Radio Times Vote Dalek! cover wins PPA Award
The Radio Times cover from April 2005 featuring a Dalek crossing Westminster Bridge has won the Professional Publishers Association’s Cover of the Century Award. The win for “Vote Dalek!” was announced at the Association’s centenary celebration event which took place in London yesterday evening. The cover was one of ten that were shortlisted as those British magazine covers that were the most memorable in the last hundred years.
Inspired by iconic image of the Daleks crossing Westminster Bridge from Doctor Who’s 1964 story, The Dalek Invasion of Earth (and seen re-enacted in last night’s An Adventure in Space and Time), it was created by Radio Times Art Editor Paul Smith. He said:
It’s a great honour to win such a prestigious award. Radio Times always tries to go that extra mile, and this particular cover was certainly no exception. It’s a good example of the imagination and craft that makes Radio Times stand out from the crowd. We managed to reveal the new look Daleks, and combine two very different major television events of that week, into a striking and dramatic re-imagination of an already familiar moment, and that’s a rare opportunity.
Radio Times editor Ben Preston added:
This cover definitely hit the bullseye with millions of readers and visitors. It’s striking, topical and witty and is in a rich tradition of memorable Radio Times covers.
Vote Dalek! received 38.5% of overall vote by over 36,000 participants; Barry McIlheney, CEO, PPA, said:
We’re delighted that the great British public came out and voted in their thousands to choose their Cover of the Century. And it’s apt that such an iconic brand – and one nearly as old as the PPA itself – has been crowned the winner. It’s been great to immerse ourselves in the 100 year history of the magazine industry, but we now look forward to our next century of progress, helping publishers, agencies and advertisers adapt to the seismic changes ahead.
The cover previously won the PPA’s Best Magazine Cover Of All Time poll back in 2008.