BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 / Fandom

**Posted by ukaunz** July 12, 2016 10:52 pm

A thread to discuss the domain of fandom: the community, the culture, articles, academic studies, criticism, etc... whatever doesn't fit anywhere else on the forum

So here's a funny little thing to get us started
http://otpodcast.tumblr.com/post/147134879604/coming-into-a-fandom-late

**Posted by Schmiezi** July 13, 2016 5:13 am

This is so true! :-D

**Posted by SolarSystem** July 13, 2016 5:47 am

Oh yes, I've seen this one before and it's pretty accurate.

And to get the discussion started: I came into the Sherlock fandom somewhere in the middle when S1 and S2 had already been out and S3 was about 6 months away. I'd say it was a pretty good time to join the show and the fandom. It was great to be able to watch those six episodes (well, seven, including the pilot) over and over again, and the wait for S3 was somewhat bearable. Maybe the fact that I watched S1 and S2 constantly for about six months is the reason why those episodes embody the show for me. I have no idea what I might have felt about it all if I had come in after S3...

Apart from Sherlock I have only been active in the Star Trek fandom. That was at a time when The Next Generation was released... wonderful, so many episodes to anticipate for years and years, various shows... that really was fandom heaven.

Doctor Who is a tragedy, because that happened far too late for me. Of course the show is still on, but my DW is long gone.

**Posted by Whisky** August 3, 2016 12:36 am

Maybe the fact that I watched S1 and S2 constantly for about six months is the reason why those episodes embody the show for me. I have no idea what I might have felt about it all if I had come in after S3...

I can only agree. I feel the same about S1 and S2 and I think I must have come to the series around the same time. Quite close after S2 airing I guess. I am not even sure anymore. There was S1 and then S2 and if there was a wait it must have been too short to have impact. Compared to the next wait...!

**Posted by Whisky** August 3, 2016 12:36 am

Fandom is a word I didn't know when I was younger. How old is it?
Back then, me and two or three friends where our own fandom, sharing stuff, talking about it. There where smaller things, but Harry Potter was the big thing for us, being the Harry generation... until Rowling got too slow with writing to keep Harry at our own age ... It was amazing. I remember reading the magazines and collecting posters and finally joining the hp-fc, harry potter fan club, which started as a tiny place on the still new-for-us internet. Internet wasn't the number one place of fandos yet, I think. Except for those intelligent guys who knew how email news groups worked I guess, but that wasn't us, we were only eleven years old.

First time I heard the name fandom was actually when interacting with Sherlock fans.

I have liked many things, but a fan in a way that does the term justice I have been of Harry Potter (books), LoTR... and this especially in the waiting for the films, and Sherlock.

I'm very fascinated by fandoms, fan cultures... it's like a microcosmos. In love reading scientific works on how fandoms work... there is more and more being written which is nice.

**Posted by SolarSystem** August 3, 2016 6:44 am

How old is the word 'fandom'? That's a good question. I'm really not sure whether or not we used the word to describe the Star Trek fandom back in the 1990s.I think we only talked about ourselves as fans, but I could be wrong.
Maybe I should dig out some of my old Star Trek Fan Club stuff. Yes, there were fan clubs back then where you could become a member if you payed a certain contribution for a year. And then you got a fan club magazine every month of every two months.

**Posted by Schmiezi** August 3, 2016 6:48 am

SolarSystem wrote:
How old is the word 'fandom'? That's a good question. I'm really not sure whether or not we used the word to describe the Star Trek fandom back in the 1990s.I think we only talked about ourselves as fans, but I could be wrong.
Maybe I should dig out some of my old Star Trek Fan Club stuff. Yes, there were fan clubs back then where you could become a member if you payed a certain contribution for a year. And then you got a fan club magazine every month of every two months.

Printed on paper, delivered by a postman. And it included the adresses of other fans you you could write them a letter (on paper) to contact them.

