Up Close and Personal

 

In the past I have recommended a couple of free e-books which had memories of the Doctor Who Exhibition at Blackpool as their core. The first was Blackpool Remembered, which gave a year by year description of the exhibition from its opening in 1974 to its closure in 1985. There are floor plans for each year showing the layout of the many exhibits.

The second edition (Nov 2020) runs to 410 pages, and it covers the afterlife of the exhibits, auctioned off by Bonhams, on top of the many memories of visits. There are lots of photographs.

This was followed by Blackpool Revisited the following year. This runs to a whopping 639 pages.

The first section covers similar ground to the first volume, as people have sent in new memories and photos, having been prompted by the Remembered e-book. However, it then moves on to look at the later exhibition which opened in Blackpool between 2004 - 2009, run by David Boyle, the man behind DAPOL, whose own exhibition is also covered. The late Mr Boyle gets an appreciation. There is also a feature on his 'Bessie' replica, as well as some convention memories. Again, it is all lavishly illustrated.

Both of these can be found at the website blackpoolremembered7485.wordpress.com

Now, today, the same site has a new publication. This is Up Close, by Alex Storer, who was a contributor to the first two publications.

This is a more personal look at exhibitions and conventions in Sheffield and Leicester and runs to a more modest 94 pages.

Other contents include meetings with the three 1980's Doctors, a visit to the Museum of Sci-Fi (which also features in the Revisited e-book, and was recently the subject of a Keith Barnfather DVD release presented by Sophie Aldred), plus a look at classic era Doctor Who soundtrack albums (with a Dominic Glynn interview) and a 2002 interview with Steve Cambden, who worked on the series between 1979 - 1981 assisting K9's operator.

Storer also has a memoir of being a fan on sevenzero.net, called Who, Where & When. (This is also where you can order Cambden's two paperbacks: one a memoir - The Doctor's Affect - and the other a collection of interviews with VFX designers from the classic era - The Doctor's Effects).

If you're looking for 1100+ pages of nostalgia, totally gratis, then please do visit the sites mentioned above. All highly recommended.