Zerinza

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).

Zerinza was the first continuous Doctor Who fanzine published in Australia, appearing fairly regularly for 8 years with subsequent issues at irregular intervals. It gained an international readership, and for many years was the only continuous Doctor Who fanzine in the country, other clubs or fans only briefly issuing newsletters or other items. Prior to Zerinza there had only been a few Australian fanzines with occasional Doctor Who material in them, such as two by students at Sydney University: the main one being Jon Noble's South of Harad, East of Rhun (mainly a Tolkien 'zine, hence the name), and a major analytical article on the series by Terry Dowling, a future Science Fiction and Fantasy author, as a one-off splash in a 1975 issue of Enigma, the fanzine of the Sydney University Science Fiction Association (S.U.S.F.A.). As examples, these were to feed directly into the origins of Zerinza, and their editors encouraged and helped in its gestation. There was no other fanzine dedicated to the series in the country, nor related to a fanclub. Although a few fans did receive the English fanzine of Keith Miller.

Around mid-1976, the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) had decided to cease purchase of the BBC TV series Doctor Who, a decision which was communicated to the S.U.S.F.A. in reply to its lobbying for extra repeats of the series. The S.U.S.F.A. President Antony Howe immediately launched a campaign to "Save Doctor Who" in August. This consisted of a demonstration of fans outside the ABC offices in Sydney with the Association's Dalek which had been built for a Dalek race in Melbourne. Howe and Dallas Jones issued press releases, and Howe had posters and leaflets printed about the ABC decision. He also formed contacts with other clubs and individuals in several cities in Australia, as well as the main British fans who had recently formed the Doctor Who Appreciation Society. To keep the campaign to save the show going, Howe also decided to launch a fanzine to report on news and create a basis for a nationwide pressure group. He selected as its name "Zerinza", a word meaning "Good Success" according to a purported Dictionary of Dalek words in the 1965 Dalek Annual. The first issue of Zerinza was published by Howe, in September, with the assistance of the S.U.S.F.A. fanzine editor who did the printing at cost which made it all possible. Over three hundred copies were printed and the premier issue contained a report on the demonstration, news about the ABC's scheduling policies for the series, reviews, and plans for the club.

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