When most people think about the William Hartnell era of Doctor Who, they usually gravitate towards perhaps the first ever story, the first Dalek story, or perhaps his last story. If they’re going a little deeper, they’ll hit one of the other Dalek serials, perhaps a curiosity like The Gunfighters. Rarely do people go over deep cut stories, and especially not one of the several that are…

I will say this for Chris Chibnall — I think he thought he at least gave Graham and Ryan a good send off in Revolution of the Daleks. I think his intentions were good and they were not unceremoniously dumped when leaving the show. That is to his credit.  This is undoubtedly in large part because he created the characters in the first place. If a producer creates the companions, he or she…

Welcome in the summer with the latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine! Going on holiday might not be so easy this year, but we can remember some of the highlights of summers past. That’s why this issue features a celebration of the Doctor Who exhibitions in the 1970s, from the Science Museum in London to Middlesbrough Town Hall, plus Blackpool and Longleat. And that includes 16 pages of previously…

Big Finish’s upcoming The Early Adventures: The Secrets of Det-Sen audio adventure will be dedicated to the memory of actress Jackie Lane. Jackie, who passed away on 23rd June 2021, played Dodo Chaplet, a companion of the First Doctor. The character, however, will now be played on audio by Lauren Cornelius, from The Secrets of Det-Sen, due for release in August 2021.   Actor Peter Purves, who…

Jackie Lane, who played Dodo Chaplet alongside William Hartnell’s Doctor, has died at the age of 79. She was considered for the part of Susan in 1963 but told producer Verity Lambert she didn’t want a long-term commitment, a decision she later regretted. When she did join the programme, she had a relatively short run as a cast member, first appearing at the conclusion of The Massacre of St…

The award for Most Useless Companion goes to… Ryan Sinclair. Of course it’s Ryan. Oh sure, I could beat around the bush for a while, then land on the Sultan of Sulk like a ton of bricks, but no. He’s gone and that can only be a good thing.  Time to celebrate, and in keeping with our new global motto, “Let’s have Fun in ’21!”, why not keep things positive — let’s look at previous companions…

Christmas is a time for giving. For friends, family, and laughter. For forgiveness. And sometimes, it’s a time for goodbyes.

During her youth, Dorothea Chaplet had always believed that Christmas was a time for coming together. For families who might not have seen much of each other all year. For making memories and sharing stories. A time for love and laughter. And the gifts didn’t hurt either.

There’s a line said by Polly Wright (Anneke Wills) in The Faceless Ones, her and Ben Jackson’s (Michael Craze) last serial, which particularly sticks in the mind: “You don’t think my friends will forget me like that, do you?”

It’s a fair concern: the last companion to leave, Dodo (Jackie Lane), was kicked off stage quite unceremoniously in The War Machines (1966), Polly and Ben’s introductory…

Members of the new Time Team in Doctor Who Magazine have recently delivered themselves of some rather startling opinions. The Deadly Assassin has been condemned as sexist. The Talons of Weng-Chiang is also suspect because it is racist.

Developing the ‘argument’, the condemnation of Weng-Chiang continues by saying that it is unacceptable that a Caucasian actor should play a Chinese character: this…

That’s not a sentence you’re likely to read every day! But I’m afraid I’m one of those grumpy, finicky fans who just doesn’t dig the Dalek origin story. Well – that’s not to say I don’t like it. It’s just I don’t understand all the hype. Every time I pull the DVD from my shelf, my unwitting eyes are dazzled by that bright red label: “No. 1 Doctor Who story ever as voted by Doctor Who…

It’s fair to say that the majority of fans know comparatively little about The Massacre, or The Massacre of St Bartholomew’s Eve, if you will. Even fewer will have ever seen it, the four-part serial having been lost to the decades, meaning our only exposure to it is the audio recording, a couple of rare pictures, and the Target novelisation. The result of the tapes being wiped is an added layer…

To: Sylvia Mackay From: Magnus Crilley Date: 29/11/2016 23:20 Subject: First draft Sylvia – Below: the first few comment files I’ve managed to drag out for this year’s reports. These are my own personal reflections; can I leave it with you to put them into something presentable that parents will be happy to read? Please do not include any confidential information or anything that pertains…

Hello, Polly! Right. Now I’ve got that out of my system, let’s take a look at the characters of Polly Wright, as played by Anneke Wills, and Ben Jackson, as played by Michael Craze, shall we? The partnership of Ben and Polly, as the last companions of the first Doctor, is one that was pivotal to the successful introduction of the concept of regeneration into the mythos of Doctor Who. It was their…

The latest issue of Doctor Who: The Complete History acts as a sort of prelude to the upcoming animation of The Power of the Daleks, collecting together behind-the-scenes information about the First Doctor’s last four serials. It’s an era riddled with missing episodes, and sadly, only one of those four tales are complete in the archive, though three episodes of William Hartnell’s final story do…