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Welcome to Live From Mars, the website of Fringeworld, producers of fine fanzines since 1992. Here, you’ll find an abundance of articles and features about tv, films, music and events some of them new, a lot previously published in our zines. Plus there’s lots of information on our current zine `This Way Up`.

To contact us: hello@livefrommars.co.uk Zine queries: zine@livefrommars.co.uk

Update 10/1/2013

The Return of David Bowie


On Tuesday 8 January,  David Bowie returned with his first new music in a decade;  a single `Where are we now?` released instantly and an album `The Next Day` to follow in March. The comeback was sudden, almost jarring in nature. At 5am that morning, the day of his 66th birthday, the song appeared on iTunes. There was no advance publicity, no rumours in the weeks beforehand, no advertising before or indeed after the fact. The song simply appeared out of nowhere. And what a bittersweet, elegiac song it turned out to be, dripping in lyrical nostalgia and wrapped in the richness of sound that producer Tony Visconti always seems to develop with the singer. Seemingly effortlessly (though that is always the deception with the best artists) it seems out of time yet of the now. We have been pleasantly surprised, shocked even after all the gossip about Bowie these past ten years but, really, we shouldn’t have been. Bowie has always done what we least expect of him.

He had done a fabulous job of disappearing. Whether consciously or otherwise (and with Bowie you never truly know) his withdrawal from public life was extraordinarily effective. His heart problems in 2004 may have been a catalyst, though he was up and about within days. Perhaps, along with the birth of his daughter a couple of years earlier , it did leave him thinking that he needed a change of pace after working solidly for decades.

The withdrawal though happened so as we didn’t notice. Every once in a while he appeared on stage with artists like The Arcade Fire or David Gilmour. He sometimes turned up for fashion events with his wife Iman. Then in 2006, he made his last live appearance, after which his public sightings were always either as a husband or father accompanying his wife or film making son Duncan Jones. Latterly he stopped making any official appearances at all and was occasionally photographed when spotted in New York. In his absence, rumours swirled amongst fans, especially ones that he was unwell or worse. Last year, it was said that he had abandoned the name that made him famous and was living as David Jones.  Meanwhile for the last two years, he has apparently managed to record an album without ANYONE except those involved knowing.

Naturally the speculation has already begun. There is talk of a backlog of songs recorded in the intervening years. Alternatively some are saying these songs are not `new` as such and were all recorded nine or ten years ago during the `Reality` sessions; Bowie did talk of a “new trilogy” at the time and this was subsequently thought to refer to the material that ended up on the `leaked` album `Toy`.  Also reviews of the new single have commented on its similarity to material from his last two officially released albums. As ever his motives and methods provoke discussion aplenty. It is remarkable in an age where anyone even mildly famous cannot do anything out of the ordinary (or even ordinary) without being papped or Tweeted or something. Someone as famous as Bowie surely cannot make a whole album in these times when we are constantly told privacy is `old fashioned`. Except of course he has done exactly that.

He has always been like this of course. In 1989 he announced he’d formed a group called Tin Machine and was abandoning his solo career. In 1973 he retired Ziggy Stardust and the music that had brought him to fame. Or there’s the astounding series of musical left turns that took him from `Diamond Dogs` to `Young Americans` to `Low`. There’s his 1983 rebirth as a commercially minded artist with `Let’s Dance`. How he arrived at his 50th birthday with a hard as nails drum n bass influenced album and that iconic Union Jack coat. And so on.  This twisting and turning, changing of images, musical styles and career approach, his obfuscation and trickery has kept him interesting, vital, and fascinating.

What is even more intriguing about his disappearance in the age of communication and social media is that he did all that long ago. In the late 90s and early 2000s Bowie was more active online and blogs than most people and certainly most stars. Just as he tried a spell being a global megastar in the 1980s, so he spent several years being accessible in a way that we now take for granted but which was still unusual for the time. Many scoffed at his constant enthusiasm for the Internet but the moment everyone joined in, he stepped back, invested in his back catalogue with the famous `Bowie Bonds` and made millions when that sort of thing still worked.

