Artist Mark Thomas recalls his special commission 40 years ago.

By Patrick Mulkern

Published: Saturday, 26 August 2023 at 07:00 AM


All year we’ve been sifting through the Radio Times Archive for treasures to celebrate Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary, and this time we turn the clocks back to the Time Lord’s 20th birthday in 1983.

Radio Times marked the occasion with the “Doctor Who 20th Anniversary Special”, a glossy 64-page magazine overseen by our art editor at that time, Brian Thomas.

One of the highlights special was “a chilling, new, illustrated adventure”, a short story written by Doctor Who’s then script editor Eric Saward.

Tegan, the Doctor and Turlough, painted by Mark Thomas. From the Radio Times Doctor Who 20th Anniversary Special.
Tegan, the Doctor and Turlough, painted by Mark Thomas. From the Radio Times Doctor Who 20th Anniversary Special.

Called “Birth of a Renegade”, it pitted Peter Davison’s Doctor and his companions Tegan (Janet Fielding) and Turlough (Mark Strickson) against the Master (Anthony Ainley) and the Cybermen.

Saward also attempted to shed some light on the origins of the Doctor’s granddaughter Susan (Carole Ann Ford).

The Master and the Cybermen, painted by Mark Thomas. From the Radio Times Doctor Who 20th Anniversary Special.
The Master and the Cybermen, painted by Mark Thomas. From the Radio Times Doctor Who 20th Anniversary Special.

The tale was beautifully illustrated by artist Mark Thomas, whose pictures were reproducing now. And 40 years later, Mark speaks to RadioTimes.com about his memories of the assignment.

“I’d been doing regular work for Radio Times since 1976, after leaving art school, and had already done a cover. Then, in 1983, I got a call from Brian Thomas (no relation or nepotism, I’ll have you know!) to go up to RT headquarters in Marylebone High Street, for a meeting about a very special Doctor Who job.

“I was of the generation that was brought up on it, from the first disquieting episode, so was very keen.

The Master, Susan and the original Doctor, painted by Mark Thomas. From the Radio Times Doctor Who 20th Anniversary Special, 1983.
The Master, Susan and the original Doctor, painted by Mark Thomas. From the Radio Times Doctor Who 20th Anniversary Special, 1983.

“Initially, Brian was thinking that I might illustrate it like a comic book, i.e. panels and speech bubbles etc. At that point, I’m not sure if Eric Saward’s story had been fully realised.

“After discussing the pros and cons over the next few days, I persuaded Brian to opt for three full-page and two half-page drawings, as I think we’d have filled the whole issue trying to do justice to all the text. And I remember it was a tight deadline.

“My big influence on the make-up and look of the illustrations was one of my illustrator heroes, Frank Bellamy. He’d already done quite a few Who illustrations for Radio Times, including a wonderful Dalek cover [Day of the Daleks, 1972]. I’m pretty sure he would’ve been asked to work on this but he’d sadly died at his drawing board in 1976.

Susan, the Doctor, Turlough and the Master, painted by Mark Thomas. From the Radio Times Doctor Who 20th Anniversary Special, 1983.
Susan, the Doctor, Turlough and the Master, painted by Mark Thomas. From the Radio Times Doctor Who 20th Anniversary Special, 1983.

“Anyway, they were fun to do and I think they went down well and maybe people appreciated my nod to Bellamy’s genius. I’ve been asked for the availability of the originals over the years and I do know Paul Smith, a former RT art director and Who fan, has a few.”

Over the coming decades, Mark Thomas has continued to contribute to Radio Times, with further Doctor Who-related commissions. For BBC2’s Doctor Who Night in November 1999, he painted a collection of the Time Lord’s greatest enemies.

Doctor Who monsters painted by Mark Thomas in 1999
Doctor Who monsters painted by Mark Thomas in 1999.

In 2003, he supplied the cover for the Radio Times Doctor Who 40th Anniversary Special supplement.

In 2005, at the height of Doctor Who’s resurgent popularity, RT commissioned him to paint the cover for the Christmas double issue.

And in 2006, we asked Mark to illustrate a radio drama, Blood of the Daleks, featuring Paul McGann as the Doctor.

Mark Thomas's illustrations for Radio Times, 2003, 2005 and 2007
Mark Thomas’s illustrations for Radio Times, 2003, 2005 and 2007.

Our thanks to Mark Thomas for his help with this article. More of his work can be enjoyed on markthomasillustration.co.uk

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