Q & A with Andrew Skilleter
Andrew Skilleter is one of the starring artists featured in ‘Adventures in Time and Space: 60 Years of Doctor Who Art‘ on display at the Museum of Somerset, 15 June – 5 October 2024.
Andrew Skilleter is a long-time UK illustrator, with a busy illustrative career mainly illustrating works of mystery and imagination, but perhaps best known for his long professional association with Doctor Who and the BBC.
Here’s a quick introduction through some Q & As.
What was the first artwork you made?
I drew and created my own magazines as a child. Even back then I had an editorial instinct fired up by the comics of the time. From there I went through many phases as I found my way as an illustrator.
How did you come to creating the artwork for Doctor Who?
It was chance. Back in the day as an illustrator you made appointments with art directors of publishers in London in order to show your portfolio. It was late autumn 1978 and I was in the Mayfair London HQ of the publishers W H Allen, more specifically in the small office that led directly off the large art studio space occupied by a number of busy designers. The cluttered office belonged to the art director, Mike Brett. He took a chance on me and I went away with a commission for my first paperback cover. Other covers followed and then in 1979 my very first publishing encounter with Doctor Who with the commission for the Target books special, K9 and Other Mechanical Creatures. This was quickly followed by a similar book, Terry Nation’s Dalek Special.
My very first Doctor Who Target novelisation cover, Destiny of the Daleks, followed beginning a sequence of over forty Doctor Who covers, including hardback editions and specials, that would end in 1985 with The Mark of the Rani.
Where do you find inspiration?
I’m capable of great enthusiasm once something grabs me and then I doggedly pursue it. Inspiration can be triggered by an idea, a commission, so many places.
Which artwork has been the most fun to create whilst working on Doctor Who? – And which the most Challenging?
I’ve done hundreds of pieces of art for Doctor Who so it’s a tough question but think the most fun I had was illustrating The Monsters book in 1992 with its wildly imaginative speculative text that imagined the histories of some of the best known Who aliens. I had complete freedom and it totally involved me. As to the most challenging any of the major pieces featuring Daleks I guess!
Do you have a favourite Doctor, villain, or episode?
Tom Baker the Fourth Doctor. But I also like painting the very first Doctor, William Hartnell and the memory of watching the atmospheric The Dalek Invasion of Earth stays in my mind. The Daleks seemed very menacing in glorious black and white.
Have you ever collected any Doctor Who merchandise or artworks?
I never did. I watched the programme as a drama and then worked with the show professionally which I couldn’t have done if I it didn’t excite me. I felt an empathy with it. It went the other way, with fans collecting my Who artwork! I have just a few pieces left and any collectibles I have came to me via the various commissions I received.
Why do you find Doctor Who so interesting?
I am very visually driven. And the show bred so many excellent creations by talented designers which inspired me and of course the whole Police Box, time travel, regeneration package is unique.
What was your behind-the sofa moment?
I was too old for that!
How would you describe Doctor Who to someone who has never seen it?
I wouldn’t feel qualified to do so. I’d leave that to the dedicated fans without whom the show would have died a long time ago.
More About Andrew
It was his childhood dream to be an illustrator, his early influence being the cream of the British picture strip artists who flourished in the golden age of comics that was all over by the end of the 1960s.
He is best known for his long professional association with Doctor Who and the BBC, he maintained a long creative partnership with the BBC which included the Radio Collection covers such as The Chronicles of Narnia, Journey Into Space and Tolkien. He has worked with other BBC departments including visual entertainment and exhibitions and the Radio Times. His Doctor Who art dominated the 1980s and continued into the 1990s. It included over forty covers for the Target Books Doctor Who novelisations, the much loved Who Dares Poster Prints, the official Doctor Who calendars, the legendary Cybermen book with Cyber Leader David Banks, the iconic for Radio Times The Five Doctors cover, Doctor Who BBC VHS covers and the Doctor Who Virgin New Adventures covers. His artwork has been collected in Blacklight, celebrating 15 years of his Doctor Who art, and Exterminart! which featured his Dalek art.
ILLUMINART~ The Doctor Who Art of Andrew Skilleter follows the sell-out success of Exterminart! This is volume features not only most of his Doctor Who art but also selected pieces from his numerous Sci-Fi and Fantasy work.
Outside of Who, Andrew has produced hundreds of covers for adult, teenage and children’s books across numerous genres. His work has also encompassed the illustration of many books, magazines, CDs and Audio, TV and Video.
With John Peel, he launched the Doctor Omega Chronicles and is the creator of a new heroine, Miss Amelia Midnite. He publishes his own art collections including the Doctor Who Art Calendar each year and continues with private commissions and selling his original art.