Forum:BBC-produced shows and episodes that make extensive use of DWU elements

Introduction
I'm not good at doing these long-winded introductions, so I’mma just cut to the chase:

We already have pages for a small number of works that would otherwise just go under Cultural references to the Doctor Who universe if it weren't for the fact that they just so happen to be BBC-produced. Specifically, things like Extras: The Special, or The Silurian Disruption, or that one, really old Lenny Henry sketch.

With this in mind, there are some other things we don't cover that I think may very well qualify for the same reasons.

Let's start with these two:


 * The Vicar in White: Final (regular) episode of The Vicar of Dibley, in which our lovely titular character, Dawn French's Geraldine Granger, finally finds the love of her life and ties the knot, in a ceremony in which Doctor Who plays a pretty big role. Geraldine's airheaded verger and best friend, Alice, dresses up in, what she explicitly describes as "the Doctor, as portrayed by the actor David Tennant", complete with bridesmaids dressed up as - what else? - Daleks.


 * Untitled and Untitled (or perhaps just one combined Untitled): Two episodes of EastEnders that were broadcast circa February 2008. These two episodes are notable in that a Doctor Who convention, or event of some kind, is the backdrop to a storyline in which Stacey Slater aims for a reconciliation with estranged husband Bradley Branning. You can read more about these episodes at EastEnders (series).

What do you think? And are there others that may qualify? WaltK ☎  20:54, 30 June 2023 (UTC)

Discussion
I don't know. Personally I think how we cover the two highlighted segments is probably right. In cases where Doctor Who is licensed but they're just depicting fans of the show, discussing the instance as a pop-culture reference is your best bet. I don't think we would gain anything from allowing non-valid coverage of Ted 2, even if the Dalek cameos in the background of the Comic Con are totally licensed.

When it comes to what we do cover that might otherwise just go on the parody list... My personal opinion is that if something is included on an official Doctor Who VHS or DVD, we basically have to have a page on it. Not to mention that some sketches, like Lenny Henry, have enormous historical importance. Extras is extremely important itself for showing David Tennant in a fictional episode of the show, something totally worth documenting by itself.

I'd thusly be much more sympathetic about other BBC productions where "the Doctor" shows up in-character, or something like that. Something like the Channel 4 series Chelmsford 123, where the TARDIS appears and then vanished in the background of a scene (although obviously this example is probably not licensed). But if it's just, "Oh well the BBC allowed the Big Bang Theory to show the TARDIS" I don't see what we gain by covering that outside of a blurb. OS25🤙☎️ 22:31, 30 June 2023 (UTC)


 * I don't feel like the reason we cover skits or the ilk on this Wiki because they're necessarily BBC produced, but moreso that they're licensed. But the commonality between the ones we cover currently is that they depict some semblance of in-universe events, however parodical or unrealistic.


 * I don't think this Wiki has quite figured out how to cover non-DWU television series that licensed out DWU elements but only uses them in a fictional in-universe way. This type of story is more of a broad range than just the BBC produced material as outlined above, as it also extends to Ted 2 of all things. (FYI that movie has licensed a Dalek, but it's explicitly a costume at a comic con.)


 * I feel we need a better way to cover these types of stories, as valid or invalid coverage well lead to extraordinarily tangential information being on the Wiki; a page for Geraldine Granger may be reasonable enough but when it also means we have pages for Dr. Ed Danzer it kinda becomes ludicrous because a movie featured a Dalek for less than thirty seconds of screen time.


 * Note that if the licensed usage of elements is portrayed as "real" in-universe, then I don't have objections to such obscure pages, but I feel the subjects being depicted as fictional in-universe is just one step removed from what I feel deserves full coverage.


 * I have mused about creating merchandise type pages for such stories, but haven't done anything about it yet as I feel it needs discussion.


 * I'm not sure this thread is best equipped for such a discussion, as it is broader than just BBC produced material and I don't think invalid or valid coverage is best for these sources (although I'm not shut off from a compelling counterargument). 22:59, 30 June 2023 (UTC)


 * I can't say I agree that it's a "bad thing" that tangential information is on the wiki, in fact I strongly disagree. Covering content which we do cover to any extent really has nothing to do with the topic at hand.


 * I stand by the fact that we don't really gain anything by covering random licensed stories where Doctor Who is presented as a 1:1 copy of itself as a TV series. We gain something, however random it might seem, from Seventh Doctor (The Lenny Henry Show). I don't understand what we'd gain from articles on all of the characters in Queer as Folk just because the K9 prop showed up one time. OS25🤙☎️ 23:34, 30 June 2023 (UTC)