The social alien: otherness and identity exploration within Doctor Who fandom

This research asks how a fan develops and performs their identity and proposes a screenwriting practice methodology as an aca-fan researcher. The creative artefact, a television bible for Into the Whoniverse features episode overviews through which the research is demonstrated and generated. Through screenwriting methodology, concepts of fandom are investigated and demonstrated in a way that traditional theses are unable to articulate. Critical chapters are combined with the creative artefact to examine world building, characterisation and story arcs and explore the development of fan identity and how otherness through fandom is expressed. The author’s lived experience of a disabled aca-fan adds a layer of authenticity to the exploration of fandom and disability. The dual approach as an aca-fan researching Doctor Who fan identity formation via screenwriting methodology, with a focus on world building, means that the research informs the creative artefact while at the same time the creative artefact informs the research. The contribution to practice involves humanising the ideas and concepts of disability, asexuality and otherness through characterisation and world building in screenwriting practice.