Tardis talk:Canon policy


 * Telos Novellas
 * The Missing Adventures (i.e. The Missing Series)
 * The Licensed Comic Strips
 * Doctor Who Annuals
 * Other Audio products, e.g. Pescatons, Slipback
 * Prose fiction published in DOCTOR WHO MAGAZINE ("Brief Encounters", serials, Preludes, others)
 * FASA game books
 * The Ultimate Adventure and Seven Keys to Doomsday stage plays

Non-Doctor Who Stories
(Possibly also in Italics but does anyone have any other suggestions?)


 * Bernice Summerfield Range
 * Sarah Jane Smith
 * Other Companions
 * Faction Paradox
 * Dalek Empire
 * Kaldor City
 * Miranda
 * Gallifrey Audios
 * Time Hunters
 * UNIT
 * Spin-off prose stories in DOCTOR WHO MAGAZINE
 * Spin-off comics in same
 * 1960's DALEKS comic
 * K-9 Annual
 * Dalek Annuals
 * Dalek guidebooks

Not in the main body

 * Campaign
 * Dimensions In Time
 * The Peter Cushing Movies
 * "Scream of the Shalka"
 * The Infinity Doctors
 * Perfect Timing
 * Missing Pieces
 * The Various Other Charity Anthologies licensed to be produced
 * "Brief Encounters"
 * The Unbound Series from Big Finish
 * BBV Productions

Excluded

 * Fan Fiction not licenced, e.g. online fiction or anything produced in Fanzines no matter how well written

This will hopefully allow for the inclusion of more info on the site, keeping it as wide a policy as possible but keeping those stories not commonly accepted as canon separate

--195.93.21.34 04:19, 23 Mar 2005 (EST)

Hmm... the general idea is a good one (only TV-based info in roman type in the main body of the article, "expanded universe" info in italics in the main body, more marginally linked stories as notes in a separate section). I question the current placement of the comic strips: while the early comics are pretty dire and Doctor Who in name only, the Doctor Who Magazine strips are often as good as Doctor Who in any other medium. (For example, there's a good argument to be made that the DWM version of the Eighth Doctor is as legitimate as the one in the BBC Books.)

Is there any harm in putting the licensed comics in the same category as the novels and audios? Aside from the entry on the Zarbi, I doubt that John and Gillian would show up on too many pages. :) --Josiah Rowe 23:07, 25 Mar 2005 (EST)

P.S. Just a persnickety pet peeve: the accepted range of stories comprising the Doctor Who universe is its canon. The only time that I can recall a cannon appearing on Doctor Who is in "The Smugglers", and maybe "Enlightenment". :^) --Josiah Rowe 23:07, 25 Mar 2005 (EST)

I think we should be careful about making decisions about what is and isn't canon based on our perceived quality of the story in question. In fact I personally don't think we should be making any decisions about canon at all. Unlike, for example, Star Wars where there is more-or-less a consensus on what is and isn't canon, Doctor Who canon is very much open to personal interpretation. As archivists here I feel our 'duty' (for want of a better word) is to record and make available information about the fictional world of Doctor Who in all its forms. As long as we clearly indicate the source of each bit of information then we can leave it up to the user to decide what they include in their own personal canon. So, I very much hope that, ultimately, we will find lots of information here about John and Gillian and their meetings with Santa Clause and the Trods etc. --Mantrid 01:43, 26 Mar 2005 (EST)

Just another thought... Shouldn't the Doctor Who Annual stories also be included somewhere? --Mantrid 01:45, 26 Mar 2005 (EST)


 * Both excellent points, Mantrid. There should be room here for every form of Doctor Who, somewhere.  The only question is how we demarcate those forms.


 * And I think the Annuals should be in with the rest of the licensed fiction.--Josiah Rowe 02:33, 26 Mar 2005 (EST)

I agree that every aspect of Doctor Who should be covered here somewhere on this site, the purpose of the list was just to set aside sources which were likely to openly contradict a lot of the other material (although i suppose having BBC Books and Big Finish Audio in the same section is likely to cause nearly as many problems).

