Norvic Philatelics - GB New Stamps and Special Postmarks

Classic Television: The 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who - stamp issue 26 March 2013

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who, the longest-running science fiction series in the world; the first episode was broadcast on 23 November 1963.

Royal Mail will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the world’s longest running science fiction series in TV history - Doctor Who - with the launch of a special set of 11 stamps.

The stamps will feature each of the actors who have played the role of the Time Lord over the last 50 years. The stamp design will see the face of each Doctor appearing out of the iconic swirling screen idents, made famous by the opening credits of the BBC TV show. The first two stamps are in black and white, as the first two incarnations of the Doctor were broadcast in monochrome.

Featuring on the stamps are the present Doctor, Matt Smith, as well as David Tennant, Christopher Eccleston, Paul McGann, Sylvester McCoy, Colin Baker, Peter Davison, Tom Baker, Jon Pertwee, Patrick Troughton and the First Doctor, William Hartnell.  In addition to the 11 stamps featuring the Doctors, a five stamp miniature sheet will also be available. In the centre of the sheet is a stamp featuring the Doctor’s
space and time travelling machine, the world famous Time and Relative Dimension in Space or the TARDIS as it is more commonly known. The remaining four stamps feature some of the Doctor’s most famous foes; a Dalek, a Cyberman, an Ood and a Weeping Angel.

Set of 11 x 1st class Dr Who stamps each showing a different Doctor.
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All 1st Class

1st Doctor: William Hartnell – First broadcast in 1963 until 1966.

2nd Doctor: Patrick Troughton – First broadcast in 1966 until 1969.

3rd Doctor: Jon Pertwee – First broadcast in 1970 until 1974.

4th Doctor: Tom Baker – First broadcast in 1974 until 1981.

5th Doctor: Peter Davison – First broadcast in 1982 until 1984.

6th Doctor: Colin Baker – First broadcast in 1984 until 1986.

7th Doctor: Sylvester McCoy – First broadcast in 1987 until 1989.

8th Doctor: Paul McGann – First broadcast in 1996 (TV film only).

9th Doctor: Christopher Eccleston – First broadcast in 2005.

10th Doctor: David Tennant – First broadcast in 2005 until 2010.

11th Doctor: Matt Smith – First broadcast in 2010 to date.


 Miniature sheet of Doctor Who stamps.

Dalek stamp from Dr Who miniature sheet. The Ood stamp from Dr Who miniature sheet.   Weeping Angel 2nd class Dr Who stamp.Cyperman 2nd class Dr Who stamp .





Miniature sheet


1st class Tardis surrounded by 4 x 2nd class Enemies of Dr Who:

Dalek, The Ood, Weeping Angel, and Cyberman. 
The 2nd class stamps will not be sold separately.

(Details below in section on PSB panes)

The miniature sheet is self-adhesive, and the stamps die-cut free-form. 

The 1st class Tardis is 20 x 24mm (definitive size), the 2nd class stamps are a basic 35 mm square, but with extensions.


See below for details of perforation differences between the actual miniature sheet and the miniature sheet pane from the Prestige Stamp Book,



Dr who retail book of 6 stamps.
Retail booklet containing 6 x 1st class stamps.

4 x 1st class Tardis

1st class 11th Doctor
1st class 1st Doctor
Generic Smiler sheet of Dr Who stamps.



Generic Smilers Sheet.


20 x 1st class Tardis stamps with labels depicting 4 versions of each of 5 of the the Doctor's enemies.

Cyberman 1967, 1968, 1982-85 and 2006

Dalek 1963, 1984, 2005 to date, 2010 to date

Silurian 1970, Sea Devil 1972, Silurian 1984, and 2011 to date

Sontaran 1973-74, 1975, 1985, and 2011 to date.

The Master 1971-73, 1976, 1981-89, 2007+10
Dr Who prestige book pane 1 - MS. Dr Who PSB pane 2.
Dr Who PSB pane 3. Dr Who PSB pane 4.
Dr Who PSB pane 5.

Covers - front and back - half of the pages, including the stamp panes, are inverted.

