Forum:The Daft Dimension and Doctor Who? as parallel universes

Opening post
Alrighty! I can't claim to be all that great at forming long-winded arguments of this nature, so I hope you're all willing to bear with me here.

To cut to the chase: Doctor Who? and The Daft Dimension should be validated as taking place in parallel universes. Or at the very least just acknowledged as taking place in parallel universes in general, "valid" or not.

The strongest case I can make for both works is authorial intent.

For Doctor Who?, said authorial intent is already addressed on that series page: as a product of DWM under Marvel UK, the gag comic is classed as a part of a reality in the official Marvel Multiverse, specifically, Earth-333333333, explicitly a different reality from the main Whoniverse (Earth-5556). A bunch of other Marvel properties are all also a part of this reality, but I'll leave that up to those who are more knowledgable on the strips.

As for The Daft Dimension, look no further than this post from the man himself; Lew Stringer not only considers it to be, as the title of the strip implies, set within its own, "daft" dimension where everything is much more silly, but he even goes as far as to suggest a shared universe with his other works.

Whether these universes should be classed as "validly existing in the Doctor Who multiverse" is something that you guys can decide on, but the intention is still clear in that these are not supposed to be in the Doctor's universe. The Doctor (Doctor Who?) and The Doctor (The Daft Dimension) are two completely different characters from the Doctor (N-Space). Their respective universes, and their inhabitants therein, are different from N-Space and those therein. It's as simple as that. WaltK ☎

P.S: As a side note, I'd like to give a special thanks to our own Scrooge MacDuck for directing me to Lew Stringer's testimony on the matter. WaltK ☎

Discussion
I support validating these two series and treating them as parallel universes, per authorial intent. Pluto2 ☎ 19:41, 16 April 2023 (UTC)


 * Ditto Pluto2 Cousin Ettolrahc ☎  20:08, 16 April 2023 (UTC)


 * I think I support validating these but only under a specific condition which might involve actually changing the text of our rules.


 * Here's my stance. I think, in practice for at least several years, the website has functioned with the idea that T:NPOV does have an exception when it's a case of an alternate reality. So, while Spiral Scratch and The Brink of Death are both treated with equal weight, two different universes are not. We don't need to cite Exile's off-color theory about gender-swapping regenerations every single time the topic comes up because, well... To use a phrase I once came up with that's been misappropriated recently, it's a universe, not the universe.


 * So if we allowed these two topics in the valid subspace, I would only want it with the promised condition that not only do these two universes not qualify for universal T:NPOV, but in-practice we're actually implementing the opposite. The Tenth Doctor's page only needs to mention or link to Tenth Doctor (The Dark Dimension) a single time in the "alternate realities" subsection or subpage. We do not need to constantly be saying "Oh this might have been true, but it was contradicted by one source. (COMIC: The Daft Dimension).


 * It is only if we accept this sort of anti-T:NPOV that I would even begin to consider that allowing these pages in the valid space would actively do anything other than making the website worse. OS25🤙☎️ 20:12, 16 April 2023 (UTC)


 * I agree with bestie OttselSpy25. These should be valid, but under those rules. Also I think the wiki would benefit from a rule that doesn't exclude official parodies straight away as sometimes, rarely, but sometimes parodies are intended to be in the Doctor Who multiverse. Also I think the wiki would also benefit from differentiating between Doctor Who comedies and Doctor Who parodies some more. The aforementioned often gets declared invalid because it's mistaken for the latter. See: Looking for Pudsey. 81.108.82.15talk to me 20:22, 16 April 2023 (UTC)

You have some good points there! Technically, we've never validated a "satire" or "parody" for being DWU by proxy of intention to be a parallel universe.

Also, I wanted to mention quickly that my Anti-T:NPOV idea isn't really a new policy, as it's more of a T:BOUND issue of a rule we've been acting off of for years which we've never written down.

Finally, I have a question. What are we going to do about the occasional Quinnn & Dicky stories which we do cover as valid? For instance, COMIC: Nostalgia Corner. Does this story feature John Who, or should the information in the story be moved to John Who (Doctor Who?)?