Some people seem able to gauge the temperature of their sphere of interest and know what to do and when to do it. Alex Ferguson for example knows exactly when to offload a star player even though people always say the team cannot survive without them because he already knows who to buy next. Richard Branson knows when to buy and when to sell a business as his disposal of record shops and acquisition of an airline show. David Bowie knows when to change tack, when to be daring, when to be nostalgic (look at his Glastonbury 2000 appearance) and sometimes when to do nothing. And it’s great to have him back!

Update 7/11/2012

Plaything of Sutekh Issue 2 - you'll find it good!

Issue 2 of Plaything of Sutekh, the Doctor Who Fanzine is available now featuring…

 

Written by David Rolinson, Richard Farrell, Oliver Wake, John Connors, Chris Arnsby, John Rivers, Bob Brinkman

With stunning new art by Richard Farrell and Euan Mactavish


For details on how to get your copy go to www.playthingofsutekh.blogspot.co.uk

Update 30/4/2012

 


Issue 1 of Plaything of Sutekh is now available. It includes:-

The issue is 40 b/w A5 pages, fully illustrated with colour covers.

To order, please send a Paypal payment (via paypal.co.uk or paypal.com) to playthingofsutekh@mail.com

Please use the ‘gift’ option to minimise the fees taken (it’s a non-profit publication) and add your address in the notes section. You can also pay by cheque - please drop us an email for the payee details.

Price, including P&P (revised 30/4/2012 because of increased Royal Mail postage):

UK: £2.35

Elsewhere in Europe: £3.60

Outside Europe: £4.60

Update 17/4/2012


Advanced Antispyware Solution Malware Warning

This month there is a new rogue anti spyware about and I thought it deserved warning about as it is the first such thing to ever get through my firewall and security in 12 years!! It appears as a warning saying your pc is infected and invites you to click on a button to remove the virus, Trojans etc.

In fact your pc does not have any of the infections listed- they are all made up names- and if you click as requested you will be taken to a website that purports to be selling a malware scanner. There is no such product and if you enter your credit or debit card details you have effectively surrendered your account.

Also, this malware blocks your real security further risking your pc or laptop.

There are lots of malware sites now posting solutions which look very lengthy but will apparently remove this threat from your pc.

Here is a link to one but Google will suggest a number of sites with the same solution.

http://www.malwareexperts.com/how-to-remove-advanced-antispyware-solution-virus/


Update 19/3/2012


Way of the Morris

A heartfelt ode to his agrarian roots, Way of the Morris follows award winning filmmaker Tim Plester on a journey from the English village green to the killing fields of the Somme, as he searches for a connection with the much loved native dance traditions that run deep in his blood.

For more info visit www.wayofthemorris.com

As recommended by This way up www.thiswayupzine.blogspot.com

Update 29/2/2012


Blake Watch presents: 99 Problems with the Decimas

WARNING: contains strong language


Update 25/1/2012


Up-words: The Best of This way up on paper 2002-10

It is ten years since the first issue of This way up was written and produced and to celebrate a new series begins this week featuring some of the paper version’s `greatest hits`.

By the time was launched in early 2002 the fanzine landscape had changed. Instead of rival paper zines competing for readers, most fan activity had migrated online in the form of message boards, blogs and websites. However the content of many of these was very similar to paper based zines except not usually as thorough or well written.

So; what if a paper zine could beat the blogs and websites in quality for the proportion of fans that preferred to read more considered material? In order to level the playing field further the zine was free, something that had not really been done before mainly because it means the editor having to pay for the printing costs. Luckily these were falling relatively year on year.

By the end of the last decade it was becoming obvious that online articles were now as good as ones in paper zines. A new generation of writers had grown up without the space to refine and re-edit their work making the idea of regular `issues` redundant if they were trying to compete with up to date online formats.

So in 2009 we started a dual format; still producing a paper version for people who wished to receive it but also having the issue available in PDF format from this website. In truth, this was only ever a temporary fix and after a few issues solely as PDFs, in 2011 This way up moved into its current blog format which allows new material to be uploaded quickly while retaining something of the feel of a zine.

Up -words is a new series running throughout our tenth anniversary year interspersed between regular posts showcasing the paper zine’s `greatest hits`. This will include the articles or reviews that generated the most response or which are the most interesting, different or accomplished.

Keep checking www.thiswayupzine.blogspot.com for the latest new – and old – This way up experience!

