Home : Archive : TSV 51-60 : TSV 59 : Review

Doctor Who Magazine Review

By Jon Preddle

DWM 282 (22 September 1999) Gothic Horror, The Time Team 4, Denis Lill, Lawrence Miles, Tony Selby, The Awakening Archive, Alien Bodies, The Road to Hell 5

DWM 283 (20 October 1999) 1979-1999: 20 Years of DWM, Destiny of the Daleks Archive, The Sands of Time, TV Action!

DWM 284 (17 November 1999) Children and Doctor Who, Auton 3, The Time Team 5, Michael Jayston, The Myth Makers Archive, The Also People, The Company of Thieves 1

DWM 285 (15 December 1999) BBC2 Doctor Who Night, K9 and other Spin-offs, The Time Team 6, Wendy Padbury, Meglos Archive, Illegal Alien, The Company of Thieves 2

Baker or McGann? McGann or Baker? Choose you favourite cover! The Phantom Menace magazines and books that have come out with a choice of cover have presumably influenced DWM 283, the magazine's 20th anniversary edition. Since I received the eighth Doctor cover version in my subscription, my collectors' instinct forced me to find a Tom Baker cover. And it wasn't easy! I had to make a special trip to London, and after visiting over a dozen newsagents, I eventually found the elusive Mr Baker. Boy, am I glad there weren't eight covers!

The anniversary issue showcases 24 commentaries from fans who share their thoughts and feelings about growing up with Doctor Who and fandom during the 1980s. The feature cleverly uses Beatles song titles as headings; and you'll have fun trying to identify all the characters in the splendid Sergeant Peppers-style collage on page 6.

For the third time this year, the features of a pretender claiming to be the Doctor appears on the cover. Joining the ranks of Jim Broadbent (#274) and Rowan Atkinson (#278) as wanna-be Doctors is Mark Gatiss (#285), who is playing the Time Lord in BBC2's celebrative TV special. And, yes, he does look the part...

And speaking of wanna-bes, the other ‘forgotten’ Doctor, Michael Jayston, is interviewed again (he previously appeared in the DWM 1986 Winter Special). I still find it unusual that Jayston is never included in lists alongside the other eight actors; the Valeyard is the Doctor after all...

Wendy (Zoe) Padbury gives her last ever interview, having decided that she's done all she can Doctor Who-wise. It is sad in a way that some of the stars of the show (Colin Baker being another) are growing weary of this aspect of their careers, but then I guess it was only inevitable...

New Adventures author Lawrence Miles gives a very controversial interview on the subject of re-writing Doctor Who mythology (in the books). Controversial or not, the magazine needs to interview more of the writers of the books. And why is there no photo of Miles? I wanna know what this guy looks like!

Destiny of The Daleks is the Archive in the anniversary issue; an ideal choice since that story has also reached its 20th anniversary. The Myth Makers Archive features some terrific new behind the scenes photographs; we now know what the sets and actors of The Myth Makers look like! Seeing images like these reinforces my opinion that behind the scenes pictures are by far more interesting than shots of posing actors.

#283 showcases the second strip illustrated with Roger Langridge's unique style, as the Doctor finds himself trapped in a bizarre world in TV Action!, but I feel that some of the cameo references would go over the heads of many New Zealand readers unfamiliar with all the many British pop icons who appear.

This item appeared in TSV 59 (January 2000).