TSV issue 34 now online

TSV 34 is the latest issue to be added to the online archive. This issue was published in July 1993, and happens by accident rather than any degree of foresight to capture that all too brief time in 1993 when it really did look like a new Doctor Who story was going to be made by the BBC.

The Dark Dimension, a ninety minute special featuring all the surviving Doctors, was announced and then cancelled within a few short weeks. TSV 34 happened to be published within that time, and therefore, perhaps tempting fate, the cover boldly featured a diagonal flash stating "It's Back!". Almost as soon as the issue was mailed out, it wasn't.

Working on these old issues of TSV for their new lease of life on the Internet brings back memories. The issue features an article called Creating the Kandy Man by Rochelle Thickpenny. Until that time I only knew of Rochelle as a club member who often sent me drawings for publication in TSV. I was at the DefCon 93 convention in Wellington where she wore her Kandy Man costume and won an award for it. After the judging I ran into Rochelle in the corridor and asked her to write the article that appeared in issue 34. Rochelle later told me that me asking her to write that article made a big impression on her. I think it certainly marked the beginning of our friendship. That friendship later developed into a relationship - and this year we'll celebrate our seventh wedding anniversary. You could say that it all started with that article.

TSV 34 also featured the results of a short story competition. The winner was an Auckland fan called Nicholas Withers, whose story, Remembrance, I think was the first thing he wrote for TSV. I delivered his prize (a kitset model Dalek) to his house in person. I think that was the first time we met. What's significant about this is that a few years later, Nick became my co-editor on TSV.

Nick's contribution to TSV cannot be underestimated. It was Nick who opened my eyes to a better way to put the magazine together. In early 1996 he dragged me away kicking and screaming from my electric typewriter, gluesticks and dot matrix printer and introduced me to the wonders of PC desktop publishing. I learned to use Microsoft Publisher by peering over his shoulder as he deftly laid up page after page of TSV on his computer. It was Nick who advised me about buying my own desktop PC and it was Nick who showed me how to get connected online, how to email and how to use the Internet. Given where those skills have taken me in my career, I owe Nick a debt of thanks. If you're reading this Nick, thanks mate.

... Which brings me to a sudden and surprising realisation - that about now marks the tenth anniversary of me getting my first internet connection!