Who Dares Publishing (often referred to as simply Who Dares), was a publisher set up by Andrew Skilleter to produce a range of quality merchandise that included poster prints, calendars (for 1986, 1987, 1988 and 1989) and bookmarks.
Andrew Skilleter was working for W. H. Allen at the time. Realising that there were no plans to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the TV series with any art-based projects, he approached producer John Nathan-Turner. Turner was aware of Andrew Skilleter's work, having approved all the covers for Target Books.
The first items to be merchandised were a series of A3 poster prints featuring Omega from Arc of Infinity and Cybermen from Earthshock. The accompanying text was prepared by Richard Landon.
Prepared in time for the twentieth anniversary event at Longleat House, two thousand units were sold in the first five hours alone.
Further prints were merchandised. Omega, Sontarans, K9 and Davros and the Daleks were adapted into jigsaws by Waddington of Canada for the home and USA market.
The licence to produce Doctor Who calendars in the USA had ended and Who Dares picked it up. The first in 1986 was a showcase for Andrew Skilleter's work and sold 20,000 copies in the USA alone.
While not illustrated by Andrew Skilleter, Who Dares allowed the publication of two other books of interest to him — The Man Who Drew Tomorrow, a look at the work of artist Frank Hampson, and Timeview, the complete collection of Doctor Who illustrations by Frank Bellamy. Timeview also won the 1986 British Book Production Award.
Who Dares Publishing
Who Dares Publishing
Copyright for merchandise proved to be problematic and expensive, so for the calendars, individual copyright holders were kept to a minimum and along with Anthony Ainley's Master, not all the Doctor's likenesses were used.
A decline in the TV series, with shorter seasons and less airtime, saw it relegated to one of cult status, and marked the end of Who Dares success.
The last title published was the hardback Doctor Who: Cybermen, a collaboration with David Banks and Adrian Rigelsford, a title that was offered to Virgin, who produced it as a paperback and for which Andrew Skilleter reworked the cover.
In his book Blacklight: The Art of Andrew Skilleter, the artist explains that the name Who Dares was partly inspired by his love of the series he had come to late on ("Who"), and "Dare" from his 1950s comic strip hero Dan (Dare), with an "s" added.