Doctor Who Appreciation Society

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The Doctor Who Appreciation Society (DWAS) was founded by a group of London students in 1976, focused around the fanzine Tardis.

The society currently produces a monthly magazine, Celestial Toyroom, hosts conventions, organises a network of local groups, and provides discounts to members for Doctor Who-related merchandise.

For many years, Celestial Toyroom was a relatively brief monthly newsletter, with the quarterly Tardis being the main source of articles and letters. An annual convention, Panopticon, was supplemented by smaller events such as Interfaces and DWASocials.

Membership doubled following the BBC's 20th anniversary celebration at Longleat in 1983, but declined in later years, not least due to the evolution of Marvel's Doctor Who Magazine into a more fan-based publication. Rival services also appeared, such as DWB for monthly news, The Whonatics or the MLG for local gatherings, and Phoenix for conventions.

Failure to register for VAT led to a crisis in the Society's finances in the late 1980s, but the DWAS recovered from this to survive as the core grouping of Doctor Who fandom in the UK. A separate company, Space Rocket Ltd, now administers commercial affairs such as conventions and sales, on behalf of the DWAS.

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