Calling all Doctor Who fans with an artistic flair and creative impulse! Ahead of this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, BBC Studios announces the 2019 Doctor Who Fan Art Competition, giving fans an opportunity to see their own work on a Doctor Who t-shirt, with a limited quantity available for purchase at the BBC AMERICA booth at San Diego Comic-Con.

As anticipation for the next series builds, fans can channel their creative energy into an innovative rendition of the TARDIS and their favourite Doctor. Entrants can create anything from a candy mosaic of Tom Baker to a bowtie collage of Matt Smith – the possibilities are endless!

The competition closes on 15th May 2019 at 1:00pm BST (8:00am ET).


A panel of judges will select one grand prize winner and four runner-up artists. The grand prize winner and a guest will receive an exclusive Doctor Who-themed weekend trip to London, which includes:

• Two nights accommodation
• Special afternoon tea for two
• Doctor Who Escape Room activity in Reading, United Kingom
• Exclusive private screening of the fan’s favorite Doctor Who episode
• Having their artwork printed on limited-edition Doctor Who merchandise sold at San Diego Comic-Con
• Receiving a goody bag including iconic Doctor Who merchandise valued at approximately £520/$680

All four runners-up will each:

• Have their artwork printed on official, limited-edition Doctor Who merchandise sold at San Diego Comic-Con
• Receive a goody bag including iconic Doctor Who merchandise valued at approximately £520/$680

Art Specifications: Each entrant must design their own original piece of Doctor Who fan art in accordance with the following criteria:

• Artwork must feature both the TARDIS and one Doctor *
• The Artwork may also, at the entrant’s discretion, include a background texture, splash of colour or other abstract background design, but must not feature any other design element, including (without limit) any other Doctor, character, companion, monster, robot, prop, location, building or branding element (including third party brand names and logos), whether from the Doctor Who universe or otherwise.
• Artwork can be created in any two-dimensional medium and any color.
• Artwork must not include identifiers such as the entrant’s name, signature, image, likeness or any other identifier, or any reference to Comic-Con.

* Refer to the terms and conditions for more details on the criteria.

Submitting artwork: Each entrant must complete the entry form and upload their artwork in digital format on the Fan Art Competition website in accordance with the following criteria:

• Artwork must be submitted in RGB high res formats (TIFF, JPEG, PNG, or GIF).
• Artwork resolution must be a minimum of 300 dpi.
• Artwork must measure at least 260mm x 260mm when printed at 100% and must not measure more than 381mm x 508mm.
• Each entrant may submit multiple entries, as long as each separate entry consists of a different artwork. Entrants can only win one prize in the competition.

The competition is open to legal residents of the United Kingdom, the fifty United States and the District of Columbia, Canada (excluding Quebec), Australia, and New Zealand who at the time of entry are at least 18 years of age, or the legal age of majority in the jurisdiction in which they reside (whichever is higher). The grand prize winner and four finalists will be revealed at the BBC AMERICA booth during San Diego Comic-Con in July.

We have often been asked by those who missed The HAVOC Files 2 the first time around if we’d ever reprint it. After much discussion, we decided doing so would present us with a couple of challenges and opportunities. One, at least one story in the original collection was set in the ‘future’ (Ashes of the Inferno), with information that, at the time, hadn’t been locked down. The author of the story in question, Andy Frankham-Allen, realised it would be the perfect chance to update that story so it better fit the narrative revealed since early 2016. Two, another story has since been released as part of a full-length novella, and thus it seemed redundant to print it again in this format. So, faced with this, I made the decision to instead replace it with a couple of short stories only previously available in digital format.

We have a few digital-only stories, plus some still unreleased short stories, so we had a fair few to pick from. We decided on James Middleditch’s Piece of Mind, and Chris Thomas’ Vampires of the Night (both originally planned for the cancelled HAVOC Files 5), two vastly different stories, one dealing with Professor Edward Travers, and one dealing with the Brigadier and Sally Wright. Coupled with the chance to fix previous errors that crept into the other stories, The HAVOC Files 2 is quite a different experience now. Still contains everything in the original, but with bonus material for those wishing to double-dip, and loads of fresh material for those who missed the original version. All wrapped up in the wonderful new cover design, with, once again, Adrian Salmon’s brilliant artwork!

Having been a friend of Steve’s for nearly 50 years, and gone through many of those wonderful 70’s Doctor Who fan moments with him, such as meeting actors and production crew, visiting the Longleat and Blackpool exhibitions, and attending the very first DWAS convention in 1977, I’m delighted to see that his two books can now be read by a worldwide audience!

On his Sevenzero.net website, Alex Storer has, for several years now, kindly been sharing information about Steve and his books, and over the coming weeks we’ll be updating the site with more information and readers comments.

Both books are informative and enjoyable reading for Doctor Who fans, especially if you adored the classic years, when so many talented and creative men and people, working with miniscule budgets and often ridiculous time constraints, made television magic that enthralled and captivated so many young hearts and minds.

Candy Jar Books is offering an exciting, new opportunity for aspiring writers. Launching at Candy Jar Book Festival in Cardiff, writers can submit a short story based on the Doctor Who character Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart.

These stories will be included in a book to be released early next year.

Shaun Russell, head of publishing, says:
The overall winner will offered the chance to pen their very own Lethbridge-Stewart book, and work alongside range editor and creative director of the Haisman estate, Andy Frankham-Allen, and will also receive a Kindle Fire to read it on. Both the winner and runner-up will receive all the Lethbridge-Stewart novels from 2018. All winning entries will see their stories published in book form in 2018.

Lethbridge-Stewart has been an essential part of the Doctor Who universe since 1968. He was created by authors Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln for the six-part Doctor Who serial The Web of Fear. Forty-nine years since the Brigadier appeared in Doctor Who he has become one of the show’s most iconic characters, having appeared with ten different Doctors in countless TV episodes, books, audio dramas and comic strips. And his legacy continues on with his daughter appearing in Doctor Who since 2012.

The Lethbridge-Stewart South Wales Short Story Competition will launch at Candy Jar Book festival on 17th August. Candy Jar is hosting a free event at Cardiff Central Library at 1pm: a panel with Lethbridge-Stewart authors Nick Walters, Simon A Forward, Tim Gambrell, Alyson Leeds and range editor Andy Frankham-Allen, discussing writing Lethbridge-Stewart and Doctor Who novels and short stories. And prior to that, at 12pm, cover artist Richard Young will be hosting a drawing class.

Andy Frankham-Allen says:
The South Wales Short Story Competition will be accepting submissions from 17th August. Entrants are permitted to submit up to two short stories of no more than three thousand words. The competition is open to all unpublished writers across the UK.

Andy Frankham-Allen believes that short stories are an excellent way for writers to perfect their craft. He said:

All submissions must be received by the end of September. The competition is £5 to enter per story. The terms and conditions, such as copyright restrictions, will be emailed once the entrant has paid.

Entries can be sent via the Candy Jar Book Festival website.
Or at: https://www.freewebstore.org/jellybeanbooks/product/lethbridge-stewart%20short%20story%20competition

Alternatively, they can also be posted to Candy Jar Books, Mackintosh House, 136 Newport Road, Cardiff, CF24 1DJ
For more information please contact Shaun Russell on 02921 157 202 shaun@candyjarbooks.co.uk.