THE FOE FROM THE FUTURE...

Surely one of the all-time great TARGET covers, Jeff Cummins' work on Terrance Dicks adaptation of the superb The Talons of Weng Chiang clearly and perfectly captures the tone and essential story elements of this Robert Holmes 1977 gem (the giant rat of the original transmitted story would finally look as good on screen, matching the cover art, by the time of it's 2020 Blu-ray release!). 

I have always loved Chris Achilleos prior cover work, but I admired Cummins more adult sophistication just as much, particularly in capturing the darker and harder-edged styled Philip Hinchcliffe era for Tom Baker.

THE MASTER AT FIFTY: NOT QUITE A MAN OF THE CLOTH...

In the early seventies, most reverends/'men of the cloth' seen on TV were either of the most lightweight and unassuming kind or of the lovably pompous/ accidentally bumbling Derek Nimmo variety that would become such a part of light entertainment comedy. Not so with the Reverend 'Magister' of 1971, however, whose building, disturbing actions within his new parish of Devil's End sees the unleashing of dark forces and powers (going beyond previously attributed supernatural realms) against both planet Earth and The Doctor, witnessed to the fullest within the final exciting story of Jon Pertwee's second season - The Daemons! 

Captured by UNIT. But for how long...?

The ultimate showcase story for both the Master (later garbed beyond his innocent Vicar disguise in a glorious red-cape that more than enhances his world-ending villainy) and a clearly relishing it all Roger Delgado, The Daemons is rightly regarded as an all-time classic by fans and the people who made it, a triumph from which the Time Lord nemesis was now fully established and clearly loved by TV audiences during1971. So much so that, during location filming of the story, the local townspeople of Aldbourne, Wiltshire (the location used to represent the fictional realm of Devil's End) were actually loath to boo the character when finally captured by Sergeant Benton and UNIT at season's end - a sure sign of the TV icon baddie's success! 

It wouldn't be long before the Master would return to plague The Doctor and UNIT anew on the rejuvenated series, though on a less regular basis, so as to keep his future appearances a notable audience-grabbing surprise...

Catch the colour-restored The Daemons as part of the recently released The Collection - Season 8 Blu-ray set.

TERROR IN THE SNOW...

In the snow-laden mountains of the Himalayas, a robot 'Yeti', under the control of the ethereal Great Intelligence of outer space, begins its surveyance, soon to commit a murderous act, in this superbly atmospheric art by Andrew Skilleter for an eighties reprint cover edition to Target Books' adaptation of The Abominable Snowmen.

Terrance Dicks' classic telling of the Second Doctor adventure was an early highlight of the Target range and is being reprinted in 2021 as part of a special author special tribute collection, The Essential Terrance Dicks - available in a unique two-volume edition from BBC BOOKS, comprising ten specially chosen titles.

Get it here:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Essential-Terrance-Dicks-1/dp/1785946641/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=doctor+who+essential+terrance+dicks+collection&qid=1625934799&sr=8-1

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Essential-Terrance-Dicks-2/dp/1785947354/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=doctor+who+essential+terrance+dicks+collection&qid=1625934833&sr=8-2

AT THE 'EDGE OF DESTRUCTION'!

Though designed as a filler story to help the production of the ambitious, upcoming Marco Polo, David Whitaker's two-part TARDIS-set drama The Edge of Destruction is an intriguing mystery that drives our heroes to the brink of insanity and violence, with all of the series regulars getting a chance to act out of the norm in their roles, especially William Hartnell as a delirious and mistrusting Time Lord, delivering one his best series performances during one particularly eerie soliloquy sequence effectively realised with atmosphere by the late director Frank Cox.

Original Radio Times clipping with a very rare on set cast posed image.

TIME FOR A NIBBLE...

 

Struggling to escape - hell, there's not even time to adjust her era-wearing stockings and suspender belt! - our heroic Ace is caught in the firm grip of a Haemovore duo intent on draining her blood and lifeforce, during a deleted scene moment from the Seventh Doctor's finest adventure, The Curse of Fenric.

Radio Times episodic clipping.

THE CHARMS OF 'UK HABITAT'!

Recovering from a bashing received to him by the underground inhabitants of 'Marb Station', The Doctor discovers more about the unique reading habits of the future Earthmen. A quirky scene from the opening episode to The Trial of a Time Lord (aka story one - The Mysterious Planet) 

WHEN TIME RAN OUT...

The Cybermen's attack/invasion plans against Earth and a special conference being held there have been thwarted by Adric's time manipulation of the human freighter, but time is running out for The Doctor to save his isolated companion, what with the TARDIS console soon damaged and a vengeful Cyberleader ready to kill, in this great Earthshock art by eighties fan favourite artist Phil Bevan, that originally appeared in the magazine DWB.

OUT IN THE FINAL FRONTIER!

 

Titan Base's regular shuttle run takes a dark and unexpected twist, its crew intercepted and taken over by the power and ambition of the Nucleus of the Swarm, a creature intent on breeding and unleashing itself upon the galaxy, in Bob Baker and Dave Martin's unique spin on the classic Fantastic Voyage movie: The Invisible Enemy.

The superb model work for this story, courtesy of industry legend Ian Scoones, still holds up well, forty four years on, and was one of the genuinely acclaimed elements of this sci-fi adventure.

THE MASTER AT FIFTY: JUDGE, JURY AND GALACTIC DESTROYER!

Thinking he has mastery of his TARDIS, the exiled Third Doctor and a travel-wary Jo Grant soon find themselves caught up in a battle for control of a near dead world between a relatively new human colony and the greedy machination of the bullying Interplanetary Mining Core. As if all that wasn't enough, a disguised the Master has also turned up, looking for 'the ultimate weapon', hidden within a lost alien city, capable of conquering or destroying the galaxy! 

This time out, Delgado's crafty and determined villain gets to hold Jo Grant hostage in the kind of deadly life-size test tube normally reserved for one of the captured heroes of Land in the Giants, communicates with alien intelligences to achieve his universal power goals, and stirs up the distraction hostility (when needed) between two sets of conflicting human parties. He even offers his mortal enemy The Doctor a half share of the universe, no less- what a happily bad and confident mood our great icon renegade is in during this lively six-part story that takes the series back into outer space!

With no official images seemingly taken of the Master in his adjudicator costume, Lee Binding's composite of a Terror of the Autons headshot with a likely upscaled screen grab of the costume worked well enough for the UK/US DVD sleeve art of a few years back.

Colony in Space is part of the recently released The Collection - Season 8, out now on Blu-ray.