- You may be looking for the in-universe magazine or the magazine from a meta-fiction universe.
The first issue of Doctor Who Weekly was published by Marvel UK with a cover date of 17 October 1979. (This was actually the date the issue was expected to be removed from the nation's shelves—the publication was actually in the shops from Thursday 11 October 1979.)
As with any weekly comic launch at the time in Britain, this issue came with a free gift—in this case, transfers attached to the front cover.
Editor Dez Skinn had previously considered launching a Doctor Who title (mixing comic strip adventures with articles about the programme) in the style of his previous success, House of Hammer/Halls of Horror. However, he had been prevented from doing so by Polystyle Publications Ltd which, since 1964, had held a licence to publish new Doctor Who adventures in TV Comic and Countdown/TV Action.
After noting TV Comic had ceased to run any Doctor Who stories after issue 1430, Skinn – by this time Editorial Director at Marvel UK – immediately set about contacting the BBC and creating a "dummy" issue to demonstrate his ideas. To his genuine surprise, the BBC agreed with his plans, and granted Marvel Comics a then unique licence to publish new Doctor Who strips in both the British and American markets.
The print run for the first issue was 250,000 copies, of which roughly 154,000 (61%) were sold.
Legacy[]
Being the first issue of what has since become the longest running TV tie-in magazine of all-time (an accolade Doctor Who Magazine is now extremely unlikely to lose), the image of the front-cover is considered to be iconic. It has often been recreated or referenced in follow-up or anniversary issues. In issue 283, which celebrated the magazine's 20th anniversary, the comic story TV Action! showed the Eighth Doctor reading a copy of the comic while visiting the "real world" (a parallel universe) on the day of the first issue's release.
Subsequently, DWM 400 (released in October 2008) included a poster featuring David Tennant's Tenth Doctor reading the first issue, contrasted with a 1979 image of Tom Baker altered to show him reading a copy of the 400th edition. The issue included an interview in which Tennant claimed to still have his transfers.
DWM 500 (published in May 2016) recreated the cover image, albeit with Peter Capaldi in costume as the Twelfth Doctor, with a 2005-era Dalek prop, going as far as to include stickers of the Doctor in the place of the original transfers.
Contents[]
Articles[]
- The Monsters of Doctor Who: Day of the Daleks by B. Aldrich and G. Blows
Comic content[]
- Doctor Who and the Iron Legion - Part one
- Writers: Mills + Wagner
- Art: Dave Gibbons
- Editor: Dez Skinn
- The Return of the Daleks - Part one
- Tales from the TARDIS: War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells - Part one
Fiction[]
- Entry 2481/B-3: The Doctor's escape from the Vorgan Space Platform.
- Entry 3512/A-7: The Doctor escape from Magnon 5.
Archives[]
- The Story of Doctor Who.
Interviews / Profiles[]
- William Hartnell (Photo-file Number 1)
Additional features[]
- A Letter from the Doctor
- Crazy Caption Competition (£5 to be won)
Additional details[]
- The Doctor's first words in the main comic strip were: "I must stock up with provisions. I haven't had a thing to eat since I took off from Zaggar-Six!"
- The supporting comic strip presented under the heading 'Tales from the TARDIS' featured previously issued material with opening and closing boxes redrawn and tailored specifically for inclusion in the pages of Doctor Who Weekly.
- Unlike previous Doctor Who comic strips, the main character was referred to as 'the Doctor' and not 'Doctor Who'.
- This "Fantastic First Issue" had free transfers sellotaped to the cover that could be used on Dave Gibbons' full-colour page panoramas on the inside cover (see above Fiction).
- The photo-file feature on William Hartnell carries a note that reads "to the memory of whom this first issue is respectfully dedicated."
- The cover uses a publicity shot of Tom Baker with a Dalek, taken during the making of TV: Genesis of the Daleks. Skinn's original "dummy" issue had featured solely Tom Baker (as featured in the show's opening title sequence), but he later admitted: "How can you possibly launch such a title without including Daleks on the cover too?"
- Published every Thursday, this issue had a cover price of 12p (UK).
- This issue was reprinted in December 2004 as a free gift with DWM 350.
External links[]
Official Doctor Who Magazine 1-99 page at doctorwhomagazine.com
2025 needs to be added
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