Doctor Who Magazine Special Edition

Doctor Who Magazine Special Edition is an occasional publication of Panini. As of May 2009, each issue has offered a detailed view of some aspect of Doctor Who . Though each issue is in fact numbered, most people refer to particular issues by their topic, rather than the number. In choosing to emphasize the content of the individual issue over its place in a larger series, it is occasionally forgotten that Doctor Who Magazine Special Edition is the actual title, rather than a descriptive phrase.

Overview

Unlike the seasonal Marvel special issues of Doctor Who Magazine, Panini's Special Edition is a standalone magazine in its own right. Importantly, it is no way a subscriber bonus like the Marvel seasonals.

There is also little commonality of format between Special Edition and either DWM or Marvel's seasonal issues. Each issue of 'Special Edition has invariably offered a retrospective view of the programme. Whether reprinting the latest comic exploits of the Tenth Doctor] or exploring the production of the First, all issues of Special Edition deal with a topic that is firmly in the past. This can be easily contrasted with the general practice of the Marvel seasonals. Though there were a few that offered nothing but reprints of past comic strips, the vast majority presented new fiction interspersed amongst non-fiction articles. In other words, most of the seasonals looked very much like regular issues of DWM.

Types

As of May 2009, Special Editions have taken four main forms:

Early issues explored a single Doctor's "era" in great detail. These included analyses of non-television appearances by that Doctor and essays by writers — among them such prominent names as Paul Cornell, Gareth Roberts and Robert Shearman — giving personal critique's of individual stories by that Doctor. This "series" was abandoned after the announcement of the BBC Wales version of Doctor Who entered production.
After the new series began, it became usual to offer an issue of this magazine as a "companion" to the recently-finished series. This then looked back on the production of the series, becoming a kind of "behind-the-scenes annual".
At roughly the same time, the magazine's editors began a campaign to tell the programme's history chronologically. They thus begain the In Their Own Words series. This series collected excerpts from interviews with Doctor Who cast and crew and presented them in chronological order.
Finally, the series allowed a reprint venue for the comic exploits of the Ninth and Tenth Doctors.