The Ultimate Doctor Who Top Fives
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Random Doctor Who trivia with a numerical theme. And there’s more like it where this came from
Doctor Who has been running for nearly 50 years now. Small wonder then, that when we asked Will Salmon to compile a series of Top Fives for the brand new SFX bookazine, Doctor Who: The Fanzine , he came up with many more than we had room , on sale from 23 November.
Top 5 Things About Being A Doctor Who Fan In 2011
Five : Going to conventions. Getting wildly drunk at the bar, missing all the panels and then copping off with a girl you think is Freema Agyeman, but is actually a bloke called Allan.
Four : Carrying a sonic screwdriver on your person at all times, just in case. You never know when you might need to impress someone with your Whovian ways (probably only in the situation listed above).
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Three : Slagging off Torchwood , while secretly enjoying it, and having a crush on Eye Myles/Gareth David-Lloyd (delete where applicable… or you can have both if you’re Captain Jack).
Two : Logging on to Gallifrey Base to discuss the latest episode – and then getting drawn into a 24-page long thread about the canonicity of Lungbarrow .
One : That it’s back on telly. And it’s great! And kids love it. And Matt Smith is a brilliant actor. And Karen Gillan is hot. And what about the Weeping Angels? Etc, etc.
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Top 5 Doctor Who Tweeters
Five: Arthur Darvill @RattyBurvil
It's Rory!
Sample tweet: “Got bought a tiger suit for my birthday. Michael Palin spent all morning attacking my tiger feet. He wouldn’t last two minutes in the jungle.”
Four: Gareth Roberts @OldRoberts953
Who scripter. Goes a bit mad during X-Factor season.
Sample tweet: “I like to imagine the season 19 TARDIS team saying goodnight to each other like the Waltons.”
Three: Neil Gaiman @neilhimself
Everyone’s favourite grown-up goth.
Sample tweet: “Damp. Cold. Bored. Windswept. BUT in a wonderful graveyard which mostly makes up for the first four.”
Two: Steven Moffat @ steven_moffat
The grand Moff.
Sample tweet: “Louis (9): 'I have an imaginary friend in the mirror. He mocks me from spoons.'”
One: Colin Baker @SawbonesHex
The Sixth Doctor himself.
Sample tweet: “Spent a lovely day with my friends Fred and Jane from Rod Jane and Freddy of Rainbow fame. We laughed a lot.”
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Top 5 Doctor Who Toys
Five : Remote Control Dalek (Character Options)
Perfect for terrifying cats, dogs or toddlers, the remote control Dalek is a classic. Personally we’d plump for the gold Russell T Davies era model, but you can choose the classic series or Moff era “Lardek” instead, should you wish. Weirdo.
Four : Plush Adipose (Character Options)
“Partners In Crime” may have been a divisive episode, but one thing we can all agree on is just how cute the Adipose were. And now you can snuggle up to your very own furry bit of fat on those long winter nights.
Three : Dalek voice changer (Character Options)
Leave your ring modulator at home and exterminate your friends and co-workers convincingly, with this voice-changing Dalek helmet. Not too convincingly mind, given that they will still be able to see the rest of you...
Two : 11 Doctors set (Character Options)
There have been beautiful limited edition classic Doctor figures for a while now, but boy are they pricey. Hooray then for this ace, mass-market set that houses all 11 Docs in one TARDIS-shaped box for around £50. Bargain!
One : Sonic Screwdriver (Character Options)
A classic. Whether you choose one of the flashy new ones, or go all retro with the Third or Fourth Doctor’s implement of choice, no fan household is complete without a sonic screwdriver or two.
MORE TOP FIVES ON THE NEXT PAGE
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Top 5 Doctor Who -related songs
Five : Jon Pertwee “Who Is The Doctor”
Four : The Go Go's “I'm Gonna Spend My Christmas With A Dalek”
Three : Frazer Hines “Who's Doctor Who?”