I suppose the inclusion of the comics in the other section was based mainly on the fact that I dont really read the comics, but if everyone wants to move them into the main body I dont have any objections.

The reason for the Annuals not being included was not a reflection on quality or anything else I'd just completely forgoten about them.

--Amxitsa 04:47, 26 Mar 2005 (EST)

On thinking about this further, I'm wondering if the Star Wars model of 'absolute canon' and 'expanded universe' might be the best way to handle the canon issues. What I'm slightly concerned about is that we shouldn't make it too complicated to work out what should be in italics and what shouldn't etc and having too many different levels of 'canon'. We're expecting (hoping!) that a great many people will contribute to this wiki and the best way to avoid errors in the presentation is to keep the style guide as simple as possible. So, maybe we should just have each entry (where applicable) split in to two sections - 'TV Canon' and 'Expanded Universe'? That way there would be a clear and simple separation and no need to have to remember the signifincance of italicised (or not) titles.

I'm sure that just about everyone would agree that the definition of 'absolute canon' would be all the broadcast TV stories, including the TV movie and K-9 and Company, but excluding The Curse of Fatal Death and Dimensions in Time (though I suppose Dimensions in Time is debatably canon - anyone care to argue for it?). --Mantrid 08:04, 26 Mar 2005 (EST)

One good reason for including the comics would be the influence they've had on the novels, Frobisher being the best example. The TV Comics are also worth a mention, particularly as the Season 6B theory had its germ not only in continuity issues raised in "The Three Doctors," "The Five Doctors," and "The Two Doctors," but also in a couple of strips published shortly after "The War Games" which had the Second Doctor briefly escaping his trial before being recaptured by the Time Lords.

Including the BBV and Doctor Who Unbound stories could still fit in with the Whoniverse POV of the site, since we know the TARDIS is capable of travel to other dimensions, universes, and realities -"backwards in time, forwards in time, and sideways in time," - so any articles on the Stranger, the various alternate Doctors, or Dr. Who (Cushing) could, like the Valeyard and the Inferno Earth Doctor, be treated as versions of the Doctor observed during excursions by Time Lords or other observers into other universes. --Freethinker1of1 09:45, 29 Mar 2005 (EST)

I am a bit confused, what do you mean by Main Body & Not in the Main Body? Is there any difference to the articles? I think we should cover everything in as much detail as possible and let others make their own mind up about what they regard as canon and non-canon. I also think that Dimensions in Time can be considered as canon because,as said before, the TARDIS can move into different realities and universes, so EastEnders could just be another dimension / reality. Therefore counting as canon.--MJP 15:09, 24 Jun 2005 (UTC)

What about other Doctor Who like In A Fix With Sontarans. I know most people would exclude it straight away but there is a 'sequel' to this story, Fixing a Hole from Short Trips: Past Tense? There is also The Ultimate Adventure stage play featuring Jon Pertwee, David Banks and Colin Baker as the Doctor? I know that before all Fan Fiction is excluded, but what about Time Rift (see Time Rift), as the character General Kramer who appears in it also appears in Vampire Science (EDA) so it is linked to the continuity? Also the webcasts Death Comes to Time, Real Time and Shada and is the game Destiny of the Doctors excluded or just not in the main body?--MJP 18:52, 24 Jun 2005 (UTC)


 * Personally, I'm for treating anything outside the television stories, audio adventures, and novels in the same way Memory Alpha handles the Mirror Universe characters - included, but with emphasis that the characters and events do not occur in the Whoniverse proper. Something extra in parentheses for the article title, such as Susan (Dalek movies) for the Susan portrayed by Roverta Tovey, for example.

--Freethinker1of1 22:48, 27 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I've put the comics and annuals in the "italics" section, as per discussion above. --Josiah Rowe 23:05, 29 Mar 2005 (EST)

I've previously raised the issue of the problems that will be caused by using italics for non-canon material (see 'Getting Off Track' above). Since then, Freethinker has suggested that we might split entries in to canon 'categories'. On thinking about this quite a bit, I think this is probably the best, clearest and most simple way forward. I would suggest that we have five categories:


 * TV Stories
 * Prose Stories
 * Audio Stories
 * Comic Strip Stories
 * Miscellaneous (for any other oddities that don’t fall in to the previous four).

