Posted By John Bowman

Doctor Who Magazine reaches its 400th issue today in style, with eight extra pages and an exclusive photoshoot withDavid Tennant.

"I bought the first issue, in 1979," he tells DWM. "I just thought, at last! Why's this not happened before now? I was delighted."

Asked if he thinks the magazine could run for another 400 editions, Tennant replies: "You know, I'm tempted to say, 'If the television series continues,' but Doctor Who Magazine thrived when the series was nowhere to be seen, to be fair, so I can see no reason why it won't run and run. But hopefully the series will be there with the magazine, side by side, all the way. That's how it should be. Yeah, with me on the cover! Forever . . . "

Also in issue 400:

Executive producer Russell T Davies looks back over the past five years, in his most candid DWM interview ever

An exclusive competition where the prize is the chance to become a DWM reporter and go on the set of the TV series

Discover what dangers lie ahead for the Bannerman Road gang as DWM talks to writer Phil Ford and previews the new series of The Sarah Jane Adventures

Former editor Gary Gillatt takes an affectionate look at just what makes Doctor Who the best TV show ever

The Watcher casts a nostalgic eye over the past 400 issues as he charts the surprising, amusing and often bizarre history of Doctor Who Magazine

The Sixth Doctor, Colin Baker, joins The Time Team to watch the end of the epic 1986 adventure The Trial of a Time Lord

It's the start of a new era for the comic strip as the Doctor discovers a familiar face aboard a prison in space - Part One of Thinktwice is by Dan McDaid, with art by Martin Geraghty

A free, double-sided poster featuring an exclusive image of David Tennant on one side and every single cover of DWM on the other.

Doctor Who Magazine 399

There is an exclusive interview with the unforgettable Donna Noble, when Catherine Tate talks exclusively to this months Doctor Who Magazine, released this week in the United Kingdom.

"What's weird is, I was going into an established, loved, successful show, so part of me was thinking, oh God, there's a responsibility there to that," Catherine tells the magazine. "But you can't go on set every day and think, I really hope I don't ruin this for everyone else involved! You just have to realise, yeah, I've taken this job, and the people around me wanted me to do it. Once you get down to the nuts and bolts of making the show, it was absolutely, and I can say this for certain, one of the best experiences of my professional life. Absolutely brilliant. There was just no down point."

Also in the Magazine.

• She was the the original feisty redhead! Bonnie Langford, aka companion Melainie Bush, talks candidly about her turbulant time on Doctor Who in the 1980's
• Manga Doctor Who? Miss Saigon? And the Doctor and Donna at extra-fast speed? Find out what it all means as Executive Producer Julie Gardner tells us what happened when she went to the USA with new showrunner Steven Moffat, in Production Notes.
• There's a multitude of adventures for the Doctor and Donna in a very special 10-page comic strip, The Time of My Life, written by Jonathan Morris with art by Rob Davis.
• It's a close shave for Peri, as The Time Team get their minds warped by The Trial of a Time Lord!
• Pomp and circumstance, and Cybermen! DWM takes an exclusive look at August's Doctor Who Prom and talks to composer Murray Gold and the people who made it happen.
• Some of the Doctor's most fondly remembered companions are back in an all-new series of audio adventures! DWM investigates the range and chats to the Doctor’s very first companion Susan, Carole Ann Ford.
• An alien killer on a space bus? The Doctor on a less-than-relaxing holiday? And bees that are far more intelligent than they appear? It can only be Delta and the Bannermen! Fact of Fiction examines one of the Seventh Docto'’s most extraordinary adventures.
• Neil Harris discovers the possible future of Doctor Who in You Are Not Alone
• Plus all the very latest news, reviews, previews and competitions!

Doctor Who Adventures 78

This week’s Doctor Who Adventures comes complete with an inflatable Sontaran. Guarding the Sontaran on the cover is an angry Judoon. Inside you can find out more about them and the outer-space police, the Shadow Proclamation.

