Ian Marsh (writer): Difference between revisions
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{{short description|British writer and editor (born 1960)}} |
{{short description|British writer and editor (born 1960)}} |
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'''Ian Marsh''' (born 2 October 1960 in [[Canterbury]], [[Kent]], [[England]]) is a British writer, magazine editor, and entrepreneur. |
'''Ian Marsh''' (born 2 October 1960 in [[Canterbury]], [[Kent]], [[England]]) is a British writer, magazine editor, and entrepreneur. |
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==Early life== |
==Early life== |
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Ian Marsh grew up in [[Ramsgate]]. When he was a child, he fell ill with [[mumps]] and was confined to bed; because of this, his father bought him a [[Westland Lysander]] model kit by [[Airfix]].<ref name="wgj" /> After he got better, more aircraft kits followed. At age 12, Marsh switched to painting Airfix's line of plastic Napoleonic soldiers,<ref name="wgj" /> and after a friend told him about rules for playing with Napoleonic soldiers, he became a wargamer.<ref name="wgj" /> A few years later he was introduced to a newly published game, ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'', which he played with two school friends, Mike Lewis and [[Marc Gascoigne]]. |
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==Fanzine== |
==Fanzine== |
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The three friends |
The three friends started writing, editing and self-publishing the role-playing game fanzine ''[[DragonLords]]''.<ref name=wgj /><ref>{{cite web | url =https://thegrognardfiles.com/tag/ian-marsh/ | title =DragonLords Scrap Book | date =2017-07-25 | website =The Grognard Files | access-date =2022-01-25}}</ref> The relatively popular fanzine<ref name=Mason>{{citation | first =Mason | last =Paul | title =A Case Study of the Influence of Fandom: How Role-players Helped Develop Computer Games in Britain | journal=人間文化: 愛知学院大学人間文化研究所紀要 (Human Culture: Bulletin of the Institute for Human Culture) | pages =7 | publisher =Aichi Gakuin University | date =2017 | location =Nagoya, Japan | url =https://agu.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_action_common_download&item_id=919&item_no=1&attribute_id=22&file_no=1 | access-date =27 January 2022}}</ref> also included reviews, articles about computer games, and a regular column about ''[[Diplomacy (board game)|Diplomacy]]''. Marsh continued to publish ''DragonLords'' after he entered university in 1978, and it was well-regarded, even garnering a positive review from ''Dungeons & Dragons'' co-creator [[Gary Gygax]] in distant [[Lake Geneva, Wisconsin]], who wrote "''DragonLords'' is a well done amateur effort which seems bent on improving itself and the hobby."<ref name=dragon63>{{cite journal|last=Gygax|first=Gary|authorlink=Gary Gygax| date=August 1982 |title=Two UK magazines are jolly good gaming journals|journal=[[Dragon (magazine)|Dragon]]|publisher=[[TSR (company)|TSR, Inc.]]|issue=63|pages=58}}</ref> Paul Mason considered Marsh's experience with ''DragonLords'' "a stepping stone to professional involvement in publishing".<ref name=Mason/> |
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In 1985, in his role as a fanzine publisher, Marsh became the first keeper of what would become known as the [[Diana Jones Award]]. The pyramid-shaped piece of lucite containing the last semi-burnt copy of [[TSR, Inc.|TSR]]'s ''[[The Adventures of Indiana Jones Role-Playing Game]]'' had been created by staff of TSR (UK) after the American TSR office told them to dispose of all remaining copies of the game. At a games convention, the pyramid was given to Ian Marsh as the leader of a group of small press and fanzine editors. Marsh kept the pyramid for several years until he got married. He then passed the pyramid on to games designer and publisher [[James Wallis (games designer)|James Wallis]], who came up with the idea of giving it out as an annual award for "excellence in gaming" at the [[Gencon]] games convention.<ref>{{cite web | url =https://www.polygon.com/22714697/diana-jones-award-history-lost-in-mail | title =One of tabletop |
In 1985, in his role as a fanzine publisher, Marsh became the first keeper of what would become known as the [[Diana Jones Award]]. The pyramid-shaped piece of lucite containing the last semi-burnt copy of [[TSR, Inc.|TSR]]'s ''[[The Adventures of Indiana Jones Role-Playing Game]]'' had been created by staff of TSR (UK) after the American TSR office told them to dispose of all remaining copies of the game. At a games convention, the pyramid was given to Ian Marsh as the leader of a group of small press and fanzine editors. Marsh kept the pyramid for several years until he got married. He then passed the pyramid on to games designer and publisher [[James Wallis (games designer)|James Wallis]], who came up with the idea of giving it out as an annual award for "excellence in gaming" at the [[Gencon]] games convention.<ref>{{cite web | url =https://www.polygon.com/22714697/diana-jones-award-history-lost-in-mail | title =One of tabletop gaming's most prestigious awards has gone missing | last =Hall | first =Charlie | date =2021-10-08 | website =Polygon | publisher =Vox Media | access-date =2022-01-25}}</ref> |
