Tapezines
were quite a phenomenon in Doctor Who fandom in the 1980s and
1990s. A natural
progression from printed fanzines, which had been produced in
celebration of the series since the mid-1960s, tapezines fell somewhere
between audiobooks and radio broadcasts. Many consisted of
articles that were spoken rather than appearing in print, while others
exploited the audio medium to its full potential, including dramas,
comedy sketches, and musical items.
The first known Doctor Who tapezine
was called, simply, Dr. Who: Tapezine and was issued in May 1983. The
one-hour cassette was produced by David J. Howe, who now runs
Telos Publishing, a successful company specialising in original fiction and
reference works based on Doctor Who and other series. Dr. Who: Tapezine
could be obtained by members of the Doctor Who Appreciation Society for
free - they just had to send a C-60 cassette and a stamped addressed
envelope to the production address.
The idea caught on - although Dr. Who: Tapezine
itself did not return for a second issue - and before long, there were
several Doctor Who tapezines on the market, such as Zero Room
Audiozine,
WOTAN, The Logopolitan, UNIT Tapezine, CVE Tapezine,
Sonic Waves, The Master Tape and Tranquil Repose, competing for
listeners. It was actually a very friendly rivalry, with tapezine
producers often contributing material to the audio productions of
others.
Who’s Listening is essentially
a history of the Doctor Who tapezine - now something of a dead
art, replaced by podcasts just as fanzines have been superceded by
websites. Within these pages, visitors will learn of many of the
tapezines that were produced in Great Britain and around the world.
You'll see covers, photos, read the opinions and memories of those who produced and
listened to tapezines, and, where possible, hear examples of the audio
productions under discussion.
This site's producers, Alan Hayes and Nick Goodman, have
first hand experience of creating tapezines, having produced
Sonic Waves and Rayphase Shift respectively. These were both
popular tapezines of their time.
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