The Basics - Issue 171, 13 March 1991. The front cover is a photo from Terror of the Zygons.

News And Views - The BBC are claiming that discussions with several independent companies are continuing with regard to the future of the show. The Sontaran Experiment may be added to the forthcoming BBC Video release of Genesis of the Daleks. A release of Shada is under consideration, though later episodes of the story would require substantial linking material. Stephen Morgan of Gwent writes in about a newspaper item regarding missing episodes that may be in the hands of fans.

Tombwatch - Although Tomb is not specifically mentioned, the lead item in Gallifrey Guardian is entitled "Missing Episodes : The Search Continues".

Reviews - Off The Shelf reviews the videos of the extended Curse of Fenric ("a worthwhile experiment and a nice novelty item") and The Krotons ("hideously dire; the absolute nadir that Doctor Who ever dropped to").

Boxpops - Top of the pop charts in March 91 were the continuing Do The Bartman, Should I Stay Or Should I Go by The Clash, The Stonk by Hale & Pace and The Stonkers and The One And Only by Chesney Hawkes.

Skaro Says - Andrew Curnow is surprised at the level of venom in Gary Russell's review of The Krotons, as is Sidesk, who likes the articles on The Aztecs design and the video releases, plus the artwork in the comic strip. As far as he's concerned, the issue is worth the money overall.

Critique - The contents page amusingly states that the front cover shows Borusa on board the Zygon spaceship - perhaps his latest regeneration went a bit awry?! I agree with Sidesk in that my two favourite features in this issue are the Making History feature on the making of The Aztecs, with plenty of rare photos - this was ahead of its video release later in the year. Also, the feature going behind the scenes of BBC Video is an interesting one, and included a box of trivia including the estimate that all existing episodes would be on video by 2004, which turned out to be fairly accurate. I remember finding the accompanying two page Video Check to be very useful, with such things as confirmation of the cuts made to the releases. I also recall being quite excited by the provisional schedule for the rest of the year, including the heavyweight releases for October - Deadly Assassin and Genesis of the Daleks. As Si said - worth the money!