DOCTOR WHO MAGAZINE ISSUE 521

THE DOCTOR IS IN interview by Marcus Hearn

An interview with Jodie Whitaker the new thirteenth doctor. Not much to it as they wanted to keep her debut secret.

THE DOCTOR FALLS interview by Benjamin Cook

An interview with Rachel Talalay who directed the final of Peter Capaldi.

THE LAST BATTLE By Benjamin Cook

An article on the making of Twice Upon a Time the final episode for Peter Capaldi.

BLACK HOLES AND REVELATIONS Interview by Benjamin Cook

An interview with John Smith a Canadian special effects who did the Christmas special.

THE MAESTRO By Mark Ayres

Dudley Simpson who died in 2017 at 95 was a composer from Australia who did the music for episodes from the first to fourth doctor.

MELODY MAKER By David Huckvale illustrated by Sean Coleman

More on the scores of Dudley Simpson.

THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX By Matt Sanders

An account of recreating the old Tardis for the Christmas special.

THE PHANTOM PIPER By Scott Gray Artist: Martin Geraghty

The comic section on an ongoing story part three. The Doctor is on some planet trying to get help with a message on his Tardis.

MR. HARGREAVES Interview by Emily Cook

Adam Hargreaves does a popular childrens books featuring potato like characters. He is doing one for all the doctors.

THE FACE OF EVIL By Alan Barnes

A look at the making of the Tom Baker series The Face of Evil.

Plus reviews of episodes, books DVDs and merchandise that is upcoming.

So I are doing something a bit different is having a magazine instead of a book. A friend at work had an extra magazine and gave me it. So I finally got around to reading it. Basically it was so-so. The interviews and technical articles didn’t really interest me. I found the article on the Face of Evil the most interesting. Some of the reviews weren’t bad. Otherwise I don’t think magazines like this appeal to me.

RIFFTRAX LIVE: THE FIVE DOCTORS

The night started off with a short from Britain. Apparently the British also put out these goofy shorts about dumb people doing dumb things and trying to discourage such dumb things. In this case its not respecting power lines. So you have dumb kids flying kites or wheeling around their sailboats and getting electrocuted. Dumb kids throwing frisbees into power transformers then breaking in an getting electrocuted. Oh and hooligans like to throw chains into power lines causing blackouts. Luckily an animated wise old owl and his dumb robin sidekick shame everyone into behaving.

So the main feature was the classic TV special The Five Doctors or four because Tom Baker didn’t like the money or screentime in the episode. Some sinister being is plucking all the reincarnations of the doctor from the timestream and bringing them to the Deathzone. The Deathzone was an old gladiator type arena where the Time Lords brought different aliens to fight for their amusement. Thus the first, second and third and some past companions are snatched out of time and dumped there. The fourth is conveniently stuck in the system.

The four Doctors together.

The Time Lords also throw in the Master the Doctor’s arch nemesis to rescue him. And of course Cybermen, Daleks and Yeti are also tossed in. Basically the various Doctors make their way to the dark tower and confront the evil behind all this.

Cybermen meet their match.

Now I am a big fan of the old classic Doctor Who series. I actually like the Five Doctors. Sure its a bit cheezy and there are some moments that were perfect for riffing. When the Cyberman comes out and looks surprised as the Doctor and Master were talking and nobody notices him. Their riffs on how he screwed up and missed his cue got the most laughs for the night.

Cyberman looking surprised that nobody notices him.

Then there is the bearded image of Rasillon with his Genghis Khan hat.

Rassillon aka Genghis Khan.

Or the main baddie who looked like Maleficent.

Maleficent contemplating immortality.

I guess it just never really resonated with me. It was enjoyable and had some good laughs but never came close to Samurai Cop. I think they really should stick more to the really bad cheezy movies. Those are the ones that are absolutely hilarious. So until next year we bit adieu to Rifftrax live.

THE ESSENTIAL DOCTOR WHO THE MASTER EDITED BY MARCUS HEARN

Copyright 2015.

The Master the renegade Time Lord that is the Doctor’s greatest enemy. Back in 1971 Terrence Dicks and Barry Letts the script editor and producer came up with introducing a new opponent for the Doctor. They decided on a Professor Moriarty type character who was also a Time Lord and an equal to the Doctor. Thus Roger Delgado stepped in an gave his iconic performance during the Pertwee era. Later other actors would step into the part Anthony Ainley, Eric Roberts, John Simm and the current incarnation by Michelle Gomez. The book has a summary of each episode that the Master appeared in. These include the radio, comics and books. There are biographies on each of the actors that played the Master. Also interviews with Terrance Dicks(creator),Katy Manning?(Jo Grant), Richard Franklin(Captain Mike Yates),Mathew Waterhouse(Adric),Gary Russell, and Michelle Gomez the current Master(or Mistress as she now calls herself).

I finally got around to reading this Christmas give from a friend at work. I am a big fan of Doctor Who and I found this to be a very interesting and informative book. Definitely a good source for anything about the Master.