Forum:Deleted Scenes and Rule 4 By Proxy

Introduction
"Oh, Davros, I am far more than just another Time Lord."

- Seventh Doctor, thing he never actually said.

Many moons ago, we codified into T:VS the concept of "Rule 4 By Proxy." The rule, relatively new compared to others, states that even when a stories intention of being in the Doctor Who universe is dubious or disputed, having a future story reference these events is enough to bring a story out of the INVALID section of the website. So, for instance, PROSE: Storm in a Tikka is a sequel to TV: Dimensions in Time and a prequel to TV: Search Out Space, so we now consider all three stories valid.

Since then, we have had numerous interesting discussions about the lengths that this rule goes to, how small or big a reference has to be to apply, and so on. Well, today we're here to discuss perhaps one of the most controversial topics.

Since 2008, we have had a thoroughly-followed rule that Deleted scenes can not be valid on the site. This dates back to Forum:Are deleted scenes canon?, where it was ultimately judged that as deleted scenes were removed from the final product, they were not intended to be canon.

Oh, sorry.

-it was ultimately judged that as Deleted scenes were removed from the final product, they were not intended to be set inside the Doctor Who Universe. Additionally, User:Tangerineduel argued, and then ruled, that deleted scenes should not be considered valid unless they are featured in an extended "special edition" of an episode.

Now, surprisingly, I am not here to unravel this argument, and although I do disagree with the Admins of Old about topics like What defines something being a deleted scene and Do reconstructions of unfinished material count as them being completed, I generally do not think we should widely validate every deleted scene included on a DVD or VHS.

Instead, today's topic is how we deal with things we have deemed "deleted scenes," and their relation to a theoretical and non theoretical Rule 4 By Proxy argument.

This is possible because most DVD releases of deleted scenes sort them into groups, and thus give titles for all the segments. And the argument that's been given in T:TF is that some of these "deleted sequences" should be given pages and then made valid, on the justification that future stories reference them.

There are a few examples of this I've come up with to help everyone understand the idea here.