Pictured: A Doctor Who fan called “Whizz Kid” appearing in the 1988 Doctor Who Christmas Special, The Greatest Show in the Galaxy (broadcast 14 December 1988 to 4 January 1989).
This essay was originally published on my (now-defunct) Substack newsletter on 21/12/23.
Christmas always feels like a time of reflection: we look back on the year that has gone by and we look ahead to the year that has yet to come. I think this has been somewhat amplified for Doctor Who fans by the 60th anniversary specials: we are looking back on the time spent with David Tennant and Catherine Tate in 2008 and we are looking ahead to the time we will spend with Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson on Christmas Day and beyond. We are always time travelling inside our heads, Doctor Who fans doubly so.
For my last main post of 2023, I thought I’d write something a bit different. I know, I can’t believe I’m putting the maths away until 2024. But I’m in a reflective and overly sentimental mood right now, so I’m sharing with you a couple of reflections I’ve recently had about being a Doctor Who fan. Now, they’re not going to be earth-shattering revelations – you can sit down now The Timeless Children – but I think there’s something I’ve learnt from each of them.
I wonder if you’ll have your own personal reflections in fandom as you read along.
On Fan Politics
I suppose the first time I really entered the realm of fan politics was when I became a member of the Exeter University Doctor Who Society (EUDWS); I had never operated in a bespoke fandom space before. But if we’re being really strict, it was probably the moment when I started a Twitter account and made the awful mistake of saying “I like Doctor Who.” Even among fellow Doctor Who fans, this is a frequently controversial thing to say and, honestly, I’m convinced there is something deeply wrong with us.
Anyway…
Back in early 2017, I organised a miniature-style convention event – we ingeniously called it “Mini-Con” – for EUDWS. It was a lot of work to fit around my studies at the time; I was in the fourth and final year of my Master’s degree in Mathematics. Alongside the committee, I had to contact guests to find out who was available and if they were willing to attend, find and book a suitable venue on campus, put together a spreadsheet of costs and expenses, complete the necessary paperwork (Event Planning, Health & Safety, etc.) required by the Students’ Union, and liaise with committee members on all the arrangements. Putting on an event like this is truly an exercise in communication and teamwork, otherwise the best-laid plans can very easily fall through. Indeed, they had actually fallen through when we tried to put on this kind of event in the previous academic year.
You know, I am quietly in awe of anyone who can pull together a Doctor Who fan event – like The Target Book Club at Shepherd’s Bush or The Quiz of Rassilon – and just make it look like it was an easy thing to put together. It’s not. People spend a considerable amount of time and energy pulling these things together and I’m inclined to believe, based on my own personal experience, a large number of fans haven’t really thought about this. How blissful for them! Nevertheless, Mini-Con was pulled together. Guests were booked. A venue was found. A date was set. Tickets were sold. And the eventual day itself finally arrived.
Whilst I tried my very best to enjoy myself on the actual day, I couldn’t shake a certain level of background stress; it felt like I was responsible for everyone else’s enjoyment of the day and I wouldn’t let myself relax until it was all over. It was an effort to be happy and in the moment. Nevertheless, I think the event was a success. Students and locals got to hear talks and do signings with the guests, there was a lot of laughter heard and a lot of photos taken, and a bunch of us even went down the pub afterwards – a sign of post-event success if there ever was one. Perhaps I should take more credit in the fact that EUDWS only ever managed such an event twice and I was the only person on the committee both times? Truthfully, I just wanted the attendees to have a good time.
A couple of days later, I was browsing Twitter. That’s not atypical, I browsed Twitter every day at uni. But what was atypical was that I saw a tweet by someone, who will remain anonymous, promoting a new podcast episode they had made where they interviewed one of the guests, who will also remain anonymous, at the ‘local Exeter mini-con’. Hang on, I thought, that’s my event! When was this person interviewing this guest at my event, the one I spent the entire day managing? I duly opened the podcast link. Sure enough, I heard the sound of one of the attendees interviewing one of the guests round the back of the building where the event was being hosted; the guest even mentions me by name. I recall the interview going on for around ten minutes.
In the moment, I honestly felt quite miffed about this.
I felt this way because I had personally put a lot of time and energy into putting this event together and someone, to the best of my knowledge, decided to take one of the guests out of the event to make their own content, without asking myself or any of the other organisers. Now I certainly wouldn’t have said no, so I guess it wouldn’t have made any practical difference. But it’s the principle, isn’t it? It would have shown a little respect for the organisers, the ones who arranged the venue and covered the travel expenses, everything that made the interview possible.
“Am I being a bit overdramatic here?” I think to myself typing this out.
Hmmm. Well, it seemed thoughtless to me, at least.
Anyway, I didn’t kick up a fuss; I just moved on with my day. After all, I had much more important things to think about. Like, y’know, finishing my maths degree and enjoying what was left of my time at university.
I genuinely hadn’t thought about this for YEARS.
Until earlier this year, I just happened to be chatting with someone at a Doctor Who fan event, who just so happened to tell me their own story, about their own event, and how someone had used that event to promote their own Doctor Who thing. And I was stood there, nodding along with the whole thing, not entirely sure why I instinctively understood them. It was only when I was sat on the train home later that night that I remembered all of this and understood the connection between these experiences. I was not the only fan to have had this kind of thought after all.
In the end, it’s not about saying what people can and can’t do at fan events – it’s being mindful that such fan events are made by people, almost invariably in their own time and under their own steam, and having a reasonable level of respect for that. Fan events do mean a lot to me. I have made several great friends and had many great conversations about Doctor Who and fandom through them. And I will always be grateful for the friends I have made and the good times I have shared with them through such fan events.