Are we going to continue and presume that there are Quinn & Dicky stories set in the "primary" DWU, or will we now retroactively say that all currently-valid Quinn & Dicky stories take place in Earth-33 1/3? See also: The Test of Time, Enlightenment. OS25🤙☎️ 20:39, 16 April 2023 (UTC)


 * I have ...misgivings with validating Doctor Who? in this manner, but I could accede at the end of the day if everyone really really wants it? Given that parodies are strictly verboten on T:VS and this is a parody of Doctor Who, unlike CoFD, I think I'm against validity. (Gonna guess that it's more controversial than the people above suspect though.) I simply can't imagine validating Daft Dimension based on the evidence linked. That's so astonishingly poor that it boggles the mind. I have no qualms with treating either as alternate universes that are invalid, if that's authorial intent. Though it is a bit odd. ("According to an invalid source there is a parallel universe in which xyz happened, but that invalid source tells us nothing about what the main DWU universe would be like that we still couldn't cover on IU pages because it would be invalid". I mean, sure. A bit weird, but knock yourself out.) Najawin ☎  01:16, 17 April 2023 (UTC)


 * The title the Daft Dimension seems enough proof to me it’s set in another reality. Another dimension. Even without the authorial intent. Even if I hated the idea of these being valid, I’d have to concede due to the overwhelming evidence that they pass rule 4 on title alone 81.108.82.15talk to me 01:48, 17 April 2023 (UTC)


 * Well, to be absolutely fair, the comic is named after The Dark Dimension, which itself wasn't set in a dimension but a timeline. But semantics. OS25🤙☎️ 02:04, 17 April 2023 (UTC)


 * The title is very much a reference to The Dark Dimension. I don't in any way see that as "overwhelming evidence" for rule 4. Najawin ☎  02:19, 17 April 2023 (UTC)


 * That’s fair, but the author’s intent then backing it up as well. Fair enough if you disagree, but I’m firmly in the “valid because they fit the rules, even if I don’t like it” category. 81.108.82.15talk to me 10:12, 17 April 2023 (UTC)

The source provided says no such thing. It's a blatant misrepresentation of that link to portray it as suggesting that authorial intent takes it to be in the mainline DWU. If there's other evidence, I'm willing to consider it. But the evidence provided is nowhere near sufficient. Najawin ☎  19:17, 17 April 2023 (UTC)


 * Fair, but disagree. The evidence for validity seems clear rule 4 pass to me. 81.108.82.15talk to me 19:27, 17 April 2023 (UTC)

Well, I've been really bad at making time for participating forum threads recently, but as the creator of the pages for the vast majority of Quinn & Howett's stories on this Wiki I've made contributing to this one a major priority. I have less knowledge of The Daft Dimension, so my thoughts here refer only to Doctor Who? and its close relatives.

My take is that yes, Doctor Who? should be validated due to authorial intent placing it in a parallel universe. "Earth-333333333" (or "Earth 33⅓") was created by Tim Quinn and Dicky Howett, the people behind Doctor Who?, a couple of years prior to the start of their Who? work and this dimension was where all their parodic stories for Marvel Comics took place. As the OP states Earth-333333333 is part of the larger Marvel Multiverse, the same multiverse where the Doctor's adventures in Doctor Who Magazine occurred. The fact that Earth-333333333 is truly where Doctor Who? is set is alluded to on several occasions but in my opinion is no clearer than in the first story, wherein the Fifth Doctor meets several superheroes, including Quinn and Howett's pre-existing parodic creation Jet Lagg, with precisely zero indication of travel between universes.

