Doctor Who universe


 * DWU redirects here. You may be looking for BFDWU, the prefix for the Doctor Who Unbound series.

The Doctor Who universe, or Whoniverse, is a term used by fans and, increasingly, the mainstream press. Much like the related term of canon its scope is somewhat debated by fans.

Generally speaking the Doctor Who universe is the shared fictional universe in which Doctor Who and all the spin-offs from Doctor Who take place. These include all the TV broadcast based spin-offs, video-only release spin-offs, prose and comic based spin-offs.

Concept
The BBC has never made a definitive pronouncement on the concept of "canon" for Doctor Who, this is notable because in order to build a "fictional universe" you need to have an established list of stories that act as the building blocks for that universe.

The Doctor Who universe exists as two concepts one on this wiki (see our canon policy for more information) and a second more theoretical concept that can, much like canon be what you as a consumer of Doctor Who related media choose to include.

History
The term "Whoniverse" dates at least as far back as Peter Haining's 1983 reference book, Doctor Who: A Celebration. At that time, the Whoniverse had a very broad meaning, which included not just the setting of Doctor Who stories, but everything about the series, including behind-the-scenes information and fandom itself.

"Whoniverse" gradually became a more specific term. Initially it served to indicate that Doctor Who stories told in other media were part of the same universe as those told on television. This came to have greater importance in the media and to new fans who were approaching Doctor Who through TV-based series such as Torchwood, The Sarah Jane Adventures and ''K9’’.

One shared universe
With the return of Doctor Who on television in 2005 it began to include references to past stories, tying together various series of various media together into a single universe. Series 1 of Doctor Who included references to the planet Lucifer, kronkburgers and Justicia, and Series 5 revealed that Winston Churchill had met the Doctor before Victory of the Daleks, while the Slitheen-Blathereen family, descendants of the Blathereen, appeared in Series 3 of The Sarah Jane Adventures, all hinting that non-televised Doctor Who stories might take place in the "official" Doctor Who universe.

Martha Jones's employment by UNIT was first mentioned in the Torchwood episode Reset, in which she appeared and The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky had a semi-sequel in the form of the The Sarah Jane Adventures story The Last Sontaran. The Stolen Earth/Journey's End brought together cast members of three series. A number of more casual mentions have also taken place, such as Sarah Jane suggesting "Harry" and "Alistair" as possible names for Luke in Invasion of the Bane. Likewise, Sarah's description of the origins of her coulrophobia in SJA: The Day of the Clown returns the viewer to the setting of A Girl's Best Friend. While such "crossovers" can be narratively insignificant, they nevertheless reinforce the notion of a single, shared universe.

Other universes

 * See Canon