Doctor Who Magazine - Content

Content

DWM features an ongoing comic starring the current incarnation of the Doctor, though for a period between 1989 and 1996, when the series was off the air, it featured previous Doctors. Notable writers and artists who have worked on the comic include John Wagner, Pat Mills, Alan Moore, Grant Morrison, Dave Gibbons, Mike McMahon, John Ridgway and Ian Edginton. Selected stories from the comic were also reprinted in North America by Marvel Comics. Supporting characters that have crossed over from the comic to other spin-off media include Frobisher, the shape-changing companion of the Sixth and Seventh Doctors; Abslom Daak, the Dalek Killer; the Special Executive, who would later appear in Marvel's Captain Britain; and the villainous Beep the Meep.

The magazine has also featured other comics over the years, most notably "Doctor Who?", a humorous look at the series by Tim Quinn and Dicky Howett. This was principally a three-panel comic strip, though occasionally page-long parodies were featured. A currently running strip, and Doctor Who?'s spiritual successor, is a single-panel strip "Doctor Whoah!", by 'Baxter'. Embedded into the Galaxy Forum letters page, it lampoons a recent episode, DVD release of stories or other such event by showing alternative, exaggerated and expanded versions of Doctor Who scenes. For example, after the broadcast of "Partners in Crime", the strip portrayed the Doctor's arrival on the "Planet of the Hats", referred to in the episode. The strip is known for its characters who are depicted as having no pupils in their eyes. Between 1989 and 92 "The Comic Assassins" was a series of parody strips by Steve Noble and Kev F. Sutherland.

In the 1990s a secondary serious comic was featured on the inside cover; for many issues this was "The Cybermen", a series of tales set on Mondas prior to the events of The Tenth Planet, explaining the back-history of the Cybermen. The TV Century 21 comic "The Daleks" was also resurrected, continuing the story from where it had left off by showing the Daleks attacking Earth; it was drawn in the same style as the 1960s original.

Other regular features of the magazine include the news section "Gallifrey Guardian", which has run since nearly the beginning of the magazine; the letters page "Galaxy Forum" which - as well as containing the "Doctor Whoah!" strip - features a small section called "Ask DWM!" where readers' questions about the show are answered; reviews of television episodes and merchandise (in "The DWM Review", known for a time as "After Image", "Off the Shelf", and "Shelf Life"); the "Time Team", which involves four fans watching every Doctor Who story in order from the beginning; and, since production restarted on the series in 2004, a regular column "Production Notes" by the show's executive producer. From 2004 to 2009 the column was written by Russell T Davies, and since January 2010, Steven Moffat has taken over the page, although other writers and production staff have from time-to-time written the column. Also, on the final page of magazine, there is a section called "Wotcha!" (compiled by 'The Watcher'), a comedy page with such recurring features as, 'A History of Doctor Who in 100 Objects', 'Supporting Artist of the Month', a spoof 'Top Ten' and a true or false quiz "The Six Faces of Delusion". Prior to this, the slot was taken up by a page called "Who on Earth is...", featuring a short interview with someone previously (or currently) involved in Doctor Who (say, a member of the cast).

A single-page 'opinion' column has often been part of the magazine's mix – past columns have included "Fluid Links" by Matt Jones, "The Life and Times of Jackie Jenkins" by 'Jackie Jenkins', "It's the End... But" by 'The Watcher' and "You Are Not Alone" by Neil Harris.

The format has changed over the years, but the news, letters, reviews, and comic strip have all been present consistently since the early 1980s.

The magazine also features interviews with the cast and crew of the television show (including the old episodes), and reports from the set of the current series, written by Benjamin Cook or Jason Arnopp. The behind-the-scenes stories of all of the 1963–1989 episodes have been documented in Andrew Pixley's "DWM Archive", and detailed analysis of certain significant serials are covered in "The Fact of Fiction", usually written by former DWM editor Alan Barnes or David Bailey. "The DWM Review" is currently written predominantly by Graham Kibble-White, former editor Gary Gillatt, Vanessa Bishop, and Matt Michael. Previous reviewers include the late Craig Hinton (who went on to write Doctor Who novels), and Gary Russell, who subsequently became the magazine's editor.

In 2004 Russell T Davies offered to let the magazine write and publish the official regeneration scene from the Eighth to the Ninth Doctor as part of its ongoing comic strip prior to the relaunch of the TV series. Although work was done on this storyline, then editor Clayton Hickman and writer Scott Gray eventually turned down the offer as they felt they couldn’t do such an important event justice under the constraints imposed by the TV series' continuity.