BBC DOCTOR WHO IMPOSSIBLE WORLDS - A 50-YEAR TREASURY OF ART AND DESIGN

IF YOU HAVE RECEIVED a book or gift token this Christmas, how about splurging it on this lavish coffee-table book? BBC Impossible Worlds - A 50-Year Treasury of Art and Design provides a colourful look at the artwork from BBC TV’s long running science fiction series, Doctor Who.

SMALLSPACE 4 - BBC TV SCIENCE FICTION

BBC SCIENCE FICTION featured strongly at Smallspace 4. Outside the main hall (above) a bunch of Doctor Who lookalikes posed next to the Whomobile car.

SMALLSPACE MODEL SHOW GOES BALLISTIC: SUCCESSFUL SECOND MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

The second smallspace show - featuring space, science fiction and fantasy models - was a wild success.

INCOMING: SMALLSPACE 2013 - SPACE, SCIENCE-FICTION AND FANTASY MODEL SHOW

The second annual SMALLSPACE event is coming this Sunday, July 7. This year the show has a twin focus - on the late Gerry Anderson of THUNDERBIRDS fame, and to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the BBC TV series DOCTOR WHO.

DALEK SECRETS REVEALED IN ‘BBC VFX’ BOOK FROM MAT IRVINE AND MIKE TUCKER

David Jefferis turns the pages

First things first - BBC VFX is a thundering great tome that tips the scales at not far south of 2 kg (4 lb) and is an encyclopedic 240 pages from end to end. And in fact, that’s just what it is - a show-by-show encyclopedia detailing the work of the BBC Visual Effects (‘VFX’) Department down the years.

SMN contributor Mat Irvine

The two authors behind BBC VFX are long-time experts in the VFX field. We know Mat well for his contributions to SMN, and for his droolworthy Model Museum, packed with examples just about every kit ever made. Mike Tucker worked at the BBC until 2003, and now runs his own company, The Model Unit, based at Ealing Studios near London.

Daleks to Moonbase 3

So what’s between the covers of BBC VFX? Quite simply, the most complete listings, descriptions, and behind-the-scenes information about virtually every BBC TV show that’s featured the Department’s expertise. Some of these are world-renowned - Doctor Who and the Daleks, for example; others are less well known - I’d never even heard of the 1970s series Moonbase 3, much less seen a show. But famous or not, Mat and Mike have put together a showstopper of a book that is packed with fascinating facts, whatever the TV show they are talking about.