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BBC TV Maureen O'Brien Cast Card

BBC TV Maureen O'Brien Cast Card

Cast cards and other promotional photos remained available. A slight variant exists of the William Hartnell card with the same image as the earlier card, but a with Radio Times copyright; Mechanoid, Zarbi, and Chumbley promotional cards were published; and cast cards of Maureen O’Brien and Peter Purves were added when they joined the cast. In response to fan requests, the production office also distributed instructions on how to build a Dalek, based on an earlier Blue Peter “make” segment. The Daleks made an early exhibition appearance at the Daily Mail “Schoolboys and Girls Exhibition” at Olympia, London from 28th December 1964 to 9th January 1965, which generated significant publicity. With Doctor Who's first broadcasts overseas in 1965, foreign media coverage began and BBC Television Enterprises developed promotional materials to support further foreign sales.

The Daleks’ move from the television screen to stage and film has also generated a broad range of collectibles. A poster, handbill, and programme were produced for a theatre production, "The Curse of the Daleks," written by David Whitaker and Terry Nation that ran for a month at Wyndham’s Theatre, London beginning 21st December 1965. Significantly, the AARU Productions film brought Dr. Who and the Daleks to "the Big Screen in COLOUR!" Premiered in the UK on 23rd August 1965 and starring Peter Cushing, Roy Castle, Jennie Linden, and Roberta Tovey, the film generated a significant number of collectibles including an activity book and records previously mentioned. Additionally, posters, lobby cards, front-of-house stills, campaign books, and other publicity materials were produced and can be seen in the Dr. Who and the Daleks Gallery.

Radio Times, 13-19 February 1965

Radio Times, 13-19 February 1965

Doctor Who and the Daleks continued to appear extensively in print. The Radio Times regularly featured Doctor Who articles and a Web Planet cover appeared on the issue dated 13th-19th February 1965. More information about Doctor Who in the Radio Times during 1965 can be found here. The Doctor Who strip continued in TV Comic throughout 1965. Notably, the Web Planet with Zarbi and Menoptera were introduced in a strip that began in issue 693, dated 27th March 1965 and ran for six issues; the coming of the Zarbi was previewed in two earlier issues. With issue 720, dated 2nd October 1965, the Doctor Who strip was moved from pages 2 and 3 to make way for The Avengers, but replaced Space Patrol as the full colour strip in the centre pages. Doctor Who featured prominently in the 1965 TV Comic Holiday Special and the TV Comic Annual 1966 (published for Christmas 1965). Importantly, a new weekly comic, TV Century 21, from City Magazines began publication on 23rd January 1965. For two years, TV Century 21 featured a full-colour Dalek strip on its back page, a number of front page features, and several competitions with Dalek merchandise as prizes.  TV Century 21 primarily promoted the television series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s Century 21 Productions, and was produced in the style of a newspaper of the future. A further spoof on Doctor Who and the Daleks appeared in the Daily Express' "Four D. Jones" comic strip each day between 13th February and 25th March 1965 until it was withdrawn following complaints of license infringement by the BBC. Elsewhere the programme and its lead actors featured regularly in newspapers and magazines - a variety of cuttings are illustrated in the Gallery, including a selection from Raymond Cusick's personal collection.

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