Extra Time!

I've been meaning to start these extra posts for some time now, squeezing in stuff that I wouldn't normally brooch on Kasterborous.

First off (and I might well derive a Kasterborous article from this at some point in the future) I'm going to talk about Doctor Who Magazine.

Or what's left of it, anyway.

If you don't buy DWM, you won't know what I'm talking about here, but that's OK. You can hang fire until further notice, because frankly the magazine Isn't What It Was.

You see, annoying cliqueyness of the editorial team aside, DWM fails on a regular basis to reach the heights it scaled between 1996 and 2004 - the period between the failed TVM and the launch of the new incarnation.

In those days, articles would draw you in, teach you something new, with honesty, passion and a friendly tone that meant you, the reader, were part of the team. We had wonderful (classic, in fact) comic strips, thought-provoking articles and a nice focus on the novels and audios that wasn't in-your-face, nor too reserved.

It was, in fact, the model that Kasterborous adopted in 2005 (I'm still waiting for the comic strip, although there may be something in the offing). As such, it is a shame to see the magazine now dancing with adjectives such as "cliquey", "smug", "sychophantic" and "lazy".

Save a recent issue that featured a Pixley special picking through the bones of the much vaunted (but in the end probably best taht it was never produced) Tom Baker and Ian Marter-penned "Doctor Who Meets Scratchman", there is nothing to talk about in DWM. The strip has seen better days, RTD's column is getting samey (the following three words will appear in the next Kasterborous news item: "the", "a" and "Doctor" - can't you feel the excitement? Brrr, I'm bristling with it!) and the letters page is weighed heavily towards new, "squeee" or equally sychophantic fans (and if I have to type "squeee!" ever again I will never watch the series again). As for Time Team - are we nearly there yet?

Sadly for DWM, it has seen better days. Currently however it is dancing in a kind of mire of unrivalled love of the current series that embarrassed many fans in the 1980s...