See below for one way that this might be implemented. --Mantrid 18:31, 11 Jul 2005 (UTC)

How About This?
After studying Memory Alpha's canon policy, and doing a little thinking, I came up with this:

Types of articles
I. The Doctor Who Universe

These articles contain info derived from the stories, written from an "in-universe" perspective. Sub-types would be "The Television Series" and "The Expanded Universe." Expanded Universe would cover other media formats, but would be limited to those stories which have been professionally produced, commercially released, and sanctioned by the BBC. Articles about characters, planets and races which first appeared in the television series but also appeared in the expanded universe stories could have a special expanded universe section which would contain info derived from those stories, as the earlier proposed use of italics to identify such info is getting problematic. An example of how this would look has been posted at the Sandbox.

'''II. The Doctor Who Franchise'''

These are essentially "behind-the-scenes" articles about the stories, actors, directors, producers, other crew members.


 * This seems like a good idea to me.--MJP 18:53, 15 Jul 2005 (UTC)


 * Yes, I agree... I think the thinking behind this is a good idea. In fact, I've already created a category called 'Doctor Who Universe' to cover all fictional entries as if they are real. However, I'm not sure I liked the term 'Doctor Who Franchise'. Perhaps 'Doctor - Behind the Scenes' or 'Doctor Who Production' (or something like that) might be better? --Mantrid 17:16, 16 Jul 2005 (UTC)


 * How would this affect the episode pages?--MJP 12:52, 17 Jul 2005 (UTC)

--Freethinker1of1 10:02, 14 Jul 2005 (UTC)
 * Perhaps we should have two main types of articles. "Who Universe" - articles derived from the stories, written from an "in-universe" perspective, and "Who Franchise," behind-the-scenes articles on the stories, novels, etc. The Who Universe articles can be further divided into either two categories of the television stories and an "expanded universe" of story formats whose canon status is debatable, or divided into separate categories according to media format, though this latter may cause problems owing to so many characters and ideas crossing over from one format to another. In either case, stories outside the television series should still be limited to those stories professionally produced and sanctioned by the BBC. I'm putting a proposal on this on the talk page for canon policy.

I haven't been very active on this Wiki due to pressure of work. However, I have more time to devote to the project now and am keen to contributre. I completely agree with what Freethinker is saying above. Looking at the TV story pages so far and working on The Sirens of Time from the audio series, it does seem that there is far too much focus on the production aspects. Do we really need to list things like 'Duration', 'Location Filming', 'Cultural References' and 'Ratings'? I'd also question if it's necessary to list the production credits in so much detail. Perhaps these should be just limited to Director, Writer and Producer and left in the Info box? A few other points to consider: I hope you don't mind me giving my opinion, particularly as I've not been a very active contributor to date. I can see that a lot of work has already gone in to this Wiki and I certainly don't mean to denigrate anyone's efforts. But, sometimes a fresh pair of eyes... Finally, just to draw your attention to it, I've done some work on a proposed template for the audio series. Take a look at The Sirens of Time. Thanks for listening. --Mantrid 08:35, 9 Jul 2005 (UTC)
 * In my reworking of The Sirens of Time I've changed 'Bad Guys' to 'The Enemy' as this seemed a little less coloquial and more appropriate for a work of reference. However, I do wonder why there needs to be a separate sub-heading for this at all. Perhaps we could just include it in the info box along with 'Doctor' and 'Companion'?
 * Although the Previous and Next story links at the bottom of each story page are a nice idea, I do think they could become problematic in the future. The 'All Media' is a particularly difficult one to keep accurate. Even though good attemps have been made at it, the chronology of 'Doctor Who' is highly debatable and very much open to interpretation. What source is being used to decide what story follows another? Also, as new stories are being added all the time, the next and previous links could quickly become out of date and it would be a nightmare to keep updating them. I'd also question the value of Previous and Next links for the particular genre. The TV series may have run in chronological order but Big Finish and the Books don't. For example, the Next link for the audio story Phantasmagoria would take you to Whispers of Terror, the next published story in the Big Finish series but a completely different Doctor and era in the fictional universe. So, I suppose I'm saying, should these Previous and Next links be included at all (or perhaps just include them for the TV series)?
 * Finally, I have to raise the old subject of placing non-TV series (or non-canonical) information in italics. Using the Continuity section of An Unearthly Child as an example, there is no indication of why some parts of the text are in italics. Unless the reader knows that non-canonical information is in italics, it will have no meaning to them. Also, if we take the italics rule to its logical end, we will ultimately have entire entries in the Wiki written in italics. For example, I'd expect the entry on Bernice Summerfield to be quite a lengthy and detailed one, but as it's non-canonical it would ALL have to be in italics. I think some further thought on how canon and non-canon information is handled on this Wiki is required. I would suggest using the 'Expanded Universe' model. For example, the entry for Omega would detail all the information on the character given in The Three Doctors and Arc of Infinity and then below, under an 'Expanded Universe' sub-heading, information from all other sources (eg the audio drama Omega) could be given. The [http:/www.starwars.com starwars.com] databank works on a similar principle (see Boba Fett for an example).


