On Aug. 23, 2014, approximately 345 people waited in the rain outside of the Buskirk-Chumley Theater. They had gathered to see the series eight premiere of “Doctor Who,” a BBC-produced science-fiction program that first aired in 1963.
IU-Bloomington’s Doctor Who Society, a club for fans of “Doctor Who,” draws far fewer members to its weekly meetings. IU junior Daniel Aufmann, the president of the Doctor Who Society, was in attendance at the Buskirk-Chumley for the series eight premiere.
“There was a line around the corner,” Aufmann said. “That was just when me and my roommate were getting in line, and there were loads of people behind us. So the fandom in Bloomington, within and without IU, is big.”
The Doctor Who Society is putting on its Indiana Whovians United event Saturday at the Forest Treehouse area of the Forest center building. “Whovians” is a term used to refer to fans of the show. The Doctor Who Society will be joined by students from Ball State University, Purdue University, IU-Purdue University Indianapolis and DePaul University.
The event starts at 10 a.m and is planned around the series 10 premiere of "Doctor Who." The attendees will watch a marathon of the previous series of the show while also participating in games and a trivia contest. The day will end with the viewing of the series 10 premiere at 9 p.m.
IU junior Luke Hayden, the Doctor Who Society treasurer, said he thinks the upcoming Indiana Whovians United event is a way to tap into the "Doctor Who" fandom present at IU.
“We’re hoping that something that is a bit more high-profile like this might help bring in more people and bring in more fresh energy,” Hayden said. “I think maybe a lot of people just don’t know that we’re out there.”
All of the Doctor Who Society members have discussed ideas for the event. However, Hayden has been the group's lead planner for Indiana Whovians United.
“The main purpose of the event is to get to know people and watch some awesome television,” Hayden said.
He has coordinated his efforts with his twin brother, Drew Hayden, a junior at Ball State University. There, Drew founded the Gallifreyan Anthropology Club, a “Doctor Who” social club that takes its name from the fictional home planet of the show’s protagonist. Drew also developed the idea for Indiana Whovians United, which came to fruition in fall 2015.
“One of the things that I really wanted to do when I started this club was to become involved in the bigger ‘Doctor Who’ community,” Drew said. “And I figured that that was something that we could do."
Drew said it made sense to plan an event around the series nine premiere, so the Gallifreyan Anthropology Club invited students from the other schools to Ball State University for the inaugural Indiana Whovians United. About 30 students from the various universities were in attendance at the event. Drew said he felt it went well except for one issue. He said the clubs did not have enough interaction with each other.
Luke said in planning this year's event, they have made changes to attempt to get people to interact outside of their own clubs.
“With this one we’re doing a lot more mixer-type games,” Luke said. “Last year we had the trivia contest, but this year we’re doing it with more facets. And you earn points for your school by doing certain things. So whoever wins, theoretically, should be the most well-integrated within this new ‘Doctor Who’ community.”
Luke said they will also have a fanfic game and sessions of the “Doctor Who” role playing game. In the fanfic game, individuals take turns writing a group “Doctor Who” story, and the group reads the final result together.
Aufmann and Luke said they believe in the importance of Indiana Whovians United and are hopeful it will continue in the future.
“There’s a lot of transition coming in the next couple years, in not just our club but as well with Ball State,” Luke said. “And everywhere there’s a lot of transition that will be happening the year that we graduate.”
Luke said he wants future club leaders to understand why Indiana Whovians United is important and fun.
“We’re hoping that we can use this event to really energize people to be enthusiastic about ‘Doctor Who’ and about continuing ‘Doctor Who’ clubs not just here but wherever they may be,” Aufmann said.
