Doctor Who
Magazine, Annuals
And
Other Cool
Stuff
Panini 2006 Annual
With the new series on television proving such a success, it was not surprising that 2005 also saw the return of the Doctor Who annual.
Once again the license to publish the title was picked up by the publishers ofDoctor Who Magazine, with Panini having now taken over the title and rights from Marvel UK.
The Annual was the usual mix of comic strip, text, features and puzzles and was a great success in publishing terms: so successful, in fact that by the following year two titles were released that fit the definition of Annuals. The following year would see the publication of the Doctor Who The Official Annual 2007, published by BBC Book and the Doctor Who Storybook 2007, published by Panini. While the latter presented a series of short illustrated fiction stories, the former concentrated on the lighter side of activities, games, puzzles and a reprinted comic strip story from Doctor Who Adventures (COMIC), and was aimed at a younger audience.
Russell T Davies' contributions to this Annual are significant. As well as offering a full biography of Rose Tyler, Russell gives an overview of the Ninth Doctor and perhaps more significantly, his involvement in the Last Great Time War and its legend.
"On the planet Crafe Tec Heydra, is a mountain, on the side of which is a crude record of an invisible War. Told in carvings and hieroglphs, it tells of two warring races (one flesh, the other metal), a fearsome explosion, and a solitary stranger walking away from the wreckage. Beneath the stranger is a phrase scratched in stone that translates as: "you are not alone..."!" (Source: written byRussell T Davies)
Another significant contribution to be found in this annual, comes from the writer Steven Moffat, whose tale of Sally Sparrow's Christmas Holiday was reworked to become the 2007 story TV: Blink. In this Doctor-lite story, an older version of Sally Sparrow was the lead character, receiving a message from the Doctor caught in the past.
The Annual also made a reference to the Big Finish story AUDIO: The Apocalypse Element as one of the key moments leading up to the Time War between theTime Lords and the Daleks, referred to only as "the Etra Prime Incident".
Details:
Publisher: Panini UK
Release date: September 2005
Format: hardback 62 pages
ISBN 1-904419-73-9 (UK edition)
ISBN 0-7333-1748-0 (Australian edition)
Release Number 1
Priced £6.99
Featured Doctor: the Ninth Doctor
Featured Companions: Rose Tyler
CONTENTS
FEATURES:
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'Who's Who' (The nine faces of the Doctor) byPhilip MacDonald and Stephen James Walker
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'Meet the Doctor' by Russell T Davies
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'Meet Rose' by Russell T Davies
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'Doctor Who: Behind the Scenes’ (A look at the production of Season One) by Benjamin Cook
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'Inside the TARDIS' by Gareth Roberts
COMIC STRIP STORY:
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Mr Nobody
TEXT STORIES:
Doctor vs Doctor by Gareth Roberts
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Illustrations by Andy Walker
The Masks of Makassar by Paul Cornell
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Illustrations by Martin Geraghty
Pitter-Patter by Robert Shearman
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Illustrations by Daryl Joyce
What I Did on My Christmas Holidays by Sally Sparrow by Steven Moffat
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Illustrations by Martin Geraghty
ADDITIONAL FEATURES:
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Puzzle: Robot Rose / TARDIS teaser
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Puzzle: The Van Statten Code / UNIT Initiation Test / Lost Luggage
CREDITS:
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Editor: Clayton Hickman
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Designer: Peri Godbold
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Frontispiece illustration by Alister Pearson
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Puzzles by Justin Richards and Gareth Roberts
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Puzzle Page illustrations by Ben Morris
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With thanks to: Russell T Davies, Tom Spilsbury, James Clarkson, Ian Grutchfield,
Francine Holdgate, Nick Pegg, James Hawes, Kate Beharrell,
Richard Hollis, Rosemarie Harrison.