September 12th, 2023
39 comments
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Doctor Who Magazine Issue 595
Categorised under: Doctor Who Magazine, Magazine
September 12th, 2023
39 comments
We earn a commission for products purchased through some links in this article.
Categorised under: Doctor Who Magazine, Magazine
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Whofan44
September 20th, 2023 - 6:00pmIt occurs to me the next few months could be very interesting for the comic
596: End of Liberation of the Daleks
597: Most likely some 60th anniversary story
598: Honestly not sure about this one
599: Possibly 15th Doctors first comic
600: 600th issue almost certainly have an exciting story.
James
September 18th, 2023 - 7:27pmDunno if I’ve misreading this, it’s a massive editorial typo/error or a spoiler. Wheel in space has been animated? Page 5 UWM News.
1963
September 19th, 2023 - 8:05ami thought he was talking about the 10 min cut down of episode 1 that was on The Macra Terror dvd
Gordon
September 19th, 2023 - 8:56amThat’s exactly what Anne Marie Walsh was talking about
Garrett
September 15th, 2023 - 6:39pmHave to say it’s a great interview with Bonnie and a great issue of DWM this month overall, i have been reading DWM since issue 1 of the weekly and look forward to issue 600 and hopefully far beyond, it irks me when complain of the price and say they won’t buy it any more but the fact is a lot of people stopped buying it because of the backlash against Jodie and Chibnall this has probably caused a collapse in sales which in turn means they have to keep putting the price up which in turn is causing more people to give up on DWM, in order to make a bigger better magazine they need to get more sales so i do worry about the long term viability of the mag it’s always been worth it to me and always will be.
Andy R
September 15th, 2023 - 11:03amI think writing Mel (who was said to be a computer programmer) as a ‘jolly hockey sticks’ Enid blyton character didn’t help plus she joined without ever getting an actual debut story – she was just ‘there’ and she had no background.
Andy Sharpe
September 14th, 2023 - 7:02pmThat seemed to be the case back then as long as they could scream at monsters they got the part. But I think that’s why Turner towards the end that he wanted a companion that didn’t scream and could handle herself like when Ace beats up a Dalek with a baseball bat, and liked blowing things up with her homemade explosives. “Wicked”
Anon
September 14th, 2023 - 4:59pmNò content details?
James
September 14th, 2023 - 12:57pmEveryone managed to get a copy today?
Luke
September 14th, 2023 - 1:45pmYes in both my Tesco store and WHSmiths
Releasedatleast
September 14th, 2023 - 1:57pmIt actually turned up on release day this time in the north
godlek
September 14th, 2023 - 2:13pmSeen in WH Smith in Stratford at 7.30am this morning ao assume no distribution issues this month.
1963
September 14th, 2023 - 3:02pmi did …….no trouble for once,,,but last months one i never did see it anywhere good job i got it online
Mac Moore
September 14th, 2023 - 5:42pmsurprisingly yes
FangRockLighthouse
September 13th, 2023 - 11:07pmGiven what we know so far about series 14 I am quite sure that Bonnie will be the best thing in it.
In 1986/87 Bonnie did the best she could with what she was given to work with! If people still want to judge her on her performance 37 years ago, then that’s a matter for them!!
Fred
September 14th, 2023 - 2:09pmI have always thought Bonnie an infinitely more capable actor than Nicola Bryant was. Both were certainly dealt dreadful hands, but I’ve never understood the dislike for Mel. She probably wasn’t quite as glamorous, mopey or wet, and so people took against her. Madness!
Garrett
September 15th, 2023 - 6:31pmSorry Fred but i have to defend Nicola Bryant here, I’m surprised no one else has to be fair, saying that Bonnie is an infinitely more capable actress is just wrong and i don’t mean that as a slight against Bonnie but Nicola is as good an actress or even better than any companion in the series just watch her in The Caves Of Androzani or Mindwarp for example, Peri was and is my all time favourite companion and i didn’t take to Mel at the time either and it wasn’t madness to feel that way, I’d have felt like that no matter who had taken over, having said that i don’t think Mel having no proper introductory story and then season 24 didn’t do her any favours, Bonnie has been great through Big Finish, she seems to be a lovely person and I’m sure she’ll be great next season she arguably deserves it but i do feel Peri is the most underrated companion in the series history and attacking Nicola’s acting didn’t sit right with me so i had to say my piece.