 * If you go to www.drwhoguide.com/who.htm they have a good chronolgy of all media and it is given reasons why it is placed there on the individual pages. We could use that chronology.


 * Yes, there are several good chronologies on the net and elsewhere. However, they all rely on someone's personal opinion and interpretation. As a reference source I think this wiki has to stick to the facts as related in the TV show and other licenced material. It's not for us to speculate - or promote the speculations of others - here. In fact, by providing the facts we are actually providing information that will form the basis of such speculations.
 * --Mantrid 18:31, 11 Jul 2005 (UTC)

Outside Sources - Canon or Not Canon?
I've just completed a re-edit of The Power of the Daleks TV story page. I've introduced a 'Year' field in to the info box to indicate when the story is set. For The Tenth Planet I put 1986. For The Power of the Daleks I was tempted to put 2020 as this is the date suggested in Lance Parkin's A History of the Universe. However, as this date is never actually given on screen as part of the story, should we be presenting it as fact? It's tempting to adopt A History of the Universe as the authorative source for all dates that we use on this wiki, but, however well researched, a lot of the information is based on deduction and speculation. What do others think?

Similarly, I notice that Polly's last name has been given as 'Wright' in several instances throughout the wiki. However, as far as I am aware, this is based totally on sources outside of the TV series itself and is never given on screen. Should this really be accepted? (At the very least, I think we should note its source).

--Mantrid 09:06, 31 Jul 2005 (UTC)


 * Where exactly has 2020 come from? What research is the date based on? Also Polly's surname was never given on TV but has been adopted as canon in other media. You could use just Polly in the TV section of her page and say in the Expanded Universe section that her surname was given as Polly Wright, like the Master's name was Koschei or something in other media.--MJP 22:41, 6 Aug 2005 (UTC)


 * 2020 for "Power of the Daleks" is one of those dates that seems to be traditional though not explicily stated in the story. Others include 1909 for "Horror of Fang Rock" and 1492 for "Masque of Mandragora." A note of these traditional dates might be made in the appropriate articles for those stories. Parkins does make some good arguments for 2020 being the date for "Power of the Daleks," including the fact that it was included in press material when the story was first broadcast. Since I'm working on the Timeline pages, I may simply avoid controversy by listing the story on the page for the 21st century. The story at least seems to be set before the Daleks invaded Earth. --Freethinker1of1 08:04, 11 Aug 2005 (UTC)


 * if the story itself does not address it, just leave it. for all we know, it happens in the far far future after humans have forgotten Daleks. we just don't know.


