Doctor Who Zone

Doctor Who magazines are very popular in the UK since it holds updated information for the Doctor Who show. Doctor Who Magazine (DWM) is solely devoted to the longest running TV series around the world, Doctor Who. The magazine started publication in the year 1979 with the name ‘Doctor Who Weekly’ which was handled by Marvel Comics’ UK arm. Then again it changed its name to ‘Doctor Who Monthly’ then to ‘The Official Doctor Who Magazine’ and finally DWM. The magazine originally catered to children but as it developed it focused on a mature audience. The magazine was the source of the Doctor Who exclusives and information. Now the magazine is being handled by Panini Comics and its current editor is Tom Spilsbury. Since Panini acquired the rights to publish DWM, restoration of older Doctor Who comics also begun.

The Doctor Who Magazine contain a continuous comic which features the latest Doctor. Though, when the show did not air for sometime, the magazine featured the different actors who played the role of “the Doctor”. The most notable comics that was published in the DWM was entitled ‘Doctor Who?’. This is a comedy version of the series which was written by Dicky Howett and Tim Quinn. Other contents of the magazine are latest news about the show and cast, letters by fans, interviews, stories behind-the-scenes and reviews. Starting 2002, there are already a total of 21 special editions published. First special edition published was entitled The Complete Fifth Doctor. As long as the show is airing, Doctor Who Magazine will also be published continuously.

So far there are three publishers of Doctor Who books namely BBC Books, Target Books and Virgin Books. BBC Books started publishing Doctor Who books in the year 1996. The first books that the company released was based on the Doctor Who telemovie. The following year, BBC Books released two lines of books entitled the Past Doctor Adventures (PDA) and the Eighth Doctor Adventures (EDA). The PDA book featured the past seven incarnations of the Doctor. Combining the two lines of books, there are a total of 150 books published between 1997-2005. The year 2005, marked the end of the publication of the PDA and EDA lines. A new line was introduced which was informally known as the New Series Adventures which featured the 9th Doctor. In 2006, the 10th Doctor was already featured in the books and the following year marked the publication of original novels which was based on the Doctor Who spin-off series. Last May 2008, BBC Books launched its very first Doctor Who audio book entitled Pest Control, voice was rendered by David Tennant.

On the other hand, Target Books is well-known for its successful line of Doctor Who novels. The company almost had every series of the show in a book. There are only five series of the show that was not novelized by Target Books which are Shada, The Pirate Planet, City of Death, Resurrection of the Daleks and Revelation of the Daleks. While other publications were continued by Virgin Books. Virgin Books continued publishing books under the Missing Adventures and New Adventures line.

Restoring the classic series of Doctor Who requires a lot of work and time but once it is done the first product is Dr Who VHS. Thanks to the efforts and determination of the Doctor Who Restoration Team it became possible. The first project that the team handled was restoring a Doctor Who series where Jon Pertwee stars in. The restorations of the videos was initially placed in VHS and then later on to DVD. The very first Doctor Who VHS release was in the UK. The team has contributed a lot to BBC and especially to the fans of the show. Early 1980’s, Doctor Who VHS became available to the public the first to be released was the ‘Revenge of the Cybermen’.

Without the initiatve of this team to restore old videos of the show, the videos may be lost forever. Now, there are already over 60+ VHS copies of the show. The videos are much better as compared to the original. The restorations also paved the way to place the videos on DVD format which has better quality. With the advanced technology available today, restorations are much easier and faster. Though, VHS copies are very rare today because people prefer DVD copies of the show. But still Doctor Who VHS will still make a nice part of your collection that you can pass on to the next generation.

Aside from the usual Doctor Who merchandise of shirts, caps, mugs, posters and the like there are also Doctor Who trading card. With each trading card there is a corresponding character having their strengths/abilities indicated in the card. You will be able to see each character’s Intelligence, Agility, Stamina, Special Abilities and Fear Factor. Trading card games are not new which makes it easier for gamers to get addicted to the game. It is just like playing Magic Cards where in you must have a strong set of cards to fight off your opponent. As the term suggests, the cards can be traded if you want another card which you do not have. You can trade it off to your friends or even your opponents if they want to.

Be sure also that you have a  balanced set of Doctor Who trading cards because it is not enough if you only have strong cards. And you must also work on your strategy before laying your cards in front of your opponents. This game for sure made a huge impact and rare trading cards are seen being sold online. So aside from being an exciting game it can also be a good investment. So make sure that you take care of your Doctor Who trading cards very well because it might cost something in the near future. And if you want to have your own set of Doctor Who trading cards then feel free to browse DoctorWhoZone.com online store.

Doctor Who original soundtrack has been played for so many years and is recognized by almost anyone. Sound effects and soundtracks are a very important element in a movie or any show because it adds more life and impact for the audience to appreciate the movie better. This is one of the reasons why the Doctor Who show is a hit. Thanks to the excellent work rendered by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, Stock music and freelance composers. The theme music for the Doctor Who show was created through the combined efforts of Ron Grainer and Delia Derbyshire, both are members of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Until now the original theme music is still being used in current Doctor Who series. The Doctor Who soundtrack over the years has been created by different talented and well-known composers which makes the show more popular. Over 40 years, it is one of the most recognised music in television.

The first ever music release for the Doctor Who show was recorded in cassete and marketed in the year 1978. The first releases were mostly sound effects of the show. And it was released during the time of Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker in Doctor Who. The latest Doctor Who soundtrack created was composed by Murray Gold for the Series 4 of the show and was released in the year 2008. The old music releases for the show can still be seen sold on online stores and it is very hard to find in video/audio stores. Grab yourself a copy and enjoy the music of Doctor Who soundtracks.