The newsletter of the Doctor Who Club of Australia, Data Extract, turns forty this month. 

 

The magazine was first published on November 24th 1980 under the title of the Australasian Doctor Who Newsletter. It wasn't until issue 23 in July-August 1983 that the titled changed to Data Extract following a competition for readers to come up with a catchy name. The winner was Kevin Smedley of Sunbury who came up with the name Australasian Who's Who. Although declared the winner and receiving a lifetime subscription to the newsletter, the name wasn't used as the editor, Dallas Jones decided to use his own idea and call the magazine Data Extract.

 

The headline is the first edition was Tom Baker Quits announcing the departure of the longest-serving actor to play the role of The Doctor.  

The next three issues of Data Extract (247, 248 and 249) will include a plethora of features celebrating this 40-year milestone, including recollections from past editors and articles about the history of the publication.

Issue 247, due for release next week, looks at Christopher Eccleston's return to the role of the Doctor, interviews Thomas Crawford on his Satellite 5 fan productions and goes behind the scenes with Brand Manager Edward Russell on recreating the Beatles Abbey Road cover with Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman and two Daleks.

There is also a report on a  Who themed wedding, a count down the best honeymoon locations in the Whoniverse, a hunt for Campsie's missing TARDIS library and a discussion of the conspiracy of The Curator with the Boffin.

Readers can also check out the Lockdown Season with UK correspondent Bel Bailey-Melouney, discover the origins of the Doctor's dark side in War of the Valeyard and launch the first part of the Jason Towers comic 'Old Sixie versus the Bridge of Doom', telling the true tale of how the DWCA forced Colin Baker to climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge. 

If you aren't a current member of the DWCA you can subscribe online

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A free ebook celebrating Blackpool's Doctor Who exhibition, has been released. 

 

Blackpool Remembered is a FREE digital publication, collated and edited by John Collier. It celebrates the original Doctor Who Exhibition on Blackpool’s Golden Mile, which ran from 1974 to 1985.

Hot on the heels of the latest series of Doctor Who, every year fans would travel the length and breadth of the country to visit the TARDIS and defy the Daleks – no other television show had its own permanent exhibition, and this was a chance to get up close and personal!

Blackpool Remembered charts the history of the exhibition, bringing together special memories, stories and photographs from the fans who visited it, as well as documenting the ever-changing exhibits which, like the series itself, regenerated every year to bring new thrills and excitement. Alongside this, are detailed recollections from some of the people who made it happen. 

Travel back in time through a feast of nostalgia, with many previously unseen photographs, exclusive interviews and illustrations. Contributors include Steve Cambden, Julie Jones, Bob Richardson and Mike Tucker.

 

The ebook can be downloaded here 

 

The new edition of the fan publication Fish Fingers and Custard is now available.

Fantom Events have planned a number of online activities for Doctor Who fans over this Spring Bank Holiday week:

• Monday: Time Space Visualiser 7. This will be the usual mixture of brand-new interviews and features, with a variety of guests from all eras of the programme,including Philip Hinchchliffe, new series director Keith Boak and costume designers Louise Page and Hayley Nebauer. Commencing from 5:00pm.
• Tuesday: The Unsung Heroes of Doctor Who. As well as new episodes of Alex Moore’s ongoing series acros the week at 6:00pm, Tuesday will also live streaming of a further three episodes at 8:00pm.
• Wednesday: Time Space Visualiser 8: The Enemy Within. A mini presentation celebrating the 1996 television movie, which will be broadcast after TARDIS Monkey’s anniversary Tweetalong at 8:45pm. For more information about the tweet along follow the hashtag #ItsAboutTime.
• Thursday: Another Fantom Zoom Pub Quiz for everyone to join in with; the questions will be fiendish, but the faces will be friendly! The quiz will start at 8:15pm, to pre-register contact the Fantomteam.
• Friday: Time Space Visualiser 9: The Wilderness Years. A mini presentation taking a look at what happened during the period between Survival and Rose, from 8:00pm.
• Saturday: Time Space Visualiser 10. Join Dexter and Paul, and Jason in Social Hub from 5:00pm.

