DWM 164

The 164th issue of Doctor Who Magazine was published with an 8 September 1990 cover date.

Initially, the magazine had been weekly. Then it moved to a monthly publication. With DWM #164 it moved to quad-weekly releases. This meant that subscribers would receive thirteen issues a year, not just twelve.

It also changed the meaning of the cover date. With this issue, cover dates were not just given in terms of months, but precise dates. However, these dates were emphatically not publication dates — they were expiration dates. The cover date was much more significant to the retailer than the consumer: it referred to the day retailers should have removed it from their shelves. In other words, the cover date of "8 September 1990" meant that on 9 September 1990, DWM #165 hit the newsstands. The issue "published in September 1990" was, therefore, #165 — not this one.

Articles

 * Ice Time - Preview of the upcoming Doctor Who adventure.
 * 'The Two Nervous Breakdowns' (1 of 2) Gary Downie (Production Manager) relates the perils of overseas location recording for The Two Doctors

Comic content

 * Terror of the Autons (A Radio Times Tribute) by Colin Howard
 * Fellow Travellers - Part 1

Archives

 * Archive Feature: Terror of the Autons (Episodes 1-3) (Part 1 of 2) with illustrations by Colin Howard synopsis only by Andrew Pixley
 * Episode Guide: Season 26: Sylvester McCoy (Battlefield to Survival)

Interviews / Profiles

 * Captain Ace! - Sophie Aldred gives the lowdown on the new television adventure, Earth Aid.
 * Marek Anton (Actor) who played both Vershinin in The Curse of Fenric and the Destroyer in Battlefield interviewed by John B. McLay
 * Philip Madoc (Actor) by Peter F.D. Linford discusses The War Games and The Brain of Morbius from an interview by Martin Cassan

Previews / Reviews - Off the Shelf

 * NOVEL: MISSING EPISODES: Mission to Magnus by Philip Martin (Target Books)
 * VIDEOS: The Five Doctors (BBC Video)
 * VIDEOS: The Brain of Morbius (Unedited) (BBC Video)

Page Pin-ups

 * The Seventh Doctor and Ace on the bridge of the Vancouver from Earth Aid.
 * Teenagers Jean and Phyllis from The Curse of Fenric

Also featuring

 * Matrix Data Bank (Questions and Answers)
 * Beyond the TARDIS (Who is doing what by Dominic May)
 * Gallifrey Guardian (News)
 * You on Who (Letters)
 * Data Coils (now incorporating pen-pals and events listing)
 * Doctor Who? by Tim Quinn and Dicky Howett
 * 'Nix' by Nick Miller (cartoon)
 * Competition: 3 Questions to win one of ten Mark Ayres LP's Myths and Other Legends

Random quote
“What's happening, Doctor?"

Credits

 * Editor: John Freeman
 * Assistant Editor : Jacqui Papp
 * Witty Patter: Dan Abnett
 * Production: Mark Irvine
 * Advisor: John Nathan-Turner
 * Magazine Group Editor: John Freeman
 * Managing Director: Robert Sutherland
 * Excelsior: Stan Lee

Additional details

 * This issue priced £1.50 (UK) was the first issue to appear every four weeks (13 per year) as opposed to a monthly release of 12 per year.
 * The main cover picture features Ace from Earth Aid.
 * Colin Howard once again illustrates an introduction to this issues Archive Feature with a 'trailer' that gives more than a nod to Frank Bellamy's treatment of the Doctor Who story Colony in Space for Radio Times in 1972.