Gaz-urrection of the Daleks

Here are some pics of that place in London where they filmed "Resurrection of the Daleks". It is Shad Thames near Tower bridge. I always wanted to go there since I saw that episode, and happened to be there by accident. I didn't have a camera with my, so it was very lucky that my mobile cordless telephone has a function whereby photographs may be taken. I actually took these pics months ago in Aug 2009. Only just got around to posting them here...

A pic of Davo on location in 1984 or whenever

"Hartnell's Armpit" - The Doctor Who Gossip Rag

Here's some general Doctor Who related silliness for you. This is a cover for a Doctor Who gossip magazine I invented called "Hartnell's Armpit" (click to enlarge). It's basically my version of one of those trashy celebrity gossip mags for the Doctor Who world! I have done my best to ensure that it is as tasteless as possible. Watch this space for more of this stuff, folks!

Sevans Models: Portrait of a Licensee

Here's an interesting article about SEVANS Models. I transcribed it from Doctor Who Monthy Issue #114 (July 1986). This is an interview with Stuart Evans - the man behind the highly accurate Dalek model kits from the mid-'80s. This interview gives insight into how he obtained a license from the BBC to manufacturing them, and also discusses his expansion of the model range to cover other monsters from the Doctor Who universe. Enjoy!

A scan of the original article from DWM (click to enlarge).

Stuart Evans, of Sevans Daleks, talks about his merchandising experiences and his plans for the future.

“I’ve always been a fan of Doctor Who. It really is quite beyond the comprehension of anyone born after the mid Sixties just how massive Doctor Who in general and the Daleks in particular were between 1963-65. Every child in our street had a toy Dalek.
“It’s quite an admission, but I’ve never lost the love I developed for the show all those years ago. Indeed, the desire to one day be involved in some aspect of the programme has been on e of the few continuous threads in my life”.

After school, Stuart went to Salisbury Art College, but left before completing his B.A. Graphics course.

“I found my way into a local government, pen-pushing job, which afforded me the opportunity of getting an HNC in Business Studies on day release.”

Moving on to a job in the Civil Service, Stuart became increasingly dissatisfied with his work, and concentrated on finding other interests.

“The quite out of the blue, I was sitting in the bath one night, and there it was, staring me in the face… the Radio Times Tenth Anniversary Special. I decided then and there to put all my efforts into building a full-sized Dalek.

Stuart persuaded the BBC Who Exhibition at Longleat to let him measure up one of the props. However, he quickly realised that building a full-scale Dalek model just wasn’t viable, and decided to turn his attention to a scaled down model. Having created his first scratchbuilt Dalek, after reading up on model making and fibre glass techniques, Stuart was ready to move on to other things, when he attended the Longleat Convention.

“The model was in the back of my car – until two fans saw it, and I left one Dalek lighter.
“I now knew there must be a larger market on maybe several dozen people (believe me this wasn’t false modesty, but total ignorance speaking), but I had no contacts in TV, the press, or merchandising.

GETTING THE LICENSE

However, when Stuart’s job moved offices, he met Simon Lydiard, ex editor of the defunct fanzine Skaro. Simon suggested that Stuart approach BBC merchandising.

“At this time, I’d envisaged making two fibre glass models a month, and wrote into Chris Crouch (then of BBC Enterprises) asking only if I could use the work ‘Dalek’ in an Exchange and Mart ad I’d planned, and how much the BBC royalty would be.
“Chris wrote back saying ‘no can do’, and that unlike the Sixties when everyone under the sun obtained Dalek licenses, nowadays concurrent merchandising wasn’t entertained.”

BBC Enterprises did add that if Stuart could get a manufacturer interested, they might reconsider.

“Again the idea dropped, and then a couple of weeks later, I was in a local model shop, and heard mention of a nearby firm specialising in short run kits.”

Stuart spent the next month living on their doorstep picking up tips on how to make moulds and dies. Eventually he made up the tools for a foot-tall Dalek kit. He approached the BBC again, who agreed to see him.