With that out of the way, I'll now move on to the more difficult question of how much Quinn & Howett material to classify as a parallel universe, with some of these stories currently considered valid and deemed to take place in N-Space. And, saved for last, but certainly not least:
 * All weekly instalments of Doctor Who? from DWM 64 to DWM 225: As stated above, these clearly take place in Earth-333333333.
 * The Doctor Who? story published in Channel 33⅓: Another clear candidate for parallel invalidity. This story was originally intended to be published as part of the main series in DWM 64 and the name of the publication Channel 33⅓ also alludes to the name of Earth 33⅓.
 * Doctor Who? 350 and Doctor Who?: Although produced after Marvel stopped publishing Doctor who Magazine, these stories are a continuation of the series in the same vein and should be classed as part of the same universe, with the latter referencing this by stating Quinn and Howett were "in their 33⅓rd regenerations".
 * The eleven stories making up The History Tour: Despite creating these as valid as I thought it was a separate series, I now believe that was wrong. There was a thread on the old forums which had pretty much agreed on invalidating this series when the forums blew up. Since that discussion was abruptly concluded, I have also discovered that the series was sometimes called the "DOCTOR WHO? HISTORY TOUR" on the contents page. A clear spin-off, meaning it should be in the same universe as its parent series.
 * The four Quinn & Howett stories from "special issues" of DWM: These are very much cut from the same cloth as Doctor Who? and should be classed as the same universe. The Next 20 Years, An Unearthly Child: The Unscreened Edition and Ever Wondered What Happened At.. The Auditions For The Seven Doctors? would be valid in this context, but So You Think You'd Make A Good Companion For Dr Who! should remain invalid pending the result of the proposed fourth wall and branching narratives threads.
 * The other four (invalid) Quinn & Howett stories from regular issues of DWM, not explicitly labelled as Doctor Who?: Again, these are almost instalments of Doctor Who? in all but name and should get parallel universe validity. Everyone Wants To Read Doctor Who Magazine and Untitled (DWM 181) would have been invalid for being ads not long ago, but this is no longer a problem.
 * Enlightenment from DWM 105: I created this one as valid too, but with hindsight I think that was incorrect. It's status as a story set in the main Doctor's universe is currently hindering accurate coverage of its contents. In the story we see several numbered portraits inside the TARDIS: -10, -6, No. 1, No. 2, No. 13 and No. 33. No. 1 and No. 2 resemble William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton, clearly meaning that we are supposed to interpret all these portraits as incarnations of the Doctor. But we don't, because it would be a bit silly. Retaining validity but reclassifying to the parallel universe would help us to cover these portraits as was originally intended. Additionally, No. 13 is identical to an actor considered for the part of the Seventh Doctor but rejected in favour of Sylvester McCoy in Doctor Who? 128 so there's clearly some sort of relationship there.
 * All the currently-invalid (and yet-to-be-created) contents of The Doctor Who Fun Book and It's Bigger on the Inside!: I see no reason why these shouldn't be given parallel universe validity as they are essentially extensions of Doctor Who? in the same way The History Tour was. The Doctor Who Fun Book was published by Target Books, not Marvel, but there are very similar styles between the two and the Fun Book was given an in-universe counterpart in a couple instalments of Doctor Who?.
 * The three currently-invalid Quinn & Howett stories from Doctor Who Yearbook: Very clear candidates for parallel universe validity, with both The Complete Guide to Doctor Who? and Doctor Who's Infamous Moments in History both being explicitly identified as part of Doctor Who?. Untitled (DWY93) isn't, but presents no issues.
 * Untitled (DW94), from Doctor Who Yearbook 1994: I apparently created this as valid but can't for the life of me remember why. Very much in the tone of the Doctor Who? and should be reclassed as happening in a parallel universe.
 * Untitled 1 and The Doctor Who Awards Cermony 1989 from It's Even Bigger on the Inside: These should be valid as a parallel universe because they were both seemingly omitted from publication in Doctor Who? and It's Bigger on the Inside! respectively by mistake, to such an extent that It's Even Bigger on the Inside purports that they were originally released in this manner.
 * Untitled 2 from It's Even Bigger on the Inside: We cover just the reprint of this because it's claimed to be another appearance of the Duke of Bath from Doctor Who? 90. I'd probably grant it parallel universe validity on that basis. The original version from would remain not-covered, unless someone wanted to argue it as a case of Rule 4 by Proxy?
 * Untitled 3 and Untitled 5 from It's Even Bigger on the Inside: These are early drafts of Doctor Who? stories which were later given full releases in Doctor Who Magazine. We should re-classify these as taking place in a parallel universe but due to them being replaced by superior versions I think they fail Rule 4 and should remain invalid.
 * Untitled 4 from It's Even Bigger on the Inside: A completed instalment of Doctor Who? featuring Harry Sullivan which was originally intended for publication in DWM 121 before being pulled due to the death of Harry's actor Ian Marter. Unlike the two stories above, this was never released for real-world concerns rather than simply being unfinished, so I'd say its 2015 release qualifies for parallel universe validity.
 * Untitled 6, Origins of Who? and Untitled 10 from It's Even Bigger on the Inside: All three of these were originally produced for fan conventions during the era of Doctor Who?. I'm unsure of what to do with these, but the unlicensedness of the originals and the fact these were made for conventions about Doctor Who in general, I'd probably leave them as they are, invalid but in N-Space.
 * The six instalments of A Moment from 'Doctor Who' from It's Even Bigger on the Inside: These were taken from Dicky Howett's private collection so parallel universe authorial intent is doubtful at best. Again, I'd leave these as invalid but in N-Space.
 * Untitled 8, Untitled 9 and Character portraits from It's Even Bigger on the Inside: These are all private commissions so, once again, I doubt there was any parallel universe intent at the time of their production, meaning they should remain invalid but in N-Space.
 * Untitled 11 from It's Even Bigger on the Inside: This is a weird one, being promotional material from an unproduced fan audio starring Richard Franklin as Mike Yates. Without opening up any potential can of worms, I think it's fair to say this one can remain invalid but in N-Space.
 * Untitled 12 from It's Even Bigger on the Inside: This one doesn't come with much explanation but it seems parallel universes would not have been on Howett's mind when he drew this. As such, it can remain invalid.
 * All eight stories from the "From Other Worlds" section of It's Even Bigger on the Inside: As the name suggests, this is the section of the book featuring stories by Quinn & Howett with small Doctor Who references. These are entirely divorced from Earth-333333333 and should remain invalid in N-Space.
 * The six stories the Wiki covers from Quinn & Howett's autobiographies, Drawing Breath and Argh!: Similarly to the above, these are not related to Earth-333333333 in the slightest and are often small Doctor Who-related cameos. They should stay invalid in N-Space.
 * The Test of Time and Nostalgia Corner from The Doctor Who Fun Book and It's Bigger on the Inside! respectively: I've saved these for last because they are probably the stories most deserving of discussion here. The "big" stories of their respective publications, they are both currently valid, which I believe is the correct decision. The Test of Time is much more serious in tone than anything else Quinn or Howett did and its status as a genuine entry set in the Doctor Who universe is backed up by its tie-ins to the television stories An Unearthly Child and The Web Planet. Nostalgia Corner is admittedly less serious than The Test of Time but I do think (as a story featuring the First Doctor, John and Gillian) that it's as faithful as possible to stories of the TV Comic era without descending into parody and does try to tell an actual story with this TARDIS team. Compare John and Gillian's depictions here to their appearance in Doctor Who? 72; you'll see a world of difference.

