Fan Scene- Tardis77 Issues 2 & 3

Issue 2 is fronted by artwork depicting a Voord and a triple chinned Doctor and suddenly I’m thinking- hang on a mo- it was published in late February 1977 with the now acclaimed 1976-77 season in full flow. And they chose to illustrate the official fanzine with something from an old story again for the second issue running? If anything shows the agenda of the people running the DWAS at that time it is this. Editor Gordon is asking members to vote in the season poll for stories they found enjoyable. I wonder if the editorial team would even be able to do that?  News-wise what’s happening in the world of Doctor Who right now is that the documentary producers have apparently found a lot of material related to the show some of which will be included. Transmission date is said to be April 1977. 

There’s a Target books schedule leaning heavily on recent stories but also including `The Mutants` and in December `The Witch Lords`. The what? DWASwise, a date for the convention has been decided upon and the photographic department has shut down (I wonder why). In his President’s column Jan Vincent –Rudzki is still on about what he refers to as `The Deadly Thingy` though surprisingly he seems to like the subsequent stories better. There’s a reproduction of Patrick Troughton’s famously irritable interview on Pebble Mill at One “Its lies, all lies” he declares.

`Face of Evil` is reviewed by a number of members and is generally well received. One reviewer though, after criticising the plot, concludes that it had “a good plot but a lousy interpretation.” There’s an interview with outgoing producer Philip Hinchcliffe (see below). The letters pages has reaction to last issue’s `Deadly Assassin” with a mixed bag suggesting a lot of people don’t necessarily agree with their President.

Issue 3 has 44 pages for 15p! This issue heralds a change in the DWAS’s publication approach combining the swaps / pen pals mag Celestial Toyroom (or CT as everyone called it) with Tardis to produce one overall issue. This is due to an increase in membership which has now doubled to over 600 people (and that’s a lot of issues). It does mean that Gordon Blows is becoming the publisher rather than editor though. In the event it’s an awkward fit especially as both publications seem to carry news and interviews however it does make a meaty 44 page publication.

It is a heavy news time too. There’s some interesting stuff relating to a rumoured themed season – this would be the season due to start in September 1977, the first by Graham Williams suggesting he had the Key to Time idea for a while. The theme has been scrapped though for that season according to the news with the one script done- by Terrance Dicks- which had been planned as the first being put back to fourth.

There is also “confusion” over the proposed Doctor Who film with rumours that it had been dropped now refuted. Apparently Universal Studios may be backing it (I wonder if they will!). Meanwhile Doctor Who is moving from TV Comic as it aims for a younger audience. However Polystyle are due to launch a new magazine called Countdown into which the Doctor Who strip is likely to go. Outgoing producer Philip Hinchcliffe has sent a message to the zine which congratulates them on an interesting issue and mentions Doctor Who being nominated for a British Academy Award for last season. In the CT part there’s notice of a Patrick Troughton Preservation Society whose aim is not to cryogenically freeze the actor as the name suggests but rather preserve the tapes of his adventures.

There’s an interview with Jon Pertwee which does seem to tick off several familiar anecdotes though whether this is the interview they originated from I’m not sure. `The Robots of Death` is reviewed by Owen Tudor, another well known writer from fandom’s early days. On this occasion he is very, very picky. He’s obsessed with the grain hopper and how the Doctor manages to produce the pipe enabling him to breath. He doesn’t like the way the end of episode cliffhangers are altered when reprised the following week. He doesn’t care for the ornate design of the robots which he says are both impractical and expensive (aren’t the Sandminer crews from rich families?). He doesn’t even like the storage shelves which on a Sandminer would be impractical?? I’m not sure he realises it’s just a drama and not a documentary! He does eventually concede that Chris Boucher has “exceptionally good ideas”. Except presumably the storage shelves.

CT of course includes swaps in the days before ebay. It is surprising that fans are so willing to part with good merchandise to obtain other things and sometimes there isn’t much equanimity between what they have and what they want. These ads reveal the minutae of Doctor Who collectables of the time with things like Ty Phoo and Weetabix cards being swapped just as avidly as annuals and books. People even want and have “recordings” which presumably means audio recordings.  Members can vote in the season poll this issue and what a tricky choice it is. How do you separate what is basically a list of six classic stories? Not sure who Wen Chiang is though!,

Buried in CT this issue is actually a rather significant milestone being the first ever DWAS Local Group or rather someone wanting to set one up. John Keung is his name and he lives in Stoke on Trent and this would become the very first ever DWAS local group. I’m wondering now if it’s Johns’ idea too as there’s a note underneath his ad encouraging members in any other part of the country who’d like to bring DWAS members together to write in. There’s an interview with Raymond Cusick in which he talks about the iconic design and an earlier idea he had for them (see below) .The issue also includes some interesting information about the popular Target books penned by the books editor of the time Liz Godfrey (see below). There’s also a quiz, fan art, letters and more of Martin Wiggins’ History of the Time Lords. In all it’s what they call a bumper issue!