Wonderful Things from the 1980 Doctor Who Annual

[SiHart]

Back when Doctor Who fandom was less than half it's present size, us Doctor Who fiction starved fans had to make do with the Christmas tradition of the World Distributors Doctor Who Annuals. Every year they'd be full of rubbish art, trippy stories that made no sense and more facts about space than even Jason Thompson could tell you. They were rubbish, and yet every year they were highlight of Christmas Day...

Somewhere between Seasons 17 and 18, a very young Si Hart persuaded his Mum to buy him the 1979 and 1980 annuals from the school summer fete. It was raining and Mum wa shelpig to run a stall, but I sat rapt with all these visions of new Doctor Who in front of me! Obviously the previous owner of the 1980 annual had grown tired of its wonders very quickly, but even all these years later, I'm still terribly fond of it.

So here for your delight are some of the many wonders of The Doctor Who Annual 1980



The annual gets off to a strong start by choosing a picture of Tom Baker from The Ribos Operation when he's not actually wearing his proper, recognisable costume. However, considering some of the previous annuals where they hadn't even managed to capture Tom's distinctive features, this isn't actually a problem. It's rather a good photo though, and one not seen too often elsewhere.

The Frontispiece (to give it a technical term!) is brown.



A rather large spaceship is flying over the heads of what could be Doctor Who and his glam companion, who could well be Tamm, but it's difficult to tell. We're off to a great start then!

Our first text adventure is X-Rani and the Ugly Mutants. It apparently concerns a woman who has the power to disfigure men and make them ugly. Or something. She soon shuts Romana up.
Oh yes, we can now establish that this annual features Tamm's Romana, as there's an actually quite good for an annual painting of our two stars at the start of the story



Lovely!

Next up the Doctor and his companions are off to Planet UX80, previously known as Culturus, where a villain called Radik is up to something nasty. Probably. Anyway, the Doctor dispatches him quite easily by doing something with the sonic screwdriver. Howvere, Tamm has sadly lost her looks for this story.


The Doctor, Romana and K9 then confront the Terror on Xaboi. It's rocky there and cold too. The main thing of note in this story is it's prediction of future developments in TARDIS design, as Romana is clearly seen looking out of the Police Box windows to the outside world. Ed Thomas was obviously inspired by this strip.


After some more exciting facts about space, The Doctor becomes one of the Reluctant Warriors. References to the multi-loop stabiliser in this story fail to convince me that the author has ever actually watched Doctor Who though. The Doctor is turned into a fierce warrior by a magic ray and goes off to fight with swords, looking like this...


Oh my!
More worringly for me is that K9 has somehow lost his ears in this story, at least according to this picture. Poor Mary Tamm doesn't look well either.


After a crossword that mixes Doctor Who and Space questions, we're ready for another strip The Weapon.

The Tardis is heading for 20th century Earth, the land of Tea and Toast according to the Doctor. I wouldn't trust him though, as he's decided to dress up as Jon Pertwee for this strip.

But it all turns out ok in the end, when the Doctor stops medieval soldiers fighting with lasers. The Doctor sagely suspects that the same battels will be fought in the 20th century.

After some lovely facts about the moon(which has fascinated man sibce the beginnings of civilisation no less), the Doctor and his intrepid companions are facing The Return of the Electrids. The planet Zed has long been free of the dreaded Electrids but you know what, one light year after the Doctor's visit, they're back! Oh yes!
"Look out!" Cried Romana, "The Electrids"


OH MY!
No wonder the people of Zed fear the Electrids. Who'd want one of those creeping around in the dark?
Fortunately they can be killed by electricity. Hooray. The Doctor defeats the evil plans and destroys the Electrids and hopes that next time he comes to celebrations on the planet Zed that the Electrids are not invited. Hahahahaha!

There's nothing really to say about the final story, The Sleeping Guardians, so I'll leave you with the painting from the back cover of the 1980 annual, a lovely painting of Tom Baker's Doctor Who.



Or is it? IS IT?

Si xx

[WhiteCrow]

You know what's freaky - I was just looking at this annual on ebay.

