Forum:Inclusion debate: Death Comes to Time

Death Comes to Time is sometimes regarded as being out of mainstream continuity. I think some of our pages indicate this. I know I personally don't give it much credence. But I can't think of any argument which would cause us to exclude it from our list of valid in-universe sources.

Just to formally get this one out of the way, does anyone know of any valid reason why this story shouldn't be considered valid? I know that the creators have declared The Minister for Chance sequel series to be set outside the DWU, but can anyone point to a statement from the BBC or the writers which indicates any valid, out-of-universe reason to exclude Death Comes to Time? 15:46: Sat 26 May 2012


 * I think that the lack of replies to this topic indicates that nobody really wants DCTT to be considered canonical, but nobody else can think of a good out-of-universe reason to exclude it either. —Josiah Rowe talk to me 05:49, May 30, 2012 (UTC)

I think the lack of replies indicates that few people have an opinion they wish to air. Not quite the same thing. Silence indicates that no one is talking, not that no one is thinking. Boblipton talk to me 13:20, May 30, 2012 (UTC)


 * It's valid, we should include it.
 * I can't see how it contains any more controversial material than anything else that is in any of the ranges. --Tangerineduel / talk 14:02, May 30, 2012 (UTC)
 * Nooooo, nothing controversial at all. Other than the fairly explicit death of the Doctor in his seventh incarnation, of course. Be fair, TD, it does postulate something that no other story has ever done, and this is the reason many fans do have a problem with it. But again, inclusion debates aren't about the narrative merits of the story, but rather any out-of-universe clues that the producers didn't think the story within the bounds of the normal DWU.   18:56: Fri 01 Jun 2012


 * Well, it could be argued that the simple act of creating a television series in 2005 in which the Doctor, now in his ninth incarnation, was not killed in his seventh incarnation (and in which the eighth incarnation has been acknowledged on-screen) is a statement that the producers aren't following on from DCTT in narrative terms. —Josiah Rowe talk to me 00:38, June 2, 2012 (UTC)
 * Now that's an interesting line of thought. I hadn't really considered that RTD pushed this thing "off the farm" simply by airing Rose.  But really that is the truth.  This should be gone for exactly the same reasons as Shalka.


 * On the other hand, maybe we don't want to set he precedent that implication of a new producer's actions can be used to DQ a previous story. So forget the new series for a moment.  Does the fact that the producers of DCTT released a show in 2001 that killed the Doctor in his seventh body — when the TVM, the RT comic strips, about half the DWM comic strips, a lot of the EDAs, the NA transition to the Eighth Doctor, and the first season of Eighth Doctor audios had already been released — automatically place this thing outside our fences?


 * Does the simple fact that they killed of what was, even at the time, a past Doctor turn it automatically into a "what if" story? I think if they could have made it with McGann, they probably would've, right?  Isn't the behind-the-scenes reality of not using McGann what marginalises this story?   16:49: Sat 02 Jun 2012