The acclaimed Doctor Who comics and artwork fanzine Vworp Vworp! returns with its fifth issue in January 2023. Pre-orders open on New Year’s Day with shipping scheduled for early February 2023.
The 148-page issue kicks off with an in-depth series of articles and script reviews focusing on the many Doctor Who animation projects that have, for a variety of reasons, been abandoned over the years. The Canadian company Nelvana might be the best known, but as researcher Richard Bignell has uncovered for Vworp Vworp!, through a wealth of interviews, documentation, scripts and design drawings, there’s so much more to learn, including the real reason it was aborted. But what of Ruby-Spears, the company behind Scooby-Doo? Interest from a Japanese anime studio? Terry Nation’s Daleks? The BBC itself, in 2001? And who can forget Karen McCoy and her Doctor Who: The Animated Series?
Elsewhere in the issue:
• Interviews with artist JOHN RIDGWAY and writer/artist STEVE PARKHOUSE, as we go behind the scenes of their magnum opus, the Voyager saga.
• PHIL BEVAN remembered, with personal recollections of his brother Kit and those he worked with, offering a unique insight into this much-loved artist, who illuminated the vibrant fanzine scene in the 80s and 90s.
• Packaging beauty! Graphic and packaging designer ANDREW PREWETT, who designed the beloved Doctor Who Sound Effects LP, reveals unused designs for a number of Doctor Who DVD boxsets.
• ABSOLUTE DAAK: A REVENGER’S TRAGEDY – The Dalek Killer deconstructed by Alan Stevens ahead of his return in our comic strip, Paper Tiger.
• New features on TERRY NATION and DAVID WHITAKER’s work on the TV Century 21 DALEKS strip and the stage play THE CURSE OF THE DALEKS.
• … and much more!
Also, issue 5 includes several brand new comic strips and fiction:
• The truly epic 22-page THE IRON EMPIRE, written by Lance Parkin and drawn by Steve Andrew. What happened to the Empire during the reign of Emperor Vesuvius? Find out in this much anticipated sequel to the Mills/Wagner great that launched Doctor Who Weekly.
• Ever pondered the fate of the Thals in the TV Century 21 Dalek strips? Find out in YEAR ZERO, a new instalment in the adventures of outer space robot people, imagined by Alan Stevens, Matthew Kilburn and artist Andy Walker.
• Abslom Daak gets a bittersweet coda in PAPER TIGER, written by Alan Stevens with crisp black and white art by the legendary John Ridgway.
• We’re also treated to three thrilling pages of DALEK KILLERS! – an intriguing reboot (of sorts) pitched to Titan by Richard Starkings and Lee Sullivan.
• Thrill to Sam Gingell's debut strip NEWTON'S SLEEP, a thought-provoking examination of the Cybermen as a reaction to societal decay and decadence. Sam crashed onto the scene in 2022 and we're sure this won't be the last we see of him.
• Sixties script editor Donald Tosh’s final piece of fiction, JOURNEY TO NOWHEN, a whimsical tale of competing realities and the power of nostalgia.
• Finally, we take a visit back to the scene of one of the Doctor’s lesser discussed small screen adventures in Graham Kibble-White’s ENCOUNTER AT CRINKLEY BOTTOM!
Plus, our exciting FREE GIFT this issue:
• DOCTOR WHO: ROWEN – a full-cast audio adaptation of the 1992 initial script for the cancelled Nelvana series. Presented on CD, directed and adapted by Sean Mason and introducing ARTHUR BOSTROM as the Nelvana Doctor, this brand new drama is intended to give an authentic taste of what this new era might have been like.
Order Vworp Vworp! issue 5, price £10.99, from vworpvworp.co.uk now.
Want to see more? Check out these samples from the upcoming issue!