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[[File:ToC_White_Dwarf_77.png|thumb|right|The Table of Contents of White Dwarf #77 containing a hidden acrostic]] |
[[File:ToC_White_Dwarf_77.png|thumb|right|The Table of Contents of White Dwarf #77 containing a hidden acrostic]] |
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==Editor== |
==Editor== |
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After graduating from [[University of Surrey]] with an honours degree in [[Materials science|Materials Technology (metallurgy)]] in 1983,<ref name=wgj /> Marsh spent a year at an industrial placement with [[IBM]] in [[Havant]].<ref name="wgj" /> Looking for a different career, Marsh joined the staff of [[Games Workshop]] in London as editorial assistant on Games Workshop's role-playing magazine ''[[White Dwarf (magazine)|White Dwarf]]''. With less time on his hands to publish his fanzine, Marsh brought ''DragonLords'' to a close with Issue 22.<ref name="wd">{{cite magazine|last= |
After graduating from [[University of Surrey]] with an honours degree in [[Materials science|Materials Technology (metallurgy)]] in 1983,<ref name=wgj /> Marsh spent a year at an industrial placement with [[IBM]] in [[Havant]].<ref name="wgj" /> Looking for a different career, Marsh joined the staff of [[Games Workshop]] in London as editorial assistant on Games Workshop's role-playing magazine ''[[White Dwarf (magazine)|White Dwarf]]''. With less time on his hands to publish his fanzine, Marsh brought ''DragonLords'' to a close with Issue 22.<ref name="wd">{{cite magazine|last=Livingstone|first=Ian |author-link=Ian Livingstone |date=April 1985 |title=News|magazine=[[White Dwarf (magazine)|White Dwarf]]|publisher=[[Games Workshop]]|issue=52|pages=39|quote=Since joining the ''White Dwarf'' team, Ian Marsh no longer has time to publish his zine Dragonlords. So it's Dragonlords RIP after issue 22.}}</ref><ref name=Mason/> In addition to his editorial duties, Marsh also wrote some material for ''White Dwarf'', including the ''[[Fighting Fantasy]]'' role-playing adventure ''Beyond the Shadow of a Dream'' that appeared in Issue 61 (January 1985). |
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Marsh advanced to assistant editor of ''White Dwarf'', and then eventually succeeded [[Ian Livingstone]] as editor. His first edition at the helm was Issue #74. However, it was during this time that ''[[Warhammer (game)|Warhammer]]'' was developed for Games Workshop by [[Bryan Ansell]] of sister company [[Citadel Miniatures]], [[Rick Priestley]] and [[Richard Halliwell (game designer)|Richard Halliwell]]. The game proved enormously proved popular, driving sales of Citadel's fantasy range of figurines. Bryan Ansell subsequently led a management buyout of Games Workshop. After becoming |
Marsh advanced to assistant editor of ''White Dwarf'', and then eventually succeeded [[Ian Livingstone]] as editor. His first edition at the helm was Issue #74. However, it was during this time that ''[[Warhammer (game)|Warhammer]]'' was developed for Games Workshop by [[Bryan Ansell]] of sister company [[Citadel Miniatures]], [[Rick Priestley]] and [[Richard Halliwell (game designer)|Richard Halliwell]]. The game proved enormously proved popular, driving sales of Citadel's fantasy range of figurines. Bryan Ansell subsequently led a management buyout of Games Workshop. After becoming managing director of Games Workshop, Ansell then announced he was moving Games Workshop (and ''White Dwarf'') from London to [[Nottingham]], where Citadel Miniatures was located. Ian Marsh refused to move, and resigned as editor of ''White Dwarf'' after only four issues. In the Table of Contents in ''White Dwarf'' #77, Marsh's last issue, the first letter of each item description formed an [[acrostic]] that read "SOD OFF BRYAN ANSELL".<ref name="designers">{{Cite book|author=Shannon Appelcline|title=Designers & Dragons|publisher=Mongoose Publishing|year=2011| isbn= 978-1-907702-58-7|pages=48}}</ref> |
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==Writer and editor== |
==Writer and editor== |
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In 1986, Marsh joined the staff of the new (but short-lived) ''Adventurer'' magazine, writing a column of games industry news and gossip titled "The Town Crier" that first appeared in Issue 3 (August-September 1986).<ref>{{cite journal | last =Marsh | first =Ian | title =The Town Crier | |