Covers of Dr Who prestige stamp book.
5p & 10p Machin definitives from Dr Who PSB. 20p & 87p stamps from Dr Who PSB.
Prestige Book Panes

Pane 1 = as miniature sheet, 4 x 2nd class, 1 x 1st class (see above)

Pane 2 - Doctors 11, 10 & 9

Pane 3 - Doctors 8, 7, 6 & 5

Pane 4 - Doctors 4, 3, 2 & 1

Pane 5 - 4 x 1st class Tardis stamps with 5p, 10p, 87p & 20p Machin definitives, surrounding a monochrome Tardis label.

The stamps in detail

1st Class – TARDIS (Time and Relative Dimension in Space) is the Doctor’s ship, capable of travelling anywhere in space and time. A product of Time Lord technology, the interior of the ship is much larger than its exterior. The Doctor’s TARDIS is an unreliable,
obsolete TT Type 40, Mark 3 TARDIS with a faulty chameleon circuit, stuck in the shape of a mid-twentieth century police telephone box.

2nd Class – The Ood Humanoid in appearance, but with tentacles on the lower portions of their faces, the Ood speak through a translator device: a small sphere connected to their “mouths” by a
tube. The tube originally connected their bodies to a hive brain, but
in the far future, a cruel human organisation isolated them from the brain and used them as a slave race. Their first appearance was in The Impossible Planet, 2006.

2nd Class – Cybermen were originally humanoids originating on Earth’s twin planet Mondas. They implanted more and more artifi cial parts into their bodies leaving them coldly logical and calculating cyborgs, with every emotion deleted from their minds.
Their first appearance was in The Tenth Planet in 1966. The Cybermen returned as a parallel universe version in the 2006 two-part story, Rise of the Cybermen and The Age of Steel, and have been recurring villains in the revived series ever since.

2nd Class – Weeping Angel: an ancient race of aliens that feed off the time energy created by sending their victims back in time. When they are not being observed by another being, they can move very quickly and silently, but when they are being watched, they become “quantum-locked”, occupying a single position in space and becoming stone. If two Weeping Angels look at each other at the same time, they are trapped in stone form until an outside force moves them apart, so they cover their eyes while moving, giving the
impression that they are weeping. Their first appearance was in Blink in 2007.

2nd Class – Dalek
Bent on dominating the Universe the Daleks were created on the planet Skaro by the crazed scientist Davros when he implanted mutant Kaled bodies into tank-like robotic shells during the thousand-year war between the Kaleds and the Thals. They have had every emotion purged except hate, leaving them with the desire to purge the Universe of all non-Dalek life. They are popularly known for their catchphrase “Exterminate!” and are a well-recognised reference point in British popular culture. The Daleks first appeared in 1963’s The Daleks.

The Doctors

1st Doctor: William Hartnell – First broadcast in 1963 until 1966.

2nd Doctor: Patrick Troughton – First broadcast in 1966 until 1969.

3rd Doctor: Jon Pertwee – First broadcast in 1970 until 1974.

4th Doctor: Tom Baker – First broadcast in 1974 until 1981.

5th Doctor: Peter Davison – First broadcast in 1982 until 1984.

6th Doctor: Colin Baker – First broadcast in 1984 until 1986.

7th Doctor: Sylvester McCoy – First broadcast in 1987 until 1989.

8th Doctor: Paul McGann – First broadcast in 1996 (TV film only).

9th Doctor: Christopher Eccleston – First broadcast in 2005.

10th Doctor: David Tennant – First broadcast in 2005 until 2010.

11th Doctor: Matt Smith – First broadcast in 2010 to date.


Some facts about Doctor Who

• The first Doctor Who episode was broadcast on 23 November 1963 at 5.15pm.

• The series became essential early evening viewing across the nation, drawing audiences of up to 16 million.

• The rebooted series, from 2005, has seen audiences reach 10 million and has won five BAFTA awards.

• Doctor Who has sold to over 206 territories worldwide and is a top selling programme on the BBCWW drama portfolio.

• Numerous well known actors have made guest appearances in the show including Sir Derek Jacobi, Peter Kay, Zoe Wanamaker, Sir Michael Gambon, Bill Bailey, Meera Syal, Bernard Cribbins, Kylie Minogue and Simon Pegg.

