New Doctor Who comic strip pays tribute to two Wigan icons

Well cartoonists in the Doctor Who magazine certainly think that entertainer George Formby and poet Lemn Sissay will remain part of the region’s fabric in 2424.

For in its first strip to feature the 15th Doctor (as played by Ncuti Gatwa) and his new sidekick Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson), the time-travelling pair are taken by Tardis to Manchester four centuries hence.

And there they find sky-scrapers bearing the names of several North West notables of the 20th and 21st centuries, including film and music superstar Formby, national treasure Sissay, Salford-born dramatist and screenwriter Shelagh Delaney and comedy great Eric Sykes who was born in Oldham from where Millie hails.

A delighted Lemn took to Twitter on seeing the cartoon strip to write: “Tell my ten-year-old self that in the first Ncuti Gatwa comic strip of 25th century Manchester a tower block will be named after me."

He later told the Manchester Evening News that his reference in the magazine had left him “chuffed” and had made his day. He said he had been a big fan of Doctor Who from childhood and was also pleased to see that trams still featured in the 2424 version of the city.

Written by Alan Bates and illustrated by Lee Sullivan, the cartoon serial is called Mancopolis and future instalments are rumoured to contain many more North West celebrity references.

Orrell-born Lemn was brought up in Atherton which famously used to boast a Formby Hall (although it’s not clear whether it was named after the entertainer).

He is one of the country’s most acclaimed writers, being the official poet of the 2012 London Olympics and, until recently, the chancellor of the University of Manchester. The 56-year-old is also a regular face on television.

Born in Westminster Street, Wigan, George Formby was the son of a music hall star of the same name but came to eclipse his father’s achievements through a host of catchy, comic best-selling songs and a series of hit films which, in the late 1930s saw him the world’s best-paid entertainer, earning more than even Hollywood stars such as Errol Flynn and Humphrey Bogart.