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DWM Review

By Paul Scoones

Magazine 216 (31 August 1994)

Coming out just after TSV 40, it was a neat coincidence to read the first of a three-part Sylvester McCoy interview and find McCoy commenting on Andrew Cartmel's reticence regarding his time on the series! The Monster of Peladon is the archived story. An interview with director/producer Bill Baggs provides an informative insight into the Stranger and Airzone Solution videos. The results of the latest survey are featured, and as BBC Video apparently pays attention to these, we should expect to see stories such as Attack of the Cybermen, The Invasion of Time, Survival and the Key to Time season on the video schedules before too long...

Doctor Who Magazine 217 (28 September 1994)

From this issue onwards the magazine increases to A4 size (gaining an extra 2cm in height). There's a corresponding price increase, but that's mitigated in this case by an additional 16 pages - featuring a complete telesnap archive for The Smugglers; and a fascinating visual insight into this little-known story it is too. The cover and interview subject is Lalla Ward, continuing Jane Walker's series of interviews with the female companions. These interviews provide welcome insights into the life and views of the person behind the role rather than the usual straight-forward collection of anecdotes. The Mark of the Rani is the archive, accompanied by a tie-in interview with controversial writers Pip and Jane Baker.

Doctor Who Magazine 218 (26 October 1994)

Jane Walker's interview this issue is with Sarah Sutton, again providing something of an insight into the person behind the role. Peter Cushing and Roy Castle are featured in obituaries, and the classic The Ark in Space is archived. The Sylvester McCoy interview concludes in this issue. Interestingly, McCoy professes a lack of memory for details of his time on the series, yet comes out with some revealing insights when pushed, as Nick Briggs did over the course of this intensive look at the Seventh Doctor's era. The magazine index supplied with this issue is a great asset.

Doctor Who Classic Comics 24 (14 September 1994)

The best thing about this issue is the superb cover painting of the Third Doctor by Paul Campbell. Pertwee's Doctor is featured in a TV Action story, kcaB to the Sun. other strips include a dreadfully drawn Second Doctor story and a dubiously racist First Doctor adventure with some truly awful dialogue for the clichéd dark-skinned savages who menace the Doctor, John and Gillian. The rather dull Seventh Doctor story is not helped by the fact that the second and third pages have been transposed.

Doctor Who Classic Comics 25 (12 October 1994)

The Star Beast, Gary Russell's all-time favourite Doctor Who comic strip, commences this issue. It's not hard to see why this tale is apparently so popular with fans, yet the impact of the overall issue is let-down by yet another very poorly drawn Second Doctor comic strip. Poor artwork on the comics was by no means limited to the Sixties however; the Seventh Doctor strip is truly dreadful. I'm beginning to wonder if the magazine is running out of good strips to reprint...?

The Dalek Chronicles (August 1994)

This chunky 108 page magazine, containing all 104 instalments of the classic TV21 Dalek strips in full colour, is truly a splendid collectors' item. Previously these strips have been reprinted in parts in such places as Doctor Who Magazine and Classic Comics, but this is the first time that the whole lot has been collected together under one cover. If I could find any fault at all with this superb volume, it is just that there should perhaps have been some background information on the strip's genesis and history.

Doctor Who Yearbook 1995 (July 1994)

The latest Doctor Who 'annual' is once again a collection of short stories, comic strips and factual articles. The best story is Gareth Roberts' The Hungry Bomb, featuring the Chelonians from The Highest Science. Paul Cornell's comic strip Blood Invocation is a blatant rip-off of his own Goth Opera, whilst Warwick Gray's The Naked Flame is too crudely drawn (not by Warwick) to really appreciate the story. The only outstanding feature is Kevin Davies' article on the making of 30 Years in the TARDIS, which makes fascinating reading.

This item appeared in TSV 41 (October 1994).