Zerinza

rdf:langString Zerinza

rdf:langString Zerinza was the first, and for many years the only regular Australian Doctor Who fanzine. It ran continuously from 1976 to 1986 when edited and published by Antony Howe, for the Australasian Doctor Who Fan Club (ADWFC), reaching issue number 35. Since then, there have been several isolated issues on special topics, sporadically up to mid-2000, edited by others but most with some degree of input from Howe (e.g. three almost completed issues, and using other materials in his files). Reviews, articles and interviews in this "high-quality" fanzine were authoritative and are cited in serious studies of Doctor Who and some have been republished in books of interviews. The fanzine was for a decade the journal for the ADWFC (membership and subscription being combined) and it played a key role in creating and expanding Doctor Who fandom in Australia, reaching about 1,000 subscribers by the mid-1980s. It was partly founded to rally fans against the Australian Broadcasting Commission's decision to cease purchasing the Doctor Who series (made in mid-1976), launching a "Save Doctor Who Campaign" with the first issue, it contained relating news items thereafter. Zerinza, and Howe (as founder and President of the ADWFC), were often credited by fans with the subsequent decision by the ABC to resume and increase screening the series (from 1978).