Museum of Classic Sci-Fi curator, Neil Cole, is set to delight supporters and sci-fi enthusiasts as he ventures into the publishing world with a new book based on the museum's collections.

For several years, Mr Cole has been writing and designing an archival magazine for Museum supporters, with each issue growing increasingly popular among fans of science fiction.

Mr Cole with a picture from the book he drew by handMr Cole with a picture from the book he drew by hand (Image: Museum of Classic Sci-Fi)

Now that the Museum of Classic Sci-Fi is well-established within the UK's sci-fi and Doctor Who communities and is a well-known tourist magnet in Northumberland, he felt it was the right time to take his project up a notch.

For the past two years, he has been diligently working on producing a series of hand-drawn illustrations and researching for the museum's debut book titled It Belongs in a Museum: Searching for Treasures from Classic Doctor Who.

An interior illustration from the book drawn by Neil in BIC biro An interior illustration from the book drawn by Neil in BIC biro (Image: Museum of Classic Sci-Fi)

Mr Cole said: "It's kind of like an illustrated walk-through of the wonderful era of The Second Doctor (played by Patrick Troughton) merged with an episode of ‘The Antiques Roadshow’.

"The book explores what objects from the production of the show survived from the years 1966 – 1969.

"It's been a fascinating journey discovering these items and talking with fellow enthusiasts about them.

"Of course, a few of these objects reside in the museum so you can actually come and visit them first-hand, but to make the book a far more satisfying experience I knew I had to reach out to the collecting community to see what was out there!"

The book's charm lies not only in its unique content but also in Mr Cole's drawing style.

He said: "I have become somewhat adept at drawing very fine work with a BIC biro!

"I think in a world now saturated with computer-assisted drawing and photo montage, I love seeing what the pure human being can achieve.

"I was absolutely committed to producing an illustrated book using pen on paper."

The high-quality, limited-edition, 140-page A4 book is currently available for pre-order for a limited time.

To support the museum by pre-ordering the book or making a donation, interested supporters can get in touch with Chris at classicscifimuseum@gmail.com.