“With only a day to go, the first mouldings were ready and we sped to the factory to collect two of the most awful pieces of tat you’d ever seen.
“Fleet of brain as ever, and with only hours to go, I realised what had to be done, the pokers were heated, the Doc Martens donned, and the two made the trip as smashed up ‘exterminated’ versions!”

Stuart impressed Chris Crouch and Brian Codd (of Terry Nation) sufficiently to win the world rights to making Dalek kits.
“Now the problems really started; who would produce the quantities required, what would those quantities be. All previous Who merchandise had been kiddie-based: there’d never been any accurate, well researched, up market, up-price models before.”

CREATING THE PACKAGE

Aiming to build a creation that would please him personally, Stuart determined to create ‘The Ultimate Dalek Package’.

“The three-thousand-word history took six months to research. The lead Dalek from Genesis was measured and refined over several months and individual parts were moulded and tooled.
“I wanted to make this one kit have the potential of being assembled in many forms, and this has paid dividends, as many customers were to but four or five kits, just to create their favourite variants.
“Everything went so smoothly that I should’ve guessed that there was trouble around the corner and sure enough, with all the ads placed, two unforeseen things happened.
“First, I realised that the shoulders were 3mm too far forward. The moulds were, at great cost, altered. Then with only days before the kit’s launch, the factory (one of the main contractors for Marks and Spencer and Boeing Aircraft) developed faults on its moulding plant and I had no kits to send.
“To further compound this, I had an overnight success to contend with! Everyone’s estimation of the market was way out: every day for weeks we received literally hundreds of orders and well over a thousand before anything was ready.
“Mercifully, extra hands were laid on, and we finally shipped the goods out.
“With this behind us, the long lacking ‘fun element’ once again returned, and within weeks of sending the first kits out, we were getting loads of photos and letters from fans saying how good the kits were.”

Stuart plans to stay in merchandising for as long as Who lasts and then perhaps another decade, if he can secure the rights.

KITS IN PREPARATION

“I really want to stay in business long enough to exhaust the main monsters and get down to the really rare ones, like Quarks and Zarbi”.

Although he keeps an eye on the market, he basically turns out the models he likes the most.

“Hence K9, which would still be a big seller in America, being kennelled at the moment in favour of other things.
“The kits no the drawing board are Ice Warrior, 1967 Cyberman, Feature Film Dalek, Davros, Tardis Console, New Mk6 Cyberman and Sil Borad. The first three of these kits will be available this Autumn, with a possibility of the Mk6 Cyberman appearing at Christmas.
“Readers will have to wait until the ad appears for details of price and exact box contents, though I can now reveal that the Ice Warrior and Cyberman kits will both stand over fifteen inches tall and will have solid one-piece plastic heads, alternative weaponry and costume details, and that in the case of the Cyberman, you’ll get three heads: trooper, Controller and zapped trooper with the Cyberface showing through behind the mask … Oh and you’ll also get a scale Cybermat!
“I’m introducing new elements with each kit, with resin, rubber and self-adhesive components appearing, the Cyberman will have individual pipes and tubes and I’m currently trying to find a supplier for synthetic bristles for inclusion with the Ice Warrior to simulate its body hair!
“As the histories on these two monsters are somewhat slighter than that of the Dalek, you’ll get details of how to recreate your own Ice Cave diorama and readily obtainable components.
“The ‘humanoid’ kits will be comparatively simple to produce and should hopefully be available from UK and foreign dealers within a few months of issue. The Dalek family of kits is, however, so time consuming to manufacture that we can’t really afford to sell through agents and keep the price so low, so it does look as if certain of our kits will remain exclusively available from us, the manufacturers. Generally, anyone wanting any kit in a hurry or by a deadline, is much safer ordering direct from us.
“All the kits should retail around the £15 mark and the original TV Dalek will still remain on sale.
“One other point perhaps worthy of mention is that subject to final BBC approval each new kit will contain a raised plastic badge of the monsters’ head or whole body, which can be painted and pin-backed.”

Stuart does his own modelling, tooling, artwork, research and a lot of his own photography.