• Matt Smith, the current Doctor Who, was the youngest actor appointed to play the role.

• Tom Baker, the oldest living Doctor, played the role for the longest – from 1974 to 1981 and has starred in the most episodes.

• Jon Pertwee, the Third Doctor, was the first to be filmed in colour.

Technical details:

The 11 Doctor Who 41 x 30mm stamps with ordinary gum are designed by GBH and printed in lithography by Cartor Security Print, France, perforated 14.5 x 14.
The miniature sheet is also designed by GBH.  It is self-adhesive, and printed in gravure by Joh Enschede Stamps, in the Netherlands.
The self-adhesive retail stamp book will be printed in gravure, probably by Walsall Security Print.
 
Prestige stamp book (and this is where it gets really interesting!)
Doctor Who panes on ordinary gum printed in lithography by Cartor Security Print.
Miniature sheet pane is self-adhesive, and printed in litho by Cartor Security Print.  (Corrected)
Machin/Tardis pane on ordinary gum printed in gravure by Walsall Security Print.  Only the Machin stamps have security print - expected to be MPIL and M13L, although we were told M12L.

Acknowledgements: BBC, DOCTOR WHO (word marks, logos and devices), TARDIS, DALEKS and CYBERMAN (word marks and devices) are trademarks of the British Broadcasting Corporation and are used by Royal Mail under licence. BBC logo © BBC 1996. Doctor Who logo © BBC 2012. Dalek image © BBC/Terry Nation 1963. Cyberman image © BBC/Kit Pedler/Gerry Davis 1966. Licensed to Royal Mail by BBC WW Ltd.  All stamp images © Royal Mail 2012/13 - no reproduction permitted without agreement from Royal Mail.  This website © Norvic Philatelics 2013.
 

Different printers - different perforations

Full list of the 30 stamps in this Doctor Who celebration:

11 x 1st images of Dr Who actors - ordinary gum, litho by Cartor

1st class 11th Doctor - self-adhesive in retail booklet gravure by Walsall Security Print
1st class 1st Doctor - self-adhesive in retail booklet gravure by Walsall Security Print

1st Tardis (self-adhesive) - in miniature sheet gravure by Enschede

1st Tardis (self-adhesive) - in PSB pane showing miniature sheet litho by Enschede Cartor

1st Tardis (self-adhesive) - in Generic Smiler Sheet - probably litho by Cartor

1st Tardis (self-adhesive) - in retail booklet gravure by Walsall Security Print

1st Tardis (ordinary gum) - in PSB definitive pane gravure by Walsall Security Print

2nd class Dalek - in miniature sheet gravure by Enschede
2nd class Dalek - in miniature sheet PSB pane litho by Enschede Cartor

2nd class Ood - in miniature sheet gravure by Enschede
2nd class Ood - in miniature sheet PSB pane litho by Enschede Cartor

2nd class Cyberman - in miniature sheet gravure by Enschede
2nd class Cyberman - in miniature sheet PSB pane litho by Enschede Cartor

2nd class Weeping Angel - in miniature sheet gravure by Enschede
2nd class Weeping Angel - in miniature sheet PSB pane litho by Enschede Cartor

5p Machin definitive with iridescent layer, gummed, gravure by Walsall Security Print
10p Machin definitive with iridescent layer, gummed, gravure by Walsall Security Print
20p Machin definitive with iridescent layer, gummed, gravure by Walsall Security Print
87p Machin definitive with iridescent layer, gummed, gravure by Walsall Security Print

TARDIS stamps
The stamp from the miniature sheet is perforated 14¾ x 14, whilst the one from the miniature sheet pane in the prestige stamp book is 14¾ x 15.   (The perforations of the 2nd class 'Enemies' stamps are the same from both sources.)
Two different Tardis stamps.
The difference is easy to spot without even resorting to a perforation gauge because the miniature sheet stamp has 11 holes above the elliptical one, and the pane stamp has 12.  The stamps in the Retail Booklet & Generic Smilers Sheet also have 11 holes.