I feel a bit old now. ;-)

**Posted by Liberty** August 3, 2016 6:56 am

So do I! I remember sending off my membership (postal order, which you bought with real money in the psot office - do they even still exist?) to my particular fan club with my SAE (stamped, addressed envelope - I haven't sent one of those in so long!), and yes, writing letters to other fans. No instant gratification in those days!

**Posted by SolarSystem** August 3, 2016 7:23 am

Those were the middle ages of fandom.

**Posted by gently69** August 3, 2016 8:30 am

The first "fandom" I was part of... was back in the 80s. Spandau Ballet, english Pop band. We've "grown up" together.
And yes, being a fan back then meant: being in a fanclub with a fee and club mags and having penpals with same interests around the world. It also meant: if you wanted to visit a concert not in your home town you write to tourist informations for accommodation service, go to a travel agency or railway station for plane, bus or train tickets, order concert tickets via letter...
Oh, it's so easy nowadays... just a few clicks on a computer...
And I'm still a fan of ´Spandau Ballet. The band is not in a "permanent condition" any more but I can rely on the singer who loves performing live. And knows me now. Which is a very good feeling.

I also was a bit into Star Trek, but nothing big compared to Spandau Ballet.

That Sherlock, Benedict and David Tennant would catch me that "badly" in my advanced age...

I love being a fan. It enriched my life so much. I got to know a lot of different people and a few became friends for a lifetime. And... being "on the road" for different events is an escape from everyday life . It's unlimited fun.

**Posted by Liberty** August 3, 2016 9:12 am

You KNOW Tony Hadley, Gently? Wow!

**Posted by gently69** August 3, 2016 9:18 am

You know Tony Hadley, Liberty? Also WOW! Most people ask me: Tony Who?
Well, Tony recognises me by now, knows my name and knows that I'm from Germany. That's not much but it makes me happy... not being a nameless fan anymore.

P.S.: Well, worked on it for more than thirty years.

Last edited by gently69 (August 3, 2016 9:19 am)

**Posted by SolarSystem** August 3, 2016 9:23 am

Liberty, let me tell you a story.
I know of gently's crush on Spandau Ballet and Tony of course.
Last year the band was in the city where I live, participating in an evening event. The next morning I read about it in the paper and was like Oh wow, they were here yesterday!. About an hour later I went to work and walked through the main train station. And can you believe it: There they were! Standing in some waiting area and apparently waiting for their train. So... I got out my smartphone and attempted to take a pic from a distance. Then Tony saw me and made me come over to them. So we said hi and stuff and then I said to him: "You propbably won't believe it, but I have a very good friend, her name is 'gently' (*insert her real name here*), and together with her friend XX (*insert her real name here*) she has been following..." - and that's all I had to say. He immediately knew who I was talking about.
So, that's how well gently knows Tony Hadley and how well he knows her.

Last edited by SolarSystem (August 3, 2016 9:24 am)

**Posted by gently69** August 3, 2016 9:31 am

And a few days later we met Tony after a concert and the first thing he said, was: "I met your friend SolarSystem (*insert her real name here*) at the train station in..."

**Posted by SolarSystem** August 3, 2016 9:44 am

So now he knows me, too.

**Posted by gently69** August 3, 2016 9:51 am

Possible.

**Posted by besleybean** August 3, 2016 9:53 am

Wow.
Considering I was at college in Birmingham in the 1980s...
Tony Hadley is something of a celeb.
Well done, you two.
Smashing guy, good singer.
Wasn't mad on Span,but liked their earlier stuff and they were one of the few bands I would dance to in the 80s Brum clubs.

Last edited by besleybean (August 3, 2016 9:53 am)

**Posted by Liberty** August 3, 2016 10:03 am

Aww, that's fantastic! He knows both of you - definitley not nameless fans! And what a great story about bumping into them at the train station!

**Posted by gently69** August 3, 2016 10:05 am

besleybean wrote:
Smashing guy, good singer.

He is. In his mid-fifties now, put on weight (a few gramms, LOL) but still charming as hell.

**Posted by Liberty** August 3, 2016 10:08 am

We've all got a bit older since those days - ha ha!