Also in the issue

• Monster music! Read about the team’s trip to the recent Doctor Who prom.
• Posters of the Doctor, The Sarah Jane Adventures gang, Judoon, and a Sontaran.
• Ultimate Ood: Part two of the guide to the Ood!
• Adventure Guide: Trouble for Sarah Jane in Eye of the Gorgon.
• Tales from the TARDIS: The Doctor and Donna are captured in Planet of the Ood.
• Secrets: How the face of Davros was created!
• Who’s where? Take a trip to Camp Caan and find the Time Beetles.<li>
  
• Comic strip: Part one of a new adventure for the Doctor and Donna – Attack of the Mange Mites.
• Doctor’s Data: Facts about the Seventh Doctor.
• Time Teasers: Puzzles to strain your brain.
• Woven wordsearch: Win some books!
• Win: DVDs and a radio-controlled car up for grabs.

Posted By John Bowman

Tomorrow sees the publication of Doctor Who Magazine's in-depth special looking back over the latest season of adventures.

At 148 pages, The Doctor Who Companion - Series Four is the biggest DWM special so far, and gives readers a step-by-step guide to the making of all 13 episodes as well as the 2007 Christmas special Voyage of the Damned and the Children In Need scene featuring the Fifth Doctor, Time Crash.

Tom Spilsbury, the editor of Doctor Who Magazine, said: "DWM has been given exclusive access to all the scripts and shooting schedules to tell you what was shot when and where, what was left on the cutting-room floor and why, and even the truth behind a few of those rumours that hit the tabloids!

"Packed with anecdotes and comments from the men and women who make the programme, script extracts, deleted scenes, and a full list of cast, crew, transmission times and ratings, with hundreds of beautiful and previously unseen photographs, this is the ultimate guide to Doctor Who 2008."

Issue 398 of Panini's Doctor Who Magazine was published in the United Kingdom yesterday, and contains several pieces of information of interest concerning the forthcoming special episodes of Doctor Who.

It is confirmed that the title of this year's Christmas episode - which will be 60 minutes long - is not "The Return of the Cybermen", as some have surmised from the teaser trailer at the conclusion of "Journey's End". This was merely a teaser description of the episode. It is also confirmed that actors David Morrissey, Dervla Kirwan and Velile Tshabalalawill be guest- starring in the episode, with Kirwan playing a character named Miss Hartigan. Andy Goddard directs, withSusie Liggat producing.

Of the four further specials which will follow in 2009, it is announced that Russell T Davies will write two of them solo, with the other two to be co-written with Gareth Roberts and Phil Ford respectively. Roberts penned "The Shakespeare Code" and "The Unicorn and the Wasp" for Doctor Who, while Ford wrote "Eye of the Gorgon" and "The Lost Boy" for The Sarah Jane Adventures - the series for which he is now chief writer - and "Something Borrowed" for Torchwood. His work on the special will make him the only writer after Davies to have written for all three shows.

Elsewhere in the magazine, information is given on release dates for the remaining classic series DVD releases of 2008. "The Trial of a Time Lord" comes out on August 18, "Four To Doomsday" on September 15, "The War Machines" on September 29 and finally "Battlefield" on December 29.

This month's Doctor Who Magazine features Davros himself, actor Julian Bleach, talking exclusively about taking on the role of the Daleks' creator.

Is the fact that other actors have played the part in the past a help or a hindrance? "That can make it harder to approach it afresh," considers Julian, "but it's more of a problem if you're trying to find a new interpretation of the character. What I was trying to do with Davros was to recreate, and match as closely as possible, a previously established character." So what’s Julian's take on Davros? Twisted megalomaniac? Mad scientist? Misguided genius? "All of those things, but I'd say the character was very probably originally inspired by Hitler, and I found that to be quite a useful reference point, particularly in some of his more dogmatic speeches!"

It's not just Davros who’s quizzed this issue, DWM features exclusive interviews with David Tennant, Catherine Tate, Freema Agyeman, Billie Piper, John Barrowman, Gareth David-Lloyd, Eve Myles, Penelope Wilton, Jacqueline King, Bernard Cribbins, Noel Clarke, Camille Coduri, Adjoa Andoh, Elisabeth Sladen, Thomas Knight, John Leeson, Alexander Armstrong, Nicholas Briggs, Julian Bleach and Richard Dawkins. Find out which former companion had to have an injection to stop her vomiting. Discover whose bottom to hold onto in a crisis, and whose gave Catherine Tate a shock. Learn which actress is happy to "mug away in the background." And establish who would win in a Dalek Crucible-based wind-breaking competition!

