September 1985 - Marvel UK monthlies, 40 years ago this month.

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I bet James Cameron was getting excited, this month in 1985. It was, as I'm sure you know, the month in which a joint French-American expedition located the wreck of the Titanic in the North Atlantic, followed - just days later - by the shooting of the first photos and moving pictures of the boat taken since its sinking, 73 years earlier.

The UK, meanwhile was being stricken by far worse news, as September witnessed a BSE outbreak following the first confirmed case of the disease in British cattle.

Also, riots broke out in Handsworth and Brixton.

But Mexico too was stricken by ill-fortune, its capital rocked by an earthquake that registered 8.0 on the Richter Scale and killed 5,000-45,000 people, injuring another 30,000 more.

Elsewhere, 60-year-old Welsh fashion designer Laura Ashley was injured in a fall at her daughter's home and died from her injuries, ten days later.

And 62-year-old Scotland national football manager Jock Stein collapsed and died from a heart attack, at the end of his team's 1–1 draw with Wales in Cardiff. A draw which had secured his country's place in a World Cup qualification play-off.

But there was at least some good news to be had because the month also saw the opening of the UK's first three Toys R Us stores, and the first Super Mario Bros was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System.

When it came to music, September arrived with David Bowie and Mick Jagger's Live Aid propelled Dancing in the Street atop the UK singles chart before that had to make way for the equally Live Aid propelled Midge Ure with If I Was.

Meanwhile, on the accompanying album chart, the period began with Now That's What I Call Music 5 reigning supreme before it was pushed aside by Madonna's Like a Virgin which was then smashed ruthlessly in the face by the arrival of Kate Bush's Hounds of Love.

But what's this? Starburst gives us a cover reminiscent - to those of a certain vintage - of the frontages which once adorned the the late and lamented TV21 comic.

No signs of any Gerry and Sylvia Anderson inside, however. Instead, our main event is an interview with Roger Moore who talks about his latest cinematic smash A View to a Kill.

We also receive an interview with director Tobe Hooper, as regards his upcoming films Lifeforce and Invaders from Mars.

And, after that, Colin Wilson talks about his novel The Space Vampires, upon which Lifeforce is based.

But there's also an analysis of the failure of the V television series to set the ratings alight.

And we also discover a preview of the Cambridge Animation Festival.

It's a very pleasing cover but is the inside of the book as pleasing as its outside?

Well, as far as I can determine, it seems Giggles has led the offensive by manipulating light energy patterns and that the warp children are being offered refuge at Braddock Manor.

Then we encounter the four-page Thicker Than Water by John Tomlinson and Jeff Anderson.

Next, Night-Raven appears in The Pay-Off.

Following that, Abslom Daak headlines a tale called Instant Harma.

And we conclude the issue when the Space Thieves experience a yarn enigmatically labelled PARTS vs. Everybody.

The front cover may be dominated by Cybermen but our big news is an interview with the show's producer John Nathan-Turner and its script editor Eric Saward. The two men most responsible for the ever-upward trajectory of the show in the mid-1980s.

As if that wasn't enough of a thrill for us, we're also treated to a look at the role comedy's played in the show, and a look at Doctor Who on the radio. Assuming, that is, that you can look at things on the radio.

We also find a selection of readers' drawings, news of the the show's former actors and a look back at the magnificently insane serial Kinda.