Back when there was no outlet for fans, and no Doctor Who on the television to watch, it was the terrific Doctor Who Magazine that kept the flag flying. You can hardly accuse it of following the money, either, given that it was existing at a time when Doctor Who was hardly the high profile show it became after Russell T Davies revived it back in 2005.

It’s a shame, then, to see the magazine getting such a pasting for a change in one of its regular features.

The Time Team section of the magazine has seen a panel of Who fans go back over an earlier story. The problem? In the new issue of the magazine, the previously more aged panel has been replaced by a new bunch, whose average age is in the low 20s. In many quarters, it’s not a change that’s gone down very well, with The Mirror for one rounding up a bunch of Tweets and positing them as a story of people backlashing against the magazine, and threatening to cancel their subscriptions.

It’d be a pity if they do, given the service the magazine continues to give the show. Plus, bluntly, it’s a really good magazine.

But still, it’d be remiss to acknowledge that the change in feature hasn’t gone down too well amongst more established readers and fans of the show. How well the new panel beds in across the coming months remains to be seen, and presumably the idea is to bring in new, younger readers too.  The trick is to do that, without alienating the last lot. Much easier said than done.

Doctor Who Magazine is on sale now.