On the Miniature sheet the Tardis stamp perfs are interrupted/bridged on the end of the 3rd tooth in from the corners, on each side, except that thebridge  is on the 2nd tooth from the bottom on each vertical side (8 in total).

On the PSB pane there are just four bridges: top left and top right are on the lower side of the first tooth, lower left is on the upper side of the last tooth, and lower right is on the lower side of the last tooth.  There are no bridges on the short side of the stamp.
Detail showing perforation bridges on Tardis stamps.


Product range

Set of 11 stamps   Miniature Sheet      Presentation Pack containing all stamps plus miniature sheet    Set of 17 Stamp Cards    Prestige Stamp Book    Retail booklet   

First Day Covers in 2 different designs, a largely black and white design for the first eight Doctors single stamps; and a multicoloured design for the most recent three doctors, for the miniature sheet and the PSB Machin pane on Royal Mail serviced FDCs.  Both covers will be available unserviced, although we don't know what supplies Post Office Branches will receive.

We will not be stocking these products:
a. Doctors set
b. miniature sheet
c. presentation pack
d. Smilers Generic sheet
e. prestige stamp book
f. set of stamp cards
g. first day covers of a, b, d or serviced stamp cards.

We will stock:
h. Machin Definitives from Prestige Stamp Book
i. mini-sheet stamps from PSB
j. retail stamp booklet
k. single stamps from Generic Smilers sheet.
l. First Day Covers of
- Machin stamps from PSB (with and without the Tardis stamp)
- single stamps from retail stamp book as these are self-adhesive Doctors

Maximum Cards

Details and prices will appear here later and on our shop.


Special Postmarks available on the day of this issue are shown here. 

These postmarks cannot be obtained after the date of issue.  These images are not be to scale.

Official Dr Who  postmark depicting a Dalek. Dr Who Cyberman official Cardiff first day postmark. Cardiff non-pictorial FD postmark for Dr Who stamps..
London W1 postmark showing the Tardis.
Postmark showing Tardis.
Ref FD1311TH
Official Bureau postmark showing Dalek
Ref FD1311CF
Cardiff official first day of issue postmark showing Cyberman
Ref FD1311NP
Cardiff non-pictorial official first day of issue postmark
Ref L12806 -London W1 Ref W12814
Post Brenhinol Royal Mail Caerdydd Cardidd
(In use until 24 March 2014)
Postmark showing Dr Who's trdis.
Postmark depicting spaceship.
Postmark showing Dr Who's sonic screwdriver.
Postmark showing TVARK logo.
Postmark showing overhead view of Dalek.
Ref W12817 50 Years of Doctor Who, Cardiff
Ref W12815 Doctor Who Cardiff
Ref W12818 50 Years of Doctor Who, Cardiff
Ref N12812 Classic Cult Television TVARK, the Online TV Museum, Eccleston, St Helens
Ref W12816 50 Years of Doctor Who, Cardiff
Postmark depicting interrogation marks.
Postmark showing a pocket watch.
Postmark depicting a televiison
Postmark depicting meteorite.
Postmark depicting extra-terrestrial being.
Ref L12808 50th Anniversary
? ? ?  London W6
Ref L12807 50th Anniversary
London W5
Ref L12809 50th Anniversary London W9 Ref M12810 Classic TV Retail Booklet Doctors Hill Bromsgrove Ref M12811 Classic Television, Pebble Mill Road, Birmingham
Classic Television Science Fiction postmark.
<<<<  Ref N12820
Classic Television - Science Fiction
GBFDC Association, Stargate, Newcastle
Science Fiction postmark showing Tardis.
<<<<< Ref L12819
Cosmos Place, London WC1
Reach for the starrs
www.scificollector.co.uk
(Changeable date postmark in use 26 March 2013 - 25 March 2014
Comment on the postmarks in row 3: Pebble Mill Road (12811) is the location of BBC Television studios.  12807-12809 do not indicate the name of the stamp issue - presumably because the sponsor of the postmark did not want to pay the BBC £1000 for the right to use the name Doctor Who (see our blog comment).


This page updated 13 May 2013

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