DWM 164

The 164th issue of Doctor Who Magazine was a watershed issue. It began a kind of "third age" of DWM publication.

Initially, of course, the magazine had been weekly. Then it moved to a monthly publication. With DWM #164 it moved to quad-weekly releases. This meant that subscribers would receive thirteen issues a year, not just twelve.

It also changed the meaning of the. With this issue, cover dates were not just given in terms of months, but precise dates. However, these dates were emphatically not publication dates — they were expiration dates. The cover date was much more significant to the retailer than the consumer: it referred to the day retailers should have removed it from their shelves. In other words, the cover date of "8 September 1990" meant that on 9 September 1990, DWM #165 hit the news stands. The issue "published in September 1990" was therefore #165 — not this one.

DWM #164 was also notable for fans of the DWM comic strip. From this issue and for several years, the comic strip's narrative continuity was deliberately intertwined with that of the Virgin New Adventures line of novels. (Winter 1993)

Articles

 * ‘The Two Nervous Breakdowns' (Part 2 of 2) Gary Downie (Production Manager) concludes his article on overseas filming with the actual recording of the show...The Two Doctors.

Comic content

 * Terror of the Autons (A Radio Times Tribute) by Colin Howard
 * Fellow Travellers - Part 1

Archives

 * Archive Feature: Terror of the Autons (Episodes 1-3) (Part 1 of 2) with illustrations by Colin Howard synopsis only by Andrew Pixley
 * Episode Guide: Season 26: Sylvester McCoy (Battlefield to Survival)

Interviews / Profiles

 * John Nathan-Turner (Producer) talks about his time on Doctor Who to former BBC publicist Kevin O'Shea (interviewed in DWM 158)
 * Marek Anton (Actor) who played both Vershinin in The Curse of Fenric and the Destroyer in Battlefield interviewed by John B. McLay
 * Philip Madoc (Actor) by Peter F.D. Linford discusses The War Games and The Brain of Morbius from an interview by Martin Cassan

Previews / Reviews - Off the Shelf

 * NOVEL: MISSING EPISODES: Mission to Magnus by Philip Martin (Target Books)
 * VIDEOS: The Five Doctors (BBC Video)
 * VIDEOS: The Brain of Morbius (Unedited) (BBC Video)

Page Pin-ups

 * Teenagers Jean and Phyllis from The Curse of Fenric
 * The Third Doctor at his workbench from Terror of the Autons (B&W)

Also featuring

 * Matrix Data Bank (Questions and Answers)
 * Beyond the TARDIS (Who is doing what by Dominic May)
 * Gallifrey Guardian (News)
 * You on Who (Letters)
 * Data Coils (now incorporating pen-pals and events listing)
 * 'Doctor Who?' by Tim Quinn and Dicky Howett (comic strip)
 * 'Nix' by Nick Miller (cartoon)
 * Competition: 3 Questions to win one of ten Mark Ayres LP's Myths and Other Legends

Random quote
“What's happening, Doctor?"
 * Various Companions, etc!

Credits

 * Editor: John Freeman
 * Assistant Editor : Jacqui Papp
 * Witty Patter: Dan Abnett
 * Production: Mark Irvine
 * Advisor: John Nathan-Turner
 * Magazine Group Editor: John Freeman
 * Managing Director: Robert Sutherland
 * Excelsior: Stan Lee

Additional details

 * This issue priced £1.50 (UK) was the first issue to appear every four weeks (13 per year) as opposed to a monthly release of 12 per year.
 * The main cover picture features the Fourth Doctor and Melkur from The Keeper of Traken.
 * Colin Howard once again illustrates an introduction to this issues Archive Feature with a 'trailer' that gives more than a nod to Frank Bellamy's treatment of the Doctor Who story Colony in Space for Radio Times in 1972.