I make no apology for this little effort. It was too good an opportunity not to do. 'This Week' is the bizarre BBC political programme hosted by former Times editor Andrew Neil with Diane Abbot and Michael Portillo.
It broadcasts on Thursday nights following 'Question Time' and I assume its lightweight approach to designed to calm down the viewers infuriated by the live chimps tea party that the aforementioned show usually descends into.
Many criticise the show for its strange sense of humour. Me? I liken it to a political version of the old kids show 'Crackerjack' and I find myself offering up a paraphrased version of the old 'Doctor Who' excuse... "It's not a political show, it's made by the BBC light entertainment department!" ... which isn't true but seems to sum up their approach to the subject.
Anyhow, I'll give Gareth Roberts' Twitter feed the credit for setting me off on this little road. Thanks. And also apologise to 'Doctor Who Adventures' editor Paul Lang for misquoting him on the cover! Put it down to age. I'm more likely to say 'Crikey!' than 'Yikes!'
There's also a couple of variations on the theme from a few years ago. (NB: I made the same 'Crikey!' mistake back then as well.)
It may come as a shock to you but I love old TV annuals!
No doubt the subtle clues from previous posts on the subject have gone over your heads and the admission comes out of the blue to you.
I have a neat little collection of them stretching from a mint-fresh copy of the very first Doctor Who annual from 1965 (apparently written by the show's original script-editor, David Whitaker!) to a Dick Barton Special Agent annual (based on the late 70s TV series and illustrated in muted 50s hues by V for Vendetta's David Lloyd).
A year or so ago, when I first started fiddling around in Photoshop, I put together a few annuals that I wished were available back in their hey-day when I was the age of their target market.
This is a selection of them which I hope you appreciate.
It's not a widely known fact that ITV attempted to poach 'Doctor Who' from the BBC back in the early seventies.
The independent television channel had a long history of doing this with stars like Tony Hancock and Benny Hill and would famously drag Morecambe and Wise to the channel in the 80s with false promises of movie deals and bigger budgets.
The 'Doctor Who' poach was a mess from the start. Hastily done in the autumn of 1973, ITV quickly commissioned a variety special for Christmas which was recorded in front of a live canned laughter machine that November.
In the show, Jon Pertwee performed his hit single 'Who is the Doctor?' as a duet with Noele Gordon - there to plug her 'Crossroads Christmas Sing-a-Long' LP whilst comedian Bernard Manning played a somewhat coarse (and possibly drunk) Santa Claus.
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Benny Hill's Jackie Wright and Bob Todd were Santa's Time Elves who got into hilarious japes (sic) with some reindeer and a wrapping paper machine that worried the RSPCA whilst Katy Manning performed 'Age of Aquarius' with 'The Jo Jo's' who looked suspiciously like 'The Ladybirds' dressed in silver spandex.
'Doctor Who' hastily returned back to the BBC - its tail between its legs the following January and all was forgiven - just...
Like the later 'Star Wars Holiday Special', the show has never been re-screened and VHS copies of it have become much sought-after by the curious and the naive. It remains a forgotten sully on the world of TV's favourite Time Lord.
Doing my back in must've done something to my brain as I've ended up carrying on into David Tennant's first series for my Target Book designs.
Nothing really to add to what I said in my previous post, other than that normal service will be resumed as soon as possible....
....in the mean time here's the testcard and some music!
You can catch up with the first series covers featuring Christopher Eccleston here.
I went and did my back in the other week getting my Christmas tree down from the loft. This meant - following my doctor's instructions - that I could only stand up or sit bolt upright for the past week. No slouching over computers!!
This is the reason for the lack of updates recently so apologies to anyone who thinks I've let them down.
Also up in the loft is my complete collection of 'Doctor Who' Target novelisations - all of them bar 'The Two Doctors' are first editions. I even have 'The Wheel in Space'. Whoopee-doo!!!
I have to say I loved the earlier covers for the books - the ones by Chris Achilleos (after Frank Bellamy). Their overall design still displays a dynamism often lacking in the modern branding of the series.
Since next year marks the tenth anniversary of the return of 'Doctor Who' to British television (and in order to get back in the swing of things following my sabbatical!), I had a bash at adapting the old Target designs for the first series starring Christopher Eccleston.
They aren't meant to be wholly faithful to the 70s books - just taking the basic design tropes and updating them a bit into a modern version.
Hope you like...
The covers continue with David Tennant's first series here.
