Merchandise, Merchandise

One of the advantages/perils of being known to be a Doctor Who fan, is that people give you merchandise as gifts.

In the dark days of the mid-nineties, my leaving present from a job included David Banks' Cybermen book and a poster of the Daleks crossing Westminster Bridge. The poster duly graced my office wall in my next two jobs.

Then there was the inflatable Dalek that a couple of History professors left outside my office.

But books and Daleks, whether in photo or blow-up formats are fine.  Jigsaws are another matter entirely.

Don't get me wrong, Vincent and the Doctor and The Pandorica Opens are great stories, but the person who thought that the Van Gogh picture of the exploding TARDIS would make an excellent jigsaw should have both his ears cut off.  

The colleague who gave me this abomination wanted photographic proof of the completed article, all 2,000 pieces of it.  All the pieces were either dark blue, or multi-coloured swirls that could have gone anywhere. The only place to do it was my dining table, so I had an added incentive to complete it, or never have Sunday lunch again.

It took six weeks....