Daleks to invade town for Dr Who exhibition

In celebration of the BBC TV cult-classic show, curators have organised the display of original artworks from Doctor Who comics.

Curator Jason Semmens explained: “While Doctor Who was busily fighting alien monsters on BBC TV every Saturday night after Grandstand and before the Generation Game, he was also the hero of a range of cartoon strips published in various comics and annuals from the mid 1960s onwards.”

Running alongside the TV show, the cartoon strips featured their own parallel world, where Doctor Who was joined by his grandchildren John and Gillian and later by companions from the show.

Magazines such as TV Comic and TV Century 21 capitalised on the popularity of the show by introducing various foes, including the dreaded Daleks, which even got their own strip for a couple of years from 1965. With the introduction of annuals in 1965, the comic strips had a whole new lease of life. Many of these have become collectors’ items.

Mr Semmens continued: “Horsham District Council’s Horsham Museum and Art Gallery is pleased to feature a special display of original artworks from comics over the years, featuring every doctor up to and including the current Doctor, Matt Smith. These pieces were drawn by some of the major names in comic illustration and fine art, including Richard Jennings, Gerry Haylock, Ron Turner, Dave Gibbons, Lee Sullivan, and John Ridgway ―artists who have worked on well-known and much loved comics such as Judge Dredd and 2000 AD, and commissions for Marvel Comics and DC Comics.

‘2D Adventures in Time and Space: An Unofficial Doctor Who exhibition’ opens on October 19 and runs until January 1 2014.