Forty Years Of Doctor Who MagazineBookmark and Share

Friday, 11 October 2019 - Reported by Marcus
DWM 1 (Credit: DWM)


Today marks the fortieth anniversary of the publication of the first edition of Doctor Who Magazine.

Doctor Who Magazine began life as Doctor Who Weekly, published for the first time on 11th October 1979, featuring the then-current Doctor, Tom Baker, on the front cover.

For the cost of just 12p, Doctor Who Weekly, published by Marvel, was the first officially approved publication, which was totally dedicated to serving fans of Doctor Who. It ran as a weekly until September 1980 when, with issue 45, the magazine moved to a monthly schedule and was renamed Doctor Who Monthly.

The name was changed to Doctor Who Magazine with issue 107 in December 1985. Now approaching issue 544, the magazine holds the Guinness World Record as the longest-running TV tie-in magazine.

Over the years the magazine has had twelve editors, the longest-serving being Tom Spilsbury who edited the Magazine from 2007-2017.

DWM is now published by Panini Comics, which purchased the title in 1995. The next edition, out next week, with be a special anniversary edition.