All their online events can be watched via their YouTube channel.

The latest edition of the Fanzine Tales from the Matrix is now available.

Tales from the Matrix is a free weekly Doctor Who long-form fiction zine. So far 10 issues have been published with over 300 pages of fiction.

The magazine is being distributed by three Doctor Who clubs (The Guardians of Gallifrey, the Prynceton Prydonians, and the Doctor Who Club of Australia) to all of their members. This is a non-commercial effort that now built a readership of over 1,000.

The zine can be found on Facebook, can be subscribed to by email,

Fantom Events have announced a brand-new lockdown project celebrating the “unsung heroes” of Doctor Who.

Hosted by Alex Moore, this series of YouTube videos aims to tell the behind the scenes story of those members of the cast and crew whose perspective might normally go untold.

The series will be launched with a special live stream from 8pm BST on 20th May with four episodes featuring Lee Sheward (stunt co-ordinator for Doctor Who and Torchwood); Shaunna Harrison (provided the make-up for Terror of the Vervoids, The Ultimate Foe and Paradise Towers); Philip Brown (who played the Seventh Doctor double in The Day of the Doctor) and Gareth Milne (who played George Cranleigh in Black Orchid and stunt doubled for both Michael Cochrane and Peter Davison. Other credits include Warriors of the Deep, The Caves of Androzani and Vengeance on Varos).

Each subsequent episode will go live weeknights at 18:00 from 25th May and will occasionally feature as part of our regular virtual conventions Time Space Visualiser.

Series highlights include:

• Nick Joseph (Supporting Artist on The Creature from the Pit, The Leisure Hive, Black Orchid, Terminus and The Mark of the Rani)
• Ralph Wilton (Production Assistant for Shada and Production Manager on Arc of Infinity)
• Jim Dowdall (Stunt Performer on Day of the Daleks, The Sea Devils, The Time Monster, Genesis of the Daleks, Frontios)
• Rocky Taylor (Stunt Performer on The Idiot’s Lantern. He also has uncredited roles in The Daleks’ Master Plan and The Curse of Peladon)
• Alan Spalding (Designer for Revelation of the Daleks)
• Damon Jeffery (The Curse of Fenric and Survival)
• Matthew Savage (Design assistant for series 1 and 2 of Doctor Who. He was also an associate designer and assistant art director for series 1 of Torchwood)
• Mickey Lewis (Dalek Operator in Asylum of the Daleks and Into the Dalek, an alien in The Rings of Akhaten, the Third Doctor’s body double in The Day of the Doctor and a cyberman in The Doctor Falls, Ascension of the Cybermen and The Timeless Children)

Host Alex Moore said:

The interviews will be available for free at the Fantom Events website, where you can also find all of their weekend online Time Space Visualiser events and a host of other new and archive material created during the pandemic.

An interview has been released online featuring Chris Chapman, one of the main contributors to the ongoing range of Doctor Who seasons being released on Blu-ray. The producer/director chatted about the challenges of creating fresh features and insights for the stories previously released on DVD, including those on the latest release, Season 14, and hinted about existing/potential developments planned for the future of the range.

The interview is available courtesy of Fantom Events.

Doctor Who fans around the world united in April 2020 to recreate their favourite moments during the lockdown.

The Homemade Who project was launched last month to give the Doctor Who community something creative and fun to do while everyone’s been stuck at home.

With Doctor Who celebrating 15 years since its revival, fans were asked to recreate some of their favourite scenes from 2005 onwards using whatever they could find in their house.

A compilation video featuring every clip sent in so far can be found here

Entries were sent in from England, Australia, France, Luxembourg, Argentina, Wales, Germany, Italy, the Philippines, the USA, and New Zealand!

You can watch all the complete clips on Instagram:

Due to its success, the project has been extended for another month. If you would like to take part you can find all the details here.