A glossy hardback book collecting together one hundred Doctor Who audio drama cover artworks will be released in November 2023 from Big Finish Productions.
Big Finish has been producing original Doctor Who audio dramas since 1999 and, for many listeners, one of the great delights of each new adventure is seeing the cover artwork for the first time.
As Doctor Who celebrates its 60th anniversary on television, a selection of the finest cover illustrations from a range of artists has been compiled into a lavish new coffee table book, The Art of the Audio Adventures.
Featuring contributions from Ryan Aplin, Lee Binding, Anthony Dry, Claudia Gironi, Clayton Hickman, Simon Holub, Lee Johnson, Anthony Lamb, Sean Longmore, Alex Mallinson, Christopher Naylor, Mark Plastow, Jim Sangster, Caroline Tankersley, Chris Thompson, Rafe Wallbank, and Tom Webster, plus commentary by the artists, as well as actors Colin Baker, Paul McGann, Jon Culshaw and Tim Treloar, this book is a 208-page visual feast.
Big Finish founder and chairman, Jason Haigh-Ellery said: “Over the past 25 years I have often been asked by fans of the Doctor Who audio dramas whether we would ever do a book featuring some of our best covers.
“I am always amazed at the works of art that are created by the cover artists that work with Big Finish. Whether they are depicting a dystopian future, providing a glimpse of the past or strange and wonderful new worlds, they capture a moment contained within the audio drama and provide it as an invitation to come and join the Doctor and his companions on their adventures. This book pays tribute to these artists and to the productions they are depicting.”
Big Finish creative director and executive producer, Nicholas Briggs, added: “The cover artwork is the first encounter our listeners have with our stories, before they’ve even started listening to them. So, the artists who create them must capture the essence of what each particular story is, or, more importantly, the essence of it that we want to convey.
“The covers must engage the imagination of the audience, and to do that they must also first engage the imagination of the producers. I’ve had some of my most interesting creative discussions at Big Finish with cover artists. We’ve been blessed with many brilliant artists who have the gift of bringing the essence of Doctor Who to life.
“Recently, I’ve particularly enjoyed commissioning far simpler, but arguably even more evocative pieces which instantly sum up an era of Doctor Who. It’s where the audio inspires the visual, creating a gallery of imagination.”
The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: Art and Illustration, Audio, Books, Digital Media, Doctor Who, downthetubes News, Other Worlds, Television
Love / Hate Big finish ……
There output is good but the amount of product they turn out is crazy…
An overreaction to Who disappearing from TV ?
Or some really really crazy fans who have time and money to listen to everything?
Maybe you are just meant to listen to a cd here and there.
Then again this art book (agree the artwork is amazing) shows that there are some people who will buy anything and everything Who. I mean they’ve already seen the artwork on the CD?!?!??!
To me their crazy output has diluted Who, Ok I don’t have to listen to it all, but really there can’t be many story themes / type of character they have done over many times by now… and I believe their story development is limited by their BBC contract.
Why do franchises have to go so over the top these days? Like the gazillion marvel series. Who has time or money or cares about one franchise so much…….. There are other franchises / things to do in life. Maybe when I’m in a care home, my legs and eye sight going I’ll listen all the Big Finish audio…. or classic fm or talk radio…. you get my point…… I hope 😛
I mean seriously?
https://titanbooks.com/71874-star-wars-the-ultimate-cookbook/
Does these people think they have access to offworld ingredients or something? 🙂
Economy can’t being doing that bad can it?