Loobop
September 13th, 2023 - 5:47pmi think mel was the companion i couldn’t stand as a kid as all she did was scream and constantly needed saving i always preferred ace as she was more tomboyish and could handle herself. Those that think her acting was bad look back at sarah jane compared her old episodes compared to school reunion and sja. I looked at her acting in the 70s episodes everything was so cheesy and she sounded so wooden.so things can improve with age it seems lol
Gerry
September 13th, 2023 - 4:11pmPoor Bonnie had come into Doctor Who with the stigma of her Just William character (I’ll sqweem and I’ll sqweem and I’ll squeem). That along with not the best writing and production, what chance did she have. Big Finish have redeemed her for fans, this will redeem her for everyone.
anon
September 13th, 2023 - 5:52pmShes always been little miss showbiz even back in her blink and miss Cameo in Bugsy Malone and yes there was all those turns in Just William, her onstage run as Peter pan and the hot shoe show before Melanie Bush. I still remember all those vociferous complaints in DWM when she had just been cast and this was months before we even saw her on screen. she got such a raw deal and the fact she was supposedly this genius computer programmer, we saw very little evidence on screen but what we got was a sort of overenthusiastic ‘mad’ lizzie instead. I still think she brightened things up and was a more lively tonic to what had gone before and at least looked interested even if her character was woefully underwritten.
Her Big Finish material has more than made up for what we didn,t quite get onscreen back in the day. I ve always liked her and we just know Russell will make her character really stand out, just as he did with Sarah Jane Smith.
Prof Horner
September 13th, 2023 - 10:53pmMore than anything it was the mad idea that some how having Bonnie Langford in the series was going to make people tune in .
MJS
September 13th, 2023 - 11:50amMel is wonderful, just woefully written for. That Bonnie could create a very charming performance from that material is a credit to her. Paradise Tower, Delta and the Bannermen and Dragonfire are great Mel performances
Golden Pineapple
September 13th, 2023 - 11:26amI wonder who the new editor is. Hooray for Mel though – exciting times ahead!
demdike@Cult Labs
September 13th, 2023 - 1:40pmJason Quinn.
There are slight changes to the layout and the interviews appear to have a lot more text to read. For instance the one with Bonnie features a whole page of solid text with nowhere near as many pictures breaking it up.
Doctor Mysterio
September 13th, 2023 - 10:21amNow that is a cover! Brilliant. Glad Bonnie is coming back.
Alex Oswin
September 13th, 2023 - 10:17amI think it’s lovely to see the overwhelmingly positive response to Mel’s return/Bonnie on this cover. Especially given the reaction she got first time round.
Doctor Stu
September 13th, 2023 - 12:11pmBonnie is an amazing actress. I think the consensus now is that the acting is pretty poor in classic who. So the insufferable screaming and theatrical enunciating isn’t what we’ll get in new who where the writing is more sophisticated. So the prospect of a former annoying companion being back in the show isn’t a scary one as we know she’ll be great regardless.
Blasphemy as it may be, I saw Sarah Jane in reverse, an iconic lady in new who and Sarah Jane adventures and only a few years ago I got back to watching her full run in classic who. And god she’s irritating. I don’t know if I’d be as excited as seeing her in new who if I’d seen classic who first. But she really was the template of how far an actor can grow and mature from the classics to the new show and become universally loved. And I think Bonnie is the next in line
Kevin225
September 13th, 2023 - 10:01amI must be getting old, but my excitement at a) getting any post from Royal Mail, b) receiving itat 9am and c) it containing my DWM subscriber copy on a Wednesday was not spoilt by a heavily dented corner and slightly torn front cover. Once upon a time I would have been shaking my fist at the sky by now!
Matt Y
September 13th, 2023 - 9:08amBonnie is incredible. Her portrayal of her character in Eastenders was outstanding. A real drama performance. Mel was badly written. But Bonnie bought so much energy and enthusiasm to stories that could have been dull. She is the perfect foil to Tabby and Tilda in Paradise Towers. Don’t write Bonnie off on the basis of how Mel was written in classic Doctor Who stories. She will be brilliant! And there won’t be any screaming.
