Up Close, my new ebook project will be available for free download from the Blackpool Remembered website on Friday 29th April.
Following the success of Blackpool Remembered and Blackpool Revisited, I felt the need to keep writing and reminiscing about life in Doctor Who fandom. I wanted to expand on some of the things covered in my 2010 publication, Who, Where & When as well as opening up my personal photo archive from various Doctor Who events and conventions over the past couple of decades alongside other musings and a recent visit to Neil Cole’s Museum of Classic Sci-Fi.
Check back this time next week to wallow in a feast of nostalgia!
Delving back into the worlds of Doctor Who, I’m pleased to announce Up Close, another free digital publication exploring the various aspects of fandom. Up Close contains personal recollections, photos and nostalgia from Doctor Who conventions, exhibitions and events from the past two decades. It also takes a look at collecting, alongside a couple of exclusive guest contributions. More details to follow…
Following my involvement with Blackpool Remembered and Blackpool Revisited, I have given my 2011 Doctor Who ebook, Who, Where & When a short, personal account of growing up with the show in the 1980s and beyond.
I’ve given the front cover an overhaul with some recent illustrations and the existing articles have undergone some minor edits where needed. However bringing the book up to date, are four new pages at the end, which I hope you enjoy.
Reconnecting with both my love of Doctor Who and my old passion for illustrating Doctor Who has proven to be very rewarding during this strange and troublesome year.
I’m absolutely delighted to have contributed several exclusive illustrations to Terraqueous Distributors’ Unofficial Dr Who Annual 1989, which is available today – the show’s 57th Anniversary – via Lulu.
The annual follows the styling of the vintage Doctor Who annuals, and since they were discontinued by the time Sylvester McCoy took over the part, this one feels long overdue! It features stories and illustrations by fans, as well as contributions from well known names in the Who world, such as Alister Pearson, Dominic Glynn, Jessica Martin, Mike Tucker, Andrew Skilleter, Andy Walker, Stephen Wyatt, plus a foreword by Doctor Who’s script editor of the time – Andrew Cartmel.
Here are a couple of my illustrations:
Next up, is John Collier’s follow-up book to Blackpool Remembered – this time entitled Blackpool Revisited. Work is well under way collating content and contributors, which further explores the legacy of Doctor Who exhibitions in Blackpool, in particular the more recent Doctor Who Museum which ran from 2004–2009. For more information, keep an eye on the project website or follow the Twitter account for all the latest!
Meanwhile, here is my cover art, which is an update of the original mono cover illustration from Blackpool Remembered.
With just a week to go until John Collier’s Blackpool Remembered ebook project is released, the website has gone live (where you’ll be able to download the book from Friday 28th August), and I have put together an illustrated trailer for the book (above), which also features my own version of the Doctor Who theme tune!
I have wanted to make my own interpretation of the famous theme music since I was a child. I finally started my own version back in 2015, but it remained unfinished until now – it is an incredibly complex piece of music for somebody who only plays by ear, but I’ve given it my own stamp. You can hear it in full over on my Soundcloud page.
Back to the book – it now has over 70 contributors and is over 350 pages, packed full of memories, stories, photographs, illustrations and behind-the-scenes accounts – the range of articles and information from just one exhibition is quite incredible. But if you’re a Doctor Who fan or if you did visit the original exhibition between 1974 and 1985, then you will absolutely love this project, which has been a genuine labour of love for its editor, John and we can’t wait to share it.
I am absolutely delighted to be part of an exciting project dedicated to the original Doctor Who exhibition in Blackpool, which ran from 1974 to 1985 – which was the year I visited, as an awestruck seven-year-old.
Collated and edited by John Collier, Blackpool Remembered will be a free digital publication, documenting the evolution of the exhibition through fan memories and photographs, alongside detailed recollections from some of the people who made it happen.
Contributors include Julie Jones, Bob Richardson, Mike Tucker and Neil Cole to name just a few, plus a wonderful foreword from Steve Cambden.
I have illustrated and designed the front cover (below) plus completed several interior illustrations. In addition, I have rewritten and expanded my own recollections of the exhibition, which originally appeared in my 2011 publication, Who, Where & When.
If you’re a fan of classic Doctor Who and if you ever went to the first and most iconic incarnation of the exhibition, then stay tuned, as this will be for you! For further updates, head over to Twitter and follow @BlackpoolRemembered7485
Blackpool Remembered will be available to download as a PDF in August.
I also have another exciting Doctor Who-related project in the works, which I look forward to sharing in the near future. Needless to say I will soon be adding a Doctor Who section to the gallery pages here!
The Light Dreams 