A final look at the badges that were given away free with Kellogg's Sugar Smacks; this time they feature characters from Jon Pertwee's tenure as Doctor Who.
These were launched towards the end of 1971 and consisted of a set of six.
Like the previous Captain Scarlet and Joe 90 badges, these are simple drawn likenesses of the Doctor, The Master, The Brigadier, and Jo Grant. There's an illustration of the Doctor's modified vintage car, 'Bessie', and probably the most sought after, a U.N.I.T. Badge.
You can see my U.N.I.T badge is still sealed in it's original cellophane bag, which , of course is how the badges were packed in with the cereal.
These days, there's still plenty of the Kellogg's Dr Who badges about, consequently they're not rare , and not expensive, with the exception of the UNIT badge which does seem to command a somewhat higher price.
An advert for the badges appeared in several comics w/e 6th November, 1971, including Countdown issue 38, which carried the Doctor Who strip featuring Jon Pertwee's incarnation.
It's not a particularly impressive advert. I never found this style of art from the time appealing, a bit too trendy for me, even though I would have been more or less the age group it would have been aimed at. Unlike the previous Captain Scarlet, Joe 90 and Star Trek adverts , this one is a lot less eye-catching to me!
It shows a rather unflattering likeness of Jon Pertwee's Doctor having a rather stylised, cartoony look which it's hard to imagine Pertwee, himself approving of.
Possibly because of it's timing I tend to connect Jon Pertwee's Dr Who and Gerry & Sylvia Anderson's UFO series.
Countdown was launched week ending 20th February, 1971, with it's first issue featuring a photo of a UFO on the cover, and a photo feature of the SHADO organisation and it's vehicles. However, I think it's fair to say the comic seemed to give equal billing to both UFO and Dr Who.
The third issue featured a Dr Who cover.
Although UFO had already begun in other TV regions, it was yet to be broadcast on my local TV station, Granada, that would happen on the 10th July, 1971, so my first look at film of the SHADO Interceptors firing their missiles was in a TV advert for Countdown comic!
After the previous season's revamp, and move into colour, the series was now getting into it's stride, with it's fresh modern look, good stories with a nod to the new technology of the time, and in my opinion , some perfect casting.
The season closed with fan favourite, The Daemons, the final episode being broadcast on June 19, 1971.
Three weeks later, on the 10th July, 1971 Granada began showing UFO. During the same month, the BBC repeated Jon Pertwee's opening story, Spearhead from Space over four Friday evenings.
Over the year Countdown kept up my interest in Pertwee's Dr Who, although for some reason Polystyle, the publishers, didn't licence the use of the other U.N.I.T. characters, including his companion, Jo.
However, we did get the Daleks eventually.
Jon Pertwee as Dr Who gracing the front of the Sugar Smacks box with the tag line,' The timeless energy of Dr Who' - Presumably acquired after eating what is pretty much a bowl of sugar!
An advert from Valiant comic for another Kellogg's Sugar Smacks for promotion, still featuring Jon Pertwee's Doctor on the box; this time free model vintage cars!
However, I should add that it seems Kellogg's apparently ran another Doctor Who promotion a little later in 1972, featuring a cut-out Bessie on the back of the Sugar Smacks cereal box, but I must admit that one totally passed me by, and I don't recall seeing those packets, or even adverts for it. A friend of mine, who like me doesn't remember it either, suggested it might just be a made up modern creation by a clever fan. I'm not so sure but when it comes to looking into the past, Who knows!
As my two previous Sugar Smacks badges on Captain Scarlet/ Joe 90 and Star Trek proved fairly popular here's he links:
https://projectswordtoys.blogspot.com/2022/08/a-look-at-sugar-smacks-badges-2-tv21.html
https://projectswordtoys.blogspot.com/2022/07/a-look-at-sugar-smacks-badges-1.html
I still like these for pure nostalgia and pick them up when and where I can, but as a kid I would've preferred the Star Trek style photo badges instead. Great reviews and info on all these badge sets, Scoop :)
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