Doctor Who Fever Rises in Chicago
- Publication: The Chronicle (College of Lake County)
- Date: 1982-05-10
- Author: David Schiefelbein
- Page: 9
- Language: English
There is a new force rising to power in Chicago. Who-ites from all over the city, suburbs, and surrounding countryside are banding together. They are followers of a peaceful emissary from a far distant planet called Gallifrey.
Doctor Who is a renegade Time Lord who travels throughout space dealing out justice to villains and helping the poor and oppressed. Sort of an inter-galactic Lone Ranger. Who-ites of Chicagoland have made this geographical quadrant the most popular Dr. Who colony in the United States. Soon they will be rewarded with the first annual Dr. Who convention.
Who is Dr. Who? He is a Time Lord, an elite, highly intelligent scholar who travels through time and space, battling villains in the past, present, and future. Dr. Who, as do all Time Lords, has two hearts, a stable body temperature of 60 degrees, and is over 750 years old.
"Dr. Who grabs the frayed threads of the universe and mends them together," explained a character in a recently aired television episode titled 'Meglos'. The Doctor travels through time and space in a vehicle called the Tardis. The Doctor stole Tardis from the Time Lords while it was being repaired in London. It was frozen in the shape of its first appearance —an English Police Call Box.
Dr. Who is shown weekly in Chicago on WTTW, Channel 11, at 11:00 p.m. on Sunday evenings. Shirely Waywood, in charge of viewer information at WTTW, said, "The late nightspot has been the most successful for Dr. Who." Waywood said they first aired broadcasts of Dr. Who in 1975. "It was originally programmed as a children's show." She said Dr. Who is one of their more popular shows.
Dr. Who has been shown in England since 1963, and is still being filmed. It is now in its 5th series. Waywood said, "The new series won't be available for another one to two years. We'll certainly try to purchase them when they become available." She also added that WTTW was trying to purchase some of the old series.
Part of the recent success of the Dr. Who series is due to the acting of the show's star, Tom Baker. George Breo, owner of the New Fantasy Shop on Belmont Avenue in Chicago, has been a Dr. Who fan for several years. Breo said, "The popularity of the character is due in large part to Tom Baker. He gave the Doctor a lot of character. Baker added a lot of idiosyncrasies, quirks and gadgets. He kind of grows on you." Larry Charet, who also sells Dr. Who paraphernalia at Larry's Book Store on Devon Avenue, agreed. "Most people seem to like Tom Baker. It's the type of show that gets people hooked on it." Baker is presently filming a new series in England based on the Sherlock Holmes books.
There are two places in Chicago that deal in Doctor Who merchandise: The New Fantasy Shop at 5651 West Belmont and Larry's Book Store at 1291 West Devon.
George Breo runs the New Fantasy Shop. He said, "The Dr. Who phenomenon has been going on in Chicago for approximately two years, but hasn't really caught on like wildfire until the last year." Larry's Book Store owner Larry Chartel said he's been selling Dr. Who paraphernalia for the last five years, but said that "it didn't really get popular until the last two years."
Breo said he sells two kinds of Dr. Who t-shirts, "A four colored shirt goes for $15, a single colored, such as dark blue on a light blue shirt, sells for $12. He said that "Because they are imports, the price is proportionately high er than normally is so in the U.S. The royalty fees to the B.B.C. make up the bulk of the higher price." Even with the high prices, Breo said the shirts sell well. "I've sold as many as 13 dozen a day when the shirts first became available. It was almost like a goldrush." Breo estimated he sells about 50-60 shirts per week. Breo also sells Dr. Who baseball caps, drinking mugs, books and records. He has a catalogue of all merchandise available which costs $1. "But that's refundable with the first order," he added.
Chartel said he sells mostly paperback books ($2.50), and he sells more baseball caps ($7), than t-shirts ($13), and also carries comics and records. Chartel does not accept mail orders.
Chartel talked about a Dr. Who convention he is organizing for this summer. The annual Chicago Comicon Convention (comics) will be held in conjunction with the Panopticon Convention. Panopticon was named after the Time Lord's meeting hall on the home planet of Gallifrey.
The co-convention will be held July 16-18 at the Americana Congress Hotel, 520 S. Michigan. Admission will be $5 a day at the door.
"We'll be having Johnny Turner, the show's producer, at the convention," Chartel said. "We'll also have some of the new Dr. Who series tapes starring Peter Davison. We'll have tapes of the Tom Baker series, and there will be a lot of dealers there selling all kinds of Dr. Who merchandise." Chartel said anyone wanting more information should contact him by calling Larry's Book Store.
"Dr. Who is more popular in Chicago than any other city," Chartel said. "It was really popular in Los Angeles several years ago, but they're not showing it out there any more. There's not a big cult with Dr. Who like there is with Star Trek. 'The Doctor isn't even shown in some cities."
There may not be a Doctor Who cult as big as the Star Trek cult yet. However, I think there will be soon. Dr. Who is a show that grew on me. I'm hopelessly and enjoyably hooked now. It's the only television show I watch with regularity. It's a unique show with a character all its own. It could well be on its way to becoming a large scale commercial success.
It is presently being shown on public television in 30 American cities and is also shown in 28 other countries. And now, thanks to the efforts of Larry Chartel and others, it even has its own convention. It's on its way.
See you this summer at the Americana Congress.
Doctor Who Fan Club Information
Ms. Cynthia Guido 2970 N. Sheridan Road Apartment 316 Chicago, Il. 60657
Doctor Who Merchandise
The New Fantasy Shop 5651 W. Belmont Ave. Chicago, Il. 60634
Larry's Book Store 1219 W. Devon Ave. Chicago, Il. 60660
Disclaimer: These citations are created on-the-fly using primitive parsing techniques. You should double-check all citations. Send feedback to whovian@cuttingsarchive.org
- APA 6th ed.: Schiefelbein, David (1982-05-10). Doctor Who Fever Rises in Chicago. The Chronicle (College of Lake County) p. 9.
- MLA 7th ed.: Schiefelbein, David. "Doctor Who Fever Rises in Chicago." The Chronicle (College of Lake County) [add city] 1982-05-10, 9. Print.
- Chicago 15th ed.: Schiefelbein, David. "Doctor Who Fever Rises in Chicago." The Chronicle (College of Lake County), edition, sec., 1982-05-10
- Turabian: Schiefelbein, David. "Doctor Who Fever Rises in Chicago." The Chronicle (College of Lake County), 1982-05-10, section, 9 edition.
- Wikipedia (this article): <ref>{{cite news| title=Doctor Who Fever Rises in Chicago | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Doctor_Who_Fever_Rises_in_Chicago | work=The Chronicle (College of Lake County) | pages=9 | date=1982-05-10 | via=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=22 March 2025 }}</ref>
- Wikipedia (this page): <ref>{{cite web | title=Doctor Who Fever Rises in Chicago | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Doctor_Who_Fever_Rises_in_Chicago | work=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=22 March 2025}}</ref>
