2007: DREAMWATCH 150: THE FINAL ISSUE

From March 2007: DREAMWATCH ISSUE 150, the last issue of the magazine and the end of a long publishing run that dates all the way back to the launch of DWB as a photocopied DOCTOR WHO newsletter in the early 1980s.

Technically this is so far outside the pre-millennial Star Age that it is virtually last week's issue. But I thought it was important to include it because it does mark the end of such a significant run.

The mag was supposed to have a bold future as an online site but - as is often the case - success in one medium doesn't ensure longevity in another and Titan Magazines (true to form) soon lost interest in that as well.

2003: DREAMWATCH ISSUE 100 (TITAN MAGAZINES)

From January 2003: DREAMWATCH MAGAZINE celebrates its 100 issue (and an awful lot more if you count DWB as well).

Technically this falls outside the Star Age and therefore outside the remit of STARLOGGED. But it's an anniversary of a mainstay (which managed another fifty issues before succumbing) so well worth a post.

1998: DREAMWATCH MAGAZINE ISSUE 50

From October 1998: DREAMWATCH MAGAZINE celebrates fifty issues in print since its relaunch four years earlier.

1984: DWB PREVIEWS THE DOCTOR WHO SEASON THAT NEVER WAS

Back to the winter of 1984 and issue 17-18 (a bulging end-of-year double edition) of DOCTOR WHO BULLETIN (aka DWB and, latterly, DREAMWATCH).

This is early coverage of the DOCTOR WHO season that never was. At least not in the form originally anticipated by the production team.

Whilst the were busy preparing scripts and scouting possible filming locations (including a trip to Singapore... How nice), the management on the sixth floor of TV CENTRE were plotting the show's demise. That didn't exactly go to plan either but it did force John Nathan-Turner to scupper his existing story plans for the much-delayed new season. The replacement, The Trial of a Time lord, hardly played to the show's strengths... Maybe he should have stuck to Plan A. 

1984: DOCTOR WHO BULLETIN (DWB) ISSUE 17-18

From the Winter of 1984 (and the Random Scans Department): the end-of-year double issue of Britain's leading fanzine of the day: DOCTOR WHO BULLETIN.

This is from a time before I was reader but I spotted it in a dealer's box a few weeks ago and picked it up.

It's from the time when DWB was still a WHO only magazine, a status which (like ENTERPRISE INCIDENTS and its origins as a Trek zine) would eventually change to distinguish it from the officially licensed Marvel mag and avoid any legal entanglements with BBC Enterprises.

1994: SHAKEDOWN Advert (Doctor Who/ Blake's 7/ Dreamwatch Magazine)

From October 1994: a full-page advert from DREAMWATCH MAGAZINE for their direct-to-video (via a convention... which the magazine also hosted) science fiction drama SHAKEDOWN.

"General release" in this instance, of course, meant you could order the tape.

I think I've talked about this one-off before.  It's not great but it's a nice addition to the margins of the DOCTOR WHO universe (the Sontarans and the Rutans reprise their ongoing battle for supremacy... this time on board a space yacht that looks suspiciously like the innards of a WWII era battleship.  

The cast is an interesting combination of familiar faces from DOCTOR WHO and BLAKE'S SEVEN, although I doubt that anyone would claim they did their best work here.  The revealing behind-the-scenes documentary (which, I believe, was initially released as a separate tape) suggests that the tightly-scheduled shoot was somewhat fraught. 

Terrence Dicks adapted his own script, and added the Seventh Doctor, for the Virgin New Adventures range of novels.

1995: DREAMWATCH Issue 9

Everyone has a first issue... and for DREAMWATCH MAGAZINE readers this may well have been it.  

DREAMWATCH, the rebooted former fanzine (and future Titan Magazines acquisition), launched earlier in the year (see my previous post) but it was still only sold via subscription and through specialist comic book stores.  From issue 9 (May 1995) it nabbed national mainstream distribution and no doubt found a brand new audience, previously blissfully unaware it even existed.

Over those previous eight issues the magazine had come a long way: fixing the crappy masthead and cleaning-up the interior layouts.  For a good few years, Dreamwatch and TV Zone were invaluable monthly reads.  

Of course, it helped that this coincided with the moment that THE X-FILES ceased being that obscure NIGHT STALKER-type show tucked away on satellite TV (it's easy to forget that its first British outing on Sky One went pretty-much unheralded.  It was only when BBC TWO repeated the show that it began to build any momentum) and into a zeitgeist-capturing cultural phenomenon.  This wouldn't be the last time that Dreamwatch (and every other magazine in search of a sales lift) would splash it across the cover.  

BABYLON FIVE was also proving to be the little-show-that-could, building a bigger (so it seemed) fan following in the UK than in the States. 

1994: DREAMWATCH MAGAZINE Issue 1

From October 1994: the launch issue of DREAMWATCH, successor to the long-running, much read and highly-controversial (reading its' anti-JNT vitriol now just seems venomous... although the excellent book THE LIFE AND SCANDALOUS TIMES OF JOHN NATHAN-TURNER does at least put it into context) fanzine DWB (originally DOCTOR WHO BULLETIN).

Despite its shortcomings, I really liked DWB and found its news coverage and reviews (except when they had a JNT hate-on) to be second-to-none in the pre-internet age.  And their broad no-longer-just-WHO remit meant it was the essential companion to TV ZONE.

DWB's relaunch as DREAMWATCH sounded promising but - really - the early issues were a disapointment.  The layouts were poor (DWB always made a virtue of cramming in as much content as possible) and the articles and reviews suddenly seemed superficial.  

Things did get better... it started to look more professional with every issue and, within the year, secured newsagent distribution for the first time.  It was now a proper magazine.  

Like every other magazine and newspaper in the land (including everything Visual Imagination could churn out), Dreamwatch became obsessed with THE X-FILES and ensured every issue was filled with something related to the show.  BABYLON FIVE also loomed large throughout the mid-nineties.  

Titan Magazines bought the title in 2001, presumably because it created synergy with its other licensed titles.  It survived until issue 150 in 2007, at which point Titan pulled-the-plug.  

The prominent mention of SHAKEDOWN on the above cover was a handy bit of cross-promotion for one of Dreamwatch's other business ventures that year: a new, full-length video drama spun-off from DOCTOR WHO (made possible because of the BBC's bizarre joint-ownership of the monsters, companions and sundry elements) featuring the return of - spoiler alert - The Sontarans.  The drama, filmed (rather too obviously) on HMS Belfast, pulled together several familiar faces from British telefantasy for what appeared to be (judging from the rather-too-candid Making Of... video) a somewhat fraught shoot.  It later became (more) WHO cannon when writer Terrence Dicks novelized it for the Virgin Books range. 

The film was premiered at... wait for it... DREAMWATCH, the magazine's spin-off convention.  I don't think they ever did another film.. or another convention. 

The awful logo was soon dispatched too...