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November 17th, 2019 18 comments

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Kklak! The Doctor Who Art of Chris Achilleos Hardback

Available to order while stocks last from www.candy-jar.co.uk

THE HARDBACK VERSION IS A LIMITED EDITION AND WILL NOT BE RELEASED COMMERCIALLY. FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED!

CHRIS ACHILLÉOS: DOCTOR WHO VISIONARY

In his five decades as an illustrator, painter and conceptual artist, Chris Achilléos has four best-selling books of his art, Beauty and the Beast, Syrens, Medusa and Amazona. He worked with the likes of George Lucas, as well as producing the iconic promotional art for the cult film Heavy Metal. But it is probably his work for Doctor Who that is the most enduringly popular.

His covers for the official Target novelisations, which began in the early ‘70s, defined a generation’s image of the Doctor and his adventures – particularly after the show disappeared from British screens in the late ‘80s.

Lavishly detailed, with psychedelic overtones and an unapologetically pulpy sensibility, these covers perfectly captured the eccentric appeal of the classic series. To this day, Doctor Who luminaries tip their hat to the influence of Achilléos’ work. The opening of a 2016 exhibition of Target’s cover artwork at the Cartoon Museum, London, attracted the series’ then-showrunner Steven Moffat, as well as twelfth Doctor Peter Capaldi.

With the Doctor long back on our screens, and more popular than ever, it is perhaps surprising that Achilléos’ Whovian oeuvre (or Whoeuvre, if you will) has never been collected in one place.

Kklak: The Doctor Who Art of Chris Achilléos, an upcoming title from award-winning independent publisher Candy Jar Books, aims to address this. For the first time, it collects the entirety of Achilléos’ Doctor Who artwork in chronological order, along with commentary from Achilléos himself (as well as some fans) – presenting the definitive guide to his seminal work. The book also includes a small contribution from twelfth Doctor Peter Capaldi and a foreword from Achilléos’ long-time friend and collaborator, the late Terrance Dicks.

Achilléos explains his motivations for compiling the book:

“I go to a lot of conventions, and the enduring affection of the fans for those Target novelisations is such a compliment. As an artist you’re always wary of being pigeonholed – you want all your work to receive the same amount of attention! But Doctor Who is such a phenomenon, and the commitment of the fans so pure, you have to be grateful. I hope they enjoy this special book.”

As the home of the Lethbridge-Stewart series, one of only a handful of fully licensed Doctor Who ranges outside of the BBC, Candy Jar was the natural home for Achilléos’ new title. As Candy Jar’s head of publishing, Shaun Russell, explains:

“The Target novels were a huge part of our childhood. And when it came to our own range of Doctor Who books, they were an inspiration. You could always tell that they were produced by people who cared. There was an attention to detail, and a level of quality, which quite frankly, went above and beyond what was necessary. Doctor Who will sell regardless, but as a series it means so much to people – and to us here at Candy Jar – that you want to do repay that. And from the first moment you picked up a Target title, with one Chris Achilléos’ brilliant designs on the cover, you knew that you were in for something wonderful. His work manages to capture everything that makes Doctor Who special, and stand alone as works of art in their own right. When Chris first spoke with us, I jumped at the chance to work with him.”

Featuring every one of Achilléos’ Doctor Who designs, as well as never before seen material giving insight into his creative process, Kklak: the Doctor Who Art of Chris Achilléos is released in April 2020 by Candy Jar Books.


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18 comments

  • Alan

    November 20th, 2023 - 9:30am

    Got an email that this is now back in stock limited to 100.

    Reply
  • 9 months of waiting

    November 12th, 2021 - 7:31pm

    Had this on pre-order from Amazon for 9 months. Was really looking forward to it. Order got cancelled by Amazon two months after anticipated delivery date. Really disappointed. Could order from Candy Jar but not clear if it’s in stock or when it will come. Will cost about £8 more than original order. I know things are difficult re pandemic but I feel a big let down. I think Candy Jar could have fulfilled their commitment to 3rd party suppliers as they had indicated they would have done.

    Reply
  • Shaun

    January 28th, 2021 - 8:44am

    Oh, and it’s just slightly bigger than A4.

    Reply
  • Shaun

    January 26th, 2021 - 1:00pm

    Hurrah! mine (hardback) has arrived today and it looks lovely! Can’t wait for the time to sit and read it.

