Published in September 1976 by Artus Publishing Limited for the retailer Marks and Spencer (in the UK at least), the Doctor Who and the Daleks Omnibus has become a curiosity amongst fans and collectors.

Jam-packed with truly stunning original artwork, the hardback book contains the novelisations of two televised Dalek stories, along with a short original comic strip, photographs, script segments, diagrammatical features and prose interludes. It would be easy to dismiss the book as a flight of fancy, created by the publishers and jobbing writers to take advantage of the new lease of life Doctor Who was enjoying with the arrival of Tom Baker. That is until the reader notices Terry Nation’s name firmly attached to the project. Suddenly the book’s contents take on a more canonical essence.

Of course, the creation of the Daleks Omnibus is a far more textured affair, absorbing the talents of a number of individuals, with the creator overseeing the project both as editor and advisor. What ended up in the book, regardless of whether it came direct from Nation’s brain or not, was given the thumbs up by the Dalek man himself.

In attempting to apply some much deserved credit to those responsible – namely three richly talented illustrators at the top of their game in 1976 – we were rewarded with a window into not only a largely forgotten industry of creatives and craftsmen, but also a hidden history of the media as it was.

Also, perhaps most intriguingly, we learned how a family connection with Terry Nation laid the M&S contract at the door of the General Illustration Company.

Click here to order your copy of VworpVworp! Issue 4