In 1986, Marsh joined the staff of the new (but short-lived) ''Adventurer'' magazine, writing a column of games industry news and gossip titled "The Town Crier" that first appeared in Issue 3 (August-September 1986).<ref>{{cite journal | last =Marsh | first =Ian | title =The Town Crier | journal = Adventurer | issue =3 | date =August–September 1986 }}</ref> Marsh's final column appeared in Issue 9 (April 1987), shortly before the magazine's demise. |
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In 1989, Marsh realized that the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' game license owned by [[FASA]] had expired, and he approached [[Peter Darvill-Evans]] at [[Virgin Books]] about creating a new ''Doctor Who'' role-playing game.<ref name=ts>{{cite web | url =https://thetimescales.com/Story/story.php?audioid=10759 | title =Time Lord (role playing book) | website =The Time Scales | access-date =2022-01-25}}</ref> The two men produced the role-playing game ''[[Time Lord (role-playing game)|Time Lord]]'', published as a paperback in 1991.<ref>{{cite book | last =Muir | first =John Kenneth | title =A Critical History of Doctor Who on Television | publisher =McFarland | date =2015 | pages =428 | isbn =9781476604541}}</ref> By 1996, after the book had fallen out of print, Marsh regained the rights to ''Time Lord'' and made it available as a free download on the internet.<ref name=ts /> |
In 1989, Marsh realized that the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' game license owned by [[FASA]] had expired, and he approached [[Peter Darvill-Evans]] at [[Virgin Books]] about creating a new ''Doctor Who'' role-playing game.<ref name=ts>{{cite web | url =https://thetimescales.com/Story/story.php?audioid=10759 | title =Time Lord (role playing book) | website =The Time Scales | access-date =2022-01-25}}</ref> The two men produced the role-playing game ''[[Time Lord (role-playing game)|Time Lord]]'', published as a paperback in 1991.<ref>{{cite book | last =Muir | first =John Kenneth | title =A Critical History of Doctor Who on Television | publisher =McFarland | date =2015 | pages =428 | isbn =9781476604541}}</ref> By 1996, after the book had fallen out of print, Marsh regained the rights to ''Time Lord'' and made it available as a free download on the internet.<ref name=ts /> |
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In the early 1990s, the British games magazine ''[[Games International]]'' morphed into ''Strategy Plus''. Marsh became a writer and was credited as Production Consultant.<ref>{{cite magazine| title =Editorial page | magazine = Strategy Plus | pages =4 | date =February 1991 }}</ref> When ''Strategy Plus'' combined with an American magazine to become ''Computer Games Strategy Plus'', Marsh joined the magazine's UK staff as production editor in late 1991.<ref>{{cite magazine | title =Editorial page |magazine =Computer Games Strategy Plus | issue =13 | pages =6 | date =December 1991 }}</ref> However the magazine did not flourish in the UK, and the British side of the magazine folded in May 1992. |
In the early 1990s, the British games magazine ''[[Games International]]'' morphed into ''Strategy Plus''. Marsh became a writer and was credited as Production Consultant.<ref>{{cite magazine| title =Editorial page | magazine = Strategy Plus | pages =4 | date =February 1991 }}</ref> When ''Strategy Plus'' combined with an American magazine to become ''Computer Games Strategy Plus'', Marsh joined the magazine's UK staff as production editor in late 1991.<ref>{{cite magazine | title =Editorial page |magazine =Computer Games Strategy Plus | issue =13 | pages =6 | date =December 1991 }}</ref><ref name=Mason/> However the magazine did not flourish in the UK, and the British side of the magazine folded in May 1992. |
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==Miniatures== |
==Miniatures== |
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A chance meeting with old school friend Mike Lewis persuaded Marsh to start playing Napoleonic wargames again. After trying several sets of rules, Marsh started to develop his own. |
A chance meeting with old school friend Mike Lewis persuaded Marsh to start playing Napoleonic wargames again. After trying several sets of rules, Marsh started to develop his own. |
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In 1999, Marsh moved to [[Freshwater, Isle of Wight|Freshwater]] on the [[Isle of Wight]] and established a company called "Fighting 15s". The company's business consisted of Marsh painting 15 mm Napoleonic figurines to order. As his eyesight worsened with age,<ref name=wgj>{{cite magazine | last =Fawcett | first =Neil | title =The Wargames Journal Interview | magazine=Wargames Journal | issue =4 | pages =70–75 | publisher =Rebel Publishing | date =2006}}</ref> Marsh scaled back the painting business and Fighting 15s became a UK mail order firm and distribution agent for several miniatures companies including Eureka Miniatures (Australia), Oddzial Osmy (Poland), AB Figures (UK) and Black Hat Miniatures (UK). |
