Collection Corner

As part of our celebrations for the sixth anniversary, and in anticipation of the upcoming book, let’s take a look at some of the merchandise that you could’ve got your hands on during the 1990s, in the WIDWWA universe!

The Doctor Who Annual 1993. Format: 64 pages, hardback. Publisher: Marvel Comics. UK Release: September 1992

To begin with, we have the long-awaited return of the Doctor Who Annual. Between 1965 and 1985 (apart from 1971), the BBC published an Annual every year for the show; often a guaranteed stocking filler for any Doctor Who fan.

In 1992, the BBC resurrected the Doctor Who Annual for the 30th Anniversary, and it has been published every year since. The 1993 Annual was largely a celebration of Doctor Who’s 30 year history, but did most prominently feature the Eighth Doctor throughout its pages. The other Doctors appeared in fact files and retrospectives, where the current TARDIS team appeared in pretty much everything else!

Doctor Who: The Five Doctors - Special Edition. Format: DVD, Single Disc. Publisher: BBC DVD. Release: November 1999

Some things never change, in either universe, and the 1999 DVD release of The Five Doctors: Special Edition, is one of them. Apart from the inclusion of the current Doctor Who logo, in use at the time, in the WIDWWA Universe, this is identical to the one released in real life.

Doctor Who: The Paradise of Death. Format: 2 Discs, CD Radio Drama. Publisher: BBC Audio. Release: September 1993.

The Paradise of Death was a BBC Radio Drama, that after being broadcast on BBC Radio 4, in August 1993, was released on CD & Cassette. It was produced to tie in with the 30th Anniversary Celebrations and saw Jon Pertwee, Elisabeth Sladen and Nicholas Courtney each return to their respective roles, as it was set during Season 11.

Doctor Who: Lungbarrow. Format: 156 pages, Paperback. Publisher: Target Novels. Release: May 1992.

The Target Novelisation range was not something which vanished (until 2018) in the WIDWWA universe, instead continuing on, steadily until the present day. In the real world, overall, there has been 168 Target Novelisations, whereas in the WIDWWA Universe it’s closer to 344! The product we’re showcasing here is Book No. 161, Lungbarrow, the novelisation of the Season 28 serial, published in the May of the following year. It was written by Marc Platt, who also wrote the television serial.

Doctor Who Magazine - Issue 163. Format: 43 pages, stapled. Publisher: Marvel Comics. UK Release: August 1990.

DWM 1963 was the classic “is the Doctor” issue of Doctor Who Magazine, and the first sporting the face of the newly announced Eighth Doctor, Richard Griffiths. The Magazine was released just before Season 27 began airing, and thus featured an exclusive preview of ‘Earth Aid’ for all readers to enjoy.

The Doctor Who Collectible Card Game. Format: 400 Cards. Publisher: MMG Ltd. Release: July 1996.

Although common in the 21st Century, the trading card world was never someone Doctor Who ventured into before 1996, but all of that changed with the Doctor Who Collectible Card game. It seems quite boring by modern day standards, as each card features a character from Doctor Who, with their biography... and that’s it. There’s no scores to trade with, or actually play a game in the conventional sense. They are simply biography cards, sold as a Collectible Card game.

The “game” however, comes in a completely different form to what you might expect. The game sees two players face off as Time Lords, and each plays creatures and resources in three time zones - past, present and future - using them to battle their opponents’ creatures and destroy their Time cards, which represents a player’s life energy. When all the Time cards are destroyed, that player loses.

The card set featured 400 different cards, featuring Doctors, Companions, Recurring characters, Villains and Monsters. Despite being promoted in Doctor Who spaces, the Doctor Who Collectible Card game was a massive failure, being one of the worst selling pieces of Doctor Who merchandise in history.

I hope you enjoyed our lookback at some of the merchandise avaliable during the 1990s in the WIDWWA universe. Which of these would you most like to own?