Doctor Who Is My Porn

[Pip Madeley]

Just been rewatching "The Time, The Place" Dr Who special, a classic slice of crap television. For the uninitiated, John Stapleton hosted a live daytime discussion programme on ITV during the 1990s, chatting to a studio audience about a particular topic. In this case, it was about Doctor Who, and had celebs Michael Craze & Carole Ann Ford (and one of the skinheads from Silver Nemesis), as well as uber-fans including the Bignell and the Beech. Basically it's an excuse for Stapleton to pour scorn over the "Doctor Who freaks" in the audience, calling them odd, sad and obsessed... doubtful for a DVD release, somehow.

I'm coming to the point now - does it annoy you if you're called a freak, geek, sad git etc? What are people's usual reactions when you mention you're a fan of the show? Have you ever been embarrassed, and kept it quiet just incase? Do you find people's reactions have changed since the new series began? Did they laugh before, and now they're interested too? This also ties in with the recent Dr Who Magazine article which this thread is named after, so if you're read that, you'll know what I'm talking about.

[WhiteCrow]

I think having been a child where I was the uncool geek because of loving Sci Fi in general, I think it was a godsend for me the first group I visited when I was 16 because I learned "you are not alone".

As an adult, I kind of keep my interest in Sci Fi close to my chest. As I've said I'm kind of pleased and horrified that my son has developed the same interests as me. But by no way did I push it down his throat. In fact with Doctor Who I tried to discourage him, even trying to watch episodes when he was in bed.

The reason I had tried to discourage him was simply that Sci Fi fans aren't the most understood of people. They're an easy target of ridicule. And sometimes it's justified, for every 10 friends you make, there is that 11th person who just takes it oh-so-far, and probably has an Outpost Gallifrey membership or two.

As I've said many a time, I believe people who have an interest in anything are much more attractive to me than people who just mock and ridicule. Which is ironic cos I mainly come here TO mock and ridicule!

[WhiteCrow]

BTW I think I remember that show, wasn't it on in 1999 and featured a pilot who admitted to wearing a Dalek tie whilst bombing Iraq?

[Wayne]

Unfortunate thread title considering what most people do when they're watching porn.

[Ralph]

Well I preferred the discrete title we had for a long time on the old forum - big bold Doctor Who titles on this forum are just not on!

I don't think being a sci-fi fan is geeky, I think it's all down to the person.... I guess I reckon attending conventions is geeky Having a poster of Tom Baker on your wall if you're over 12 is geeky....

If someone asks me what forum I post on I just say it's a movie forum My mates in the office at lunchtimes are on football forums or bike forums.

So in answer to your question Pip I don't get called those names you mention as I don't set myself up for it. I think I would wrong anyway to declare myself a Doctor Who fan as if it was to the exclusion of all else and if it was then those would be worthy names to give me!

[Ralph]

Unfortunate thread title considering what most people do when they're watching porn.

Fair point!

[Wayne]

If someone asks me what forum I post on I just say it's a movie forum.

Actually it's fair point considering all the time spent on those movie threads.


As for myself, i don't give a flying **** what anybody else thinks. Sometimes i'll wear my Dr.Who T-shirt with pride. If i just happen to be in the mood to be wear it on any given, or even if it just finds itself at the top of the clean washing pile. I'm random like that. On another day it could be Led Zep or The Sweeney or even just an ordinary shirt.
But i'm into lots of things with a passion. Dr.Who is just one of many. In all honesty, i'd be worried if Dr.Who was the only thing i was really keen on. It's not good to be into one thing & one thing only, IMO. It's too close to being obssessive.

[Milky Tears]

I can't comment as I'm not really much of a Doctor Who fan.

[Ralph]

But i'm into lots of things with a passion. Dr.Who is just one of many. In all honesty, i'd be worried if Dr.Who was the only thing i was really keen on. It's not good to be into one thing & one thing only, IMO. It's too close to being obssessive.

I totally agree, after all I lived without seeing Dr Who for 20 odd years and survived

[Wayne]

It's funny really. At the side of some people, i don't consider myself that much of a fan. For instance, i've never bothered with DWM even. Apart from the odd special one. But then on the other side of the coin, i obviously am quite a fan. After all, i didn't leave it completely alone like you did. Although it was more on the backburner i suppose. But i was still buying all the BBC vids for all those years, even when my life was mainly focussed on other things. It's always been there, & i've never been ashamed or embarrassed about it.
When i was living in a shared house with biker/rocker types, & we were all into the drinking & smoking & stuff. I can still remember coming home one day in 1986 with the original 'Day of the Daleks' vid saying "Look at this what i've bought! Let's watch it!" It's not like i slunk upstairs with it in a brown paper bag.
But then it went on my shelf for a fair while until next time i watched it. I didn't sit there gazing at it lovingly all night.
It's all just a matter of perpective.

