10 Doctor Who Fans Who Made A Lasting Impact On The Show
If the Doctor's not your father-in-law, are you even a fan?
Since its return in 2005, Doctor Who has been run by fans. Not the keyboard bashers of message boards and social media, but Doctor Who fans who became professional screenwriters and television producers.
Russell T Davies, soon to return to the show, assembled a team of writers each season, many of whom had also been inspired to get into writing by watching Doctor Who as kids. People like Steven Moffat and Chris Chibnall who would eventually take on the mantle, driving the show forward in their own way, whilst demonstrating their own familiarity with the intricacies of the series.
It's not just the writers of the 21st century incarnation of Doctor Who that were fans, there have been Doctors and visual effects artists, monster actors and monster creators. This list collects many of the fans who have left their own imprint on both eras of the show, and those fans who have helped to guarantee the series' legacy for future generations of fandom.
10. Peter Capaldi
Before becoming an art school punk rocker, Peter Capaldi was a huge Doctor Who fan. He would write to the production office so often, that a BBC secretary once hoped he'd get exterminated by Daleks. He was even involved in a power struggle during the early days of Doctor Who fandom, when he unsuccessfully tried to become President of the Doctor Who Fan Club.
On a more positive note, Capaldi's letters resulted in then-producer Barry Letts sending him a package that would change his life and the future of the show itself. Letts had sent the young fan scripts, production designs and floor plans for the Jon Pertwee serial The Mutants. In later years, Capaldi would reflect that it was these materials which sparked his interest in becoming an actor.
Sadly, Capaldi burned all of his Doctor Who stuff in a moment he calls his 'bonfire of the vanities', but it worked out okay in the end. Not only was he the Twelfth Doctor, but he also added a touch of class to Torchwood and made a memorable guest appearance in The Fires of Pompeii. All thanks to the kindness of Barry Letts.