User:SOTO/Forum Archive/The Panopticon/@comment-31010985-20180428165444/@comment-28349479-20200108125153

(For what it's worth, there is some evidence that the Cushing films are in another universe specifically: namely, in the publisher's summary of Short Trips and Side Steps, the stories are described as following the Doctor and his companions as they


 * take short trips around the universe — perhaps to a Wild West overrun with dinosaurs, to a land where robot rabbits roam, or a planet where the Doctor must marry or die — and then


 * step sideways into other universes — worlds full of song and dance; planets made entirely of sweets; lands of movie monsters; places where the Doctor as we know him may never have existed at all...

It seems certain that Dr Who and the House on Oldark Moor is set in a place where the Doctor as we knew him may never have existed at all, which would mean it's a "step sideways into other universes".

That said, this publisher's summary breaks the fourth wall by speaking directly to the reader, so its utility for in-universe validity is minimal at best.)

I'm still in favor of covering the films (and that short story) as another account on First Doctor, just as we do with the equally-divergent Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks; then, on a page quite similar to Dr. Who (Dr. Who and the Daleks) (but obviously named differently), the in-universe existence of a fictional "Dr. Who" would be presented, perhaps alongside a brief in-universe recap of the Cushing stories and Dr. Who (Land of Fiction), and featuring extensive extensive behind-the-scenes discussion.

That said, beyond this one specific case, I think User:OttselSpy25's proposal is absolutely the best way for the wiki to cover other "divergent canons" like Scream of the Shalka, and I 100% stand by my comments at Thread:231746. If this is the best place to pass that into precedent, I say we move forward with it.