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{{article
| publication = The Harvard Crimson
| file =
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| date = 1987-12-02
| author = Liam T. A. Ford
| pages =
| language = English
| type =
| description =
| categories = fan clubs
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| text =
Students Form Group in Support of Sci-Fi Character

The Daleks are taking over the Universe! Who will save the World from chaos and destruction?

The Doctor will save us, say members of a newly formed Harvard student group.

The Doctor who?

Precisely, they say, Doctor Who.

About 20 students have banded together under the auspices of the Harvard-Radcliffe Science Fiction Association [SFA], which went defunct in 1984. Their purpose, they say, is to get everyone to recognize the great service The Doctor has rendered to earthlings over the past twenty-four years.

"Sometimes I wonder myself [why I like Dr. Who]." Steven Sigel '89-'90 said. "It's just fun, I guess."

"What attracts me about Dr. Who?" asked Jotham W. Parsons '89-'90, secretary of the fan club. "The acting is very good, the writing is often good, and the special effects are always very bad, so you can laugh at them."

Dr. Who is a program aired weekly on PBS stations imported from Great Britain. The eponymous protoganist is a knowledgeable alien who battles forces of evil throughout the universe, protecting earth from numerous brushes with destruction.

In order to swell their numbers, the Dr. Who fans--or Whovians, as they prefer to be called--have begun showing rare Dr. Who episodes on VCR's in the Dunster House VCR room which are open to any who want.

And in an attempt to insure the longevity of their idol, about five of the Club's members will go to New Hampshire this weekend to participate in [[broadwcast: New Hampshire Public Television|Channel 11]]'s annual fund drive and encourage the continued showing of Dr. Who on PBS stations.

"We're just following the Whovian principle of getting money for the people who help you," Suzanne L. Demitrio '91 said.

If this seems like the Whovians are taking this all too seriously, you have yet to spend time with a group of diehards. True Whovians take pride in their ability to rattle off the names of all seven actors who have played the doctor in the show's 24-year history and are always eager to debate the merits of The Doctors' many foes and friends.

"I'm just sick of the Daleks," said Alison D. Sandman '90, of one of the Doctors most recurrent enemies, a group of super-intelligent robots.

"I think the most popular companion was K-9, a dog-like robot who followed The Doctor around," Parsons interjected.

Whovians become obsessed for reasons as varied as the actors who have played the scarf-clad character.

Some say they are motivated by Dr. Who peer pressure.

"I was friends with a bunch of Whovians, and I got tired of having them talk over my head--although that isn't hard, because I'm short--so I started watching the show," Demitrio said.

"I first watched it freshman year in high school, but I really didn't start watching it much until three years ago because several of my friends did," said Sandman.

But other members' fixation with Dr. Who is an outgrowth of liking other types of Science Fiction.

"I hated Science Fiction until sixth grade, when someone introduced me to Madeleine L'Engle's [a popular children's science fiction author] work," Demitrio said. "Then I read all her work in the next three days, without eating or sleeping."

And Siegel said, "I was watching Star Trek when I was three years old, and then one night in third or fourth grade I was just flipping channels and started watching Dr. Who. I've been watching it ever since.

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Club Reveals Who They Love - Revision history

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