The Basics - Issue 182, 22 January 1992 (although the cover mistakenly repeats the date of the previous issue). The front cover has further artwork from the Dalek-Cybermen War by Lee Sullivan, as The Heliotrope Bouquet concludes inside, and the back cover has a festive picture. The front cover artwork is also included inside as a poster.

Indicia - "So, exactly what does it eat?" asked the Wirrn in its chirruping voice, resting an antenna casually on the ravenous Ogri..

News And Views - Several stories are planned for a repeat season early in the year on BBC2, with one story for each of the seven Doctors. Planned video releases include Planet of Evil in September, K9 & Company and an extended Delta and the Bannermen in November and an extended The Happiness Patrol in 1993.

Old Fiction - With Evening's Empire Part 2 still delayed, the Fourth Doctor comic strip Spider-God from issue 52 is reprinted.

Notables - Those Radio Times concludes, with a look at their coverage of the 5th, 6th and 7th Doctors' eras. Gary Russell looks back over the fiction and video releases of 1991 in Off The Shelf, and looks at what 1992 holds in a separate feature.

Boxpops - The Time Meddler airs on BBC2 on Fridays from 3rd to 24th January, preceded by new documentary Resistance Is Useless. Part one of The Mind Robber airs on Friday 31st. Top of the pop charts in January 92 were the continuing Queen and Goodnight Girl by Wet Wet Wet.

Skaro Says - Paul Monk remembers being annoyed with the delay of Evening's Empire, and doesn't think he ever read the conclusion to it either. Andrew Curnow got the special edition of the strip when it came out, and felt it was worth the wait. He thought that Spider-God was a good choice for a repeat - as was The Time Meddler! Si Hart likes the joint covers, and looks back at this and the previous issue with much affection. He also liked the bizarre Christmas cartoon on the back cover of this issue.

Critique - I recall being confused at the time when I saw the cover to this issue, as it looked so similar to the previous one, and even worse had the same date - I'm sure I momentarily thought it was the same issue! It did at least keep a good run of artwork covers going. A special word here for the Indicia, which was one of the better early ones, and cleverly tied into a visual cameo in a TV story. The BBC2 repeats were great, especially getting to see The Time Meddler for the first time - though it was frustrating to have to wait 3 weeks to see it all! With a new documentary preceding the repeat season, this is perhaps the first sign that the BBC were starting to treat the series with a bit of affection again. I recall being disturbed about that Gallifrey Guardian news item about an extended Delta and Patrol - the last things at the time that I would have wanted to see released! As it was, we had to wait a long time for those, and they didn't have extra footage after all. This issue's Collectors' Corner has one nostalgic item for me - the Candy Favourites which we had at the dawn of the 80s. Those Radio Times comes to an end this issue, and tellingly fits in Doctors 5 to 7 in one article. Finally, this issue's space filler is 8 pages devoted to a role playing game, which along with the second part of Heliotrope Bouquet, I never read. Add to that an 8 page comic strip repeat (albeit a great one), and it does lead to a slightly unsatisfactory issue for me...