Dr Who In Paperback - Part 1 - 1965 to 1973 - The Daleks - Chris Achilleos - Target Books

[@Eltonlaleham]

I have many Dr Who target books which I started buying, in the mid 70s as a primary school lad.

[@JulesBurt]

Me too, they are part of my DNA

[@Eltonlaleham]

I think I shall try to get a copy of the target book if I can.

[@JulesBurt]

Well worth it👍

[@StephenSinclair-d6n]

I still have lots of these books....🎉🎉🎉😊

[@JulesBurt]

They are the best🙂

[@frankshailes3205]

My favourite subject!

[@JulesBurt]

Excellent, hope you enjoyed this one 🙂

[@frankshailes3205]

@@JulesBurt Very well-produced and great fun. I loved seeing the interior illustrations, and the cover blurbs - everything really! Some lovely items. I've never seen a real copy of the American paperback, only poor quality scans of the front cover.

[@afjkernow1808]

Me too! Target books such an important part of my life as a child. They were my Pokémon I had to collect them all! I read and reread them much to the annoyance of my English teacher who wanted me to read proper books. I’m looking forward to hearing your insights. I like the fact you’re taking this in publication order. I’ve not had the finances to buy the modern books. My final Target book that I finally tracked down on eBay in 2008 was The Mysterious Planet!

[@JulesBurt]

Thanks! Working on Part 2 now!

[@borusa32]

Wonderful, I really loved my Dalek pocketbook back in the day and my Target collection is still with me.

[@JulesBurt]

Excellent. I just love all of these, so many memories.

[@sylvanyoung]

Thank you , for the show and tell .👍🖖

[@JulesBurt]

Thanks Sylvan!

[@martingainsford3225]

Fascinating. Absolutely loved this one. Thanks for a great little view.

[@JulesBurt]

Thanks Martin, very much encouraged to crack on with part 2 now,

[@redwawst3258]

Great vid. Informative. ♥️

[@JulesBurt]

Thanks my friend 🙂

[@ObscureBookAdventures]

Great! I recently read the first issue of the Doctor Who Weekly. Which I thoroughly enjoyed.

[@JulesBurt]

Nice🙂 I bought the original when it got released in 1979.

[@frankshailes3205]

@@JulesBurt I still have the transfers! :D

[@ObscureBookAdventures]

@@frankshailes3205 That's great.

[@JulesBurt]

Awesome!

[@dalesantos613]

A great thrill to see , fantastic !

[@JulesBurt]

Thanks so much Dale!

[@SubtropicBob]

Outstanding!!!

[@JulesBurt]

Thanks my friend 🙂

[@daveac]

At about 8 minutes in - the 'Doctor Who and the Crusaders' Book - I think I mentioned to you in the past Jules - the cover artwork was featured on an episode of BBC's 'Antiques Roadshow' where the son of the artist had brought it in.

[@JulesBurt]

Yes Dave, I believe the original three pieces are now all owned by David Howe and are currently on display at the Somerset Museum.

[@crashdive100]

Hi Jules! When Doctor Who started getting exposure in the States in the late 1970s (John Pertwee episodes on public television) there wasn't much merchandising available. Once the Tom Baker series hit American shores it took off and I remember going to several comic shops in the 80s where the Target paperbacks were exploding in popularity. An interesting point is that once an actor stopped being the Doctor, Target stopped showing that actor's likeness on the cover art. They eventually dropped that logic but the Chris Achellios style of stippled portraiture combined with more illustrative monsters was one of the singularly greatest cover designs in publishing history.

[@JulesBurt]

I remember when Dr Who got massive in the States, it became a real phenomenon. Spot on with the Doctors likeness on the cover. Back then it could only happen if the novel was for the current Doctor, not a past incarnation.

[@AnthonyP73]

Hooray! Fascinating start Jules, and it seems crazy that for a whole 10 years you could really only get 3 titles plus the Pocketbook and the Making Of. How the mania for Doctor Who wasn't capitalised on is beyond me

[@JulesBurt]

Thanks Anthony. You're right, it's almost hard to believe considering how much other Dr Who and Dalek merchandise was produced. I suppose as well as the annuals there was the comic strip and puzzle and colouring books. Why no movie tie-in editions to the Dalek films? Maybe Terry Nation said no.....