    Reply
    • Doctor Mysterio

      January 26th, 2021 - 1:58pm

      Can you tell us about the book, how many pages, size etc? There doesn’t seem to be a lot of information about it. Thanks.

    • Pete X

      January 26th, 2021 - 5:29pm

      Did Candy Jar email you to let you know it had been despatched or did it turn up out of the blue?

    • Mjs

      January 27th, 2021 - 2:08pm

      Has this taken almost a year and quarter to get to you?

    • Pete X

      January 27th, 2021 - 6:46pm

      The book’s page on Candy Jar’s website states;

      “THIS BOOK WAS DELAYED DUE THE PANDEMIC.

      THE PAPERBACK IS NOW AVAILABLE AND HAS BEEN POSTED OUT.

      DUE TO STRICT COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS AND MANPOWER ISSUES AT THE PRINTERS/BINDERS, WE RECIEVED 50% OF THE HARDBACK COPIES ON THURSDAY 21/01/21. THESE HAVE BEEN POSTED OUT. WE ARE HOPING THAT THE REMAINING COPIES WILL ARRIVE IN THE NEXT TWO WEEKS. AS SOON WE GET THEM WE WILL POST THEM OUT IMMEDIATELY. IF YOU PLAN TO ORDER YOURS NOW, PLEASE ALLOW 14 DAYS FOR THE BOOK TO ARRIVE.”

      Sorry about the caps, it’s copied and pasted directly from the website.

      http://www.candy-jar.co.uk/books/klakkthedoctorwhoartofchrisachilleos.html

      And they’ve sorted out the mirrored Dalek too.

    • Shaun

      January 28th, 2021 - 8:41am

      The book is 122 pages, and in full colour apart from the end papers. There’s a two page spread for every book cover Chris has done, the left hand page has a short bit of commentary from him, plus things like the back cover blurb and photos of foreign editions using the same artwork. The right hand page is a reproduction of the clean art work. Further on in the book there are other pieces Chris has done, for things like Typhoo Tea, SFX Magazine, some private commissions and some new covers painted exclusively for the book (The Aztecs, The Invasion, Inferno, The Brain of Morbius – which are all lovely). At the end there are a few pages of reflection and insight from other people, including Jon Culshaw, Gary Russell and Colin Howard. It really is a warm collection of such iconic and lovely art! And, as Pedte X says, they’ve corrected the ‘wrong-way-round’ Dalek on the cover (although all the original artwork inside with Daleks’ suckers on the wrong side are as they were!)

    • Pete X

      January 29th, 2021 - 8:11am

      My copy arrived yesterday. Very handsome looking volume.

  • Neil M.

    May 8th, 2020 - 1:13pm

    I feel very proprietorial about the Daleks also… I suppose I need to get a life, but flipped images of Daleks etc., really irritates me too! By the way, I ordered the hardback edition. The paperback version is available from Amazon as well.:-D

    Reply
    • The Fishmonger

      January 27th, 2021 - 1:19pm

      Got mine today (out of the blue, I wasn’t expecting it until May). It’s very good quality. A4 hardback, glossy pages all the way through. 122 pages. Foreword by Terrance Dicks, biog of Chris Achilleos. 2 page spread of all his Target covers, first page explaining how he drew it, second page an A4 textless version of the cover. Really really nice quality.

  • Chris Howarth

    November 19th, 2019 - 2:26pm

    Paypal wouldn’t work for me for some reason. I assumed the HB was sold out so tried to order the PB, but it still wouldn’t work.

    Reply
    • Anonymous

      November 19th, 2019 - 6:50pm

      If the hardback was sold out it would say so. I’d check with PayPal to see if there is problem there.

    • Shaun

      November 20th, 2019 - 11:58am

      I’ve just bought the hardback using paypal – hope you resolved whatever the problem was Chris

  • Anonymous

    November 18th, 2019 - 3:38pm

    That Dalek being mirrored is stressing me out

    Reply
    • Anonymous

      November 18th, 2019 - 7:14pm

      Chill

    • Monkey Tennis

      November 19th, 2019 - 9:25pm

      Oh god, now you have pointed it out I’m not gonna sleep, it’s like when people sell used Daleks on eBay and stick the arms in the wrong ball sockets or even worse put a plunger in the eye stalk socket! What are people thinking?

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