Doctor Who – 60 Moments In Time

60 Moments In Time is a brand new great big massive book slash magazine hybrid from the makers of Doctor Who Magazine – which, fittingly, really is bigger on the inside – celebrating sixty years of Doctor Who by taking a look at sixty significant, affectionately nostalgic or just plain daft aspects of the show’s history outside of the actual show itself. Across more than two hundred pages you’ll find in-depth features on the history of the Police Box, Doctor Who Confidential, the Weetabix giveaway cards, the Doctor Who Annual, Target Books, the BBC’s Doctor Who Twitch marathon, the VHS releases, action figures, signed photos, sixties Dalek chocolates, BBC Television centre, comic strips, fanzines, The Ultimate Adventure and tons more besides – including Doctor Who Magazine itself. If you can imagine the line about “whole continents of Jeffrey Archer, Bridget Jones, Monty Python’s Big Red Book“ from Silence In The Library, only about the Cyberman Advent Calendar, Recall U.N.I.T.: The Great T-Bag Mystery and that sort of melting Davros mask given away by Doctor Who Adventures then you’re very much along the right lines.

You probably won’t be too surprised that I’m one of the writers taking a look at those moments in time, including chapters on the close relationship between Doctor Who and Blue Peter, the surprisingly lengthy history of Doctor Who on the radio – which stretches back to before it had even started on television – and the Doctor Who theme itself. What can there possibly be to say about the single biggest and most recognisable aspect of Doctor Who outside of The Daleks and Tom Baker’s scarf that is in any way new, original or actually worth saying? You’ll have to read it to find out. It does involve a square CD, though. Yes, you did read that right.

Even speaking as a contributor, I’m finding 60 Moments In Time an absolutely brilliant read crammed to the edges of the page with fascinating features, some of them involving names who may well be familiar to listeners to It’s Good, Except It Sucks and Looks Unfamiliar. It’s dazzlingly designed too, and there’s an image accompanying the feature on Doctor Who on the radio that surprised even me. Not someone you’d expect to see on the cover of The Listener every day, put it that way. You can get 60 Moments In Time in all larger newsagents and bookshops – it is pretty large, to be fair – or from Amazon here or directly from the Doctor Who Magazine website here. You don’t get one of those Davros masks though, sadly.

Incidentally, while we’re here, you can also find a look at one particular Doctor Who-related Blue Peter moment here, a chat about the Doctor Who radio serial Slipback here, and the story of The Daleks’ very own pop single here…