In these days of the internet blogs having taken over the position of the old fanzines, it is always good to see a new printed fanzine appear. Plaything of Sutekh is a 40 page, A5, black and white, Doctor Who fanzine with a colour cover, edited by John Connors and Richard Farell. John Connors is a name familiar to Doctor Who fans as he held various posts in the Doctor Who Appreciation Society in the 1980s while Richard is the editor of the long running Gerry Anderson fanzine Andersonic.

Indeed Plaything Of Sutekh, which derives its name from the popular fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane 1975 adventure Pyramids Of Mars, comes across as a Doctor Who version of Andersonic in both its format and contents.

Issue one costs £2.35 including UK postage and features –
What Did the Sixties Do For Who? – a look at how the Troughton era of Doctor Who reflected the changes facing Britain in the late 60s
Frank’s Who – the lasting influence of Frank Bellamy’s Radio Times art on Doctor Who illustration.
Secret Who – a re-evaluation of a clutch of less popular stories: Underworld, The Krotons and The Android Invasion.
Accidental Art – while Terry Nation and Douglas Adams were pulling in opposite directions, Ken Grieve’s innovative approach raised Destiny of the Daleks above the norm.
A New Direction? – a look at the evolution of Doctor Who under Steven Moffat
Return of the King – a look at and a listen to Tom Baker’s return as the Doctor in the Big Finish audio adventures.

There are more details of the first issue of Plaything of Sutekh and how to purchase it on the fanzine’s blog and Facebook page.

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.

Categories: Doctor Who

Tags: Fanzines, Plaything Of Sutekh, Richard Farrell