Tardis:Sandbox

To use the sandbox, click on edit, scroll down to find where to make your changes, and click Save page when you are finished.

The sandbox is for editing experiments only. Feel free to try out your skills at formatting here, where no one will criticize your edits. Note that content added here will not stay permanently.

Tentative revised format for television story entries
(This is an attempt at a tutorial for writing entries for television stories. If you have any comments or suggestions, please put them on the discussion page. Please do not make changes to this rough draft! Instead, tell me what changes you think should be made on the discussion page. Thank you.)

This is a general outline and tutorial on the style for adding entries to the wiki on stories in both the original and current series of Doctor Who. Note that this is only a guideline, and you should only attempt to enter information that you know, and not feel obligated to fill in every section.

At the very least, an article should have a basic behind-the-scenes description of the story and basic synopsis (see below), the correct templates (see below), an image from the story and a cast list. Please do not attempt to do a television story article if you are unable to provide these. Please also, if you do not have the necessary information or time to complete any of the other headings or sub-headings listed below, it is far better to simply leave them out all together than to leave them empty or place such phrases as, "To be added" underneath. Just do the basics mentioned above if you can, then make a note on the discussion page of what other things need to be added. By the very nature of a wiki, someone will eventually come along to complete those parts. No one here is expected to go it alone.

A good example of how a television story article should look can be found here. Yet another can be found here.


 * First comes the infobox. The infobox summarizes the most basic information on each story for quick and easy reference. Simply insert the template for this item in the page, then fill in the information.


 * The infobox is followed by a basic behind-the-scenes description of the story, i.e. it was the nth story of Season N. This is the first item of actual text in the article, and will appear to the left of the infobox:

The Tenth Planet was the second story in the fourth season of Doctor Who. It was the first story to feature the Cybermen and the last to star William Hartnell as the Doctor. The adventure would conclude with the the Doctor transforming in to a new, younger body.

Note:There is no need for section headers for either the infobox or the opening description.

Synopsis

 * The Synopsis should be a one or two paragraph summation of the story, the sort one might find in a television guide or catalog listing. An example can be found here.

Plot

 * The Plot is a more detailed summary of the story, ideally illustrated with images from the story, if available. (Please review our copyright and image policies before uploading and inserting images.) For stories in the original 1963-1989 series, these should be divided up into the individual episodes, with sub-headings for each. Stories from the new 2005- series do not need this division. For two-part stories in the new series, i.e. "The Empty Child" and "The Doctor Dances" each part has its own page and so should be summarized separately. For an example of how a completed plot should look, click here."

Cast

 * The Cast is a list of the actors who appeared in the story. Preferrably these should be listed in the format of "Character - Actor," as this is the way the credits in the actual television programme list them. They should be listed in two columns for easier reading. The actor playing the Doctor should always be listed first, followed by the actor(s) playing the Doctor's companion(s), the actor(s) playing the Doctor's formally named or titled enemy(ies), and finally the supporting characters.

Characters should be listed according to the credits in the transmitted version of the story. However, if a character is referred to by name in the dialogue of the story, but is given no name in the credits, or they are referred to with a first name when only a surname is given in the credits, they may still be listed according to the originally transmitted credits, but the article the character role links to will have the name given in dialogue. For example, the character played by Beatrix Lehmann in "The Stones of Blood" would be listed in the credits as "Professor Rumford," but clicking on "Professor Rumford" would direct you to the article titled, "Amelia Rumford," as this was the character's full name given in the story's dialogue. This is in keeping with naming principles.

Uncredited performers, if known, should be listed last, with "uncredited" placed in parathenses next to the part they played. If several actors played the same unnamed role, such as "Dalek," "Cyberman," or "Thal," it is enough to simply list that part once and list all the performers who played that role beside it, separated by commas. Again, this makes for easier reading.

Production Crew

 * The Production Crew should be listed in the format of "Crew Position - Name." They should also be listed in two columns for easier reading. Traditionally, the script editor, director, and series producer have been listed last in the series' credits and ideally this convention should be followed in the articles. As with the cast, uncredited persons should be listed with "uncredited" in parentheses next to the role they played, and if several persons filled the same role, that role should be listed only once, with the persons' names listed beside it, separated by commas.