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June 11th, 2022 62 comments

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The Unofficial Dr Who Annual 1988

Available to order from www.lulu.com

The Dr Who Unofficial Annual 1988, the sixth release from Terraqueous Distributors.

Originally due for release back in March, the 1988 annual took a sideways trip and got lost in the vortex for a couple of months. But just like the Tardis, the 1988 annual may have not materialised when it was originally supposed to, but the two month delay allowed for a couple of extra surprises to be added.

The 1988 annual comes in at 177 pages and includes contributions from well-known names such as John Freeman, Daryl Joyce, Alister Pearson, Bonnie Langford, Smuzz, Andy Walker, Paul McCaffrey, Shannon Gallant, Paul Mark Tams, and many more. And this time we have the sixth Doctor himself joining the list of contributors. “we are extremely humbled and grateful to the kindness of Colin Baker, who has written a very special foreword for the readers of the 1988 annual”.

The unofficial Dr Who annual 1988 is another great mix of stories, features, puzzles and artwork. And, thanks to the kindness of Bill Baggs and James Hornby, the Cyberons officially make an appearance in the annual. Although these Cyberons may not be the ones you’re expecting, redesigned by James Lee, their intergalactic menace proves to be a mighty force to be reckoned with.

But it’s not just the Cyberons the Doctor and Mel have to look out for. Within the pages of the 1988 annual, the great vampire Dracula is looking for blood – Time Lord blood!

As many will be aware, Bram Stoker created the original Dracula, and thanks to Dacre Stoker and Chris McAuley, we have been given permission to use the original Stoker Dracula in not one but three original blood curdling tales. The 1988 annual is certainly not a safe place for the Doctor and Mel.

And the Doctor makes a return to Kandalinga, where his first incarnation met the Fishmen. ‘The Coral Eaters’ is an epic sequel to ‘the Fishmen of Kandalinga’, written by Andrew McDonald, and illustrated by Faiz Rehman. The Fishmen of Kandalinga was a story from the pages of the very first Dr Who annual. And what better way to celebrate the annuals of the past, than by visiting some old friends, well maybe not friends…

Earlier this year, Terraqueous Distributors also invited you to make a £5 minimum donation to the charity ‘Lullaby Trust’, and all those who did, would have their name (or the name of a loved one) printed in the annual on the page of heroes. Terraqueous would like to thank everyone who donated, you have helped to raise more than £2,780. This was done by single donations as well as yearly subscriptions, many of you donated far more than the required amount. You guys are heroes!

This annual also marks the end of an era – the 80’s era. World Distributors ended their run of classic Doctor Who annuals with the 1986 annual. With the release of the 1988 annual, Terraqueous have completed the 80’s run of the classic annuals, having previously released the 1987 and 1989 annuals.

So whats next – Terraqueous Distributors will be releasing the unofficial Dr Who annual 1997. This will be the only annual dedicated to the eighth Doctor, and will include a very special alternative cover by beloved artist Carolyn Edwards. And then we bridge the final gap with the 1990 and 1991 Yearbooks.

The Unofficial Dr Who Annual 1988, is a not-for-profit publication. Please visit the TERRAQUEOUS DISTRIBUTORS facebook page for further details and updates.

The price of the annual will be determined nearer the time of its release, when the precise date of publication and details of how it can be purchased will also be announced.


Categorised under: Annuals, diaries and calendars, Books, Featured

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62 comments

  • Malc

    June 13th, 2022 - 7:16pm

    Mine arrived today and goodness me it is fantastic.
    I would like to get the exclusive charity cover too. Can i still donate?

    Reply
    • Kaled101

      June 15th, 2022 - 10:49am

      I think that opportunity has now gone.
      But best to DM the publishers in the facebook group, and ask there.

  • PexLives

    June 10th, 2022 - 9:00am

    Mine also arrived yesterday and it is a thing of beauty.
    Colin Baker’s foreword was very touching. The story Faulty Towers was very enjoyable with nice artwork.

    Reply
  • Anon

    June 6th, 2022 - 3:48pm

    Orders are starting to dispatch today, mine has now been sent

    Reply
    • PiersS

      June 6th, 2022 - 5:18pm

      Same, mine too!

    • Anon

      June 9th, 2022 - 3:12pm

      Disappointing, thought this might have arrived today but no sign of it.

    • Ian zygon

      June 10th, 2022 - 6:46am

      Got mine yesterday

    • Kevin225

      June 10th, 2022 - 1:21pm

      Mine arrived today.

    • Anon

      June 10th, 2022 - 3:45pm

      Yes, mine has turned up. Looks great. And a pleasant surprise to see two McCoy stories included.

    • MJS

      June 10th, 2022 - 7:51pm

      Oh. Surprise no more then!

