Can Doctor Who Magazine survive "Wilderness Years 2?"
Now that we know DW is on the shelf for at least a couple years, one of my big questions is whether DWM can generate enough content and interest to remain viable.
While the magazine survived, and even flourished, during the Wilderness Years, there was so much content still left to mine from the classic series (e.g., Andrew Pixley's fantastic archive series), the TV Movie in '96, as well as a healthy stream of original content (e.g., Virgin novels, BBC's PDAs and EDAs, and Big Finish starting in 2000). It was also clear who the current Doctor was at the time, McCoy from '89 to '96, and McGann thereafter.
As far as I can tell, the well is pretty dry with regard to Classic Who. I'm primarily a Classic Who fan and even I am starting to find some of the more recent DWM articles about the old show somewhat flimsy. As far as Nu-Who, we never really lacked for behind the scenes info as it was being produced, so there is likely not much left there either.
Personally, I have felt like DWM has gone downhill the last several years even with the show on the air. It has seemed very timid about offending the BBC or RTD for the past three years - I get not biting the hand that feeds you, but objectivity is also important. Many of the articles are fairly bland. The comic remains solid, but where will it go now that we don't know who the Doctor is? What original content can be reviewed/previewed? Obviously Big Finish puts out a lot of great (and some not so great) content, but what else is there?
My bottom line questions are: Is there enough content to sustain DWM as a profitable enterprise and is the current editorial team equipped to navigate the waters of the Wilderness Years 2? What do you think?
Posted Jun 12, 2026, 12:50 PM UTC