The Eighth of March Competition Winners Revealed!

The opportunity accompanied the release of The Eighth of March: Strange Chemistry – the third volume in an anthology full-cast audio series celebrating powerful Doctor Who women.

Entrants were asked to create traditional portraits – using non-digital media – of one of the box set’s stars; either Louise Jameson (as Leela), Michelle Gomez (as Missy), or Caitlin Blackwood (as teenage Amelia Pond).

Of all the impressive portraits submitted, the judges chose a lifelike pencil drawing of Leela by Alan Peacock, an acrylic painting of Missy by Kate Claxton, and a colourful painting of young Amelia Pond by Callum Weston.

Kate Claxton said: “Thank you to Big Finish for choosing me among so much talent. It’s always great to create artwork of my favourite show! I completed my entry of Missy in acrylic paint and chose her character as I believe she’s one of the standouts of the entire show and Michelle Gomez steals any scene she’s in.

Alan Peacock added: “I chose Leela because she's such a well-written character superbly played by Louise Jameson. I loved her Eliza Doolittle relationship with the Fourth Doctor and how bold and brave she is, and I'm so glad that's been able to continue through Big Finish.”

Callum Weston said: “I find Amelia Pond's character at this point in her life to be incredibly interesting. The idea that she was waiting so long and being told by so many that the events of The Eleventh Hour were all a dream, was such a deep emotion to explore.”

Congratulations to all the winners who each receive a £100 gift card for use at the Big Finish website. All of the winning portraits, along with the judges’ reasons for choosing them, can be viewed in full in next month’s issue of the Big Finish magazine, Vortex – also available to download for FREE as a PDF from 01 April 2023.

On the judging panel was producer of The Eighth of March, Emma Haigh, Big Finish’s Creative Director, Nicholas Briggs, Big Finish’s Graphic Designer, Mark Plastow, and illustrator and graphic artist, Sophie Cowdrey (winner of Big Finish’s 2018 artists’ competition).