PLUS!

• The Doctor and Donna’s battle with the Sycorax reaches its explosive climax in the final part of the latest full colour comic strip The Widow’s Curse.
• Showrunner Russell T Davies reveals exclusively what won't be in Series Five.
• The chance to vote for your favourites in DWM’s annual Season Survey
• The latest news on the forthcoming Doctor Who Specials and Series Two of The Sarah Jane Adventures.

AND... all the latest news, exclusive photos, reviews, previews, competitions and a choice of FOUR covers to collect!

In August, American comics publisher IDW will release the first issue of Doctor Who: The Forgotten, a new comic book miniseries starring the Tenth Doctor and Martha, and also containing flashback stories for each of the previous nine Doctors. Thecomic is written by Tony Lee, who previously wrote for the Tenth Doctor and Rose in the Doctor Who Magazine strip "F.A.Q." (DWM 369-371). It is illustrated by Canadian artist Pia Guerra, who is best known for her work on the Vertigo comic Y: The Last Man. Guerra has described herself as an "insane" fan of Doctor Who (see her studio for proof) and is a past winner of the Joe Shuster Award for Outstanding Canadian Comic Book Art. Covers for the series are provided by Nick Roche, who illustrated IDW's previous Tenth Doctor miniseries. That series, written by Gary Russell, will be available in trade paperback asDoctor Who: Agent Provocateur in August.Comic Book Resources has an interview with Lee, along with sample art from the first issue of The Forgotten.IDW also publishes Doctor Who: Classic Comics, which reprints Fourth Doctor comics from Doctor Who Weekly in full color.

Thanks to Margaret Roberts and Shane Williams.

Posted By John Bowman


Jack's back! And he's taking on the Daleks! In the new edition of Doctor Who Magazine, published in the UK tomorrow, John Barrowman talks exclusively about his return to Doctor Who and on working with Elisabeth Sladen.

Click on the spoiler box for an extract from the interview, although be aware that it contains information about the series finale that you might not want to know before it airs. In addition, the spoiler box has details of a magazine feature that reveals aspects of the finale.

Also in DWM 397:

•  Previews of the final two episodes of Series Four, featuring new and previously unpublished photos.
• An interview with Elisabeth Sladen.
• Steven Moffat, Doctor Who's showrunner-in-waiting, speaks candidly about taking over the series - and how to write a Doctor Who story.
•  Planet Earth has been moved! But how? And by whom? Find out what happened the first time the Earth was stolen, as The Time Team watch the first four parts of the epic 1986 adventure The Trial of a Time Lord.
•  See the Doctor and Donna in dead trouble! The fight against zombies and Sycorax continues in part three of the latest, full-colour, comic-strip adventure The Widow's Curse
•  Could you make it as a DWM journalist? The decisions are all yours as you go behind the scenes and talk to the stars as you investigate the filming of Turn Left.
• DWM talks to Lesley Sharp, aka Sky Silvestry, about what makes a scary story, working with Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant and the fun of going bonkers.
• Before iPlayer, DVDs and videos, the only way to relive an old Doctor Who story was by reading a Target book. DWM takes a nostalgic look back at this fondly remembered series of novels.
• Discover why too much information can be a bad thing - and just what The Doctor's Daughter has to do with 1978'sUnderworld â€“ in You Are Not Alone.
  
  Plus all the latest news, exclusive photos, reviews, previews, competitions and a free, vintage Target Doctor Who book.

ROSE TYLER IS BACK

In this months Doctor Who Magazine actress Billie Piper talks about her imminent return to Doctor Who and how Rose's character has developed. "She's changed. She's hardened. She's been through a lot in her parallel world. I think she's been through emotional turmoil. She's quite sad and lonely, but also really bolshy and, that great quality that Rose has, just so headstrong and single-minded."

