User:CzechOut/This wiki's scope

Defining the scope of the wiki — that is, telling people what we cover — is a vital first step in making our wiki truly useful to people. Without a clear sense of what stories will be discussed here — and which will not — readers and editors alike won't understand what we're trying to accomplish.

Background
The world of Doctor Who — otherwise known as the Doctor Who universe or DWU — is a very different place to that of Star Trek, Star Wars, Harry Potter, DC Comics, Marvel Comics or really any other franchise. The copyright holders to the DWU, the British Broadcasting Corporation, have deliberately refused to say which stories "count" and which don't. In general they've been wholly silent on defining a canon of any kind. Unlike a lot of other franchises, our copyright holder has deliberately chosen not to define a canon. Which means we're stuck defining the borders or this wiki. While this stance has undoubtedly been good for sales of stories — few authors have ever been pushed out into the cold of non-canonical status by the BBC — it makes the life of the encyclopedia editor and reader much more difficult. After all, if we don't take some sort of decisions, we'd end up believing that Joanna Lumley really was the Thirteenth Doctor or that Dr. Who was a human who had built a machine called TARDIS. We also have to decide what we're going to do about stories legally authorised by parties other than the BBC. Another unusual feature of this universe is the fact that it is not wholly owned by one entity. Star Wars is ultimately owned by one person, George Lucas. Star Trek is owned by Paramount. But, due to oddities in British television practices, the DWU is primarily owned by the BBC, but individual elements within the DWU, like the Daleks, the Autons and even individual characters like Nyssa and the Brigadier, may be owned by individual authors. This has given rise to some stories being authorised by particular authors, such as Robert Holmes, which have nothing to do with the BBC.

Because of this somewhat complicated background, every encyclopedia about this this franchise must make some usually arbitrary decisions about the scope of their product, or they'll find making forward progress quite difficult.

This document thus explains the decisions we've made.

The general rule
It is important that we as a community work to a common understanding of what "counts" and what doesn't. Otherwise, our articles will gradually become "muddied" over time, with some people viewing certain stories as "okay" and other peoples thinking the opposite. Over the course of several debates in our forums, one concept has emerged as central to this wiki's day-to-day operations. We believe that only stories officially licensed by the relevant copyright holder "count". Stories which are completely unlicensed by any relevant copyright holder may not be used as a valid source for writing an article. In most cases, a story can be used to write the main body of an article so long as:
 * it is professionally published;
 * has a Doctor Who, SJA, Torchwood, K9 and Company or K9 logo on it;
 * has some kind of notation that it is produced under license of, or is copyright of, the British Broadcasting Corporation (or, in the case of K9, Metal Mutt Productions).

Following that simple guideline will allow you to determine whether a story is regarded as canon by this wiki well over 90% of the time. But there are exceptions.

A practical example
Why does it matter whether we think something "counts" or not? Because only stories within our scope can be used to describe an "in-universe" topic. For instance, if we were writing about Sarah Jane Smith's experience of the country of Italy, we could use anything within The Masque of Mandragora of even The Ghosts of N-Space. But we could not use something from a 1986 fanzine in which Sarah Jane was described as having visited Florence.

Getting down to specifics
explain bbv stuff and other things we allow that aren't obvious to the stating of the general rule

Want this information reduced to a simple list? Go here.