[Ralph]

It's not like i slunk upstairs with it in a brown paper bag.

Well when I rediscovered my favourite era which was a combo of the Pertwee/Baker years I just felt sheer joy watching it, I can't explain it other than it just makes me feel good

But then I feel similarly about Star Trek TOS, also there's a number of films that make me feel the same way too.

As you say it's all down to perspective and variety is the spice of life!

[Wayne]

I'm a creature of extremes with it.
On the one hand when i see people deabating down to the tiniest little miniscule point about something to do with an episode or other, i think "Thank God i'm not that bad!"
But on the other side of the coin, i was quite happy to spend £100 on a Ring Modulator so that i could amuse myself doing Dalek voices! I'm sure many other people would think: "Thank God i'm not that bad!"
I guess we all like different aspects of it more than others.

Also, i often forget in a way that PS is actually a Dr.Who forum. There's much more to it, i don't really even think of it that way anymore. It's just a bit of cyber alternative to going down the pub in a way.
At least the beer's cheap!

[SiHart]

Perspective is the key. While I've never, ever been ashamed to be a Doctor Who fan (depsite attempts by many people down the years to make me feel I should be) there have been times when it has been my obssession and the be all and end of all of everything. Admittedly I was much younger then, but I must have been such a pain to my family and friends back then! I think you settle at a level you're comfortable at. Yes I can reel off facts whenever they're needed (and when they're not!), tell which actor was in which story that kind of thing, but that's just part f me, and I'm not going to apologise for that.
But I can get in perspective now. I know its just a silly TV show I happen to love that possibly a lot of people don't like (though that's somewhat different now) but it doesn't rule my life, unless I let it. I go for whole days now without watching the show, which at some points in my life was unthinkable... It's a big part of my life, but it's not the whole of my life.

I think that being a fan of anything is special, and it's dangerous to group fans into one big whole because there are so many types of fandom.

But I'm proud to be a Doctor Who and I've never pretended I'm not. I don't care whether people judge on me that, because they've been doing that since 1986 and I've grown up with it. I've never hidden it and I don't think you should have to. Being a Doctor Who fan has brought me a lot of happiness, a lot of fun times and the love of my life. What's to apologise for there? If I had my time I wouldn't change my Doctor Who fandom, but it might have been an idea to calm it down at times!!

Si xx

[Wayne]

but it doesn't rule my life, unless I let it. I go for whole days now without watching the show, which at some points in my life was unthinkable...

It has a ring of Alchoholics Anonymous about it, if you were talking about booze.

Good for you though Si. I agree with you're overall take on it. It's nothing to be ashamed of.
I have all the dvds & quite lot of books & cds (& all those videos for years) openly on display for all vistors to see, but i must admit, i've never really come up against people who have an attitude about it, & have wanted to take the mick.
Maybe it's the tattoos.

[Carol Baynes]

Unfortunate thread title considering what most people do when they're watching porn.

I just had a very graphic thought of what you might do when the Dalek Supreme makes his entrance in "Planet of the Daleks"!

[Wayne]

His big golden globes really turn me on.

And those big lights......*swoon

[Captain Tancredi]

Basically it's an excuse for Stapleton to pour scorn over the "Doctor Who freaks" in the audience, calling them odd, sad and obsessed...

John Stapleton supports Manchester City and married Lynn Faulds Wood- how exactly does that qualify him to pass judgment on other people???

Getting back to the topic, I had a lot of grief at school in the late 1980s so generally it's something that the people who know me for myself will know about, but I don't advertise it. The DVDs are there for anybody who visits the flat to see and I don't hide them. I'm not sure about people at work- if I happen to be reading a Who book at the time and read it in the lunch hour, I tend not to leave it front cover upwards, but some people must have seen it because shortly after David Tennant did his family history programme, somebody came up to me and said "Did you see Doctor Who on Mull last night?". Also had one colleague who's been following the new series but I think must have taken fright when I pointed her in the direction of this place and the Vervoid.

Ultimately from where I am at the moment, much of my Who-related activity is something I do while waiting for something else to happen- if I watch an episode most nights, it's because it was the best way to get into the habit of using my exercise bike when I bought it a few years ago, and the Target pieces were a way of keeping my writing and thinking muscles going until something more inspired came along.

[NorthernStar]

I'm coming to the point now - does it annoy you if you're called a freak, geek, sad git etc? What are people's usual reactions when you mention you're a fan of the show? Have you ever been embarrassed, and kept it quiet just incase? Do you find people's reactions have changed since the new series began? Did they laugh before, and now they're interested too?

