Preview: Doctor Who Magazine No.516

Here's the cover of the next issue of the official Doctor Who Magazine, which will be in the shops on Thursday 24th August. As you can see, it features Jodie Whittaker, who steps into the role during the Christmas episode this year (which sadly bids farewell to Peter Capaldi) and whose full series begins in Autumn 2018.

Casting a woman as the Doctor has been a controversial point, but most comments I've read have been positive and welcoming. Personally I think it's a brilliant move, and I'm eagerly looking forward to seeing what Jodie Whittaker brings to the part. After all, the Doctor is a shape-changing alien from a fictional planet. At the end of the 9th Doctor's life he mused he might even regenerate with two heads. Fans didn't seem to object to that notion, but put a woman in the role and some have gone ballistic!

This issue of Doctor Who Magazine will of course be packed with features, interviews, news and reviews, plus the regular 12th Doctor comic strip. It'll also include another Daft Dimension by me, and I've made it topical. I think this will be the first time the 13th Doctor has appeared in a strip in an official Doctor Who publication, and she's not likely to appear in another strip until her series starts, so grab your collector's item copy this Thursday!