KEEPING UP THE STANDARDS

“To be perfectly honest, by the time I’d explained what I wanted to an assistant, I could have done the job myself, anyway!
“The ability to design is only one factor in the equation; you’ve got to have a good eye for advertising and PR, a grasp of commercial law and basically the ability to see a sizeable hole in the market, then come up with a really good product to fill it.
“Almost every time a Merchandising feature appears, the BBC get flooded with readers’ ideas for ‘Terror of the Zygons Draught Excluders’ or ‘Gallifrey Kitchenette Tin Openers’, and although they’re always receptive to marketable ideas, they actually receive singularly few. That not to put people off, it’s just that unless the possibility of a worthwhile royalty return exists, it’s not worth the administrative expense involved.
“Perhaps my biggest handicap is that I’m a perfectionist and will only release a kit when I’m two hundred per cent satisfied with it. Were any other manufacturing company producing the same range, there’s probably be six titles available already; only the quality and accuracy would be as woolly as the merchandise of the past!
“For all this, I should be releaseing between three and five kits this year, which should live up to, or transcend the standards I set myself on the Dalek.”

If you have any difficulty in obtaining SEVANS kits, or have any comments on them, please write in to them at: PO Box 34, Trowbridge, Wiltshire BA14 8XY, enclosing an SAE for your reply.

Guide to the pics:
1) A realistic scene from the SEVANS models video, which was used on a Pebble Mill feature
2) Stuart demonstrates one of the full-size silhouettes cut out before the modelling begins
3) A close-up of the Davros model – under two inches from the chin to the cranium

Jamaican Doctor Who

"It looks to me like big trouble for Dr Who". This video featuring a Jamaican dubbed version of Doctor Who is really funny:

"You don't look like no Dalek to me" gets me every time.

Tom Baker regeneration - my piano version

This is something I've been gradually working out on the piano and managed to get it in good enough shape to post it on YouTube. This is my own version of the Tom Baker regeneration music from the 1981 Doctor Who story Logopolis (originally composed by Paddy Kingsland of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop).

I'm a huge fan of early '80s Who, particularly the style of the production of which the music in an integral part. For me this is probably the most memorable scene and musical score of the entire series which is why I wanted to have a go at my own version.

Sevans Daleks Adverts - NEW DALEKS (1987)

Thanks again to Outpost Gallifreyan MasseyLopez for sending this in. I believe that this is the final outstanding advert for Sevans models (if anyone knows about one I've missed, please get in touch!)

This ad introduces a redesigned range of Sevans Daleks, far simpler to assemble than previous models. The TV Dalek (pictured) also shows a further improvement - a removable head section complete with Kaled mutant and controls!

A very nice ad, I must say. Some great looking models, and I like the warehouse set. There's even a pic of the man himself!

Interestingly this advert also mentions the availability of an A2 Sevans wall-poster. I've certainly never seen this and would be interested in hearing from anyone who has a scan of it.

Source: Doctor Who Monthly, 1987 Autumn Special, rear cover.

DrGaz's 2008 Nicola Bryant calendar.

Coming soon from DrGaz!! It's the "unofficial and unauthorised" DrGaz's 2008 Nicola Bryant calendar. This is my own tribute to Nicola Bryant, the actress who played Peri again Colin Baker's and Peter Davison's Doctor. She was indeed the hottest companion the Doctor had in my opinion.

Soon to be available (hopefully in time for Crimbo) in an electronic format! Watch this space...

P.S. Sign up to my mailing list if you'd like it to be emailed to you.

Sevans Daleks Adverts - Doctor Who Monsterkits (1988)

Here's another full page DWM advert for the Sevans model kits. Interestinigly the price of the Dalek kit has risen again to £17.95 (from £14.95, and from originally £11.95). Quite a large price rise in such a short space of time (approximately 2 years). I imagine that this increase reflects the overheads involved in the introduction of the other model kits seen in this particular ad, notably the Cyberman and Ice Warrior kits.