 * though it can serve as a useful reference book as far as mentioning dates mentioned in canon Lance Parkin's AHistory (or the earlier versions like A History of the Universe does not, in itself, count as canon. --Stardizzy2 22:23, 8 February 2009 (UTC)

Hmm...a question...(this will be long :P)

I've got a metric ton of DW books - now out of the following list, which ones do we count as good for canonical use?


 * Timeframe (The illustrated history) by David J Howe. - this book treats anything up to and including Blood Heat as part of the ongoing whoniverse. (Good book if you can find it!) Just a straight story description flowing from one to the next with images. It's produced by Doctor Who Books in close conjuction with the BBC and writers and was a 30th anniversary special.


 * Companions by David J Howe and Mark Stammers - contains information on the companions of the doctor, most of it strictly Televised, but does contain Benny as well. It actually has the official BBC character casting outlines (character personalities, etc) included.


 * Doctor Who - The Sixties - contains information on creating each doctor's personality. (most of it is non-fiction stuff, so ignore that...)


 * David Banks' Cybermen. Obviously the genesis story can be taken or left, or included as an oddity, but if you want the history of the Cyber race - this is pretty much it. A lot of people take his history, including the various migrations as canon - do we?


 * Files Magazine spotlight on Doctor Who. This is actually a series of books by John Peel - they contain some "making of" stuff - but also a HUGE amount of synopses, motivations for characters, etc.

--Taleya 20:19, 19 Oct 2005 (UTC)

Merchandise
What about licensed merchandise like the Character Options 5" figure line? Everything in this line is subject to final approval by the BBC giving it some kind of quasi offical status.


 * There is no context for the merchandise to have canon, they are an object rather than a 'work'. Everything that is considered canon has content that can give the text context within the wider DW Universe. You can read a novel, watch a TV show, listen to an audio drama. A piece of merchandise, or specifically a figure is an object from a text, its meaning is given definition from its source text. --Tangerineduel 13:50, 1 February 2009 (UTC)

Licensed Characters and Creatures
What about works that license characters and creatures from Doctor Who authors that have previously appearing in the TV series? For instance Shakedown: The Return of the Sontarans and the new K-9 series? Azereal 13:21, 1 February 2009 (UTC)


 * That's noted in the third bullet point down under 'What is considered a Valid Resource?', (*All other Doctor Who spin-offs such as those produced by BBV Productions and Reeltime Pictures (i.e P.R.O.B.E., Auton Trilogy and Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans, Downtime)).
 * If you're asking in connection with the merchandising figures...well it's completely different. The characters, enemies etc in the spin-off media are presented in a text rather than outside of one, they are still presented within a context, rather than outside of one as the merchandise is. --Tangerineduel 13:04, 9 February 2009 (UTC)

The Stranger
Does TARDIS Index File consider The Stranger to be canon in the Doctor Who universe?--The Traveller 19:06, 16 February 2009 (UTC)


 * No, I don't think so. The Stranger was if anything 'Doctor Who by another name', telling stories thematically similar, but not the same or in the same universe as Doctor Who. If any of the stories need referring to in Doctor Who universe articles they need to be in the behind the scenes section. --Tangerineduel 10:15, 17 February 2009 (UTC)

Novelisations
I think it would be best if we adopted a policy that information in novelisations is canon so long as it doesn't contradict the TV story. So for example, the additional information in the Remembrance of the Daleks novelisation, such as the name of Davros' mothership, would be canon. I don't know of any information in a novelisation which contradicts the TV story, but that sort of thing would be non-canon.--The Traveller 18:06, 8 March 2009 (UTC)
 * There is Mindwarp (novelisation) that ends with Ycarnos as a pro-wrestler and Peri and his manager. But that's the exception. I've been reading some of the novelisations lately, and some have some notable changes (Doctor Who and the Sontaran Experiment, Logopolis (novelisation)) but nothing that causes a conflict with the larger continuity. Anyway, I think your policy is sound and second it. Monkey with a Gun 00:58, 10 March 2009 (UTC)


