Q & A with Colin Howard
We’ve interviewed Colin Howard, 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.
Colin is a freelance artist, with over 35 years of sci-fi and fantasy illustrations, best known for his Doctor Who, Red Dwarf and Quantum Leap covers.
Here’s what he had to say:
What was the first artwork you made?
I remember copying Christos Achilleos’ Target novel covers and the Wheetabix packet cards as a child in the 1970s. The first published artworks were in the Peter Haining Key to Time Hardback in the 80s, then the Attack of the Cybermen Target cover in 1987 I think.
How did you come to creating the artwork for Doctor Who?
I always dreamt of getting to produce a cover for the novelisations range, so would continuously send samples to any company who had the franchise, be it WH Allen, Virgin Books and Marvel UK. In the end it paid off, having worked on covers and media for every form of Doctor Who merchandise, even featuring ‘on-screen’ in the Animations.
Where do you find inspiration?
I amassed a large collection of fantasy and science fiction books & magazines that fired my imagination, alongside film and television series. Reading is also important to help form and visualise ideas.
Which artwork has been the most fun to create whilst working on Doctor Who? And which was the most challenging?
I would say that my Macra Terror VHS Homage was most fun, as I decided to produce a new piece to celebrate working on each animation in the style of my 1990s covers. And creating a scary Macra was quite a stretch as the Originals and the animated ones were very immobile.
The most challenging was to create a new companion (Sam Jones) for the 8th Doctor BBC books, quite a few versions were created. Or the DVD cover for Power of the Daleks animation, as I wasn’t allowed to use either colour, or any actors likenesses, only the animated ones. I ended up setting the template that was subsequently followed, but I was never used again. Luckily I got to produce backgrounds etc instead, so I’m actually in the end credits for those I worked on.
Do you have a favourite Doctor, villain, or episode?
My favourite villain is Roger Delgado’s Master or the Sea Devils, both inspire happy childhood memories.
How long have you been collecting Doctor Who artwork and merchandise?
All my life, from childhood, until recent years, when the initial relaunch flooded the Market. I would have bought a Beep the Meep though!!!
What was the very first Doctor Who piece you bought?
Probably The Cybermen/ Moonbase Target novel.
What’s your favourite piece in your Doctor Who collection?
Possibly my Christos Achilleos 1st Doctor Who Monster Book from the 70s, or Revenge of the Cybermen Betamax tape, it cost a fortune on release and was the first ever Doctor Who release to watch at home.
Why do you find Doctor Who so Interesting?
It’s that childhood connection of the fantasy of the show and dreaming you too could be whisked away from the everyday routine into a whirlwind of adventures and new worlds.
What was your behind-the sofa moment?
Probably the Auton Mannequins bursting out of shop windows in potentially anyone’s home town and running amok.
How would you describe Doctor Who to someone who has never seen it?
I niche-ly British show that takes you away to fantastically alien worlds and situations across time, in the company of a friendly alien who will always have your / the planets interests at heart.
More About Colin
In the 1980s Colin began illustration for Doctor Who fanzines and then graduated to doing Warhammer illustrations for Games Workshop’s White Dwarf magazine culminating in illustrating the whole ‘Empire in Flames’ role playing book. During this time he also began black & white illustrating for Marvel UK’s Doctor Who Magazine’s Archive features, which in turn led to painted covers.
In the mid-late 1980s he also supplied detailed-pixilation illustrations for WH Allen/Target releases ‘The Key to Time’ and ’25 Glorious Years’ as well as the cover art for the ‘Attack of the Cybermen’ novelization, and many others, including the ‘Timelord’ role playing book.
In the mid 1990s Colin supplied cover art for the Official BBC VHS tape releases for 33 Doctor Who stories, as well as hand painting cover illustrations for the BBC’s 8th Doctor Who fiction novels. Colin also designed the 8th Doctor’s companion ‘Sam Jones’. During this time he also became a regular cover artist for Fleetway’s Red Dwarf – Smegazine and Boxtree’s Quantum Leap novels.
Realizing the traditional role of cover artists was dying, Colin trained himself to paint digitally, never straying too far from Doctor Who. In the 2020s produced artwork for the BBC’s Animations of Missing stories – Power of the Daleks/Shada/The Macra Terror and finally Evil of the Daleks.
Having suffered with Multiple Sclerosis for 10 years, Colin had previously been still able to carry on his professional art career. However a progression of his illness while working on Evil of the Daleks impacted his career.