    • Andrew

      June 11th, 2022 - 10:23am

      I placed my order on 31st May. I haven’t received it yet, despite the confirmation email stating that I would receive it by 9th June. Unfortunately their very poor website doesn’t provide an order status, so I have no idea when I’m likely to receive it.

    • Anonymoooooose

      June 11th, 2022 - 2:00pm

      Its still early days, lulu can be quick, or they can really drag their feet, when it comes to printing and delivery.

      Its usually 10 – 21 days turnaround from the point of ordering.

    • Anon

      June 11th, 2022 - 4:24pm

      Andrew lulu are experiencing delays due to covid. I find that now the arrival date is usually when they send out the order. I ordered mine on the 30th, it arrived yesterday. You can send an email to lulu.

  • Chelsea

    June 3rd, 2022 - 2:42pm

    this is my first unofficial annual. does anybody know how long they take to arrive from lulu?

    Reply
    • Anon

      June 3rd, 2022 - 8:53pm

      Roughly 5 business days (Monday-Friday not including weekends) to print, then around 3-5 days to arrive

    • Anomy

      June 5th, 2022 - 10:36am

      They print in the UK and there have been two bank holidays (Thursday and Friday) so they won’t count as working days. Everything I’ve ordered recently has been delayed being sent out normally a day after the estimated delivery date and arriving two to three days later.

    • GrantP

      June 5th, 2022 - 7:58pm

      My first one too! Quite excited by this!

  • Rusty

    June 2nd, 2022 - 8:00am

    The classic 80s annuals are complete.
    I can’t believe what these guys have achieved in just a few short years. The quality of these books are FANTASTIC, the BBC really should consider hiring these guys
    Thank you to everyone involved.

    Reply
  • mduff43185

    June 1st, 2022 - 11:36am

    Just ordered a copy, had no idea it was imminently to be released. “For once, I’ve been able to steer the Tardis and here I am”.

    I look forward to the thud on the doormat!

    Reply
  • Floppy Lion

    May 30th, 2022 - 9:50pm

    Last summer, I did the illustrations for one of the short stories in this book- it’s great to finally see it released!

    Reply
    • timeschampion

      May 31st, 2022 - 3:51pm

      which story I will go that one first when my copy arrives.

  • captain cupcake

    May 30th, 2022 - 8:15pm

    PURCHASED.

    Now the long wait begins. This cover looks great I love Daryl Joyce’s work.

    Reply
  • Doug Who

    May 30th, 2022 - 2:29pm

    Just ordered this using the code IMAGINE15. Code should be valid through to June 3rd.

    Looking forward to receiving this very much!

    Reply
  • SpecialK

    May 30th, 2022 - 12:33pm

    Can’t purchase this until pay day next week, but the following discount codes WELCOME15, & LULU10 work from time to time.

    Reply
    • GuyTheZygon

      March 8th, 2023 - 8:44am

      LULU10 doesn’t, but WELCOME15 did!

  • bryan

    May 30th, 2022 - 11:14am

    Gosh, been waiting for this ( &97) so much. Its a day one order. Its going to be fabulous the work the Team puts in to make these so specual, must be enormous .

    Thank you.

    Huge thanks for the heads up here. Too.

    Reply
  • Stuwie

    May 30th, 2022 - 9:21am

    and ORDERED!

    now the wait begins.

    thanks for sharing this release.

    Reply
    • Ken

      May 30th, 2022 - 10:22am

      Any LULU codes knocking about

    • Shaun

      May 30th, 2022 - 12:05pm

      LKAB317CD just got me 10% off, which more or less equates to the cost of the cheapest postage option!

    • Anon

      May 30th, 2022 - 12:17pm

      WELCOME15 takes care of the postage and takes it just under the cost of the book

  • Anonymous

    May 17th, 2022 - 10:00pm

    Was there any truth to that online article that Terraqueous was going to re-release all their previous Annuals? Mainly trying to combat the rip-off merchants charging crazy online prices for them…

    Reply
    • Mark @ Terraqueous

      May 18th, 2022 - 7:54am

      Absolutely true!

      This past year we’ve been working on three books, and reformatting our previous releases.

      The first of these is the 1972 annual, and I am happy to say that, although we have yet to set a release date. The work on this first re release is now complete.

      In the meantime, there is the 1988 annual to look forward to in less than 2 weeks, and there’s also the extremely brilliant ‘The Zygon Outer-Space Diaries’, not a Terraqueous release, but made by very good friends of ours. That’s available now

  • RT

    May 16th, 2022 - 4:55pm

    Not on Facebook is there another way to order? It looks great.

    Reply
    • booboo

      May 16th, 2022 - 6:02pm

      you cant order it yet, not until 30th, will update post when its live

    • RT

      May 16th, 2022 - 8:33pm

      Thanks

  • Vote saxon

    May 15th, 2022 - 10:55pm

    Definately gonna be worth the wait.
    Another high quality release.