Update 18/1/2012


Blake's 7 on This way up

There are 52 episodes of Blake’s 7 and there are 52 weeks in a year. Our challenge is to watch one episode each week of 2012. Can it be done? Will it dispel some of the myths that have grown up around the series? Does Avon really say “let’s go” every episode?

Find out in Blakewatch, the new series on This way up. Every 3 or 4 weeks this year we’ll be adding more episode reviews.

This is not, by any stretch, a proper episode guide and if you’re the kind of person that takes Blake’s 7 seriously you might not agree with the tone. What it is are observations, theories and comments on each episode. What better way to celebrate the, erm, 34th anniversary of the start of the show?

www.thiswayupzine.blogspot.com

Update 14/1/2012


Panic Moon returns!

Dear all,

Sorry to trouble you but I thought you might like to know that the January 2012 issue of the Doctor Who fanzine Panic Moon is out now.

This issue includes: new perspectives on The Keys of Marinus, The Macra Terror, The War Games, Colony in Space, Invasion of the Dinosaurs, Dragonfire and the McGann film; reviews of The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe, the recently recovered missing episodes, the last series of The Sarah Jane Adventures and the latest from Big Finish; plus behind the scenes on Death to the Daleks, thoughts on console design, a look at the reprinted Target novelisations, top ten of Big Finish and some other stuff.

The zine is beautifully illustrated, as ever. The issue is 32 A6 monochrome pages, as usual.

Prices, including P&P: £1.20 (UK); £2.00 (elsewhere in Europe); or £2.50 (outside Europe).

To order, please send a paypal payment (via paypal.co.uk or paypal.com) to panicmoonfanzine@googlemail.com, using the ‘gift’ option to minimise the fees taken (we’re a non-profit-making publication after all). Please remember to put your address in the notes section. You can also pay by cheque – please let me know if you’d like to do this and I’ll give you the payee/address details.

You can see more details, the issue’s Troughtony cover, and great deals on back issues at the website: www.tinyurl.com/pmzine.

Many thanks

Ollie

Update 17/11/2012


Tyne Travelling

Dimensions 2011 reviewed by John Connors

Despite what the name suggests Newcastle upon Tyne Holiday Inn is actually six miles from the city, nestling between tall trees and long roads, effectively in the middle of nowhere. Driving towards it in the descending fog and gloom of a November evening is rather like entering a strange world where few would dare to tread. Which in a way we are. The hotel is the venue for the annual Dimensions convention which this year had something of a crisis to contend with when its two main guests - Peter Davison and Mary Tamm - dropped out. The organiser bravely replaced Peter D with Colin Baker repeating a controversial decision that didn’t work out too well in the 1980s! It also became apparent that attendance was on the low side, though given the current economic conditions perhaps this was anticipated.

It’s been a long while - nine years in fact - since I ventured along to a Doctor Who convention so it’s a surprise to discover some things have not changed at least if Dimensions is anything to go by. Presentation remains clunky – hand held mikes, hotel furniture on stage, no overall presenter, little use of the video screens while the Saturday evening entertainment is something of an acquired taste. So the willingness of the guests is key; in this case, we are in luck as each and every one of them proves to be excellent and informative. The interviewers establish an easy rapport with their subjects which always makes for livelier and more revealing answers.

Some things we learned over the weekend

As it turned out, the hotel was fine and the staff very pleasant; it’s a shame the attendance wasn’t a little higher for this enjoyable event.

Update 7/11/2011


Warning: Postal Scam!

It has been confirmed by Royal Mail. The Trading Standards Office are making people aware of the following scam:

A card is posted through your door from a company called PDS (Parcel Delivery Service) suggesting that they were unable to deliver a parcel and that you need to contact them on 0906 6611911 (a Premium rate number).

DO NOT call this number, as this is a mail scam originating from Belize.

If you call the number and you start to hear a recorded message you will already have been billed £315 for the phone call.

If you do receive a card with these details, then please contact Royal Mail Fraud on 020 7239 6655.

This was a public service from Live From Mars.

Update 22/8/2011


www.thiswayupzine.blogspot.com at a glance!

Want to keep in touch with everything on the This Way Up blog, but don't want to mess around with RSS feeds? Well we've (or rather I've - Tech Guy Bob) done the work for you! Just look at the column to your right and you'll see the most recent entries in the blog with links, which updates when the blog does. Simples.