Thanks again to Outpost Gallifreyan MasseyLopez for sending this in.

Source: Doctor Who Monthly, Issue 136 (May 1988), page 10.

Sevans Daleks adverts - TIMELORD - BEWARE (1985-6)

This advert was featured in several issues of Doctor Who Magazine (DWM) during 1985-6. Thanks to Outpost Gallifreyan MasseyLopez and John Main for sending this in.

A fantastic advert I must admit, and the first Sevans one (to my knowledge) that was in colour, this one frequently adorned the rear cover of DWM during 1986, and again as a kid I remember drooling over it trying to decide what colour to paint my very own one that I got for Crimbo in '86! In the end I painted my Crimbo '86 one in the "Resurrection" scheme, and my Crimbo '87 one in the silver/gold scheme that you can see in this ad.

Hey they've gone up to £14.95! That's a whopping +25% in 1 year. I know that house price inflation was insane in the late '80s (as it is now), so maybe Stu Evans had a whacking great mortgage he needed to pay off!

Source: Doctor Who Monthly, Issue 105 (October 1985), inside front cover.

Sevans Dalek adverts - DALEK INVASION (1985)

Here's a classic example of a Sevans models ad from the mid '80s. This was featured in several issues of DWM (Doctor Who Monthly) in 1985. I remember drooling over this particular ad for a long time as an 11/12 year old before finally getting one delivered to me by Santa in 1986. As you can see, the price was £11.95. That sounds so cheap by today's standards! It's amazing how inflation creates that impression... probably the equivalent of £30-£35 nowadays I guess. Thanks to Outpost Gallifreyan, John Main for emailing this in.

TARDIS console model

I came across a couple of photos of this cardboard model I made in the mid '80s. I think I made it when I was 13 or 14 years old (click to enlarge). It's the late Tom Baker / early Peter Davison TARDIS console. I believe I scaled it from the "Doctor Who Technical Manual". I remember that it didn't take too long to build.

Cybernetix – The Special? (June 1990)

Editorial
This issue is not all it was cracked up to be.


The Cyberman
Some dodgy fiction I wrote as a kid.


Patrick Troughton – The Definitive Doctor
Cardiff Local Group member, J.T, gives his view on why Troughton is the best Doctor Who.

Why I Like Peter Davison
Cardiff Local Group member, I.J, on why Davison is The Man.


Chess On a Thousand Levels
P.M, of the Cardiff Local Group tells us why Sylvester is the real McCoy.

The History of Cybernetix.

CYBERNETIX INDEX

Cybernetix - Special issue advert

A one page “advert” for the forthcoming special issue of Cybernetix (that was never actually made).

Ice Warrior / Jon Pertwee artwork

Well the Ice Warriors came out OK, but sadly Pertwee looks bollocks.

Cybernetix - Issue 3 (December 1989)

This third issue of Cybernetix was published (or rather photocopied) on Wednesday 27th December 1989. I'd say that it's the best out of all the issues. I think that I got better at the job with each issue. You could say that this was the final issue. Issue 4 didn't happen and "The Special?" wasn't really a proper issue. It was quite short and was just put together to use up the remaining articles that would have appeared in the scrapped "proper" special issue. Out of all the issues, I'd say that this issue had the best content, having an interview with Stephen Wyatt, a rather good piece of fiction by J.T called "Angel of Death" and a few other nice bits and pieces.

Editorial
Welcome to issue 3!


Interview – Stephen Wyatt
An interview with the author of Paradise Towers and The Greatest Show in the Galaxy.

Peter Davison – the case for and against
The Defence. Davison’s portrayal of the Doctor is put on trial.


Exclusive news
A spoof news report on the format and casting for season 27 of Doctor Who.

Paradise Towers – A story with potential?
An analysis of the season 24 story, widely regarded as “dodgy” with most fans. DrGaz tries to find something positive about it and discusses whether or not it was really bollocks after all.

Checkmate
Fiction: A chess match between the Doctor and Fenric.


Angel of Death
Fiction: A mirror in an antique shop that has strange powers.


