''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 Magazines is the magazine-publishing division of Titan Publishing Group. Titan Magazines' publishing directors are Ricky Claydon and John Dziewiatkowski. History Titan Magazines launched in 1995 with '' Star Trek Magazine'' with John ...

(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 of '' 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 pleasure of others who share ...

dedicated to the popular science-fiction television series ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the ...

'', 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 Nathan-Turner ('' né'' Turner; 12 August 1947 – 1 May 2002) was an English television producer. He was the ninth producer of the long-running BBC science fiction series ''Doctor Who''. He was also the final producer of the series' fir ...

, who was subjected to several personal attacks in its pages. However, it became popular with some fans due to its frequent reporting of news concerning the show before it was released through official sources, and as an alternative viewpoint to the officially sanctioned ''

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

'' or ''Celestial Toyroom'', the newsletter of the Doctor Who Appreciation Society. There were, however, occasional embarrassing errors, such as the printing of an obituary for actor

Kevin Stoney Kevin Stoney (22 January 1921 – 22 January 2008) was an English 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 Ro ...

in 1986, who was still alive and after the article's appearance would happily sign copies for fans at conventions. The fanzine also gained a reputation for being sometimes too willing to report rumour as fact. In 1989, the fanzine expanded to cover other genre films and television series as well as ''Doctor Who'', and the title was changed to ''DreamWatch Bulletin'' so that the popular abbreviation ''DWB'' would remain intact. In 1994, it was turned into 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 name to Gary 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 media figure. He is co-owner of the Titan Entertainment Group, which publishes Titan Magazines and Titan Books, and owns the London Forbidden Planet store. In the 1970s, before starting up Titan Distributors, he publishe ...

. 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