On fans and fandom

Veteran superfan, DSoc in-law, and 'Father's Day' writer Paul Cornell writes about the relationship between Doctor Who fans and 'fanspace' in general here. There's a lot that I can identify with on the subject of Doctor Who fans (at least of my generation) compared with the fans of other forms of SF.

I don't necessarily agree with it - the more I read it the more awkward his categorisation of fans seems - but it's certainly true, to me, that Doctor Who fans have mainly been 'mainstream' at heart, but that others hope for 'harder' SF concepts in the series. I don't think the two are necessarily exclusive, nor that those who applaud the programme's popular appeal necessarily go with the flow of popular culture; but it definitely rings a few windchimes.