Two : Blood Donor “Doctor...?”
One : The Timelords - Doctorin’ The TARDIS
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Top 5 Spinoff Companions
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Top 5 Doctor Who Comic Strips
Five : “Business As Usual”
Writer: Alan Moore Art: Dave Lloyd
A slight, but effectively eerie return for the Autons, from the pen of comics god Alan Moore.
Four “The Good Soldier”
Writer: Andrew Cartmel Art: Mike Collins
The Seventh Doctor and Ace take on the Cybermen in this dark story from former TV series Script Editor Andrew Cartmel.
Three : “End Game”
Writer: Alan Barnes Artists: Martin Geraghty, Robin Smith, Robin Riggs
The Eighth Doctor's comic run was a little golden-age, and this story is a brilliant start to the run.
Two : “The Dalek Chronicles”
Writers: David Whitaker, Terry Nation Artists: Richard Jennings, Erik Eden, Ron Turner
The epic 104 episodes that ran in TV Century 21 between 1965 and 1967 were hugely imaginative and portrayed the Daleks as characters, rather than just robots.
One : “The Tides Of Time”
Writer: Steve Parkhouse Artist: Dave Gibbons
This epic tale of cosmic peril is the high point of the Who strip, taking the Doctor from Earth to Gallifrey and pitting him against the demon Melanicus.
MORE TOP FIVES ON THE NEXT PAGE
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Top 5 SFX Doctor Who covers
Five : “Look Who’s Back!” Issue 128
Welcome back Doctor Who ! Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper stare out at us in a shot that looks like it came from another era, despite being just six years ago...
Four: “ Who’s In Charge” Issue 196
Karen Gillan. So gorgeous. And looking strikingly patriotic against the colours of the Union Jack behind the SFX logo.
Three: “ Who’s the Greatest!” Issue 176
Our split run of 10 covers offered fans the chance to pick their favourite Doctor.
Two : Matt Smith holds up the SFX logo – Issue 208
The current Doctor welcomed in our new look just a few months back.
One “This show demands that you be radical” - Issue 194
We celebrated the arrival of the Eleventh Doctor with an exclusive photo shoot and a gorgeous lenticular cover.
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Top 5 Doctor Who YouTube Videos
Five : Doctor Who in the style of Buffy
A beautifully re-edited Doctor Who title sequence in the style of Buffy The Vampire Slayer 's classic opening credits. The visuals match Nerf Herder’s theme perfectly.
Four : Doctor Who meets Star Wars
A spot on melding of Star Wars and Who. The Ninth Doctor fights Vader. The Emperor warns Vader about the “young Time Lord”. Ingenious.
Three : Beedeer
“What the...?” Is the usual reaction to this hypnotically weird Turkish take on Doctor Who . The best bit? “Doctor Hooey” defeats the Beedeer with pink energy and everyone has a dance.
Two : The Doctor's video diary
Remember that bit in “Human Nature” where Martha skips through the video of the Doctor's instructions? Want to know what David Tennant was really saying? You'll find out here...
One : Feast Of Steven
A complete animated version of the missing episode. Okay, so the character design is rudimentary, but it makes sense of what was an inscrutable instalment on audio. More please!
READ MANY MORE DOCTOR WHO TOP FIVES IN SFX ’S DOCTOR WHO: THE FANZINE , ON SALE FROM 23 NOVEMBER!
You can order a copy here
Will Salmon is the Comics Editor for GamesRadar/Newsarama. He has been writing about comics, film, TV, and music for more than 15 years, which is quite a long time if you stop and think about it. At Future he has previously launched scary movie magazine Horrorville, relaunched Comic Heroes, and has written for every issue of SFX magazine for over a decade. He sometimes feels very old, like Guy Pearce in Prometheus. His music writing has appeared in The Quietus, MOJO, Electronic Sound, Clash, and loads of other places and he runs the micro-label Modern Aviation, which puts out experimental music on cassette tape.