On Fan Posting
Over the autumn of 2023, I became acutely aware of how passive I can be when enjoying the wonderful creative things that Doctor Who fans post online, whether that be that blogs, essays, videos, art, or podcasts. Like, I really enjoyed that person’s work and then I didn’t hit the like button, or leave a comment telling them a bit that made me laugh, or leave a review recommending this for other people who want to know if it’s worth spending their time on.
Honestly, the number of Doctor Who-related YouTube videos I have watched, ranging from reviews to interviews to fan trailers to video essays, and really enjoyed, but then failed to hit any of the like, comment or subscribe buttons, is embarrassingly large. At least I am subscribed to the Official Doctor Who YouTube channel! The only exception to this for me is probably Twitter. I love smashing the like button on Twitter. Nothing bad will ever happen to Twitter.
(I now get why creators say “please like, comment, or subscribe” all the gosh darn time. Their target audience is full of idiots like myself. It’s me, hi, I’m the problem, it’s me.)
One of the many passionate and creative Doctor Who fans to whom I am subscribed to on YouTube is Christel Dee. You’ve heard of her, right? I mean, she presented many, many episodes of Doctor Who: The Fan Show (alongside Luke Spillane) between 2015 and 2018 on the Official Doctor Who YouTube channel. You haven’t forgotten to subscribe, have you? How could you possibly forget that?
Over the past year, Christel has uploaded some new videos on topics such as Doctor Who: Battles in Time trading cards, Doctor Who: The Collection Blu-Ray boxsets and even the 2006 Doctor Who Merlin sticker packs. My working theory for all these new videos is that she might be a fan of the television show Doctor Who, but I’m gonna need some more evidence to substantiate this piece of guesswork.
One day I found myself watching and, crucially, enjoying a video of Christel unpacking some Doctor Who autographs. Around half an hour after watching it, my brain suddenly decided to circle back to it. I had enjoyed watching that video, so why hadn’t I smashed that like button? I got so unnecessarily cross with myself, and I’m not making this up, that I went straight back to my laptop, opened the webpage and hit the like button on every video Christel had published in the past three years. I was somewhat relieved to discover that I had even commented on one of them, something I hardly ever think about doing, let alone actually do.
But then, I inadvertently rediscovered why I felt so strongly about this. One of Christel’s videos, entitled ‘Doctor Who: The Regeneration Set (2023) Unboxing & Preview’ has the comments turned off. The video consists of Christel unboxing a Thirteenth Doctor action figure in her ‘multi-Doctor’ outfit as well as a Fourteenth Doctor action figure, based on their appearances in the 2022 BBC Centenary special The Power of the Doctor.
Now, I don’t know the exact reason why the comments have been turned off, but based on the appearance of the Thirteenth Doctor alone I’m saddened to say that I can make an educated guess here. I think you can as well. Any sane person would look at some of the vitriol in this fandom and run a mile. It might not be as bad as some other parts of the web, but that still means it’s not acceptable. Anyone who disagrees will be getting thrown into the sun. Directly into the sun. Do not pass Go. Do not collect £200. Into the sun you go. That way, you’ll at least manage to brighten someone’s day.
I am delighted to see that Christel has recently returned to present The Official Doctor Who Podcast on The Official Doctor Who YouTube Channel. It’s great to see a familiar face back on the channel. Doctor Who fans are so lucky to have people who go above and beyond for the show, be it through making documentaries for the Blu-Ray sets, posting a range of online content or making appearances on TV and radio; Christel Dee is absolutely one of those people. I think this is an obvious thing to say, but I’m saying it anyway, because I honestly think it needs to be heard more.
WELL THEN?
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?
DON’T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE OFFICIAL DOCTOR WHO YOUTUBE CHANNEL!
Subscribed
On Fan Positivity
Given that I’m currently sat on the other side of this Substack newsletter, I know how meaningful it is to get positive feedback on the pieces I write here. I get an email every time someone leaves a comment or hits the like button. I keep them all in a little folder within my inbox; each and every one brings a smile to my face.
So of course, I will try and do the same for others. I will keep trying to think about others when operating in fandom spaces, and I will keep trying to remember to show my appreciation for all the creative things that I like in Doctor Who fandom. I probably won’t remember every time, but it’ll be more than before, and that’s a step in the right direction. I just want there to be more positivity in fandom.
I hope that new fans will discover the show in 2024 and find it a bright and positive place to be. And I hope that it continues to inspire the sense of creativity and community that it inspires within me. Funnily enough, all this hopeful thinking reminded me of a certain book on my bookshelf; one that, quite unexpectedly for me, got to the heart of what I think being a fan of Doctor Who is all about.
“I think, above all, that Doctor Who is about inclusion and bringing hope to the world. At the heart of the show is the notion that everybody is worthy, no matter who they are. That everyone is important, no matter where you come from. That’s what keeps us watching and adventuring through space and time, holding onto that hope that we belong.”
– Beth Axford, The Doctor Who Quiz Book
Introductions to quiz books rarely go so hard. The first time I read this I genuinely turned back to the front cover just to check this was indeed a Doctor Who quiz book; I was certainly not expecting an astute distillation of the entire fandom experience before Question 1. And so I thoroughly recommend to you, dear reader, that you pick this book up (the link is to Waterstones but it’s available to purchase now in all good bookshops).
You know, there’s a GIF on my phone that I love to use at every available opportunity.
It’s the moment in The Doctor Falls where the Twelfth Doctor says,
“We can only hope.”
I love using that GIF. Honestly, it’s such a Mood.
But perhaps, I ask myself, we can all do better than just hope?
Perhaps we can be the change that we hope to see.
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The Brain of Möbius 
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