Alister Pearson is an English artist and illustrator. He is best known for his work on the covers of ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

'' novels, novelisations and videos.

Career

Doctor Who

Pearson was born on the Isle of Wight. While still a student, he sent sample covers to Target Books, the publishers of ''Doctor Who'' novelisations. His first published work (an illustration for 1984's ''Doctor Who: The Key to Time'' by Peter Haining) was commissioned while he was still at school. Pearson went to art college, left after only one term, and spent the next three years submitting ''Doctor Who'' covers to then Target editor Nigel Robinson and art director Mike Brett. His first cover commission was for the novelisation of '' The Underwater Menace''. Pearson went on to produce many more novelisation covers, including first edition covers for all of the seventh Doctor adaptations (excluding '' Time and the Rani'' for which he later supplied a reprint cover) and a number of first and second Doctor covers such as the first edition of '' The Edge of Destruction''. Pearson continued to create covers for Target, including new covers for reprints of ''Doctor Who'' novels - some using artwork originally painted for the BBC Video releases - including '' An Unearthly Child'' and '' The War Games''. When the novelisation line ended, Pearson was commissioned to create covers for the ''Doctor Who'' Missing Adventures; Pearson provided 22 of 33 covers for this novel line, working from the series' inception until Virgin lost the ''Doctor Who'' publishing licence in 1997. Pearson's ''Doctor Who'' work was not limited to books. From 1986 to 1993, he provided covers and fold-out posters for ''

Doctor Who Magazine ''Doctor Who Magazine'' (abbreviated as ''DWM'') is a magazine devoted to the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Launched in 1979 as ''Doctor Who Weekly'', the magazine became a monthly publication the followi ...

'' and ''Doctor Who Classic Comics''. He also produced sixteen covers for BBC Video VHS releases of ''Doctor Who'' serials. In 2005, Pearson provided a frontispiece for Panini Books' ''Doctor Who Annual 2006''. The next year, he created a cover for the same publisher's ''Doctor Who Storybook 2007'', and other covers the following years for ''Doctor Who Storybook 2008'' and ''Doctor Who Storybook 2009''.

Other Work

Between 1993 and 1995, Pearson also provided twelve covers for Titan Books' "Star Trek Adventures" line. There were reprints of ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...

'' novels originally released by

Bantam Books Bantam Books is an American publishing house owned entirely by parent company Random House, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House; it is an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group. It was formed in 1945 by Walter B. Pitkin, Jr., Sidney B. ...

. In 2007 Alister Pearson illustrated the cover for The England Quiz Book which was compiled by his old friend and fellow ''

'' buff, Adam David Pearson (no relation) who also lives on the Isle of Wight.

Initials

Pearson is known for inserting initials into his artwork; his own ("AP" or "AJP") as well as those of his friends and colleagues in fandom.Preddle, Jon - "Doctor's Dilemma" TSV38
/ref>

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pearson, Alister American speculative fiction artists Living people Year of birth missing (living people) English illustrators Science fiction artists