Doctor Stu
September 13th, 2023 - 12:12pmBonnie was sensational in eastenders. Her performance at her sons funeral was one of the best pieces of acting I’ve ever seen, she absolutely broke me. I doubt she’s going to be given anything like that in Doctor who though but at least we know as far as acting chops go, she’s a very good performer
rich
September 13th, 2023 - 8:00amI’m old, so this will be the second time if not looking forward to this awful actress joining
Theforce
September 13th, 2023 - 9:32amBonnie was in the power of the doctor via a cameo
Prof Horner
September 13th, 2023 - 10:31amWell I am old too! She did nothing for the series the first time round. I really don’t understand what RTD sees in this character that makes her worthy of a return. However. RTD has hardly put a foot wrong in the past so we will see.
More then 2 alphabets
September 13th, 2023 - 11:15amBonnies performance whilst not the best, was a reflection of the turmoil Doctor who was in.
I don’t blame her at all and Big finish has shown what she SHOULD have been, i blame:
1 – JNT’s overpowering desire to turn doctor who more into “light entertainment” in the late 80s. He worked on two things in the 80s, who and pantomime…..hardly Moffatt working who and sherlock at the same time.
2 – The internal politics of JNT vs Eric Saward, that fall out and legal issues derailed a lot more then people seem to realise, including bonnies original character as a master computer programme.
3 – Politics between experienced writers vs a fresh and young script editor, i loved pip and jane bakers mark of the rani but time of the rani was a disaster and they refused to listen to Andrew cartmel
4 – Script written for the 6 and mel dynamic that is suddenly a regeneration story with pantomime dressing up, a sign that the show was just spinning out of control as a result of the fallout of late 1986
5- a sense of terror in the production office, JNT had in his mind left, he was forced back with no scripts, no doctor and an audience that was over possessive of the product.
6 – It is well documented that the BBC were sick of who at this point and wanted “less violence, more fun” but refused to help the show, JNT went too far into camp fun to satisfy the Beebs and Mary Whitehouse, the irony being that the BBC didn’t really care so he had free rain and did what he thought was best………sadly it was as over the top as his Hawaiian shirts!
Bonnie Langfords Melanie Bush will never stand shoulder to shoulder with a Sarah Jane or Ace, but she stands with a Susan or dodo, sadly if JNT had stopped her screaming and dancing (JNT was know for his love of the theatre so im sure he pushed her and the writers to include it!) and given her something to do, we might look more kindly on her – again dip a toe into her Big finish and you will see what she was capable of!
People are so quick to forgive so much terrible acting, special effects, bad monsters, under developed companions but they just cant give Bonnie a break – this is why she stayed away from Who for decades……until Big finish made her know that there are people who actually like her in the whoniverse. I will take bonnie any day over Danny Pink and 13s companions (whose names i cant even remember!)
*and just a note to say that I LOVE season 25-26 and mccoy is my favourite “classic doctor”, before the comments of “clearly a tom baker fan” starts.
Doctor Stu
September 13th, 2023 - 12:16pmIt’s the classic writing that was bad, Bonnie is an amazing actress, just go and watch her in eastenders on YouTube. She was sensational in the hard hitting storylines. I mean let’s face it peolle like Carole Anne Ford, Katy Manning and Liz Sladen aren’t exactly Oscar worthy in the classic show but look at what brilliant actors they are in new who and the spin offs/ big finish as older actors.
anon
September 13th, 2023 - 10:18pm@Prof Horner ” I really don’t understand what RTD sees in this character that makes her worthy of a return.” It’s as simple as her being the easiest classic Who companion to work with who’s still young enough to return for a series or potential spin-off. She’s basically a blank slate to do whatever you like with thanks to her woeful characterisation in the 80’s, as much as I’d love to see Tegan or Nyssa back they both had very well defined personalities and fantastic stories with Davison, Mel has only had good stories thanks to Big Finish.
And like some others have mentioned Liz Sladen bless her soul was hardly the greatest actor in classic Who either, people only remembered her so fondly because she was there for the early Tom seasons, I think Jo, Liz Shaw and Tegan were far more memorable than Sarah Jane was in classic Who, her portrayal under RTD is leaps and bounds ahead of anything she’d done prior which just goes to show how much potential there is for Mel to evolve as a character. Bonnie Langford can actually act with a decent script she was just never given the chance on Who.
Who is who?
September 13th, 2023 - 7:41amBonnie is a lovely person and her character was poorly written for the classic series. She was much better written for with Big Finish and I hope this gives her character a tv redemption
Mac
September 13th, 2023 - 12:29amLovely
David McCallum
September 13th, 2023 - 12:21amThis cover makes me very happy! So good to see Bonnie back!