The Beano

The Beano
Type:	Comic magazine
Used by:	Humans, the Doctor
First mentioned in:	The Totally Stonking, Surprisingly Educational And Utterly Mindboggling Comic Relief Comic
First appearance:	The Rings of Akhaten
Appearances:	TV: The Universe is Calling [+]Loading...["The Universe is Calling (TV story)"]

The Beano was a comic magazine on Earth in the 20th century. It was primarily intended for children, (PROSE: The Stone House ^[+]Loading...["The Stone House (novel)"]) though it was read by the Doctor. (TV: The Rings of Akhaten ^[+]Loading...["The Rings of Akhaten (TV story)"], AUDIO: Piece of Mind ^[+]Loading...["Piece of Mind (audio story)"])

History

While recovering from regenerative collapse within his TARDIS, the Sixth Doctor asked Jack Harkness for a fresh copy of The Beano. (AUDIO: Piece of Mind ^[+]Loading...["Piece of Mind (audio story)"])

When Darren Pye shouted to Rose Tyler "Oi, slag, heard your boyfriend done you in", Rose replied "Don’t believe everything you read in the Beano. (PROSE: Winner Takes All ^[+]Loading...["Winner Takes All (novel)"])

The Doctor hides behind the Beano while learning about the childhood of Clara Oswald. (TV: The Rings of Akhaten ^[+]Loading...["The Rings of Akhaten (TV story)"])

The Eleventh Doctor hid behind its 1981 Summer Special issue in Blackpool, pretending to read while he was watching Dave Oswald. This issue featured Dennis the Menace and a black dog at Dolphinarium on its front and back covers. (TV:The Rings of Akhaten ^[+]Loading...["The Rings of Akhaten (TV story)"])

The Thirteenth Doctor later swapped Graham O'Brien's copy of the Sheffield Advertiser for The Beano Summer Special 1981. (TV: The Universe is Calling ^[+]Loading...["The Universe is Calling (TV story)"])

Alice Parsons collected copies of Beano for her daughter. (PROSE: The Stone House ^[+]Loading...["The Stone House (novel)"])

The Unbound Doctor said that he liked both sleep and The Beano, but could do without either. (AUDIO: Asking for a Friend ^[+]Loading...["Asking for a Friend (audio story)"])

Behind the scenes

In non-valid sources

The Fourth Doctor next to a list of his expertise. (COMIC: Tom Baker stars in John Lloyd's lost Doctor Who adventure, The Doomsday Contract ^[+]Loading...["Tom Baker stars in John Lloyd's lost Doctor Who adventure, The Doomsday Contract (webcast)"])

According to the Doctor's Five Hundred Year Diary, the Doctor's expertise included 'The Beano'. (WC: Tom Baker stars in John Lloyd's lost Doctor Who adventure, The Doomsday Contract ^[+]Loading...["Tom Baker stars in John Lloyd's lost Doctor Who adventure, The Doomsday Contract (webcast)"])

According to some accounts, the characters & elements featured in The Beano were real, with Beanotown being visited (COMIC: Dennis the Menace in Balloonatics ^[+]Loading...["Dennis the Menace in Balloonatics (comic story)"], etc.) by the Tenth Doctor (COMIC: The Invasion of Bash Street ^[+]Loading...["The Invasion of Bash Street (comic story)"]) and 2 Daleks, (COMIC: Dennis the Menace in Balloonatics ^[+]Loading...["Dennis the Menace in Balloonatics (comic story)"],The Invasion of Bash Street ^[+]Loading...["The Invasion of Bash Street (comic story)"], etc.) one bronze, (COMIC: The Invasion of Bash Street ^[+]Loading...["The Invasion of Bash Street (comic story)"]) and one seemingly clockwork. (COMIC: Dennis the Menace in Balloonatics ^[+]Loading...["Dennis the Menace in Balloonatics (comic story)"]) Regardless, Jonathan Ross acknowledged the residents of Beanotown as "Beano character[s]". (COMIC: Dennis meets Jonathan Ross ^[+]Loading...["Dennis meets Jonathan Ross (comic story)"])

Official crossovers

Several strips from The Beano and The Dandy - specifically Dennis the Menace and Gnasher, The Bash Street Kids, and Desperate Dan - crossed over with the Doctor Who universe in the massive crossover comic The Totally Stonking, Surprisingly Educational And Utterly Mindboggling Comic Relief Comic.

Dennis and Gnasher also appeared in Future Generations, in reference to the 1996 series aired on various BBC networks.

Several of The Beano's strips also officially crossed over with the Doctor Who universe in the first issue of BeanoMAX, a Comic Relief special, specifically in the comic stories Dennis the Menace in Balloonatics, Dennis meets Jonathan Ross, and The Invasion of Bash Street. The Beano series crossed over with are Dennis the Menace and Gnasher, Ivy the Terrible, Billy Whizz, Calamity James, and The Bash Street Kids.

References to the Doctor Who universe in The Beano

The front cover of the 2013 reprint of The Beano Summer Special 1981.

Following the television broadcast of the scene where the Doctor is seen hiding behind The Beano Summer Special 1981, The Beano (issue dated 18 May 2013) included a reprinted edition of the 32-page The Beano Summer Special.

The cover proclaimed "Free Inside! The Dr Who Beano Special! As seen on TV! Time travel to 1981 with the complete Beano Summer Special!" On the cover, a yellow Eternal Dalek was seen being catapulted over a fence towards an unsuspecting Sergeant Slipper by Dennis the Menace using a plank and wooden crate (Dennis declaring "I'm the biggest menace in the Universe!", while his dog Gnasher sniggers "Gnexterminate!"), while a comic Eleventh Doctor had his head through the "O" in BEANO.

Inside was the proof: on page 3, which was headed "TRAVEL BACK IN TIME WITH... THE BEANO" appeared a picture of the Doctor hiding behind the issue, along with an introduction from Dennis which read as follows: "Hi Menaces! A few weeks ago, some sharp-eyed Beano readers spotted Doctor Who reading The Beano Summer Special from 1981. They asked us what The Beano was like more than thirty years ago so we decided to send you all back in time so you could find out! When you get back from the past, tell us what you think of it, and send us your ideas for the future Beano!"

A section of a comic strip featuring Peter Capaldi, recognised by Dennis the Menace as "Doctor Who".

The Beano itself has on many occasions featured (cartoon versions of) such Doctor Who elements as the TARDIS, the Daleks, the Cybermen, the Weeping Angels, the Ood and various incarnations of the Doctor, including the Fourth, Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth Doctors. Issue 3914 (dated 09 December 2017), for example, features Peter Capaldi as a character, and reveals that the actor is in fact the Doctor, complete with a TARDIS disguised as a small hut.