Files Magazines

“Files Magazine Spotlight On...” (or “Focus On...") were a series of factual books published in the US during the mid-to-late 1980s by one-man publishing empire Hal Schuster (also responsible for publications such as Fantasy Empire magazine).

From the name, you would expect these publications to be magazines, and you’d be half right: they were typically distributed to comic stores rather than bookshops, one appeared roughly every month during the 3 or so years they were in existence, and they usually had a magazine-like page count of 50-60 pages. However they also exhibited the following “book-like” characteristics: unlike virtually all magazines, the individual “issues” were not numbered or dated and contained no topical content or advertising — also several of them carried an ISBN number and all of them were perfect-bound, hence physically resembling an A4-sized paperback book. For these reasons I have chosen to classify them as books and hence include them in this site.

Over 30 such books were published about Doctor Who, all written by John Peel, and each one covering a particular season (or a particular Doctor’s entire era) in depth, containing interviews, episode casts, plot summaries, production information and all the usual content you would expect from a behind-the-scenes book. “Files Magazine” publications also appeared for other TV and movie series (for example Star Trek, James Bond, and The Avengers) before the series ended in the late 80s.

Despite the content, these books perhaps have slipped under the radar for many Doctor Who collectors — the often amateurish cover design, plus the off-putting “Magazine” title possibly combining to reduce their appeal.

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Title:By:Edition: Date:ISBN:Owned:Rating:Reviews: Buy:
View more details for Spotlight on Doctor Who: The Pertwee Years (Season 7)Spotlight on Doctor Who: The Pertwee Years (Season 7) John Peel n/a  Jan 1985 (Date unconfirmed)  Unknown  

8.3  NoneeBay
View more details for Spotlight on Doctor Who: The First Baker YearsSpotlight on Doctor Who: The First Baker Years John Peel n/a  Jan 1985 (Date unconfirmed)  None  

9  NoneAmazon.co.uk
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View more details for Spotlight on Doctor Who: The Fourteenth SeasonSpotlight on Doctor Who: The Fourteenth Season John Peel UK 1st paperback  Jan 1985 (Date unconfirmed)  None  

8  NoneAmazon.co.uk
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View more details for Spotlight on Doctor Who: The Fifteenth SeasonSpotlight on Doctor Who: The Fifteenth Season John Peel n/a  Jan 1985 (Date unconfirmed)  Unknown  

7.7  NoneeBay
View more details for Spotlight on Doctor Who: Season EighteenSpotlight on Doctor Who: Season Eighteen John Peel n/a  Jan 1985 (Date unconfirmed)  None  

8.7  NoneAmazon.co.uk
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View more details for Spotlight on Doctor Who: Season SixteenSpotlight on Doctor Who: Season Sixteen John Peel n/a  Mar 1985 (Date unconfirmed)  Unknown  

8.7  NoneeBay
View more details for Spotlight on Doctor Who: Season SeventeenSpotlight on Doctor Who: Season Seventeen John Peel n/a  Apr 1985 (Date unconfirmed)  None  

8.7  NoneAmazon.co.uk
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View more details for Spotlight on Doctor Who: Season One Part ISpotlight on Doctor Who: Season One Part I John Peel n/a  Jan 1986 (Date unconfirmed)  None  

8  NoneAmazon.co.uk
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View more details for Spotlight on Doctor Who: Season One Part IISpotlight on Doctor Who: Season One Part II John Peel n/a  Jan 1986 (Date unconfirmed)  None  

8  NoneAmazon.co.uk
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View more details for Spotlight on Doctor Who: Season Two Part ISpotlight on Doctor Who: Season Two Part I John Peel n/a  Jan 1986 (Date unconfirmed)  None  

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View more details for Spotlight on Doctor Who: Season Two Part IISpotlight on Doctor Who: Season Two Part II John Peel n/a  Jan 1986 (Date unconfirmed)  None  

8.3  NoneAmazon.co.uk
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View more details for Spotlight on Doctor Who: Season Three Part ISpotlight on Doctor Who: Season Three Part I John Peel n/a  Jan 1986 (Date unconfirmed)  1-55698-001-9  

8.3  NoneAmazon.co.uk
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View more details for Spotlight on Doctor Who: Season Three Part IISpotlight on Doctor Who: Season Three Part II John Peel n/a  Jan 1986 (Date unconfirmed)  None  

7.7  NoneAmazon.co.uk
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View more details for Spotlight on Doctor Who: Season Four Part ISpotlight on Doctor Who: Season Four Part I John Peel n/a  Jan 1986 (Date unconfirmed)  1-55698-058-2  

8.3  NoneAmazon.co.uk
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View more details for Spotlight on Doctor Who: Season Four Part IISpotlight on Doctor Who: Season Four Part II John Peel n/a  Jan 1986 (Date unconfirmed)  1-55698-059-2  

