Doctor Who Magazine

Doctor Who Magazine (abbreviated as DWM) is a periodical devoted to the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The current editor of the magazine is Clayton Hickman.

Related Topics:
British - Science fiction television - Doctor Who - Clayton Hickman

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This official magazine (known then as Doctor Who Weekly) was first published in 1979 under the UK arm of comic book company Marvel Comics. The first issue's cover date was 17 October 1979 with a cover price of 12p, although due to the practice of forward dating magazine covers to provide greater longevity on the shelves, its actual release date was 12 October.

Related Topics:
1979 - UK arm - Comic book - Marvel Comics - 17 October - 12 October

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The magazine moved from weekly to monthly publication with #44 in September 1980, becoming Doctor Who: A Marvel Monthly with a cover price of 30p. The title changed to Doctor Who Monthly with #61 and Doctor Who Magazine with #85 in February 1984. In 1990 it started appearing once every four weeks (13 times a year). Despite Doctor Who going off the air in 1989, the magazine continued to be published, providing new Doctor Who adventures in the form of the comic strips. The television programme was revived in 2005.

Related Topics:
September - 1980 - February - 1984 - 1990 - 1989 - 2005

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Originally geared towards children, DWM has grown into a magazine about the behind the scenes aspects of the television series, with many articles exploring the fine details of the programme. As the only commercial Doctor Who magazine with the name of the series in the title, it is seen as a source of "official" and exclusive information, sharing a close relationship with the television series production team and the BBC.

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As mentioned, DWM also features an ongoing comic strip starring the current incarnation of the Doctor in adventures independent of the spin-off audio plays and novels. Notable writers and artists who have worked on the strip include John Wagner, Pat Mills, Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons, Mike McMahon and John Ridgway. Selected stories from the strip were also reprinted in North America by Marvel Comics. Supporting characters that have crossed over from the comic strip to other spin-off media include Frobisher, the shape-changing companion of the Sixth and Seventh Doctors; Abslom Daak the Dalek Killer and the villainous Beep the Meep.

Related Topics:
Comic strip - Spin-off - John Wagner - Pat Mills - Alan Moore - Dave Gibbons - Mike McMahon - John Ridgway - North America - Frobisher - Sixth - Seventh Doctor - Abslom Daak - Dalek - Beep the Meep

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DWM is now published by Panini Comics, who purchased the title along with the rest of the Marvel UK catalogue in 1995. Panini has begun to digitally restore and reprint the comic strips starting from the beginning, with two volumes having been published so far and a third to follow in 2005.

Related Topics:
Panini Comics - 1995 - 2005

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