''Dreamwatch'' was a British magazine covering science fiction and fantasy films, books and television programmes. Published monthly by Gary Leigh (July 1983 to January 2001) and then

Titan Magazines Titan Publishing Group is the publishing division of the British entertainment company Titan Entertainment, which was established as Titan Books in 1981. The books division has two main areas of publishing: film and television tie-ins and cine ...

(2001 to 2007), it was a leading genre entertainment magazine, competing with '' SFX'' and ''Cinescape'' in the genre magazine market.

Overview

The publication began life in July 1983 as an amateur

fanzine A fanzine (blend word, blend of ''fan (person), fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) for the pleas ...

dedicated to the popular

science-fiction television Science fiction first appeared in television programming in the late 1930s, during what is called the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary ...

series ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'', and was published under the title ''Doctor Who Bulletin''. In this form, it became well known for taking a generally critical tone towards the later seasons of the programme, particularly the work of producer

John Nathan-Turner John Turner (12 August 1947 – 1 May 2002), known professionally as John Nathan-Turner, was an English television producer. He was the ninth producer of the long-running BBC science fiction series ''Doctor Who'' and the final producer of the ...

, who was subjected to several personal attacks within its pages. Nevertheless, the publication became popular with some fans due to both its general attitude and its frequent reporting of news concerning the show before it was released through official sources, such as the officially sanctioned ''

Doctor Who Magazine ''Doctor Who Magazine'' (abbreviated as ''DWM'') is a magazine devoted to the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Launched in 1979 as ''Doctor Who Weekly'', the magazine became a monthly publication the following year. In ...

'' or ''Celestial Toyroom'', the newsletter of the

Doctor Who Appreciation Society The ''Doctor Who'' Appreciation Society (DWAS) is a society for fans of the television series ''Doctor Who''. It was founded in May 1976, emerging from the Westfield College ''Doctor Who'' Appreciation Society, and the editors and readers of th ...

. The fanzine also gained a reputation for being sometimes too willing to report rumour as fact. For example, they published an obituary for actor

Kevin Stoney Kevin Stoney (22 January 1921 – 22 January 2008) was a British actor. He was best known for his television roles, in which he became familiar for his "portrayal of establishment types". During the Second World War, Stoney served with the Roy ...

in 1986; Stoney, who was very much still alive, would go on to happily sign copies of the obituary for fans at conventions. In 1989, the fanzine expanded to cover other genre films and television series as well as ''Doctor Who'', and, as a consequence, the title was changed to ''DreamWatch Bulletin'' in order that the popular (and graphically appealing) abbreviation ''dwb'' would remain intact. In 1994, the zine was relaunched as a fully professional newsstand magazine: the title was shortened to simply ''Dreamwatch'', and the numbering of the magazine was restarted from issue 1. The original fanzine was founded and edited by Gary Levy, who later changed his surname to Leigh. He edited the first hundred issues, before handing over editorial reins first to David Gibbs (issues 101–110) and then to Anthony Brown (111–130), after which the professional version was launched (with numbering beginning again at issue 1, and with Anthony Clark and then Paul Simpson as editors until issue 71). Leigh returned as editor with issue 72, aided by co-editor Simon J. Gerard who worked on the title on a day-to-day basis. Leigh retained ownership of the title until 2001, when he sold the magazine to

, part of the Titan Entertainment Group owned by

Nick Landau Nick Landau is a British entertainment entrepreneur. He co-owns Titan Entertainment, with his partner Vivian Cheung, which comprises the Forbidden Planet (bookstore), Forbidden Planet Limited store chain and Titan Publishing Group. A lifelong s ...

. Gerard moved across to Titan with ''Dreamwatch'' and took the role of Contributing Editor. Brian J. Robb became Editor/Managing Editor in June 2001 (issue 81) and continued through to September 2003 (issue 108) which marked ''DWB''s 20th continuous year of publication. Former Deputy Editor David Bassom served as Editor from issue 109 to 123, and launched the stand-alone US edition with the help of Deputy Editor Matthew Chapman. Robb became Editor/Managing Editor of ''Dreamwatch'' once more from January 2005 (issue 124) until October 2006 (issue 145). Former deputy editor Richard Matthews then became editor for a few issues (until issue 148) before the editorship returned to Robb until issue 150, which was the last print edition, published on 25 January 2007 (issue 280 if counted from the debut issue in July 1983). At the end of January 2007, the magazine became a web-only publication entitled Total Sci-Fi, offering SF news and features and ''Dreamwatch''/''DWB'' archive at www.totalscifionline.com. The website was edited by Matt McAllister, and counted many former ''Dreamwatch'' writers among its contributors. It was placed on indefinite hiatus in 2011.

References

{{Reflist 1983 establishments in the United Kingdom 2007 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Defunct science fiction magazines published in the United Kingdom Doctor Who magazines Magazines established in 1983 Magazines disestablished in 2007 Monthly magazines published in the United Kingdom Online magazines published in the United Kingdom Online magazines with defunct print editions Speculative fiction magazines published in the United Kingdom Science fiction fanzines Titan Magazines titles Mass media in East Sussex