Sci-Fi Bulletin: Exploring the Universes of SF, Fantasy, Horror and Spy-fi!

Among the beautifully preserved and displayed props at the Cardiff Bay Doctor Who Experience lurked some very different characters on April 22nd – fun cardboard standees of cartoon characters in gaudy colours that were clearly related to Roger Hargreaves’ legendary creations. Yes, this mash-up of Doctor Who and Mr. Men was celebrating a world launch event ahead of official publication on Tuesday 25th April and threatened to blow the Cardiff Space-time Rift wide open… again! Nick Joy was there to report for SFB…

The first four books in the series, published by Puffin, are Dr. First, Dr. Fourth, Dr. Eleventh and Dr. Twelfth, and this was the opportunity for visitors to the Doctor Who Experience that day to grab some pre-release copies. You can read our review of the books here.

Series writer and artist Adam Hargreaves (son of the original creator Roger) was on hand across the day to dedicate copies of the books to a long line of Mr. fans of all ages, as well as to demonstrate live drawing of the new Dr. Men characters. Accompanied by the Doctor Who Fan Show’s Luke Spillane (who was clearly thrilled to be interviewing a childhood hero), he provided commentary and demonstrated his artistry via a camera that projected the images for all to see.

Children also had the opportunity to complete exercise sheets and track down the cardboard characters dotted around the venue. But the big exclusives were to come at the end of the afternoon – the grand reveal of the next four books in the series and an exclusive video.

And the next four books are…. drum roll please!… Dr. Second, Dr. Seventh, Dr. Eighth and Dr. Ninth. These will be published by Puffin on August 29th this year.

The video exclusive was an animated short of Dr. Twelfth, narrated by Little Miss Missy herself, Michelle Gomez. Missy appears in the book, making this a fitting voice-over. People of a certain age will probably wish that Arthur Lowe (or latterly Geoffrey Palmer) was still around to narrate this, but Michelle is a great alternative as she delivers Hargreaves’ witty text in her trademark style.

And finally, there was a big cake in the shape of a stack of books, surrounded by the Dr Men characters. Mr Men, Doctor Who, cake? Has someone been reading my Christmas list?

The long queue of fans sated, Adam said goodbye to a very appreciative set of readers that spanned multiple generations. Last stop, a visit to the actual TARDIS across the road at Roath Studios. Because sometimes nothing can beat standing inside the Type 40 time capsule… not even a tickle from Mr Tickle.

Watch out for our exclusive interview with Adam Hargreaves. With thanks to Rebecca Booth at Puffin, Ronan Chander at BBC Worldwide and all at the Doctor Who Experience.