As a DOCTOR WHO fan since 1970, I have to say that I have probably seen it all – been there and bought the poor-quality colours that fades after one wash and the stitching evaporates within a couple of years t-shirt – and, therefore, I’m not easily impressed by another branded product being released at a comparable rate that matches the planet’s population number (seven billion by 31 October 2011, as it increases by 200,000 per day according to the United Nations).
There has been some very unseemly, dodgy and clearly inept merchandise release over DOCTOR WHO’s (nearly) 50-year history, no more in the last six years in a sweatshop fashion that often devalues the brand itself.
“Churned out” is the phrase that comes to mind in order to optimise financial gain whilst the drama series is populist. This is where the quality decreases as the volume of product increases (and doesn’t “re-issues” with minor tweaking annoy you too?)
However, amid the moneybox robbing merchandise that should not have been conceived in the first instance there are true gems like the perennially consistent audiobook novelisations (AUDIOGO) and TV-tie “reference books” from BBC BOOKS (from Ebury Books).
And, now, there is another quality product that has exceeded the expectations of this jaded, long-term DOCTOR WHO aficionado for its simple yet flexible conceit, excelling production value and an intrinsic heritage value that will endure for decades.
BBC BOOKS (from Penguin Books) publication, DOCTOR WHO – POSTCARDS FROM TIME AND SPACE (100 DOCTOR WHO Postcards in one box) is a substantive release that offers an objective and unadulterated view of the series no author-led release could ever.
Effortlessly, it is pure, thoughtful and clever.
But I have one main issue to address. Postcards? No, I cannot accept that (as Davros said in GENESIS OF THE DALEKS). That belittles the superior quality of the contents. The “postcards” are a substantial card-stock and not the flimsy stiff paper that you may be expecting, and the printing is crisp, bright and exacting.
Postcards? These are “Art Cards” of the highest quality, and priced (recommended retail price) at £14.99 is, honestly, too modest.
Entombed in a stylishly designed faux-Police Box case (sturdy enough to withstand even the clumsiest of fingers), replete with wood-grained effect panelling, and an interior wraparound of the 11 th Doctor’s Console Room, the 100 “art cards” are an array of broadcast, promotional, composite and illustration images from the NEW SERIES (with an estimated 35% Ninth and Tenth Doctor related images) as a hands-on catalogue for fans.
From Silence to Slitheen, from Doctors to Davros, from welding goggles to flame wielding companions, from graffiti-faced to smiley-faced, from old Earth viewed from the moon to New Earth, from Van Gogh to Victory of the Daleks, and from Christmas Carol to Christmas Santa.
Hopefully, this product is the first of many as older fans may welcome a focus on the CLASSIC SERIES. For example, POSTCARDS FROM TIME AND SPACE – THE 1960s, and then further releases for the 1970s, and the 1980s could be considered.
Naturally, with Christmastime “wish-lists” being scrawled in both crayon and electronic formats eagerly to be despatched to the North Pole, this is not only an ideal gift for fans but, and I am not hesitant in doing so, essential.
Certainly, I would go further. If you were to buy one publication in the coming months then this is it. Categorically unchallenged.
