50 Years in Space & Time (Part 11)

Here's the penultimate part of my look back at Doctor Who's 50th Anniversary:

• The Radio Times Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special
• The TV Times Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special

11. Radio Times 50th Anniversay Special

The Radio Times Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special is a real doozy, with no less than TWELVE variant covers featuring all of the Doctors, including "War Doctor" John Hurt.

There's also a Steven Moffat article, on set with Tennant, Smith and Hurt, a celebration of 50 Years of Radio Times Doctor Who covers, a detailed overview of all eleven Doctors, and even a competition to win the Doctor's bow tie. What's not to like about this? Another nice one.

12. TV Times 50th Anniversay Special

The TV Times had their own 50 Years of Doctor Who Anniversary edition, which was also pretty good, although they didn't go quite as overboard as the Radio Times, with only four variant Doctor Who covers.

There is a nice Classic Companions piece, interviewing Peter Purves (Steven) and Frazer Hines (Jamie), plus a mini-review of The Day of the Doctor. But the main piece of the Doctor Who anniversary is the five-page 50 Years of Doctor Who Special celebration, which includes interviews with not only David Tennant and Matt Smith, but also Tom Baker and Peter Davison.

However, my absolute favourite was the A Brief History of Time (Lords) timeline, which runs along the bottom of the entire five pages of the main 50 Years of Doctor Who Special section. Anyone who knows me knows how much I like my timelines. Lovely.

To Be Continued...

50 Years in Space & Time (Part 4)

In my last post, I discussed the Doctor Who contents of the 50th Anniversary editions of both the Radio Times and the TV Times, and both magazines have pulled out all the stops for the 50th Anniversary. But when it comes to the magazines, nothing beats Doctor Who Magazine.

The November 50th Anniversary edition of Doctor Who Magazine is an extra-special bumper 116-page souvenir special issue, and comes inside a lovely hard-card "envelope", with lots of nice stuff both on back and front. The magazine itself is full of tasty anniversary articles and interviews, including:

• A massive preview of the 50th Anniversary Special, The Day of the Doctor
• Ghosts in the Machine, a behind the scenes feature on the prestigious An Adventure in Space and Time drama
• An Unearthly Beginning, featuring never-before-seen drafts of An Unearthly Child
• The Wonder of Who - what is the secret of Doctor Who's appeal?
• Who Was Anthony Coburn? Part 1
• The Fact of Fiction - The Five Doctors a detailed examination of the 20th Anniversary adventure
• The Watcher's Guide to Anniversaries
• The Watcher's 50th Anniversary Quiz
• Interviews with Matt Smith and David Tennant, Jenna-Louise Coleman (on how Clara coped with three Doctors) and Mary Peach (Enemy of the World)
• Reviews of Enemy of the World, The Web of Fear, The Complete Seventh Series, and various new releases on the books and audio drama front
• A nice comic strip John Smith and the Common Men
• Plus all the usual regular stuff that DWM gives us each and every month.

There are also some nice extras inside, in addition to the magazine. There's a very nice twelve-card series of collectable art cards featuring all twelve Doctors (Peter Capaldi is in there as well). And we've also got a special mini-magazine, a gorgeous little A5 1960s-themed "mini issue" of Doctor Who Magazine (dated November 1964. Only 2d!), with a really nice "Dalek on Westminster Bridge" cover.

This November 50th Anniversary issue of DWM is a real cracker, one of the best, ever. I'd advise all Doctor Who fans to snap up a copy while they still can.

To Be Continued...

50 Years in Space & Time (Part 3)

With the Radio Times celebrating Doctor Who's 50th Anniversary, with no less than TWELVE variant covers, the TV Times also got in on the act with their own 50 Years of Doctor Who Anniversary edition for the week of 23rd-29th November, with four variant Doctor Who covers. I have the 1963-1969 Cover #1, featuring Hartnell and Troughton, plus companions Jamie, Zoe, Steven and Dodo, and a selection of the favourite b&w era monsters. A very nice cover, although it's strange that all the background companions and monsters are Troughton-era. There's nothing from the Hartnell era, except the First Doctor himself, and maybe the Daleks, as they were from both eras.

Inside the magazine, we have:

• A mini-review of The Day of the Doctor
• A five-page 50 Years of Doctor Who Special celebration, A Very Special Birthday. This is a nice one, and includes an interview with David Tennant and Matt Smith, and interviews with Tom Baker (the 1970s) and Peter Davison (the 1980s)
• There's also a Classic Companions piece, featuring interviews with Peter Purves (Steven) and Frazer Hines (Jamie)
• And to crown it all, there's A Brief History of Time (Lords), a very nice timeline running along the bottom of the entire five-page feature, starting with An Unearthly Child in 1963, and taking us right up to the 2012 Christmas TV Special, in which the Matt Smith Doctor faces off against the Great Intelligence, in the shape of Richard E. Grant

Overall, a pretty good Doctor Who 50th Anniversary edition. It's well worth grabbing at least one copy of this one.

To Be Continued...

50 Years in Space & Time (Part 2)

Last time out, I talked about what TV has been dishing up for us to celebrate our favourite Time Lord's 50th birthday. This time, I'm having a look at what's been happening on the magazine front. In this first part, I'll be looking at the Radio Times.

The November 23rd-29th edition of the Radio Times is a Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special, with no less than twelve variant covers, each one featuring a different Doctor (including the "War Doctor" John Hurt, which is why there are twelve covers, not eleven). So far, I've got the Hartnell, Troughton, Pertwee and Tom Baker covers, and to be honest, that's enough.

I honestly think it's going a bit overboard trying to collect all twelve covers, unless you're a reseller wanting to make a big profit, or a hardcore, dedicated fan or collector, who simply has to have every cover. I've always been a huge fan of the first four Doctors, so I've decided just to collect only the magazines with the covers of those four Doctors.

Inside the magazine itself, we've got:

• A golden celebration of Radio Times Doctor Who covers, with fifty covers for all fifty years
• A Steven Moffat article You Can't Destroy the Doctor
• On set with the Three Doctors (Smith, Tennant and Hurt)
• A detailed overview of all eleven Doctors
• And, finally, a competition to win the Doctor's bow tie

Oh, yeah, and don't forget that this issue is also interactive, if you happen to have an Apple or Android smartphone. Which I don't. Life is so unfair! :(

This one is worth grabbing at least one copy of.

To Be Continued...