Season 26 gossip
Two random peoples views on season 26.


The Special Issue
A one page “advert” for the forthcoming special issue of Cybernetix.

Continuity – Davros: A study in tyranny.
An analysis of the character of the evil creator of the Daleks.


Doctur Huw
The Doctor (who has had too much to drink) and his barmaid companion escape the evil “Durlicks”.

Rear cover
Ice Warrior / Jon Pertwee artwork by DrGaz.

CYBERNETIX INDEX

Continuity – Who is the Doctor?

Right! The editor of this fanzine was so pleased with my "Hand of Omega" article in issue one that he asked me to become continuity editor. Being keen to impart my knowledge and have a moan every now and then, I said O.K, so here's my gripe for this issue;

There is supposed to be a revival in the mysterious element of "Doctor Who" once again, led by script editor, Andrew Cartmel. Along with the producer eternal and current Doctor, Sylvester McCoy, he is supposed to have brought the "Who" back into "Doctor Who" again by making us re-examine the Doctor's past and even consider his validity as an authentic timelord. My response to this alleged return of the mystery is simple - Balderdash!

It is impossible to make "Doctor Who" more mysterious again as we know too much about him now to even wonder about him as we once did. Of course the Doctor has become less mysterious over the years, but that is a natural process of evolution and cannot be altered. When we first met him in 1963, we didn't how who he was, where he came from or his reasons for leaving his own time and people, Over the years we have learnt of his origins, Piece by piece like a jig-saw
slowly being assembled we have discovered the truth about the Doctor and who he really is:

• He is a timelord.

• His home is Gallifrey.

• He stole a TARDIS and left Gallifrey because he was tired of his people's stagnant lifestyles and non-interventionist policy.

• He can change his appearance when his body is worn out or damaged by illness or injury.

The only area of mystery still left to be explored and discovered are the details of his personal life on Gallifrey, his family that he spoke briefly of in "Tomb of the Cybermen" and his true relationship with Susan. Was she really his Grand-daughter or was that just an affectionate term for her? These areas could be explored in the future along with his true relationship with the Master -was he just a student at the Academy, or a brother as has been suggested in the past?

Andrew Cartmel's philosophy of "hang the past! Let's invent a new mythology" is nothing short of sacrilege. The suggestions in "Silver Nemesis" that the Doctor was around in the "Old Time" and is therefore a contemporary of Rassilon and Omega is a load of rubbish, The Doctor's contemporaries are the people from his academy days - The Master, The Rani, Drax, and in all, probably the Monk. Equally absurd is the notion that the Doctor isn't a timelord! If that is so, Mr Clarke and Mr Cartmell then why, prey is he able to regenerate in the way all other timelords do? I'm sorry, but the Cartmell idea of re-introducing mystery into "Doctor Who" is so laughable that it would take an idiot to see any credibility in it.

Well that's it for this issue: Keep watching this space -and be nice to "Kinda". Until next time....,

J.T.

Console Design

Having being interested with the earlier years of Doctor Who, particularly on the design side, I am inspired by the works of the designers of this era such as Peter Brachaki who designed the TARDIS console and particularly Ray Cusick who, of course is responsible for the famous design of the Dalek, I might add also that anyone who is interested in this type of thing, "The Early Years" by Jeremy Bentham is worth getting. Anyway, I'm straying from the subject of this article, so down to business.

As I said, having being interested in these original designs, a thought struck me quite recently on where Peter Brachaki got his idea for the design of the TARDIS console from. My belief (unless you have already worked this one out for yourself) is that the design of the TARDIS interior is based loosely on it's exterior, ie. the Police Box. The simplified drawings on this page are to give you an idea of what I'm going on about.

Take, for example the roof of the Police box. There are certain similarities here. ,The sloping sides bear a resemblance to the TARDIS console, Consider the light on the Police Box, This is central as it is on the console and they both illuminate. Note the bit just under the light on the police box is similar to the bit just at the base of the time rotor on the console, except on the console, the sides are at an angle. Also on the Police Box are inset panels which are similar to those on the earlier TARDIS console.

