Does anyone currently subscribe to (or read) Dr Who Magazine?



Well, I can recall in the 1990s (actually, all I have to do is get out a copy of one of the DWMs from that decade!) and the magazine was full of information on how the show was conceived, the ideas behind the stories, interviews with cast and crew, analyses of each of the stories (in the Archive features), and there were essays exploring the impact Dr Who has had on popular culture and the whole of the genre of science fiction....not to mention essays on how the show relates to 'the new physics' of quantum theory, and the scientific ideas explored within the program.



Now, in the 21st century, and with Dr Who back on our screens, DWM provides us with interviews with cast making innuendos about penis sizes (DWM 363, December 2005) :

to quote -

'On the other side of the studio, John Barrowman's ears prick up, "We've all got six inches?" he bellows. "Speak for yourself! Some of us have a LOT more!" '



.....oh and there's The Time Team, that friendly bunch of Dr Who fans who sip wine and enjoy watching the classic series - and bascially just spend 4 pages going on about how Rose is "sooooooooo much better" than The Doctor's previous companions.



.........and who can't be held in awe with the top quality articles, especially all the photos of Noel clarke in his underwear, striking boxing poses (DWM 367, March 2006)



..............and then to pay homage to the show that happened to bear the same name and also featured a Time Lord called The Doctor, DWM features, on average, about 4 pages per issues on the years before Eccleston and Tennant, in the form of DVD reviews and (once in a blue moon) we may get an interview with a 'classic series cast member.............which always concludes with them saying just how much they think the show has improved and that Eccleston and tennant are such fan - tas - tic Doctors!



DWM has learned a lot from Josef Goebbels and the Nazi party -

Bring out the fanfare for your product,

Ensure that your staff worship the product and it's producers,

Subjugate and humiliate your opponent (classic series Dr Who)

AND re write history - Dr Who didn't actually exist before Chris Eccleston and Russel T Davies came along!

I`ve not actually ever read the magazine but it seems par for the course nowadays. We buy our son Dr Who Adventures and as a comic/magazine leaves a lot to be desired even for a small child; he`s finished with it after two minutes. But then the whole media world is blighted by this "style over substance" malady, which is why the Dr Who series is refreshing; It has both.

I`m afraid that`s the world we live in.

The Dr Who mags of the 90s had those 'in depth' articles, because there wasnt a show to write about in those days.



Now that the new series is on, its open slather to promote the latest stuff.



I do remember when the Paul McGann movie was on, Dr WHo Mag only wrote about that movie for about 8 months str8, and then it went back to the classic series because there wasnt anything else to write about.



Perhaps DWM should t hink about publishing a mag for the classic series and one for the new series???

I'm also talking about the production standards, aswell.



Innuendo and sexual titilation aswell as publicity is the main part of their publication - apart from worshiping Davies/Eccleston/Piper/Tennant.

That was the Golden Age!
That was when the people who wrote,edited and published, actually knew and cared about their craft. Today, like so much else, to the people who work on such "enterprise`" it is no more than a means to other,hopefully bigger (for bigger read better paying) projects.
The journalists/writers/editors of today cannot conceive of readers actually READING what is written for them. Every page must be filled with photos`, graphics, anything !to provide a backdrop against verbage that some idealistic hack may (in their absence) accidentally provide.
Until last week I had never read DWM.
Until last week I had always expected it for some reason to be something more than an industry led/fed rag.
Innuendoes I could live with. Praise to the now Immortal writers/producers/directors/cast and their families,friends and neighbours would be fine.
Unfortunately, what IS unforgiveable, is the lack of content. The lack of substance.
Lots of in-house shoulder patting; even a sort of diary/editorial by R.T.D. (for a fee, I`m sure). An extended "Farewell to Rose" article (the Peoples` Princess ?)but other than that,.......nowt!
Again, it boils down to style over substance; something that Torchwood threatens to be. And then the sub-plot promises that little more.
We live on promises,.....

I completely agree.  I used to love reading it, especially in the 80s (its 'golden era'). 

But now it is very definately a case of making the mag look good, instead of having an informed opinion about something.

I don't expect DWM to turn into a scandal rag - but if I want to read some empty headed nonsense then I'll read Woman's Day thanks!!!

The image of a magazine is completely nothing without the genuine substance in it.

The day that DWM finally stops going on about Rose, then I'll be a happy man!

I want editors and writers who actually care about the history of the show to unearth new facts if possible - I'm sick of the innuendos as well - as if that actually contributes anything to my further enjoyment of a show I love.

I want to see more hard hitting editorials, eg what worked/didnt, etc, more interviews with production personnel, etc.

DWM these days is very much like the JNT era of Dr Who - lovely to look at but empty on closer inspection.

There is only one thing that can change the situation here and that is to stop buying the magazine, but I am sure that would be difficult for hard-core fans. Let`s face it, there are people out there who would buy a breakfast cereal if it had a picture of Rose & the Doctor on it. And please don`t think I am having a dig at those people; it`s human nature. It only annoys me that money makers take advantage of that without giving something substantial in return.
As for writing letters of complaint,...Don`t!!!  It enforces the editors view that he is doing something right to attract attention.

To take this a step further, all we can hopre for is the show to go out of production again.
Great choice!

To be honest - when the show was off air during the 90s, was when DWM was last any good.

The show's hiatus forced the magazine to search for new and inventive ways to discuss a program no longer in production.

DWM these days seems to take the lazy way out and goes over the same ground already covered on the new series.......how many times can one do an article on how 'Rose is such a good companion'?

I've said it before - I think DWM should split into 2 mags  - one concentrating on the new series and one on the old.  That way fans of both can get more value - with hopefully some intelligent comment, rather than innuendo which appears to be the norm these days.

I think Corbusier said it best,...
"Less is more"!
Conversely; More is less.