Telos Publishing’s recent Doctor Who-related books include The Fanzine Book: The Golden Age of the Doctor Who Underground Press, This is a Fake! A Collection of Unreal Things by Andrew Mark-Thompson and The Art of Phil Bevan (reviewed here). The small independent publisher, also known for its stunning art books such as The Art of Reginald Heade and much more, continues what seems to be their mission to surprise and delight, with The Illustrated Journey: A Visual Celebration of Doctor Who by artist Daryl Joyce, introduced by actress and series star, Sophie Aldred.
Leading with eye-catching artwork and minimal text, The Illustrated Journey is exactly as described in its title: a marvellous, full-colour, coffee-table-style hardback book, presenting a glorious collection of illustrations chronicling the show’s whole history.
The landscape format of the book is perfect for this project from noted artist Daryl Joyce, well-known for his previous Doctor Who pieces for Big Finish, Doctor Who Magazine and more. Offering entrancing imagery, taking us from the Totter’s Lane junkyard of Doctor Who’s opening story in “An Unearthly Child”, right up to the most recent stories, the delight here is not some slavish re-presentation of scenes from the show as we saw them, restricted in “Classic Who” days by limited effects budgets and production time.
Rather, Daryl brings us, particularly on early shows, the Doctor Who of our imaginations; eye-catching, mind-expanding landscapes capturing scenes from the series unlimited by TV budgets, including those of more recent years, for all the developments in visual effects that have enabled modern Who to often equal the imagery of some SF TV rivals.
A true flight of the imagination throughout, the overall impact of this beautifully-presented book, accompanied by a small behind the scenes sketch section, is that it conjures new stories from old. Leaving you more than satisfied, I felt, despite its high cover price (reflecting production costs and quality) that Doctor Who is, as ever, far more than what you saw on screen, sparking in Daryl, and through his work, in me, an enjoyable and unforgettable trip down memory lane in a delightful way,
The Illustrated Journey offers art that inspires and intrigues, as you always hope art will, when bringing a favourite show or subject to life. I can see fans returning to savour this collection again and again, spotting some new aspect of Daryl’s work each time. I certainly will be.
John Freeman
• The Illustrated Journey: A Visual Celebration of Doctor Who will be published on 8th September 2023 and is available to order direct from Telos Publishing here | £44.99 | 336pp | 8.5×11-format landscape full colour hardback | ISBN 978-1845832216
Daryl Joyce – online at daryljoyce.co.uk – is a professional illustrator and designer whose work has been published in magazines, books, on the web – and has even been used on television.
His work for various Doctor Who publications is perhaps his most famous – it’s been commissioned for Doctor Who Magazine, 2|Entertain’s Doctor Who DVDs, the official BBC Doctor Who website, Doctor Who novels and the Doctor Who story books. Indeed, illustrating Doctor Who stories is very much a passion for Daryl, who is a long-term fan of the series, especially early adventures – where he is able to recreate dramatic scenes which 1960s and 70s budgets would not allow.
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, Books, Doctor Who, downthetubes News, Features, Other Worlds, Reviews, Science Fiction, Television
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