Update 30/7/2011


August on www.thiswayupzine.blogspot.com


Missing Pieces

During August This Way Up will be looking at tv series you may never have heard of or have forgotten altogether.

Forgotten tv - Tim Worthington chooses ten programmes from the past.

Tom Grattan’s War – A look at this children’s World War One drama produced in the late 1960s, including episode guide.

Don’t Forget To Write – Written by the acclaimed Charles Wood and starring George Cole, this mid 70s comedy drama has disappeared from sight. What can we find out?

Join us as we look for Missing Pieces. August 2011

Update 11/7/2011


www.thiswayupzine.blogspot.com


Your one stop shop for reviews, features and articles about all sorts of things including the National Theatre’s new production of Emperor and Galilean, Logan’s Run, Pies, Attack the Block, the latest Doctor Who episodes and dvds


New material posted regularly.

What's new on This Way Up?


Find out now: www.thiswayupzine.blogspot.com

The fanzine in a blog - updated regularly


We’re continuing to review the new season of Doctor Who with a combination of 'Instants' (reviews after only one viewing) and more considered reviews later of each story by various writers.


Plus there’s a look at the Doctor Who Experience in London, an overview of John Sullivan's career, features on TV series Beautiful People, Midsomer Murders and Wings as well as reviews of classic Doctor Who stories Seeds of Doom, Kinda, Snakedance and lots more.


This Way Up is updated regularly with all sorts of things so don’t forget to keep checking or set up one of those feed thingies.


This Way Up - Looking at things differently.

Elisabeth Sladen

In the mid 1970’s Sarah Jane Smith lived in the road behind Woolworths. Well, to be accurate, Elisabeth Sladen’s parents lived there, she lived in London by then. However to the young me she did live in that road, a few minutes’ walk from where I lived. Which was brilliant of course! Once upon a time, when she did actually live there she attended the Elliot Clarke School of dance and drama where sometimes my Dad played piano for dance classes she was in. When she left she presented him with a small gift. Years later, her mum came round to ours with a signed photo because word had got round that I was something of a Doctor Who fan.

Elisabeth Sladen was the first companion I remember from her being cast, seeing her promo photo in the local paper and the preview pictures of her and Lynx in the `Radio Times Special` and wondering what she’d be like because till then there had only been Jo Grant. Ever since I’ve been there during Sarah Jane Smith’s amazing life from which so many key moments shine all the way from her prickly initial meetings with the Doctor and her reaction to landing in medieval England- “gerroff!”- to her departure – “I bet it isn’t even South Croydon!” Then she maintained her dignity through K9 and Company and being rescued from tripping over a blade of grass in an alarming pink coat before her more recent triumphant return. The moment in `School Reunion` when she sees the TARDIS again for the first time was just so Sarah Jane! Then as a huge bonus, she had her own `Adventures` plus a tiny little cool green car as a new generation discovered the character and took her to their hearts just as we’d done thirty years earlier.

I never met her, though was once amongst several people who shared a lift with her at some event and I was half expecting it to shudder to a halt, attacked by an alien force. She would, of course, have led us to safety through the lift shaft. Sonic lipstick hadn’t been revealed to us then but I bet she had some on her just in case! Seeing her at conventions she was always respectful to the series and her co-stars. The on stage reunion with Tom Baker was typical of the joy she found in her work and her life.

On Monday I was watching the just released `Planet of the Spiders` extras where John Kane was saying how he’d expected Lis’ career to take off in a bigger way. He’s right as well. Watch any random scene she’s in and you’ll see she is very much in the moment, living that scene in a way you soon notice other actors often don’t. I remember how her slightly odd delivery of the line “I think Mobberley’s dead” in` Seeds of Doom` became something of a running joke between some of us fans but you see Lis didn’t always opt for the conventional interpretation of lines. Her approach was natural, unaffected and very much how you or I might have said it. She was not a fussy actor and perhaps that’s why her career didn’t take off with quite the variety you might have imagined it would. Yet she could add something special to a scene that was just right- like her mock Scots accent when she answers the phone in `Terror of the Zygons` or her gently chiding the Doctor’s self pity in `Pyramids of Mars` or `Brain of Morbius`.