    Reply
  • Bundy

    May 15th, 2022 - 7:59pm

    lol – more a spoiler than a preview by showing all the solutions!

    Reply
    • 1robby

      May 16th, 2022 - 8:40am

      The solutions page was always in the annuals at the back of the book.

      Traditionally its always been there to see. I dont think people flicking through the pages are gonna be kicking themselves for doing so when they come across the solutions page.

    • Nick

      May 16th, 2022 - 9:19am

      Treat it as a memory game!

    • Mark @Terraqueous

      May 16th, 2022 - 4:24pm

      Nick, I like your thinking, we could do that for the 1997 annual.

  • 1robby

    May 15th, 2022 - 6:37pm

    Oh yes this looks epic

    Reply
  • Doug Who

    May 15th, 2022 - 2:00pm

    This really looks great. I think the standard of illustration has continued to get better as these have gone on! Infinitely better than the last fee original WD annuals I think!

    Really looking forward to it!

    Reply
  • The great healer

    May 14th, 2022 - 2:27pm

    I wonder what the surprise additions are?

    I know last years 1989 annual included an exclusive Beano strip.

    Reply
  • Jamie Lenman

    May 12th, 2022 - 5:17pm

    If the ’89 annual is anything to go by, this will be another exquisite slice of nostalgia, perfectly pitched and passionately produced!

    Reply
  • atir

    May 12th, 2022 - 12:14pm

    never bought one of these because of the high print on demand price.

    but the promo images are always high quality. so I’m going to buy this one – after reading the reviews and comments here.

    is there anyway we can see preview pages of the inside content?

    Reply
    • booboo

      May 12th, 2022 - 12:32pm

      they usually send some images through when its released

    • Mark @Terraqueous

      May 14th, 2022 - 5:22pm

      I think a few sample interior pages will appear here soon.

  • astro pie

    May 11th, 2022 - 12:34pm

    I was a little unsure about this one when it was first announced as this just seemed like a gap filler. But clearly the same amount of work and dedication has gone into this release as much as the previous ones.
    I will buy this as I know it will be a quality product and it is nice to see Colin still doing stuff for the fans.

    Reply
  • Macone

    May 11th, 2022 - 8:15am

    Wish these guys did the official annuals.

    Reply
    • Ken

      May 11th, 2022 - 11:27pm

      Amen to that

  • Quinny

    May 10th, 2022 - 10:03pm

    Was afraid this was not going to be released.

    So relieved. Thank you to all at terraqueous distributors

    Reply
  • Facebook Not Found

    May 10th, 2022 - 8:29pm

    anyone else experiencing problems with the facebook link?

    Reply
    • booboo

      May 11th, 2022 - 10:12am

      Link seems OK but its now a closed group so you have to request to join

    • Anonymous

      May 17th, 2022 - 4:10pm

      I’ve requested to join the group but it seems to be taking awhile?

    • Mark @ Terraqueous

      May 17th, 2022 - 4:32pm

      @anonymous

      That will be sorted within the hour. 🙂

  • Fin

    May 10th, 2022 - 2:13pm

    “Good people like you – help good charity’s like the Lullaby Trust to keep on running. ”

    Total class, week done to everyone involved in putting this latest annual together, please keep em coming.

    Reply
    • Fin

      May 10th, 2022 - 4:57pm

      auto correct on my android is a nightmare.

      “Good people like you – help good charity’s like the Lullaby Trust to keep on running. ”

      Total class, WELL done to everyone involved in putting this latest annual together, please keep em coming.

  • bryan

    May 10th, 2022 - 12:09pm

    Have been Waiting for this and 1997 to go on sale. The previous volumes have all been produced to such a high quality.

    These are such a labour of love from so many people. Fantastic news we are so close now.

    Reply
  • Kaled101

    May 10th, 2022 - 11:48am

    Nearly three grand raised for charity. What a result!

    Can’t wait!
    Roll on the 30th!

    Reply
    • dalekguy

      May 10th, 2022 - 6:02pm

      and thats not even achieved by sales of the book (this hasn’t even been released yet). this has been raised by fans donating just so that they can have access to the alternative covers.

      amazing

    • Zak

      May 30th, 2022 - 10:38am

      Maybe I’m being thick, but can’t get my head round why a 1988 annual would be dedicated to the sixth Doctor when it’s right in the middle of the seventh Doctor’s era?

    • booboo

      May 30th, 2022 - 10:54am

      Its because annuals always come out the year before the date on them so at the start of 1987 the sixth Doctor was still the Doctor.

      Same will happen with the 2023 annual, it comes out on sept 1st 2022 when Jodie is still the current Doctor even though she wont be in 2023

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