Someone at the gym revealed it was her 27th birthday this week, and I was trying to think back to how I'd be when she was born. Seems stuck between the doldrums of Blakes 7 Terminus and Doctor Whos Leisure Hive.

I never really likes the annuals too much. Doctor Who weekly I just loved and was my introduction proper to comics.

[Dirk Gently]

OH MY! I can't imagine what adventure this is from but I'm sure it brought tears to the eyes.

[Si Hunt]

I can't believe the Doctor is dressed as Jon Pertwee in one of those shots! I mean, did they... couldn't they... how did.... there just arn't words!

Good work Si!

Si.

[Pip Madeley]

The Electrids should be in our next caption competition.

[Si Hunt]

I love how the clue to how to defeat them is in their name. If "Image of the Fendahl" had been an annual story, the chief protagonist would have been called a Saltoid.

Si.

[Andrew Curnow]

I remember my brother getting that annual, and for literally years and years I couldn't work out where that picture had come from. I know we watched The Ribos Operation when it aired, but clearly Tom's change of costume failed to register with me at all.

[Captain Tancredi]

I can't help thinking that the artist who did the frontispiece must have had a picture of Terry Walsh in Tom's costume as reference material.

[SiHart]

There will be more joy to come from other annuals sometime in the future.

Si xx

[Simon R]

Coincidentally, just after reading this thread I plucked a random DWM from the shelf to read in bed and got the Christmas 2005 issue which has a rather amusing article about the annuals and a spoof annual style story featuring the 9th Doctor and Rosie Taylor.

I got given most of the Tom books when I was about 5 and I used to like looking at them but could never read them. I still can't. They just sup all the energy out of me and I go in to an orbit. I remember taking the 1980 annual to my Nan's new bungalow one of the days "Terror of the Vervoids" was on. I always assumed the cover was from some scary adventure set in a medieval castle.

It really can't be stressed quite how awful and bizzare yet fascinating these books are!

[Stuart Wallis]

It's Erato all over again!

[Ian Lethbridge-Stewart]

The album that followed this is what turned me from casual viewer of the show to a proper fan.
I was bought it by my Mum because I got a good school 'report' at parents evening

[Antony Cox]

The 'album'? Don't you mean 'annual'?

[SiHart]

Anyone wanting more of this kind of nonsense should click here.

Si xx

[Pip Madeley]

The only Dr Who Annual I've ever owned (apart from these new Storybooks) is the 1976 Annual with the great Tom cover. I was only 12 at the time and couldn't understand why the Doctor was wearing a blue jumper with white jacket.



In fact I assumed he was going to change his costume later in the series....

[Antony Cox]

The likeness of Tom's face is pretty good, though Lord only knows about what he's wearing!

But why is Sarah-Jane (I'm presuming that's who it's supposed to be who's standing next to him) wearing the Third Doctor's outfit from Terror of the Autons?

And who's that behind them - Saddam Hussein?

[Dirk Gently]

I thought it was supposed to be Lalla?

[SiHart]

It's actually a shot from Tom's first photocall, and in the picture he has his arm around Lis Sladen. This picture though has subsituted Lis for someone who looks entirely unlike her. The man in the background is supposed to be Harry, would you believe. The 1976 annual is notorious for not featuring Lis Sladen or Ian Marter in any of the pictures, and in fact I believe that despite appearing in 4 annuals, Lis Sladen doesn't get a picture that looks like her ever in any of them!

Si xx

[Pip Madeley]

It's actually a shot from Tom's first photocall, and in the picture he has his arm around Lis Sladen. This picture though has subsituted Lis for someone who looks entirely unlike her.

Looks more like Victoria to me. Maybe the Doctor found her, back there in the waaaaardroooobe.

[Stuart Wallis]

What she was wearing, and what he did with her, is anyone's guess!

[Ian Lethbridge-Stewart]

The 'album'? Don't you mean 'annual'?

Oops, well it was neary midnight; I was tired!!!

[Antony Cox]

Perhaps you should try playing your annual at 33rpm?

[Dirk Gently]

Well it is old, may be it should be @ 78?

[Lord President]

My favourite from 1974 - What if Pertwee had changed everything from Troughton, but not the hair!