Almost six months before their first invasion of Earth on TV, did you know Doctor Who‘s deadliest foes, the Daleks, were already stalking the comics pages of one of Britain’s newspapers in early 1964?
A lone Dalek is included in an episode of “The Flutters“, published in the Daily Mirror on 16th May 1964, just a few months after the Daleks arrived on British TV, picking up, no doubt. on their popularity, ahead of their return in The Dalek Invasion of Earth in November.
This episode of the strip sees a frustrated scientist (a regular character in the series) bemoan to fellow drinkers in a pub that he was pipped to the post in his creation of the Daleks by Doctor Who…
“The Flutters“, a serialised sports page humour strip, initially about a couple that liked to gamble (hence the title), but which evolved into something more “soap opera”, first debuted in the Daily Mirror in July 1947 and ran for 24 years, drawing to a close in February 1971, replaced by Bill Tidy’s “Fosdyke Saga”. It was initially written by Jack Hargreaves, then Ian Gammidge, and drawn by Leonard (Len) Gamblin.
Online sources, and Paul Hudson’s invaluable The A to Z of British Newspaper Strips also note Neville Colvin drew some episode of the strip, who’s perhaps best known for his work on “Modesty Blaise”, but it’s not clear when. The Book Palace has an example of a strip credited to Colvin it states was published in 1964; but The Last Dodo web site features an episode of “The Flutters” credited to Gamblin dated 1968, and Gamblin was still drawing the strip in 1971.
Ian Berwick Gammidge, born in Ashtead, Surrey on 15th April 1916, who died in Frimley Green, Surrey on 9th October 2005, was a member of the Territorial Army before World War Two, so was quickly called up and despatched to
France, from where, after the French collapse, he escaped via Cherbourg. Daily Mirror strip editor John Allard, paying tribute to him in an obituary for the Press Gazette in 2005 noted that, later, he was in the Siege of Malta.
“During this time Ian developed his gifts as a cartoonist and humorous writer,” John wrote. “Following demob, ex-Captain Gammidge submitted material to Lilliput and other magazines, before joining the Daily Mirror cartoons department as resident scriptwriter.
“He produced stories for ‘Jane’ and ‘Ruggles’ among other strip cartoons, but his big successes were ‘The Flutters’ and ‘The Larks’.”
Gammidge started working on “The Flutters” after he approached Philip Zec in 1947, political cartoonist and art editor of the Daily Mirror, who invited him to submit a script for an episode of the strip.
As a cartoonist, Ian had a regular feature called “Gammidge’s Bargain Basement” in the Sunday Mirror.
Ian’s elder brother, Henry, was also a cartoonist and scriptwriter for the Daily Express, notably of the “James Bond” strip.
“The Flutters was a strip I really liked,” commented cartoonist Lew Stringer back in 2014. “I’m sure that some of Ian Gammidge’s scripts with all their sporting/ gambling references went right over my head as a child, but I think it was the fact that it was a continuing humour strip that grabbed me. The artwork by the appropriately named Len Gamblin was the clincher though; busy but clear, and just right for the strip. I was disappointed when The Flutters was eventually replaced by Bill Tidy’s Fosdyke Saga which I never really took to.”
New Zealander Neville Colvin served his cartooning apprenticeship as a contributor and then staff cartoonist of the NZEF Times during World War Two, and was cartoonist at Wellington’s Evening Post for a decade from 1946. His later distinguished Fleet Street career included staff stints on the News Chronicle, the Daily Telegraph, the News of the World, the Daily Sketch, the Daily Express and the Sunday Express. He also drew newspaper strip cartoons and is probably best remembered for his 2000 “Modesty Blaise” strips.
The Daily Mirror would, of course, poke fun at the Daleks more than once, including in “The Perishers” in strips published in early 1965 featuring “Dustbin Daleks”, the work of Maurice Dodd and Dennis Collins.
WEB LINKS
• Yesterday’s Papers: The Daily Mirror Strip Index 1904 – 2019 by John Adcock
• Lew Stringer: “Daily Mirror strips of the 1960s”
• The Doctor Who Cuttings Archive: The Daily Mirror
• TARDIS Fandom: Cultural References to Doctor Who
• The Independent: Ian Gammidge Obituary by Mark Bryant
• The Press Gazette: Ian Gammidge tribute by John Allard
• Lambiek: Neville Colvin Profile
• The A to Z of British Newspaper Strips by Paul Hudson is available from Book Palace Books now, price £55 | ISBN: 978-1913548247 | Artists and Writers: Numerous | 320 Pages | Read our review
The Flutters © REACH
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: British Comics - Newspaper Strips, Comics, Doctor Who, downthetubes News, Features, Other Worlds, Television
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