Forum:Clarification on what a pseudo-historical is.

I'm probably over-thinking things, but, for the most part DW: The Eleventh Hour is set in primarily set in 1996 and 2008. As 2008 is "the past" relative to the airdate (even though I'm sure it's intended to be a contemporary story), it would theoretically be a "pseudo-historical story", by the definition of the page. Is it just me or is that definition in use too general? Does it really apply to anything prior to the year of airing or is it more than that? -- Tybort (talk page) 20:59, July 26, 2011 (UTC)

There's a good deal in what you say, although I suspect you are probably overthinking it. When I was a kid studying history and current events in the early 1960s, history ended with World War Two. Current events began immediately afterwards. Is 1996 contemporary? No, but given the sort of story that WHO covers, what with the UNIT Dating controversy, it is semi-contemporary. What about THE IMPOSSIBLE ASTRONAUT/DAY OF THE MOON? Not so much contemporary, more historical. What about the events of the Second World War? Want to ask my father, who's a WWII veteran? DALEKS IN MANHATTAN?

Still it might help to consider the concepts of 'contemporary" and "semi-contemporary" in the defining article. Boblipton 21:25, July 26, 2011 (UTC)

Not sure what you're trying to get at with the UNIT dating controversy. From what I gather, the only story of that era that MAY be set in the past was The Web of Fear. Otherwise they're either contemporary or near-future. Or both somehow.

Also, obviously I'm discounting stories made in the 1960s, but set prior to "our" present day. Sorry if my wording was a bit confusing. I'm pretty sure (at least by their airdates) that the two specific examples you gave would be historical to a 2000s/2010s audience. -- Tybort (talk page) 21:53, July 26, 2011 (UTC)

My apologies for lack of clarity. I'll try again. A historical event, broadly speaking, is one that occurred before the referent's birth. The events of 1969 are not a matter of history to me, they're things that happened in my own lifetime. Likewise, my father, should he watch DALEKS IN MANHATTAN might well have opinions on the matter based on his experiences in New York in 1930, when he was thirteen. He might concede that changes in society might push it into the classification of a historical -- or in the case of DR WHO, a pseudo-historical -- story, but those events are just as contemporary as he is. Boblipton 22:00, July 26, 2011 (UTC)