Gallifrey, Daleks, the TARDIS, Ood and Cybermen may seem like nonsensical terms to some, but to others, they have a deeper meaning.
They are words that connect them to time and space itself, and to someone who is the last of his kind.
Since October, the Ohio University Doctor Who Club has brought together local “Whovians” to celebrate and discuss their love of the BBC science fiction program Doctor Who. The series depicts the adventures of the last Time Lord, known as the Doctor, and his companions.
The show follows the Doctor, a time-traveling humanoid alien who travels through time and space in his TARDIS, a spaceship that is disguised as a police public call box. He has a variety of companions, who travel with him and help him fight the forces of evil that attempt to disrupt the galaxies and especially Earth.
After befriending each other because of a shared passion for Harry Potter and Doctor Who, Courtenay Balvin, a senior studying business pre-law and marketing, and Kailey Copelin, a sophomore studying sports management and management information systems, decided to start a Doctor Who-based club when they saw many fans express their dedication on Halloween.
“It was Halloween 2011; we ran into a lot of people dressed up in Doctor Who costumes, as I was dressed up as Amy (a companion),” Balvin said. “We thought it would be cool to get involved with those people and share our interests.”
It was a thought that almost took a full year to complete because of a strenuous search for an adviser, Balvin said.
While the meetings are limited to once a week, the founders said they never stop thinking about what the club could do next.
“Our entire lives are like an executive meeting,” Balvin said. “We’re bouncing ideas off each other at 2 a.m.”
One idea is to build a TARDIS, which will “travel” around campus as if the Doctor himself were here.
Each week, the club gathers to watch an episode and discuss it afterward. Episodes are chosen based on the theme of the current week, such as the Doctors, the companions or, now, the villains. Sometimes, members dress up as characters; some even bring their own sonic screwdrivers (the Doctor’s tool of choice) to the meetings.
“It’s a great space to nerd out,” said Jessica Detchon, a freshman who is undecided as to a major and one of the club’s first members. “People actually know what you’re talking about.”
Having a space for references to fly free was an important issue that Copelin wanted to acknowledge.
“You don’t have to censor yourself,” she said. “You don’t have to worry about people not getting your references. … These people will get it.”
Club adviser Kirsten Laufenberg, a residential coordinator at OU, said she easily relates to having a passion for something many people do not know about, as she is a fellow Doctor Who fan.
“You discover a new show, get really into it and have no one to talk about it with,” she said. “(The club) is a great chance for people to connect over a common interest that is not so common on campus.”
While some members have been fans for years, others have recently joined the phenomenon and became instantly and equally obsessed.
“Over Christmas break, I watched all 96 episodes of series one through seven in 15 days,” said Cheyenne Sears, a freshman studying linguistics and club member since January. “I’d be watching half a season or more a day.”
mg986611@ohiou.edu
Fast Facts
Doctor Who is the longest-running science fiction TV show. It ran from 1963 to 1989 and was canceled until the relaunch in 2005 that began the new series that is continuing today.
Companions
The companion is the Doctor’s ally in his adventures; he or she travels with the Doctor through time and space. No companion lasts forever.
Cybermen
Their only lasting human characteristic is their brains. They are humanoids-turned-cyborgs who have deleted their emotions.
Daleks
The enemy race of the Time Lords, Daleks are cyborgs with tank-like mechanical shells whose sole purpose is to “exterminate” all non-Dalek life in order to conquer the universe.
Gallifrey
The Doctor’s home planet that was destroyed during the Time War, a war to save the time vortex that was fought between the Time Lords, the Doctor’s race and the Daleks.
Regeneration
A Time Lord’s ability to cheat death. When mortally wounded or near death, a Time Lord can regenerate and take a new physical form in order to survive. The trick has been used to keep the show running as long as it has, allowing an actor to be swapped in as the new Doctor in order to replace the old actor who is leaving.
Sonic screwdriver
The Doctor’s iconic tool of choice. Commonly used as a lock pick, a sonic screwdriver can also be used as a medical scanner, a tracker or a computer scanner. It does not work on wooden doors.
TARDIS
It stands for “Time and Relative Dimension in Space” and is the Doctor’s spaceship with its chameleon circuit broken. It is stuck looking like a police public call box, which was a common sight in 1960s London, when the show began its first run in 1963.
Whovian
The term used to describe a Doctor Who fan.
