Covers for Vintage Doctor Who Stories - 2

Just a few more I put together to bring the number up to ten.... 

You can see the previous five here.

When Doctor Who hit US news stands in the 1960s

It seems - from recently undiscovered paperwork at the BBC - that Doctor Who WAS nearly sold to US television in the mid sixties. 

A deal was struck with a New York television station to run most of the first season around 1966. 

At the same time, arrangements were made with a local comic book company to reprint some of the better comic strips from TV Comic that had been (loosely) based on the series. 

As all most imported entertainment - it was duly "adapted" for US readers. 

This was mostly done by altering Dr. Who's grandchildren John and Gillian into hipper street kids and also by re-spelling John's name as "Johnnie".

Sadly the TV station had purchased the episodes unseen and was a little put out by their quality. 

It's unclear whether this was to do with the abysmal telerecordings they had been sent or the overall quality of the productions. 

Nevertheless, they cancelled their order within the traditional 28 days grace period and nothing more was said.

This left piles of old comics to gather dust in a warehouse in downtown Manhattan that was eventually blown up in an episode of Kojak in 1974. 

Some of the original issues from this tragic tale survive but there are none known to be in the possession of private collectors. 

You'll never find any of them anywhere... 

...ever!

Happy 60s Dr Who Halloween!

Kids love Halloween and dressing up as their favourite ghost, ghoul, monster or Marvel superhero. Back in the 60s, there was a couple of Dalek dressing-up costumes available. One consisted of a red plastic vinyl skirt and a cardboard laundry basket and looked as much like a Dalek as it did a Taran Wood Beast... Kids of the 60s were less fussy and put up with it.

There were some other 'Doctor Who' costumes available from the same manufacturer. I've just been up into the loft to hunt mine out ready for the big day next week. 

Alas, they are no longer in their original mint condition. The entire Voord costume has decayed and crumbled to dust as is the case of any cheap latex product. 

And the Zarbi is missing its mandibles. 

As for the Monoid, I bought it off Ebay as an original factory-sealed product for a considerable sum of money. There is something inside it but breaking the seal will lower the value of this highly sought-after collector's item. 

And knowing my luck, there's probably just a crappy 'Star Wars' Emperor costume inside it...