I'm happy being a geek. People are generally surprised when I mention my love of sci-fi but I haven't come across any bad reactions. Although I will say (at risk of having my fingers bitten off) that it's probably a little easier (in terms of peoples reactions) to be a geek girl than a geek boy.

It's not my only interest in life but it's probably the longest running. It's nice too, in that it's like a nice warm blanket to return to every once in a while.

Embarassed? No, never (and one look at my daughter's birth certificate will confirm that!)

[Si Hunt]

Embarassed? No, never (and one look at my daughter's birth certificate will confirm that!)

Come on then, tell us. Leela? Nyssa? Rose? Vega Nexus?

Si.

[WhiteCrow]

Come on then, tell us. Leela? Nyssa? Rose? Vega Nexus?

Si.

You were right with one of those.

Could have been worse, could have been Tegan Youwanaka!

[duncan]

I used to be. But not now. Grown adults even admit they like the show now when they find out I'm a fan.
However, I still can't get my DWM out on the train and read it.

[Stuart Wallis]

I was the classic teen obsessive fan, posters on the walls, main topic of conversation, blah blah... Thankfully people were very patient at school, and it was nice when my English teacher let me give a talk in front of class about the series, and gave an entire lesson over to me, the daft woman; that came from everyone having to give a three-minute talk, and I chose Patrick Troughton's life and career, which seemed to go down quite well. I even got a couple of people give me their unwanted Target novels.

I think the day when I just rambled on and on about it during my first job was the sign that I should perhaps keep it to myself. One or two didn't like to say they were bored, but they were a little uncomfortable with my waffling. So now I only really mention Who to people who don't know me when the topic comes up in conversation, and I don't bore for England any more on the subject.

Except on here, and everyone's half asleep from my non-Who ramblings to notice anyway!

[Jonno]

Zzzzz, oh sorry Stuart, you were saying...?!

In my 30+ years of enjoying the show, I've gone full circle when it comes to perception. In the mid 70s, it was a mainstream smash and critically and publically acclaimed. However, from the mid 80s onwards that was sadly no longer the case, so much so that when I became a student I was frankly embarrassed to admit to being a fan. But over the last three years, it's once again a mainstream success and no longer a cult show (as eloquently explained in the Editor's letter of the latest DWM). We're talking about a show right up there alongside EE and Corrie as the most popular on TV, so what's to be embarrassed about?

Most people at work know I like the Who franchise, and one of my colleague's young kids love the parent show. One of my other colleagues watches all the reality TV shows, celeb culture shows (Peter Andre and Jordan etc. etc.) and reads the trashy celeb mags, so if she were ever to criticise my choice of viewing (she doesn't) I'd feel satisfied that mine is of a higher quality than hers! IMO.

I'm not what you'd call an obsessive fan - I'm way behind in my viewings of the original series DVDs, when I get one it lasts a week or so and slots in with other stuff to do, I don't buy BF CDs or the fictional books, and I still haven't bought any New Series DVDs - I'll get them when the time and price is right.

On the other hand, I'm more passionate about new TV episodes than anything else on TV (big sporting events are the only other thing that's real "must see" TV as it happens rather than viewing later) and each Saturday while new episodes are on are a delight to me.

[Si Hunt]

I find Doctor Who still holds a bit of a stigma. It's funny, but you'd think with 13m watching on Christmas Day, everyone would know about it, but there are still an awful lot of people who simply don't watch it (it's not difficult not to watch a TV show, no matter how popular; I've never seen "Lost", "Desperate Housewives" or "24") and who therefore greet news that one is a fan in the same way they did ten years ago - jokes about Daleks, treating you as if you're a trainspotter etc.

But to be honest I don't give a damn. I haven't since I was at University where I developed a sort of a thick skin as a defence mechanism. I decided at some point that the only way to face the world was on my own, and whilst (happily) I've since not been on my own any more, I've maintained that attitude of not really giving a damn what anyone else thinks about anything I do. Why should I care? So I'm happy to talk about being a fan or whatever - because life's too short to worry about what other people think.

Si.

[MacNimon]

The only time I was ever really embarrassed to admit I was a fan was in the last few years of the original series, when practically everyone I met kept saying the series was 'crap'. And in the years that followed, when all that anyone seemed to remember about the series was the McCoy years, it was as if Pertwee and Baker had never existed. However I found that things started to change with the TVM in 1996...people started talking about how good the series had once been, and the whole series wasn't regarded as crap anymore, only the last few years.

But even today, with the new series being such a mainstream success, I never go around broadcasting that I'm a fan...those who know me know that I like it, and that it's only one of many things that I like, but still I don't feel any urge to go shouting it from the rooftops!