Whovians unite

Facebook group hosts first local meetup celebrating Doctor Who

Note: This article originally appeared Jan. 23, 2014 in The Pan American's website. The Pan American was the student newspaper at my former university, The University of Texas - Pan American, where I got into writing. Ultimately, TPA was shut down as a result of a merger with neighboring university to make way for The University of Texas - Rio Grande Valley and the new student publication did not transfer anything from TPA. Here's one of my articles for them that was saved thanks to the miracle of Google Docs.

Ramiro Martinez still remembers the day he attended a theatrical screening of the 50th anniversary special of the sci-fi series Doctor Who, Day of the Doctor in McAllen’s Cinemark Hollywood USA on Nolana Avenue. On Nov. 25, the local theater played the episode at six sold-out screens, stunning the San Juan native.

“I was shocked at the numbers, I didn’t even know Doctor Who had that big of a following in the Valley,” Martinez explained.

Doctor Who is a BBC One British sci-fi television show that revolves around a centuries-old “Time Lord”- a humanoid alien who is part of a race that can travel through time and space. The series, which has been airing since Nov. 23, 1963, follows the Doctor as he explores the universe in his TARDIS, a sentient, time-travelling spaceship that appears as a blue British police box.

With 800 episodes produced, Doctor Who was named the longest-running science fiction program by the Guinness Book of Records in 2006. On Nov. 23, 2013, the 50th Anniversary episode of the series, Day of the Doctor, was broadcast globally in 94 countries across six continents. Two days later, the episode screened in 3D at 660 movie theaters across the nation, grossing over $4.7 million in its one day of showing, according to entertainment website Indiewire.

After the episode’s theatrical showing, Martinez was motivated to start RGV Whovians, a Facebook group dedicated to local fans of the classic TV show. The group was created Dec. 9, 2013 and named after the term for fans of the show; it currently boasts 77 members. Martinez recently held a meet-up where the group members got together to watch a Doctor Who serial, several weekly episodes that form one story.

“Doctor Who fans seem to be silent because they don’t know that a fan base beyond just them and their friends exists,” the South Texas College technician said. “It’s OK to be a fan of Star Wars and Star Trek, but why isn’t Doctor Who a bigger deal down here?”

Among the supporters for a meet-up was 36-year-old Christina Escobar, a member who watches the series with her husband and two children.

“It’s silly fun. It’s a kid’s show for grown-ups and a grown-up show for kids,” the McAllen native said. “We’re a tiny minority. I want to meet more people that are fans of the show because I’m tired of always wearing Doctor Who memorabilia, but no one has a clue as to what I’m referencing.”

David Salas, a close friend of Martinez, co-hosted the event after asking Cine El Rey owner Bert Guerra for permission to screen the Doctor Who special, Genesis of the Daleks, Jan. 14, which was picked by members of the group in a vote.

Genesis of the Daleks is a six-part weekly serial that aired in spring 1975. The special sees Tom Baker, the fourth actor to portray the Doctor, and his companions sent back to the time of the creation of the Daleks, to prevent the genocidal cyborgs from being made and avert any future catastrophes.

According to Salas, there’s a lack of availability regarding any “classic” Doctor Who episodes.

“It’s not so easy to find the older episodes,” the 40-year-old Pharr native explained. “Netflix carries all the episodes since the ‘05 reboot, but only carries a limited amount of the classic episodes, so the best bet to see those serials would be to buy the box set with the episodes.”

The event was attended by 18 people. Among them was 29-year-old Evangeline Weckbacher, who dressed up in a Dalek-inspired dress, complete with a plunger and two egg-beaters taped together to resemble the Dalek’s arm and laser gun.

“My friends got me to start watching the series last during my last semester at school, so I’m relatively new to Doctor Who,” the UTPA alumna, who graduated last December, said with a laugh. “I’m the only one of them crazy enough to dress up today, though. It’s a miracle that I managed to binge-watch 94 episodes and still manage to graduate college.”

The McAllen native has only seen the series since it was rebooted in 2005, but expressed an interest in watching older episodes of the series, and in meeting more local fans of the series.

“Every episode is an adventure that sucks you in and compels you to keep watching,” she said. “I want to make it my own adventure to find others who share a love for Doctor Who. If more opportunities are made available to meet up, I would gladly join in.”

After the event, Martinez expressed satisfaction with the turnout, and noted interest in having more gatherings.

“We want to see if we can get a convention for Doctor Who started here,” he said. "For now though, we’re making sure that the interest is available. It’s one thing to run a group online, but it’s another thing to do it in the real world.”