7.7  NoneAmazon.co.uk
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View more details for Spotlight on Doctor Who: The Ice WarriorsSpotlight on Doctor Who: The Ice Warriors John Peel n/a  Jan 1986 (Date unconfirmed)  None  

7.7  NoneAmazon.co.uk
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View more details for Spotlight on Doctor Who: The Wheel in SpaceSpotlight on Doctor Who: The Wheel in Space John Peel n/a  Jan 1986 (Date unconfirmed)  1-55698-042-6  

7.7  NoneAmazon.co.uk
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View more details for Spotlight on Doctor Who: Season Six Part OneSpotlight on Doctor Who: Season Six Part One John Peel n/a  Jan 1986 (Date unconfirmed)  None  

8.3  NoneAmazon.co.uk
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View more details for Spotlight on Doctor Who: The War GamesSpotlight on Doctor Who: The War Games John Peel n/a  Jan 1986 (Date unconfirmed)  None  

8.3  NoneAmazon.co.uk
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View more details for Spotlight on Patrick Troughton: The 2nd Doctor WhoSpotlight on Patrick Troughton: The 2nd Doctor Who John Peel n/a  Jan 1986 (Date unconfirmed)  1-55698-091-4  

8  NoneAmazon.co.uk
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View more details for Spotlight on Doctor Who: Season EightSpotlight on Doctor Who: Season Eight John Peel n/a  Jan 1986 (Date unconfirmed)  None  

8  NoneAmazon.co.uk
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View more details for Spotlight on Doctor Who: Season NineSpotlight on Doctor Who: Season Nine John Peel n/a  Jan 1986 (Date unconfirmed)  None  

8.3  NoneAmazon.co.uk
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View more details for Spotlight on Doctor Who: The Tenth SeasonSpotlight on Doctor Who: The Tenth Season John Peel n/a  Jan 1986 (Date unconfirmed)  None  

8.3  NoneAmazon.co.uk
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View more details for Spotlight on Doctor Who: The Eleventh SeasonSpotlight on Doctor Who: The Eleventh Season John Peel n/a  Jan 1986 (Date unconfirmed)  None  

7.7  NoneAmazon.co.uk
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View more details for Focus On Doctor Who MoviesFocus On Doctor Who Movies John Peel n/a  Jan 1987 (Date unconfirmed)  1-55698-130-9  

7.7  NoneAmazon.co.uk
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View more details for Spotlight on Jon Pertwee: The 3rd Doctor WhoSpotlight on Jon Pertwee: The 3rd Doctor Who John Peel n/a  Jan 1987 (Date unconfirmed)  1-55698-005-1  

8.3  NoneAmazon.co.uk
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View more details for Spotlight on Doctor Who: The Fourteenth SeasonSpotlight on Doctor Who: The Fourteenth Season John Peel UK 2nd paperback  Jan 1987 (Date unconfirmed)  Unknown  

8  NoneeBay
View more details for Spotlight on Tom Baker: The 4th Doctor WhoSpotlight on Tom Baker: The 4th Doctor Who John Peel n/a  Jan 1987 (Date unconfirmed)  1-55698-028-0  

7.7  NoneAmazon.co.uk
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View more details for Focus on Colin Baker: The 6th Doctor WhoFocus on Colin Baker: The 6th Doctor Who John Peel n/a  Jan 1987 (Date unconfirmed)  None  

8.7  NoneAmazon.co.uk
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View more details for The Complete Baker YearsThe Complete Baker Years John Peel n/a  Jun 1987 (Date unconfirmed)  1-55698-147-3  

8.3  NoneAmazon.co.uk
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View more details for Focus on Doctor Who: Book One - The Davison YearsFocus on Doctor Who: Book One - The Davison Years John Peel n/a  Jun 1987 (Date unconfirmed)  None  

7  NoneAmazon.co.uk
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View more details for Spotlight on Doctor Who: The Pertwee YearsSpotlight on Doctor Who: The Pertwee Years John Peel n/a  Jan 1988 (Date unconfirmed)  1-55698-212-7  

8  NoneAmazon.co.uk
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View more details for Spotlight on Doctor Who: The First Baker Years Part OneSpotlight on Doctor Who: The First Baker Years Part One John Peel n/a  Jan 1988 (Date unconfirmed)  0-8095-8041-1  

8.3  NoneAmazon.co.uk
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View more details for Spotlight on Doctor Who: The First Baker Years Part TwoSpotlight on Doctor Who: The First Baker Years Part Two John Peel n/a  Jan 1988 (Date unconfirmed)  0-8095-8042-X  

8.7  NoneAmazon.co.uk
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