Queen To Edit Official Doctor Who Magazine...

Former Suits star Megan Markle is to edit the next issue of Vogue magazine. Yipeee! 

Following a comment on Twitter by @WhoPotterVian here's the next issue of the official Doctor Who magazine - edited by HM The Queen...

 

Jodie Whittaker on old Doctor Who Annuals... continued...

The picture of the 13th Doctor on the cover of the second 5th Doctor annual (the 1985 one I think) seems to have gone down well on the Twitter. Well, Clayton Hickman got vibes from it at least. 

I had thought I'd deleted the original version but on looking found that I hadn't. 

It's actually composed of a shot of Jodie from the SDCC Fashion Show she gatecrashed combined with a similar shot to the one used on the original annual - one of the 5th Doctor, Tegan and Turlough in the TARDIS control room from Terminus. Jodie is hiding the Doctor whilst the companions have been removed and (crudely) replaced with cloned roundels from other parts of the picture. I've also had to add costume elements to Jodie as she wasn't in full costume. 

It's all a bit rough and ready. There's no texture on her culottes. The pic wasn't meant to be seen in its entirety as part of the annual cover.

But here it is... together with a version of it tarted up to look like an issue of Doctor Who Weekly.

JODIE WHITTAKER IS THE NEW DOCTOR WHO!!!

If you liked this post (or indeed, any of the 400 odd others I've done over the years), why not buy me a coffee at my Ko-fi profile. The link is here.

The Original 1960s Doctor Who Time Team

The recent controversy over the announcement of a new Time Team for the official Doctor Who monthly magazine reminded me of the ORIGINAL Dr WHO Time Team. It's a fair bet that none of the young millennials in the new team have even heard of it let alone realise that it used to be an actual television programme that was broadcast on Sunday evenings after each episode of the fledgling sci-fi show back in the 60s.

Telesnap from original caption slide

It's presenter was the late Katie Boyle. She introduced a panel of top celebrities who discussed with inteligence and wit the previous night's episode. There was also interviews with experts who filled the viewer in on the high concepts behind the show such as space travel, science, history and in one episode, how to make a perfect cup of cocoa. A number of comedy stars joined the show to perform special skits and monologues - some of which were written by the mother show's production team. Perhaps most important of all was the airing of viewers' opinions read out by the ever reliable Robert Robinson. In the days before the interweb and the Twitter, this was often the only place (outside of the Radio Times letters page) where young Whovians could let off steam about the latest storylines and shoddy special effects.

Robert Morley, Jimmy Clitheroe, Tony Perkins, Frank Muir

The show ran for many years and was supported by the Dr WHO production office - though members of it rarely appeared. Original producer Verity Lambert wanted to keep the cast and crew distant from the public in order to retain the magic and credibility of the series. Or at least that's what the original press release said. 

There was an attempt to revive the format in the 80s but this floundered very quickly when Dr WHO moved to a weekday transmission and a slot couldn't be found for it that wasn't before ten to midnight on a Thursday. 

It was left to the Doctor Who monthly magazine to finally succumb to public pressure and revive it - abeit in a text form using words. 

Precious little exists of the original show at the BBC. No recordings exist. A handful of telesnaps from the early broadcasts and some documentation was found in a brown envelope when they demolished the Pebble Mill studios in Birmingham a few years ago. 

Robert Robinson opened the letters.

I did start to write a book on the series but gave up when I was told there would be no market for such a publication based on such a paucity of material and guess work. Doctor Who fans like facts - not made up stuff however real it is. 

Here's a selection from my own personal archive. 

Page from unpublished episode guide for series.

Page from unpublished guide for the series.

Jackie Lane helped Katie announce the season 3 poll winners

The What's My Line team joined for a special episode

Original programme broadcast information for episode one.

 

Doctor Who Magazine Special Edition: Toys & Games (Not)

The next "Special Edition" of Doctor Who Magazine is published on 20 April 2017 and is dedicated to Toys & Games. 

Sadly if features none of my zany, wacky merchandise - but that is to be expected as all of mine don't exist. 

Like this cover...

The Chibnall Master Plan Revealed...

Shortly after the announcement that the creator/writer/producer of TV's Broadchurch, Chris Chibnall would be taking over the running of Doctor Who in the space year 2018, this fell through my letter box...