In 1999, Marsh moved to [[Freshwater, Isle of Wight|Freshwater]] on the [[Isle of Wight]] and established a company called "Fighting 15s". The company's business consisted of Marsh painting 15 mm Napoleonic figurines to order. As his eyesight worsened with age,<ref name=wgj>{{cite magazine | last =Fawcett | first =Neil | title =The Wargames Journal Interview | magazine=Wargames Journal | issue =4 | pages =70–75 | publisher =Rebel Publishing | date =2006}}</ref> Marsh scaled back the painting business and Fighting 15s became a UK mail order firm and distribution agent for several miniatures companies including Eureka Miniatures (Australia), Oddzial Osmy (Poland), AB Figures (UK) and Black Hat Miniatures (UK). |
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Marsh formed a publishing wing of the company called Oozlum Games, and used it to market several properties including:<ref name=wgj /> |
Marsh formed a publishing wing of the company called Oozlum Games, and used it to market several properties including:<ref name=wgj /> |
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*''Huzzah!'', a set of Napolenic rules written by Marsh; |
*''Huzzah!'', a set of Napolenic rules written by Marsh; |
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*''Martian Empires'' by Mike Lewis, a wargame in the Victorian science fiction style of [[H.G. Wells]] that uses the ''Martian Empires'' miniatures. |
*''Martian Empires'' by Mike Lewis, a wargame in the Victorian science fiction style of [[H. G. Wells]] that uses the ''Martian Empires'' miniatures. |
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== References == |
== References == |
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[[Category:Living people]] |
[[Category:Living people]] |
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[[Category:Alumni of the University of Surrey]] |
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Surrey]] |
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[[Category: |
[[Category:Writers from Canterbury]] |
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[[Category:Role-playing game designers]] |
[[Category:Role-playing game designers]] |
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Latest revision as of 23:36, 29 June 2024
Ian Marsh (born 2 October 1960 in Canterbury, Kent, England) is a British writer, magazine editor, and entrepreneur.
Early life
[edit]Ian Marsh grew up in Ramsgate. When he was a child, he fell ill with mumps and was confined to bed; because of this, his father bought him a Westland Lysander model kit by Airfix.[1] After he got better, more aircraft kits followed. At age 12, Marsh switched to painting Airfix's line of plastic Napoleonic soldiers,[1] and after a friend told him about rules for playing with Napoleonic soldiers, he became a wargamer.[1] A few years later he was introduced to a newly published game, Dungeons & Dragons, which he played with two school friends, Mike Lewis and Marc Gascoigne.
Fanzine
[edit]The three friends started writing, editing and self-publishing the role-playing game fanzine DragonLords.[1][2] The relatively popular fanzine[3] also included reviews, articles about computer games, and a regular column about Diplomacy. Marsh continued to publish DragonLords after he entered university in 1978, and it was well-regarded, even garnering a positive review from Dungeons & Dragons co-creator Gary Gygax in distant Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, who wrote "DragonLords is a well done amateur effort which seems bent on improving itself and the hobby."[4] Paul Mason considered Marsh's experience with DragonLords "a stepping stone to professional involvement in publishing".[3]
In 1985, in his role as a fanzine publisher, Marsh became the first keeper of what would become known as the Diana Jones Award. The pyramid-shaped piece of lucite containing the last semi-burnt copy of TSR's The Adventures of Indiana Jones Role-Playing Game had been created by staff of TSR (UK) after the American TSR office told them to dispose of all remaining copies of the game. At a games convention, the pyramid was given to Ian Marsh as the leader of a group of small press and fanzine editors. Marsh kept the pyramid for several years until he got married. He then passed the pyramid on to games designer and publisher James Wallis, who came up with the idea of giving it out as an annual award for "excellence in gaming" at the Gencon games convention.[5]
Editor
[edit]After graduating from University of Surrey with an honours degree in Materials Technology (metallurgy) in 1983,[1] Marsh spent a year at an industrial placement with IBM in Havant.[1] Looking for a different career, Marsh joined the staff of Games Workshop in London as editorial assistant on Games Workshop's role-playing magazine White Dwarf. With less time on his hands to publish his fanzine, Marsh brought DragonLords to a close with Issue 22.[6][3] In addition to his editorial duties, Marsh also wrote some material for White Dwarf, including the Fighting Fantasy role-playing adventure Beyond the Shadow of a Dream that appeared in Issue 61 (January 1985).
