The current Radio Times cover, trailing the new series of Apple TV’s spy drama, Slow Horses, is quite the eye catcher. It’s great to see the TV listings magazine still commissioning the occasional art cover, especially given its long tradition of utilising original art.
In this case, the cover is the creation of The Red Dress, aka London based Olivia Chancellor and Oliver Bland, who’ve also provided illustrations for Vanity Fair, Empire, and more.
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| Finding Dory retro poster by The Red Dress |
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| Vampira for Empire by The Red Dress |
Readers have welcomed the standout cover – sadly, something of a rarity for British magazines as commissioning budgets are squeezed. (Fortunately, titles like Mojo and others are still utilising illustrators).
It’s all a far cry from a little over ten years ago, when the cover art of the Radio Times was actively celebrated with a special radio programme, The Art of Radio Times, first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2013 and available to listen here on BBC Radio 4 Extra.
As the Radio Times reached its centenary, Peter Day told the story of the outstanding British graphic artists who made the magazine their canvas.
The idea that a broadcasting listings magazine should provide the opportunity for writers and artists to produce some of their finest creative work seems perhaps a little far-fetched in the present era of TV listing magazines and supplements.
Yet Radio Times, which first appeared on bookstands in September 1923, was a great nurturer of artistic talent.
It started with cartoons – the early magazine loved a gentle 'Punch'-like joke - but soon Radio Times evolved its own individual graphic idiom, using line drawings and motifs, alongside more conventional photographs, to illustrate the imaginative world of radio, in particular.
In the magazine's heyday, an elegant Eric Fraser cover would regularly grace the bumper-selling Christmas edition, and 1953's Coronation Number became a collector's item with Fraser's simple and noble heraldic theme.
Alongside Eric Fraser, amongst the great British artists to create some of their most distinguished work for Radio Times were Edward Ardizzone, Val Biro, Frank Bellamy, Dave Gibbons and Victor Reinganum.
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| Eric Fraser’s original art for his Lord of the Rings Radio Times cover, published in 1981. Via dramatist Brian Sibley |
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| Cover by Dave Gibbons |
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| This Frank Bellamy illustration highlighted an edited omnibus of The Sea Devils (27 December 1972) in the Radio Times |
In addition, Bob Sherriffs contributed thumbnail caricatures in the early years and, 50 years later, Peter Brookes, before becoming a fixture on The Times was a regular contributor.
In The Art of Radio Times, originally made to mark the 90th anniversary, produced by Simon Elmes, Peter Day explores the graphic heritage that Radio Times fostered with those who drew and those who commissioned for it.
• Check it out The Art of the Radio Times here on BBC Radio 4 Extra
• Tie-in Radio 4 Radio Times Art Gallery
• Producer Simon Elmes on “The Art of Radio Times” (Wayback Machine Link)
• The Red Dress are represented by Debut Art
• Arena: The Art Of The Radio Times
Arena presents the art of the Radio Times through the eyes of illustrator Eric Fraser, a regular contributor to the magazine
• Rusty Staples: Superman’s 50th Anniversary… Radio Times’ coverage, 30 years on
• Brian Sibley: Cover Story - The Lord of the Rings on Radio
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