[@Eltonlaleham]

I wish I had the book the Dalek pocketbook, and space travellers guide it looks awesome

[@JulesBurt]

It's a great piece of sixties Dalek memorabilia.

[@Tardistravels-d5b]

the daleks on the front cover of the american pb book are Hertz toy daleks with some added sparklers for effect. My first dr who target book was the cave monsters. I use to buy them as soon as i could or whatever pocket money i had at the time. Over a period of time i have got all the ones showing in your video. The early books are very pleasing to look at and read.

[@JulesBurt]

Thanks, yes, my friend George told me about the Hertz Daleks, should have checked with him first! Cave Monsters was also my first Who book, I loved it having never seen The Silurians.

[@frankshailes3205]

The first Target I ever saw was The Cave Monsters, someone in the school playground had it (an older boy) on my first day at primary school! Later, our teacher brought in the Radio Times 10th Anniversary magazine. I was already in love with the programme by then.

[@JulesBurt]

Amazing!

[@pete8492]

What a great review Jules, very interesting.

[@JulesBurt]

Thanks my friend!

[@outsideinside9990]

Can't wait for part two!

[@JulesBurt]

Thanks, will hopefully get it done for next month🙂

[@Fred-gu6pk]

I suspect that part of the reason for the Target books including the text explaining the Doctor can change his face was the story The Three Doctors. Afterall if you were say 7 or 8 in 1973 you couldn't really recall Troughton and didn't know who Hartnell was but might read the book. (It would also help prepare you for his conversion into "THE Doctor" in 1974.) That might also account for the relatively small print run, the publisher had no idea how big Who could be.

[@JulesBurt]

All great points and I'm sure you're right about The Three Doctors. It seems obvious to us now but I guess the publishers had to tread carefully. It wasn't long until the books were a real success though.

[@Eltonlaleham]

I do like the Target books of Dr Who n billions of ways.

[@JulesBurt]

They are awesome 😎

[@BillSilver-kg8hs]

My favourite story ever is "Evil of the Daleks". During the 70s I was always hoping that this story was the next to be novelized, after they began releasing Patrick Troughton stories. I had no clue there were copyright issues over the 60s Dalek stories, at the time, keeping them off the shelves until the late 80's and early 90s. As luck would have it I had to wait until then to see EOTD novelised. Though, I WAS luckier with my 2nd Favorite story ever, "Tomb of the Cybermen". For that, I only had to wait until 1978. And of course, I got to SEE and OWN the story in full, when it was found in 1992.

[@JulesBurt]

Excellent, I too love Evil of the Daleks but slightly too young to see it when it went out. I live in hope that one day we get to see it all. I remember Tomb being recovered and not quite believing it. What a great story that it!

[@BillSilver-kg8hs]

@@JulesBurt I was fortunate to have seen EOTD, but only the once, as I was unaware of the repeat in 1968. I was 7 when I saw it, now I'm 64, and spent every year since, hoping, in vain it seems, to get the chance to see it again. If only just a couple of episodes were returned to the archives, that would be great. The animation was very good, but it's just not the same as seeing the original.

[@JulesBurt]

Thanks Bill!

[@TediousMilkshake]

🙌 🙌 🙌

[@JulesBurt]

Thanks 🙂

[@davebrzeski]

16:51 I remember having one, or two of those cheap nasty Dalek toys, that were on that terrible cover. They appeared close to the same time as the Dalek rollikins. As soon as you held up that first achilleos cover, I said, those Daleks are direct Ron Turner swipes! It always annoyed me that they didn't edit Whittaker's opening to remove the first meeting, which was redone properly when they novelised the first story. For future reference, the e in Achilleos is pronounced. It's e-os, not os. 🙂

[@JulesBurt]

Thanks Dave. Agreed, the Daleks on the US cover were pretty awful. Don't think I'll be able to change the way I pronounce Chris' name now, it's ingrained in me, sorry.