Sarah Jane Smith allowed Doctor Who to develop, bridging that potentially tricky gap as Jon Pertwee was replaced by Tom Baker. Cast by Barry Letts she wasn’t just the screaming girl stereotype, she was an intuitive adult and this owes much to Elisabeth Sladen’s acting as anything. It’s impossible to imagine anyone else accompanying the Doctor in those classic 1974-76 stories. To take just one example- in `Pyramids of Mars` there is an amazingly natural scene in the old shed between Sarah and the Doctor that perfectly sums up their dynamic. Her gentle sparring with Harry Sullivan is also a joy. In fact she could do anything asked of her, adding her own special qualities to the mix. When she came back in the last five years this skill was still there yet Sarah was palpably a developed character who became a sort of surrogate Doctor to the younger characters. I can think of no other actor who would have been able to achieve this crossover and no other character to which it was more suited.

All of which and so much more means I felt as if Sarah Jane Smith – and therefore Elisabeth Sladen- was someone I knew quite well. Most of all she was part of so many people’s childhoods and adolescence. Elisabeth Sladen will be missed and loved and in many ways is with us forever which in time will hopefully be of some comfort to her family and friends.

Words: John Connors

What's new on This Way Up?


Find out now: www.thiswayupzine.blogspot.com

The fanzine in a blog - updated regularly


TOTALLY TRIVIAL

Those things in life we notice but never remember


HG WELLS: CONCERNING THE ORIGINS OF THE GENRE

“HG Wells is the Elvis Presley of Science Fiction. As with Elvis, disconnected elements of the genre he’s most directly identified with had been around for some time. But like Elvis, Herbert George became the first creative genius to define the nature of the species.” Read more as Andrew Darlington looks at how HG Wells’ books have been intepreted and influenced over the decades.


SUBTERRANEAN DRAMA

Oliver Wake on the live television play `Underground` during which an actor died.


HOCUS POCUS, I’M A RECOMMISSIONED DIPLODOCUS!

Primeval Series 4 reviewed by Tim Worthington.


Also: Plenty of Doctor Who!

Oliver Wake reviews the latest additions to Big Finish’s Lost Stories range including Farewell Great Macedon and Prison in Space, Matthew Kilburn on A Christmas Carol, Anthony Malone on Caves of Androzani, Chris Arnsby on Talons of Weng Chiang and more.


New material uploaded regularly

The Big Con

This week David Cameron is attempting to re-launch the Big Society but the more he talks about it the more its flaws become obvious. The idea is to give `us`- that’s you and me - more control over local services. He seems to be under the impression that we currently have no control, that we don’t elect local councillors and MPs. Anyway, with this control volunteers, community groups and charities can run local services. He’s vague on what sort of services these may be but we suspect what he means are the ones that local councils and charities have to stop running because of the cuts. We’re not supposed to mention the cuts because of course they have nothing at all to do with the Big Society. Nothing at all, according to the government.

Where will these volunteers get the money to run such services you ask? Well, lo and behold there is a Big Society Bank with millions in it. This is at a time when we are constantly hearing the refrain that there is no money, hence the cuts. One wonders why there is money available for Big Society projects but not for local authorities, the NHS etc. Of course there are many groups of volunteers already carrying out such a service, some of which will have to close due to the cuts.

As for these Big Society local services, they will, unlike local authority services, remain unaccountable and run by self appointed people. You can imagine the kind of people they will be; the sort of people who as parents think they know more than teachers about how schools should be run so become governors. The kind of person who thinks they need to oppose every local planning application because it spoils their view. The fact is we would have no more control over local services than we have now but, unlike now, the people running them would be financially and politically unaccountable.

The government is trying to divert our eyes from the flaws in it’s flagship scheme by claiming that the cuts to some of these already existing local services - the cuts that they also say are unconnected - are politically motivated. Not at all like their deficit reduction strategy which manages to give a smaller settlement to the more deprived and poorer areas on the decidedly political premise that the Labour government gave them more!

They think by offering us more `control` we won’t notice the cuts or if we do they think that by giving local authorities more control over where the cuts are made, we will blame councils instead of the government. The audacity and the hypocrisy of the whole thing are astounding.

