DWM 181

The 181st issue of Doctor Who Magazine was released 28 November 1991 and remained current through 25 December 1991. Despite its Christmas Day cover date, it was not a holiday-themed issue. Instead, most of its articles centred around the Pertwee era.

Articles

 * All Conventions Great and Small - Behind the scenes at Panopticon '91 and Exo-Space 2
 * The Pertwee Years by Stephen James Walker
 * On Set: The Moonbase by Marcus Hearn and John Ainsworth
 * Will the real UNIT... Kevan Loosely (a member of the armed forces), assesses UNIT as a military force and finds it severely wanting in discipline - and haircuts!
 * Behind the scenes: The Doctor Who Comic Strip - Paul Travers takes advantage of the delayed comic strip Evening's Empire, to review recent strips and find out just how the stories are put together...

Comic content

 * The Fires Down Below (Reprinted from DWM 64)
 * The Dalek Chronicles - Issue 2
 * Comic Assassins: 7 The Two Nits from UNIT by Kev F. Sutherland

Fiction

 * Heliotrope Bouquet - Part 1 by Dan Abnett
 * Brief Encounter - Echoes of Future Past by John Summerfield

Interviews / Profiles

 * Role Models: John Woodnutt - Earthbound, Colour, A New Doctor...Spearhead from Space marked a number of milestones in the history of Doctor Who. Liam Rudden spoke to actor John Woodnutt about his memories of that, and his three subsequent stories.
 * Talking to Tom Baker: Part Three - In the final part of a three part interview, Tom Baker reflects as the Doctor, on his (then) present work and the fate of the programme itself...

Archive Feature

 * Archive Feature: TV: Spearhead from Space with FactFile: by Andrew Pixley.

Off the Shelf
Gary Russell takes stock of a bundle of new Doctor Who books, released just in time to fill your stockings for Christmas...
 * BOOK: REF: The Terrestrial Index
 * BOOK: PROSE: Timewyrm: Revelation
 * VIDEO: Summoned by Shadows
 * VIDEO: Blake's 7 - The Keeper / Star One and Aftermath / Powerplay

Page Pin-ups

 * Tractator in the TARDIS from  Frontios 

Also featuring

 * Gallifrey Guardian (News)
 * Matrix Data Bank (Questions and Answers)
 * Beyond the TARDIS (Who is doing what by Dominic May)
 * 'Doctor Who?' by Tim Quinn and Dicky Howett (comic strip)
 * 'Who in Review' (Who event coverage)
 * You on Who (Letters)
 * 'Nix's View' by Nick Miller (cartoon)
 * Data Coils (now incorporating personal and club events listing)

Credits

 * Senior Editor: John Freeman
 * Star Trek Infiltrator: Harry Papdopoulos
 * Copy Control: Sophie Health
 * Design Slave: Peri Godbold
 * Co-ordinating Overlord: Louise Cassell
 * Promotion: Jane Sumner
 * Production: Mark Irvine
 * Advertising: Jane Smale
 * Adviser: John Nathan-Turner
 * Editorial Director: Paul Neary
 * Managing Director: Vincent Conran
 * Excelsior: Stan Lee

Additional details

 * This issue had a free fold out poster stapled to the centre that featured artwork by Alister Pearson, of the seven Doctors that was used for the cover of issue 174. The original caption used on the poster credited the quote to Survival Part Four but this was spotted at a convention (that there was no Part Four), and was simply left as being credited to the story at the end.
 * With the second instalment of the comic story Evening's Empire having gone missing in the post, the space this issue is filled with the reprinting of a back-up comic story from DWM 64.
 * This issues coverfeatures artwork from Lee Sullivan (Dalek-Cybermen War) and was priced £2.25 (UK)
 * On the copyright page of the magazine (usually page 3) is a box of very small text; the end of this text reads, “In the basement of Coal Hill School, the Dalek considered the meaning of life, then shot it through the head at point blank range.”