The above proves that back in the early years, the look of the exterior of' the TARDlS must have been decided or1 before its interior was designed by Peter Brachaki. Either that or it was the other way around, but the chances of designing the interior first and then finding an exterior to match are very slight. Then again, it could have all been a flook!

I can confirm, though that the exterior of the TARDIS was decided on before the interior was designed, because in an interview with Sydney Neman in the American Whovian Times, Sydney Newman stated that he had decided that the exterior of the TARDIS was to be a Metropolitan Police Box in his original conception of Doctor Who.

Do you remember all those hexagonal patterns which featured inside rooms of the TARDIS a great deal during most of the Davison era? The stuff made up most of Adric, Nyssa's ad Tegan's quarters aboard the TARDIS. Well, in case you don't know, that is the basic shape of a very strong supporting structure. It's called a Geo-detic structure and a Geo-detic structure was used as the framework of Lancaster bombers during the the second World War.

It looks like the set for the TARDIS interior has been sligntly altered again. In one of the trailers for the new season featuring a short preview on Battlefield, I noticed that the walls are much darker, like the master's TARDIS. I didn't get a look at the TARDIS console properly so I can't say anything about that. By the time this issue of Cybernetix reaches you, you will know anyway so I won't bother telling you what happened in the trailer for Battlefield because I expect you already know!

DrGaz

Editorial - Cybernetix issue 2.

Well, CYBERNETIX has managed to reach it's second issue, and very pleased with it I am too. Things are looking hopeful for the future so I can guarantee an issue 3.

As you can see, I've made a couple of changes to the format of issue 2 for example, this editorial page and of course the CYBERNETIX logo an the cover. This time I've made it a bit darker and slightly more readable. With a bit of luck, I won't get too fussy in the next issue and alter the logo again.

I hope you like the issue, even though it is only 12 pages long this time. The reason for issue one being priced at 35p was because the people at "The Harrison Brothers" where all the photocopying is done accidentally charged me the wrong price - half the price they should have charged me. That's why it was so amazingly cheap. At the moment of writing this, this issue of CYBERNETIX stands at 50p each which I hope is O.K. (If the price I charge you is about 25p, that means that good ol' "H.B." have buggered it up again!

At the time this issue goes to print, most of "Ghostlight'' will have been transmitted. So far I have seen all of "Battlefield". So far, I think the new season is O.K ish. I wasn't very keen on the actual story-line of "Battlefield" but I suppose it was alright as evening entertainment.

One thing I did find impressive in "Battlefield" was of course the destroyer even though blue wasn't the best colour to paint it and the voice reminded me of a character from "He-man". But fit was very good and the costume must have cost the BBC a packet. Pity such an excellent costume was so much under used in the story.

I am looking forward to "Ghostlight". I think it's going to be good as it is said to have elements from both "The Evil of the Daleks" and "The Talons of Weng-Chiang". These are the favorite stories of the writer. "The Curse of Fenric" looks quite promising and I'm not so sure about "Survival".

Anyway, that's enough of that. There are quite a variety of contributors to this issue and I am quite pleased with the contents of this issue. I hope you think we've got the right content of seriousness and humour in this issue. I'm hoping the Continuity page will be a regular in future issues, now that J.T. has been appointed as continuity editor. I've decided to drop the archive feature from this issue and I doubt it will include it in issue 3, I wish to apologise to P.M. I hope he doesn't mind too much about his Dalek spoof being altered, However, thanks to D.B. for editorial assistance with this article.

Well, enjoy the issue and buy the next,

DrGaz

What's On Gallifrey

This was the rear cover of Cybernetix Issue 2. Artwork was provided by P.M. and tidied up/re-arranged by DrGaz.

Cybernetix issue 2 advert.

This was the rear cover of issue 1 of Cybernetix. A complete space filler really as it serves absolutely no function at all. I quite like it still from a design point of view. The text makes me cringe to read though and that's one hell of a wonky Dalek I drew there! A.S. drew the Cyberman.