If you ever purchased a Doctor Who VHS video in the 1990s or collected one of the many Target novelisations of the series then chances are you've come in to contact with Andrew Skilleter's art work. For over fifteen years, from 1979 to 1995, he was professionally involved with Doctor Who, his work including the iconic 'The Five Doctors' Radio Times cover, countless book covers, BBC video covers, calendars, prints and other merchandise.Outside of Doctor Who he is closely associated with the many Gerry Anderson titles published by Fleetway comics. Andrew has also produced hundreds of covers for adult, teenage and children’s books across numerous genres, and many audio book covers including a long creative partnership with the BBC for the Radio Collection covering The Chronicles of Narnia, Brother Cadfael, Tolkein and Journey Into Space.For me though, and I expect many many others from my generation, Andrew Skilleter and Doctor Who go hand in hand. In the early 1990s, when there was no new Who on our screens, the VHS releases kept me going. Many of these stories I had never seen before, others I'd not viewed in a decade or more. If that wasn't reason enough to purchase them there was the wonderful cover artwork, the best of which was Andrew's. They would stand out and were instantly recognisable amongst the racks and racks of videos in HMV. To this day Andrew's covers remain my favourite from any of the mediums the stories have been released on, and often the images and designs he created are the first thing that spring to mind when I think of that particular story.Recently I had the chance to sit down with Andrew and talk a little about his association with Doctor Who. I asked him if he was a fan of the show before his professional association began.: The first time I became aware of your name was on the front cover of The TARDIS Inside Out book in 1985. I thought the portraits of the Doctors were simply amazing. Did you have a particular Doctor that you preferred drawing? I was always partial to your Peter Davison, I don't think anyone else quite captured him the same way.: I soon realised that you'd provided the cover artwork for many of the Target novelisations I already had, and it gave me a whole new appreciation of them. I know you created the covers for several dozen of them, along with some of The New Adventure series. Do you know just how many you actually did?: Many of the Target book covers would not feature the Doctor, I'm thinking of some of my favourite ones like Frontios and The Time Monster, were you given a brief for who or what to include in the artwork, or were they quite happy to trust your judgement?: It must have been quite an honour to design the Radio Times cover artwork for The Five Doctors, how did that come about, and was there a lot of competition for the cover: I imagine every collector of Doctor Who VHS video in the 80s and 90s has come into contact with your artwork through the many covers you illustrated. Castrovalva is probably still my favourite of any Who release in any format. But I wonder, were there any stories that you wish you had designed the cover art for?: I see from your Facebook page that you're keeping up with the show today and have been creating a lot of fan commissions based on the new series. Do you have any new-Who professional artwork publications coming up soon?: After mentioning that I'd be talking with you I received several questions from readers of our website, I've picked a few out. Firstly from Shane Collier: "Andrew's Doctor Who illustrations were a great inspiration to me whilst I was young, actually inspiring a last minute switch to take Art at O Level. I wonder what artists or illustrators inspired Andrew when he was starting out?": From Mike Key: "As a teenager in the eighties and collecting all the Target novels I used to very much look forward to seeing the art for the next cover and Andrew was and still is one of my heroes. The Gunfighters is my very favorite. I think those covers were painted in acrylic but more recently Andrew has joined me in the use of coloured pencils (hopefully one day I'll be as accomplished), I wondered what prompted the switch and which he prefers?": From Steven Neal: "The John Nathan Turner years are my favourite era on the show. I think it was the most visually striking time, which seems to be very much reflected in the book and video covers. Could you ask Mr. Skilleter if he had much access to the actual production of the show and if he feels it influenced his work?": From Dave Gee: "I've followed Andrew Skilleter's work on Doctor Who and the many Gerry Anderson titles he's drawn for. Which one did he enjoy the most, and what has been the most challenging?": Finally, I have to ask you about Cilla Black? Apparently she kick started your career? I'm not sure why but 3 people mentioned it to me.: Thank you very much.I did google it afterwards and found some interesting illustrations from a 'Judy' annual. You can check that out yourselves if you like.All original images on this page are the work of Andrew Skilleter and are reproduced with his kind permission. Many more are on view on Andrew Skilleter's Facebook page and at his website, www.andrewskilleter.com , where you can also purchase original artwork from Doctor Who and many other sci-fi/fantasy shows, or even approach Andrew about a custom made commission. You can find out more about, and order, 'The Who's Who of Doctor Who' HERE