Forum:Season 6B

A few pages on this wiki refer to a supposed season in beteween seasons 6 and 7, known as season 6B. Was this ever actually reffered to in canon. The article on The War Games contradicts itself, saying that it is a fan theory in 1 part of the article, but claiming that the episode leads into season 6B in another part. The article on the Second Doctor refers to season 6B, referencing the Deadly Assassin. The closest thing to a reference I can find to this in the Deadly Assassin, is the statement that the "sentence was subsequently remmitted at the intercession of the CIA," although it is more likely that this statement is simply reffering to The Three Doctors. Is there actually an episode that states that season 6B exists, or is it merely a fan theory?Icecreamdif 18:38, October 10, 2010 (UTC)

Not really a fan theory but an idea proposed and expanded upon by Terrance Dicks as far as i understand it. The Multi Doctor stories with the second doctor all show him with the full knowledge of what happened to his incarnation with knowledge of what happened to his companions off screen. World Game is a story set in 6B and links the multi doctor stories into it. Revanvolatrelundar 18:50, October 10, 2010 (UTC)

I don't know about World Game, but the multi-doctor stories don't seem to support this. The Three Doctors implied that the Second Doctor was pulled out of time before The War Games, and the trial and exile weren't mentioned at all, except by the Third Doctor. In The Five Doctors, the Second Doctor did realize that Jamie, and Zoe weren't really their because they had their memories erased, but if you think about it, that doesn't make sense even if season 6B is real. Using the logic that the Doctor used to explain why Jamie and Zoe can't be there, he himself can't be there, because he has regerated. He was pulled out of time by a time-scoop from before he regenerated, and Jamie and Zoe could just as easily have been pulled out of time before they were returned to there own times. Since the Doctor's comment doesn't make since anyway, the statement can't really be used to justify anything. In the Two Doctors, the Doctor and Jamie talk about Timelords, even though Jamie hadn't been told about the Timelords until the War Games. However, Jamie wouldn't be able to appear in season 6B. In the War Games, we see that he was returned home, without his memory, immediately after the Doctor's trial, so the Two Doctors couldn't have taken place during season 6B.Icecreamdif 19:11, October 10, 2010 (UTC)


 * Exile on Earth and Season 6B work to describe an in-universe and out of universe description of these events. --Tangerineduel 12:42, October 11, 2010 (UTC)

Was there any part of Deadly Assassin that I missed that mentioned season 6B. If not then the citation on the 2nd doctor's page should be changed to a story that does describe it. If season 6B is real, than the War Games' page, and possibly some other pages, should be changed to reflect that.Icecreamdif 21:28, October 11, 2010 (UTC)


 * No story mentions 6B. But the two articles that I cited above show how things fit together. Nothing needs to be changed to state '6B'. Anywhere 6B is mentioned it's mentioned as a theory, it's just one of those theories that has some traction and has some sources backing it up. --Tangerineduel 13:42, October 12, 2010 (UTC)

Then there are a few pages that state season 6B as fact that need to be changed.Icecreamdif 00:52, October 13, 2010 (UTC)

Revived discussion
Um, I'm opposed to removing references to season 6B on story pages. Story pages are real world and therefore can use real world terms. After all, no one's saying we can't use "season 12" on a story page. The fact that the words "season 6b" don't appear in a narrative is irrelevant; the concept certainly is canonical. We have the whole run of TVC stories featuring Two on Earth, in definite exile from the Time Lords but not yet regenerated. We see the events immediately pre-Spearhead when the second part of his sentence, regeneration, is finally meted out. Also, World Game does everything but mention the words "season 6B". It very neatly lays out all the precepts of Season 6b. The words "Season 6b" are just shorthand for, "the Second Doctor didn't regenerate after The War Games. Instead, he was placed in the service of the CIA for a period of time where he had many additional adventure.  Also, according to other sources, he may also have spent time exiled on Earth as the Second Doctor before his regeneration was imposed on him." Season 6b is as much fact as anything within a fictional universe. Since this wiki takes a broad view and includes stories from all media, 6b is not "just a theory". It used to be just a theory, back when all we had was the mystery of the obviously older Troughton in The Two Doctors, and no one could easily find The Witch Hunters. But it's pretty hard to think of 6B as mere theory now that we've had Terence Dicks himself setting a story in the gap, and the internet has made some long-forgotten comic strips available.