 * The big one that gets remembered is probably the origin of the Cybermen - in the novelisations they come from Telos (at least when Gerry Davies was paying attention), which confused early generations of fandom no end. Timrollpickering 18:04, 13 July 2009 (UTC)
 * I can think of a few other examples, too. The description of how regeneration works in Eric Saward's The Twin Dilemma, the fate of Ace in (IIRC) in Curse of Fenric, the continual references to the Doctor as "Doctor Who" in Doctor Who and the Zarbi, David Whittaker's Dr. Who and the Daleks which ignores An Unearthly Child and features "Susan English", and there was also a Third Doctor novel that featured a completely different introduction for Jo Grant. Those are only a few that come to mind. If a novelisation adds information that doesn't contradict the TV series (before or after the episode in question) I don't have a huge objection to it being referenced, but I would suggest it be referred to as "a possibly apocryphal account". That's the term I've used in a few articles. However the information should be weighed as to whether it adds anything to the in-universe article; if it doesn't, then it should instead be mentioned in the article on the book instead. 23skidoo 13:38, 31 July 2009 (UTC)


 * Currently novelisations are listed in the Not a Valid Resource section because: "Novelisations of broadcast television stories by Target Books and other sources as these often contain characters, dates, events, and settings not shown in the original television versions."
 * So perhaps novelisations can be moved to the 'Secondary Resource' section, meaning that it can support an article but not be the only source of information, with the clarifying note added that states information can only be added if it doesn't contradict the televised events (or something to that affect)? --Tangerineduel 12:51, 1 August 2009 (UTC)


 * Seems reasonable. I always think of the novelizations as being correct, until they contradict, in which case they're wrong. Go for it. -<Azes13 18:40, 1 August 2009 (UTC)
 * I also concur. Just in case you were wondering. Monkey with a Gun 03:05, 2 August 2009 (UTC)

I'm a little late to the party in replying, but I have no objection to them being considered "secondary sources". I think think, though, that just for the sake of interest discrepencies should be allowed to be referenced in articles provided wording such as "a possibly apocryphal account" or something less Biblical should be used. For example, it blows continuity out the door, but for the many who have never read the Mindwarp novelisation (and likely never will unless the Targets get reissued) reading that there's an account suggesting Peri became a pro wrestling manager could be quite interesting. 23skidoo 00:25, 31 August 2009 (UTC)

Character names derived from spin-off media
I just noticed that if you look for the article on First Doctor companion Vicki -- whose name is never mentioned on TV -- you see it listed as Vicki Pallister, since a PDA novel uses the name. If there's only a single, spin-off media source, and a relatively obscure one at that, that provides such an important piece of information, should that justify naming the article after that source? No TV story and to my knowledge only that one novel, ever used the Pallister name. So in effect it's as valid as "Susan English" is for Susan Foreman. Some Big Finish audio might contradict it for all we know (now they're bringing back early companions). It's not quite the same as Ace's "Dorothy McShane" which I believe is mentioned in multiple novels, or Melanie Bush who I believe is named thus by John Nathan Turner in one of his books, adding weight. Ditto Polly Lopez. But unless there are more sources for Vicki "Pallister", I don't know about that one. Thoughts? 23skidoo 00:25, 31 August 2009 (UTC)
 * I see your point, but there's also nothing that contradicts it... yet, at least. If a Big Finish or some other source does come up with another name, we can revisit it, but for now I think it would be okay. Monkey with a Gun 04:19, 31 August 2009 (UTC)

Deleting invalid articles
The last section of this policy article is rather unclear. Leaving actual page deletions for the admins after debate is fine. But when it's merely some of the information in a page that's a problem, the policy doesn't quite make sense. It says to take it to the discussion and then edit as appropriate, but it also says not to delete information with invalid sources unless it's obvious vandalism. So what if the original editor isn't keeping up with the discussion page or otherwise around to edit their own material? How long should you give them to reply -- a week? a month? three years? The way the policy is currently written, the only real way we can deal with invalid sources is simply to mention them as such on the discussion page while allowing the problem material itself to remain indefinitely, until errors get accepted as standard simply because they're never corrected. Bedawyn 21:06, December 24, 2009 (UTC)