Candy Jar Books update

It’s always nice to have John Peel back. He’s an old hand at novel writing, and without fail always delivers a strong first draft. More often than not, in fact, it requires little or no rewrites, usually a few touch-up edits. With the end in sight, we knew we had to prepare the way for Lethbridge-Stewart to become the Brigadier, and for his transfer from the Fifth to UNIT. To the end I worked alongside the authors of the final series to develop stories that would see the transition take place, show the fans why it was necessary for UNIT to be set-up to protect not just the UK, but the world itself. This book, like the previous Spheres of Influence, is a step towards that end…

We’d planned these final books some time ago, and I’d forgotten some of the smaller details, since obviously I had worked on many titles in the meantime. So it was a nice surprise when characters from bdw titleoth John's The Grandfather Infestation and On His Majesty’s National Service made an appearance. I hope it will be equally surprising and exciting for the long-time readers of the range, to see things coming full circle. It’s apt, I feel, that these characters in particular should return, tying John Peel’s contributions to the series in nice little bow.

I had tremendous fun while writing On His Majesty's National Service and introducing some new characters to the world of Lethbridge-Stewart, so when I was asked to write another entry in the series, I couldn't resist bringing some of them back again to help him out. Or are they helping him?”

I wanted to write something a bit different this time around, though, so I decided to avoid the customary alien invasion theme. This time around, the aliens aren't determined to conquer the Earth – but what they have in mind might be a greater disaster than a simple invasion. It was also fun working with Jonathan Blum (with a bit of assistance from Simon Forward) to find ways to link these final books together, to walk the path to UNIT…

The title often changes between first announcement and eventual release, and this one was no exception. Originally it was called United Nations, which would be followed up by Jonathan Blum’s Intelligence Taskforce. However, due to the need to turn Jon’s novel into two books (more on that when Jon’s book is due), I decided it made sense to assign both titles to Jon’s novels. Thus, John Peel’s needed a new title. It took a while, but I eventually suggested It Came from the Isle of Man to fit in with the B-movie influence behind the chapter titles contained within the book. John approved it immediately.

This cover was slightly different to my earlier ones in that rather than an idea of what the story elements were, I was given a passage of the novel to illustrate. The description of the sea monster is vivid and when I sat down to design it, I was influenced by one artist in particular. Way back when, when I was at school, a favourite artist of mine was Rowena Morrill, who sadly died a couple of years ago. She painted strange, fantasy hybrid creatures that had an otherworldly colour palette perfect for this subject, I felt. The scale of the creature is helped with the poor Minke victim, though I did move the ship closer than in the story for visual impact. Lethbridge-Stewart was always a hands-on sort and Andy asked for him to be in action mode. What better than showing him running into battle, urging his men forward? The breaking ice behind him hints at a location for the story, and there is a clue to another location for the keen Doctor Who fan.

I do like the Scots Guard hat (glengarry) so am pleased I was able to paint it. I find it can be quite tricky to get right in the way it sits on the head as the angles look wrong. Fortunately, I have one (too small for me, unfortunately) but it fits a polystyrene bust I have (don’t ask!). This allowed me to get it just right. I’m a big believer in reference material; you can guarantee that if you get something wrong someone will always notice. This caused quite the headache when trying to draw Lethbridge-Stewart’s service revolver, as I’d chosen an angle that I couldn’t find any reference of, so had to piece it together as best I could. I hope I’ve got it right!

I’ve been really fortunate with my association with the Lethbridge-Stewart books. I bought the first one and loved it; so much so that I felt the urge to create some fan art. Andy saw it and later offered me a try-out. So not only am I a fan, Andy give me the opportunity to become a part of it. It is sad for me to know this is my last cover as the series draws to a close, but what a ride it’s been! Massive thanks to Andy for creating such an enjoyable series of books, and for taking a chance on me. (I know he will want to edit this out, but I hope it stays)

The reaction we’ve had about the first book centred on the fact that it featured a strong female lead character, who our readers seem to have wholeheartedly embraced, working alongside classic Doctor Who characters such as Professor Travers and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. The latest short story takes a new twist, and brings the iconic film actor and director, Orson Welles into the mix.

There’s a famous Spitting Image sketch from years ago,” Tom adds, “where they basically said that Orson Welles lived his career in reverse, starting with the remarkable success of Citizen Kane and ending with financing being more than scarce for anything he wanted to direct.

The Analysis Bureau did exactly what we wanted, launching a spin-off title from our Lethbridge-Stewart books, and has created a team of characters who not only exists in their own universe, but also embrace characters, both human and otherwise from the worlds of Doctor Who, who we have under license. It was only natural to bring them back as soon as we could.

Chris painted the image of Capaldi in time for the LFCC when he was invited to be a guest at the Heavy Metal stand as he knew Peter was attending. Capaldi was one of my favourite doctors and we both liked his gruffness and welcomed a return to an older representation of the Doctor. Chris remarked how much he enjoyed painting his characteristics – the eyes being particularly a feature as Capaldi’s look is quite striking. Chris liked to draw interesting, older faces as ‘they were a more interesting subject’ to paint.

Before Chris sadly passed away, we had been discussing doing something else, but this never came to pass. Since then, knowing that we had one more piece of artwork, I wanted to showcase this. We are now releasing this version of the book to celebrate his life.