One of the first things that someone new to H2G2 will do is search for entries about their interests, whether they be sport, music, books or film and television related. As soon as that happens, people start replying to the articles on their interests, and soon a group of people with similar interests emerge, and soon fan clubs form. Often it is through belonging to these fan clubs that the rest of H2G2 is explored, and so fan clubs have become an important social part of H2G2 Life. Here we will be looking at just two of these clubs, based on some of my interests. The first is:

At first glance it appears quite bare - there are no flashy pictures or links to other Beatles sites on H2G2, just a few simple worsd, titles of Beatles songs, and the conversations listed below. In many ways it reminds us that if people share a common interest, they don't need that, just somewhere where they can talk about what they enjoy, which is what the Church of the Beatles offers.

So, how did the Church of the Beatles begin? Well, it was the creation of two people - €ngländer and Dragonfly. Here is how €ngländer described it's creation.

"I think quite a lot of people around this place know what a fan Dragonfly is of said group... It must have come from one of the conversations with her... I'm a Beatles fan all right (in the old "are you Stones or Beatles fan" argument) But never quite as intensively interested as one might think.

I started with the churchservices thread. I like trying to write postings in imposibly hightone language... But I get bored of it after a time... It´s difficult to keep up the pace. Next thing was, that on the same day I first read of George Harison suffering from cancer... so that had to be put in somewhere, and then there´s been the others adding their bits and pieces...

I tried to resign, but it´s hard to do so, if you get Dragonfly posting smileys.

Some of the threads are still strictly Beatles concerend. Some have somehow taken other directions... But that's not unusual
isn't it???

No, that certainly isn't unusual.. One of the most frequently asked questions is why, considering John Lennon's infamous "More popular than Jesus" statement, is the fan club called a church? Dragonfly explains.

I bet the church came around by me possibly saying I used to practically worship the fab four... There are SOOOO many clubs for everything around h2g2, and a bazillion kinds of clubs/organizations just for the BEATLES... it's neato to have a church.

I thought about the Tabernacle of Tomorrow Never Knows, but that's a bit much...

The H2G2 Doctor Who Group is more organised - it's aim: to have discussions about different parts of the Doctor Who world, and will create many different pages about Doctor Who.

So, how was the club formed? Its founder, Spook explains:

I started the group because as I travelled around h2g2, I saw many people who put that they liked Doctor Who on their personal pages. I then went and looked to see if there was a Doctor Who Group where I could chat to these type of people about Doctor Who. After finding that there was none, I decided to create one.

So, how far has the Doctor Who Group got towards its aim? Although there are ever-popular conversations on the Doctor Who Group from everything from favourite Doctors and episodes to the books, audios etc. about Doctor Who, there is strangely few links to related articles¹. There are links to the Doctor Who Episode Guide², Greebo's Big One, and the Doctor Who Quiz, but misses out the approved articles and even a link to Spook's own University Project on Doctor Who. Fans new to H2G2 are required to find these themselves.

Despite this, the Doctor Who Group is a good place to be if you enjoy discussing Doctor Who and know your Sontaran from your Sonic Screwdriver.

This Week's Competition

As a link between the two clubs, can you tell me in which episode³ of Doctor Who were the Beatles seen, and what song did they sing?

Post your answers below - the first to get both correct will be mentioned in the next edition of Hiking Through H2G2

The Post 24.1.2002