David Cameron says he is not like Margaret Thatcher. That is true; amazingly he is worse.

What’s new on www.thiswayupzine.blogspot.com


`This Way Up` is now available in blog format and regularly updated with new articles, reviews and other stuff.


Click on the link above now to read Matthew Kilburn reviewing the Doctor Who 2010 Xmas Special, Tim Worthington looking back at Captain Zep - Space Detective, and our re-visiting recently released stories Talons of Weng Chiang, Caves of Androzani and The Mutants by Chris Arnsby, Anthony Malone and Tom Fletcher.

Coming soon: Oliver Wake examines the unusual circumstances surrounding the live play Underground, we look at the anatomy of a tv advert and season 3 of Merlin plus more DW reviews.

Writers Needed- We are running short of writers for TWU, if you would like to review things please let us know asap. Either email zine@livefrommars.co.uk or leave a message on www.thiswayupzine.blogspot.com or on John’s Facebook page.

Smaller State, Bigger Problems?

The much awaited Spending Review makes assumptions that cannot possibly be proved and cuts that disproportionately affect the less well off. It is impossible to see how the circle that underpins the coalition’s strategy can be squared. They are cutting benefits and attempting to get more people into work while cutting public sector expenditure in a way that will result in an estimated 400,000 job losses. Their concept is that the private sector will pick up the slack. Yet the private sector relies on public sector contracts for a significant proportion of its work and if it is to take over some of the services that will be cut, these services will then be charged for. There are also significant areas in which people are palpably not `sharing the pain`. Yet child benefit, local services, social care, social housing, public transport outside London and disability benefits are hit the hardest. Are these areas where the private sector will step in at minimal cost to the users?

In failing to appreciate how more gradual, properly phased cuts would allow the economy to be stimulated thus reducing the deficit the coalition has taken an enormous risk. Even if we do not go back into recession, the first quarter of 2011, which includes VAT rising to 20% and pay freezes across large sectors of the workforce even before the redundancies begin, will almost certainly show negative growth. The Conservatives seem to have allowed ideological considerations about the smaller state to cloud their judgement while the Liberal Democrats are happy to instigate policies they opposed six months ago. And as for Labour, they cannot shirk part of the responsibility– yes there was a global banking crisis but Labour were not as “prudent” as Gordon Brown always used to claim they were. So the dilemma it all leaves us with is- if the coalition is right, then the country will be Ok but it discredits Labour’s economic prowess. If they are wrong then any `told you so` will be tempered by the fact that we will be back in recession affecting everyone. A mess in more ways than one.

The Road To Somewhere?

Recent events at the top of the Labour party will define the rest of this Parliament. Can Ed Miliband really stand up to David Cameron? In the end whether or not he can will be irrelevant unless he and the “new generation” can become a real Opposition. There are signs that the public are beginning to believe the austerity talk that the coalition have been relentlessly peddling since the General Election. People really do think we must cut now and fast to reduced the deficit; many are now convinced there is no alternative.

Labour’s last government had an alternative and while nobody is denying it would involve cuts and job losses, they would not be on the same scale as what is now being planned. They would instead be more measured so that the economy had a chance to grow because once that starts happening the deficit will reduce anyway. And the more stimulus, the more growth, the less need for crazy cuts.

There’s also a wider risk that with all the attention on the deficit other coalition policies are being ignored and they pose just as great a danger to the country. The re-organisation of the NHS, the so called `free` schools, the random axing of organisations, the large spending cuts to benefits, universities and local councils- these are areas which Labour should not just oppose but be able to come up with credible alternatives to.

Watching David Miliband in recent months it becomes clear what a superb orator and leader the party missed out on but that unfortunately is done and for the moment at least he is on the backbenches. Ed Miliband will struggle to make the same impact as his brother would have done which is why he needs a raft of serious, credible policies because wittering on about the `new generation` will cut no ice in a few month’s time. It might be tempting for the party to sink into the factionalism that has undermined it many times before, but that is an indulgence they can’t afford.

Let’s hope they make the right moves because they are now the only opposition we have to a government that has taken entirely the wrong road.

Words Apart…

“Are we entering a Doctor Who backlash?”

“After the uproar of “The Time Of Angels” finale it wouldn’t have even vaguely surprised me if it had been a giant animated Graham Norton bouncing around shouting “Hi Pals! I’m up next!”

