Arnold Grimsbottom

Arnold Grimsbottom was a Doctor Who fan who watched the broadcast of the first episode on 23 November 1963, after which he argued with his brother over the significance of the policeman in the first scene, who Arnold believed to actually be central to the plot.

He decided to put this thought to paper by creating the show's first first fanzine, titled That Police Man in Episode One is the Main Character, I'm Sure of It! Because he used Gestetner stencil printing, however, the ink took until 1979 to dry. Finally ready to announce it as the first ongoing publication dedicated to Doctor Who, he was irritated to find that he had already been beaten by the publication of issue 1 of Doctor Who Weekly. He claimed "it [would] never last". (NOTVALID: The Secret History of Life Before Doctor Who Magazine!)