I'm guessing that by this point, icecreamdif probably already undid the Season 6b references around the joint, but we should really rule that the previous discussion was based on a flawed understanding of the base narrative. As he stated, he never read World Game, which doesn't put him in a position to fairly judge the canonicity of season 6b. I think it's odd how Revanvolatrelundar tells him point blank that it's "not really a theory", but yet Icecreamdif just brushes World Game aside without investigating it at all.

We really shouldn't need a forum thread to make it "legal" to use information from a published story, but since the previous consensus of the thread seems to have been that season 6b was theory more than narrative fact, we should make it absolutely clear that season 6b started as a Paul Cornell theory in The Discontinuity Guide — though it was, even at that time, narrative fact by the rules of this wiki, due to the TVC comics. It then became even more cemented in narrative by World Game.

Here's the real narrative lesson using all media: Both World Game and the run of TVC comics ending in The Witch Hunters unambiguously establish that the Second Doctor had many adventures after The War Games, some in which he was exiled to Earth as the Second Doctor, and some in which he was working as an agent of the CIA. Collectively, these adventures come under the fan-created, but official-website-supported, name of "season 6b".

I know that Wikipedia bangs on about it being a theory, but this is because their DW project takes the position that the spin-off media are of uncertain relevance to the TV series. If one adopts the view that the other media stories are of equal weight to TV stories, as we do at this wiki, then 6b is no longer a theory, but narrative fact. 12:27:32 Wed 01 Jun 2011


 * I may have misunderstood what the other posts said, but my understanding of them was that season 6b was just a theory. I think I only removed one or two references to season 6b, but if you want to put them back, I won't argue.Icecreamdif 17:37, June 1, 2011 (UTC)


 * Oh I doubt you misread anything. Most fans do think of it as what Wikipedia calls it: "a theory" and even "fanon".  And if you restrict yourself to only the TV series, that's exactly what it is.  But because we've taken a stance that all licensed fiction is of equal value, the notion behind 6b is not a theory, but narrative fact.  Also, because the official site has an actual page dedicated to the concept, it's not fanon, but a part of the BBC-accepted body of canon.    15:43:30 Fri 03 Jun 2011

I really don't see how anyone can watch The Two Doctors and not accept it as fact in the TV Series. It clearly shows The Second Doctor and Jamie acting as agents of the Time Lords, with Jamie knowing about the Time Lords. He didn't learn about them until The War Games, so The Two Doctors must take place after that.

Well, if you're only going by the TV series, then here's an equally valid theory. When the Second Doctor was travelling with Jamie and Victoria, he dropped Victoria off to study graphology, and continued travelling with Jamie. Unbeknownst to the rest of the Time Lords, the Celestial Intervention Agency managed to track down the Doctor, and offered him his freedom if he would perform a mission for them. They gave the Doctor some new technology, and he unfortuanetly ran into a future incarnation. After the episode ended, the CIA erased the Doctor's and Jamie's memories, as meeting his future self could cause major paradoxes. This would explain why the Sixth Doctor doesn't remember anything that happened. Obviously, this is just my theory and can't be considered canon, but it meshes with the TV series at least as well as that Season 6B BS does, and it fits in better with the ending of The War Games, where Jamie's memory was erased, and the Doctor was to have his sentence carried out immediately.Gowron8472 04:59, July 28, 2011 (UTC)


 * Season 6B isn't a fan theory, it is a concept supported by PDA: World Game, Players and many Short Trips and TV Comic stories. Whatever says its just a fan theory is worng. Bigredrabbit 08:15, August 1, 2011 (UTC)

Archivist's note
Though this discussion was actually carried out in forum:panopticon, the subject matter actually belongs more to forum:reference desk, so it's being archived in forum:reference desk archives. 23:11: Thu 03 Nov 2011