Fanzines, Fan Clubs

The long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who has developed a large fan base over the years. more...

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Doctor Who fans are sometimes referred to as Whovians, most often by the press; the term is not commonly used by fans themselves. The usage was more common among fans in the United States during the 1980s, when the Doctor Who Fan Club of America (now defunct) published the Whovian Times as its newsletter.

The earliest known use of 'Whovian', outside of the 'Whovian Times', is from Flaming Carrot Comics issue number 19 (circa 1988), when Flaming Carrot leads a combined group of Trekkies and Dr. Whovians into rebellion - note the now depreciated usage of 'Dr.'.

Fan organisations

Doctor Who fans have had a formally recognised organisation — the Doctor Who Appreciation Society (or DWAS) — since the late 70s. It has thousands of members.

Many Doctor Who conventions are held worldwide. For many years, the largest was Panopticon, run by Dominitemporal Services. The first Panopticon was held in 1977, and the last in 2003. More recently, the Regenerations convention in Wales has had great success. In North America, the largest Doctor Who convention is Gallifrey One in Los Angeles, run by Shaun Lyon of Outpost Gallifrey. Another popular American convention is ChicagoTARDIS.

The Doctor Who Club of Australia was founded in the mid-1970s to galvanise resistance to the decision of the Australian Broadcasting Commission to cease broadcasting the programme (and was ultimately successful in having the decision overturned). In the 1980s, some US fans staged \"Save Doctor Who\" publicity campaigns, trying to urge their local television stations to keep airing the show.

Canada's Doctor Who Information Network (DWIN) is North America's oldest run Doctor Who fan club clocking in at 27 years as of 2007. Currently run out of Toronto, Ontario this not-for-profit organization is devoted to the celebration and promotion of 'Doctor Who' and its Fandom.

The Doctor Who Information Network (DWIN) was founded in 1980 and continues to serve fans in Canada, the USA and other countries around the world. It was one of the first Doctor Who clubs in North America, and is the longest running Doctor Who club on the continent. DWIN publishes an award winning bimonthly fanzine entitled Enlightenment, organized fan events and conventions, and supports the monthly Toronto Tavern fan gatherings.

The New Zealand Doctor Who Fan Club (NZDWFC) was founded in 1988. They publish a fanzine, Time Space Visualiser (TSV), twice-yearly.

Smaller, more regional but well-established fan clubs also found a part in Doctor Who fandom such as The Unearthly Children, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the Prydonians of Princeton (NJ).

Read more at Wikipedia.org