Marsh advanced to assistant editor of White Dwarf, and then eventually succeeded Ian Livingstone as editor. His first edition at the helm was Issue #74. However, it was during this time that Warhammer was developed for Games Workshop by Bryan Ansell of sister company Citadel Miniatures, Rick Priestley and Richard Halliwell. The game proved enormously proved popular, driving sales of Citadel's fantasy range of figurines. Bryan Ansell subsequently led a management buyout of Games Workshop. After becoming managing director of Games Workshop, Ansell then announced he was moving Games Workshop (and White Dwarf) from London to Nottingham, where Citadel Miniatures was located. Ian Marsh refused to move, and resigned as editor of White Dwarf after only four issues. In the Table of Contents in White Dwarf #77, Marsh's last issue, the first letter of each item description formed an acrostic that read "SOD OFF BRYAN ANSELL".[7]
Writer and editor
[edit]In 1986, Marsh joined the staff of the new (but short-lived) Adventurer magazine, writing a column of games industry news and gossip titled "The Town Crier" that first appeared in Issue 3 (August-September 1986).[8] Marsh's final column appeared in Issue 9 (April 1987), shortly before the magazine's demise.
In 1989, Marsh realized that the Doctor Who game license owned by FASA had expired, and he approached Peter Darvill-Evans at Virgin Books about creating a new Doctor Who role-playing game.[9] The two men produced the role-playing game Time Lord, published as a paperback in 1991.[10] By 1996, after the book had fallen out of print, Marsh regained the rights to Time Lord and made it available as a free download on the internet.[9]
In the early 1990s, the British games magazine Games International morphed into Strategy Plus. Marsh became a writer and was credited as Production Consultant.[11] When Strategy Plus combined with an American magazine to become Computer Games Strategy Plus, Marsh joined the magazine's UK staff as production editor in late 1991.[12][3] However the magazine did not flourish in the UK, and the British side of the magazine folded in May 1992.
Miniatures
[edit]A chance meeting with old school friend Mike Lewis persuaded Marsh to start playing Napoleonic wargames again. After trying several sets of rules, Marsh started to develop his own.
In 1999, Marsh moved to Freshwater on the Isle of Wight and established a company called "Fighting 15s". The company's business consisted of Marsh painting 15 mm Napoleonic figurines to order. As his eyesight worsened with age,[1] Marsh scaled back the painting business and Fighting 15s became a UK mail order firm and distribution agent for several miniatures companies including Eureka Miniatures (Australia), Oddzial Osmy (Poland), AB Figures (UK) and Black Hat Miniatures (UK).
Marsh formed a publishing wing of the company called Oozlum Games, and used it to market several properties including:[1]
- Huzzah!, a set of Napolenic rules written by Marsh;
- Martian Empires by Mike Lewis, a wargame in the Victorian science fiction style of H. G. Wells that uses the Martian Empires miniatures.
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h Fawcett, Neil (2006). "The Wargames Journal Interview". Wargames Journal. No. 4. Rebel Publishing. pp. 70–75.
- ^ "DragonLords Scrap Book". The Grognard Files. 25 July 2017. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
- ^ a b c d Paul, Mason (2017), "A Case Study of the Influence of Fandom: How Role-players Helped Develop Computer Games in Britain", 人間文化: 愛知学院大学人間文化研究所紀要 (Human Culture: Bulletin of the Institute for Human Culture), Nagoya, Japan: Aichi Gakuin University: 7, retrieved 27 January 2022
- ^ Gygax, Gary (August 1982). "Two UK magazines are jolly good gaming journals". Dragon (63). TSR, Inc.: 58.
- ^ Hall, Charlie (8 October 2021). "One of tabletop gaming's most prestigious awards has gone missing". Polygon. Vox Media. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
- ^ Livingstone, Ian (April 1985). "News". White Dwarf. No. 52. Games Workshop. p. 39.
Since joining the White Dwarf team, Ian Marsh no longer has time to publish his zine Dragonlords. So it's Dragonlords RIP after issue 22.
- ^ Shannon Appelcline (2011). Designers & Dragons. Mongoose Publishing. p. 48. ISBN 978-1-907702-58-7.
- ^ Marsh, Ian (August–September 1986). "The Town Crier". Adventurer (3).
- ^ a b "Time Lord (role playing book)". The Time Scales. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
- ^ Muir, John Kenneth (2015). A Critical History of Doctor Who on Television. McFarland. p. 428. ISBN 9781476604541.
- ^ "Editorial page". Strategy Plus. February 1991. p. 4.
- ^ "Editorial page". Computer Games Strategy Plus. No. 13. December 1991. p. 6.
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