“It seems this is the polarisation season, the one we can’t neatly compartmentalise or reach a consensus on, the one we’re not sure about…”

“Is anybody actually going to bother reading a review of the latest series of Heroes?”

“This response conjured up visions of middle aged men afraid to show any emotions outside of a football match -which I hate to imagine as being the sort of people who read TWU…”

“The empty city. The final human survivor. This is a recurring nightmare…”

“The Doctor has been in all sorts of situations before, but never before has he had to live a normal, earthbound, life...”

“The Dulcians are so dull that maybe invasion would do them good...”

“Yet, the dialogue of 1953 remains: “It’s a bomb, they finally dropped one”, says the woman…”

“Imagine the worst song you’ve ever heard times about a hundred and you’re still a good hundred metres away from the cacophony that is Doctor in Distress…”

“The Vogan seal looks familiar because Gallifreyan designers went forward in time to nick it for their seal as well…”

“Other pasts are real world ones making their presence felt on screen, but which contribute to an incoherent vision rarely experienced in twenty-first century Doctor Who. The effect was to make the whole story seem unhappily old-fashioned...” “It’s got lots of pizzazz, a little jazz, some cracking explosions that go KA KROOM like in comic books…”

What are they talking about? Find out now in Issue 28 of This Way Up


Featuring: Critics changing attitudes to this year’s Doctor Who, The Pandorica Opens / The Big Bang, The Hungry Earth / Cold Blood, Vincent and the Doctor, The Lodger, 2010 Doctor Who season overview, the 2005 version of Quatermass, Heroes, I Am Legend, Revenge of the Cybermen, Silver Nemesis, The Dominators and Doctor In Distress


Don’t take less - read all about it by clicking on the cover photo now!

This Way Up Issue 28 (PDF 2,381 kB)

You’ll need Adobe Acrobat to view This Way Up. Download it for free here.

Click here to read back issues

Update 12/8/10


It's a new look

Yes, it's out with the salmon pink and in with shades of blue! And a nifty new logo as well. Still the same old content though! Hope you like it.

P.S. In keeping with the retro B-movie look of the logo, and as we're trying to work out how to add sound effects to the site, may we suggest you make theremin noises whenever you open a new page? Ta.

Update 12/7/10


Here's Oliver Wake to tell you about a brand new fanzine…


I’m delighted to announce that the debut issue of Doctor Who fanzine Panic Moon is available now in good old fashioned paper and ink format. It’s small (A6 format and 28 pages) but perfectly formed. Just right for reading on the bus. Inside you will find:

Reviews of each of the series five stories; explorations of the characters of the eleventh Doctor and Amy; a review of the K9 series; a look at the redesign of the Daleks; a roundup of other recent paper zines in 2010’s fanzine renaissance; a review of Big Finish’s recent output; thoughts on the work of Chris Chibnall, on the use of death in Steven Moffat’s episodes, and on madness, monsters and metaphor in Vincent and the Doctor. Plus some stunning illustrations.

Prices, including P&P:

UK: £1.10

Europe (airmail): £2.00

Elsewhere (airmail): £2.50

Please pay using paypal (www.paypal.co.uk) to panicmoonfanzine@googlemail.com. I’d be terribly grateful if, when making payment, you would use the ‘gift’ rather than ‘goods’ option, as this avoids a fee being taken and therefore helps minimise our losses - this is a non-profit making publication after all. Please add the address for the fanzine to be sent to in the comments section. If you’d prefer to pay by an alternative method, please contact us at the same email address and we’ll sort something out.

Next issue there’ll be a lot more old series stuff, but let’s wait for a few of you to get this issue before we worry about that. We'd also be delighted to receive any comments on the zine at the above email address.

Many thanks.

Ollie

Even better than Fish Custard!



Yes, it’s issue 27 of This Way Up, available now from the little click thing underneath these words.Contents include reviews of the first seven episodes of the 2010 Doctor Who season, Fish People malarkey in The Underwater Menace, how old Doctor Who episodes are re-coloured plus Live at Pebble Mill and a look at the end of both Lost and Ashes To Ashes.

This Way Up Issue 27 (PDF 1,689 kB)

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