Billie promises another healthy quota of tear-jerking, heart-rending moments in this year's finale. Are those sorts of scenes as exhausting to perform as the technically-complex effects sequences? "It's just a different kind of intensity, but equally as intense, because you really have to focus. You're imagining things, seeing things, that aren't there. That takes a lot of concentration. But this series will make you cry. That’s a promise."

ALSO THIS ISSUE:

• DWM talks to The League of Gentlemen’s Steve Pemberton about his role in the much-anticipated Doctor Who story, Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead.
• Previews of the forthcoming Series Four episodes – Midnight and Turn Left – featuring new and previously unpublished photos
• Russell T Davies talks candidly to DWM readers about his latest trip to the BAFTA awards and meeting an acting legend in Production Notes.
• Who's best? UNIT or the Sontarans? There was only one way to find out. FIGHT! DWM was there to file an exclusive report on the epic battle.
• Whodunnit? And why – and how? DWM investigates the mysterious happenings at Eddison Hall with a behind-the-scenes look at The Unicorn and the Wasp, featuring excusive interviews with the cast and crew.
• The Doctor and Donna encounter Zombies and Sycorax in Part Two of the latest, full colour, comic strip adventure, The Widow’s Curse.
• Who are the great 'unsung heroes' of Doctor Who? Discover the surprising answers in You Are Not Alone!
• Actor Joe Dempsie, star of The Doctor's Daughter, reveals all on love, war and, er, kissing a Hath.
• It's the end of the series and Davros is back! Find out what happened when the Time Team watched 1985’s Revelation of the Daleks.
• Which story do fans most want out on DVD? Discover the answer, and much more, as the results of the DWM merchandise poll are finally revealed.
• PLUS all the latest news, exclusive photos, reviews, previews, competitions… and a double-sided poster.

IT'S ALL OUT WAR IN DOCTOR WHO MAGAZINE 395

David Tennant and the cast of the latest Doctor Who adventure discuss the war-loving, potato-headed, baddies in the latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine.

"Sontarans are great," beams David, while sitting on a deck chair, and watching a troop of Sontarans march across the Doctor Who set. "I think that's partly because they come from a very specific world. That back story gives them a great context. Robert Holmes didn’t just create a race, back in the 1970s: he created a world that they came from. Even if you never saw that planet, you understood why they did what they did."

Also this issue:

• An exclusive interview with Georgia Moffett on what it’s like being the Doctor’s Daughter.
• Previews of the next four episodes of Series Four - The Doctor’s Daughter, The Unicorn and the Wasp and Silence in the Library and Forest of the Dead – featuring new and previously unpublished photos!
• Russell T Davies reveals all about Partners in Crime’s top secret scene in Production Notes.
• There’s a crisis in the Caribbean as Donna makes her comic strip début in Part One of The Widow’s Curse.
• DWM visits Rome and reveals the true story of how a disaster was created, in an exclusive report on the making of The Fires of Pompeii – featuring interviews with actor Francois Pandolfo and writer James Moran.
• Rose returns? Missing planets?! Vanishing bees?!? What can it all mean? We look at the clues.
• What are Ood, but a reflection of ourselves? Find out as we go behind-the-scenes on the Ood-sphere and talk to the cast and crew of Planet of the Ood, including Keith Temple, Tim McInnerny, Paul Kasey and Adrian Rawlins.
• Actress Louise Jameson tells what it was really like to work with Tom Baker in Doctor Who.
• The Time Team discover if Karfel is really as awful as its reputation, as they watch Timelash.

PLUS all the latest news, exclusive photos, reviews, previews, competitions and even more!

Doctor Who Magazine is out on Thursday 1 May 2008 across the United Kingdom.

There are two issues of Doctor Who Magazine published in April.

Issue 394 is out on the 3rd April 2008. It previews the first set of episodes of the new series including the previously unnamed Episode Five, The Poison Sky. Episode Nine's title is also revealed as River's Run.

A week later the Tenth Doctor Collected Comics is released featuring full-colour comic strip stories written by Rob Davis, Dan McDaid and Jonathan Morris.