Very briefly (because this is probably one of my longest single posts ever) I also wanted to address the naming conventions for Doctor Who? and The Daft Dimension. The system I established for the many unnamed instalments of these series which can only be differentiated by issue number in page names (e.g. Doctor Who? (DWM 64 comic story) and Doctor Who? (DWM 65 comic story)) was to render these in text as Doctor Who? 64 and so on. I did this for two reasons: firstly, so that the number in the link matched the number in the page name; and secondly, because (in my opinion) people are more likely to know the issue number of a particularly instalment than the in-series number. For example, if I've just read DWM 201, Doctor Who? 201 is much more useful to me than Doctor Who? 138. Similarly, I feel Doctor Who? 350 for DWM 350 is way more intuitive than Doctor Who? 162. This way of doing things was acknowledged as T:BOUND-style de facto policy at User talk:Bongolium500 but this is a good opportunity to properly codify it (or choose a different method altogether). Borisashton ☎  23:08, 17 April 2023 (UTC)


 * This is very helpful, thank you Borisashton. OS25🤙☎️ 23:17, 17 April 2023 (UTC)


 * Yeah, I wasn't planning on having an opinion in this thread, but I've been very persuaded by Boris' analysis. I second his recommendations in full, including establishing the naming format, which I think will very usefully generalize to other contexts as well. – n8 (☎) 23:20, 17 April 2023 (UTC)


 * I have the same reservations of allowing Parodies of DW to pass R4, as they're specifically verboten, but this a very exhaustive analysis. Still against. But pretty much so on technical grounds. I'd say like 55/45 against. Najawin ☎  23:41, 17 April 2023 (UTC)


 * That’s why I say use this thread to change that rule. Make it so parodies don’t fail rule 4 by default, but instead should be investigated to see if there’s specific authorial intent that it’s in the DW multiverse. As rare as it is. Or if rule 4 by proxy comes knocking. Parodies should be assumed invalid, but not barred from validity in certain circumstances. Also, side note, the no parody rule causes Doctor Who comedies to be invalid. There should be a rule that non parodic comedies shouldn’t fail rule 4 for being funny: see Looking for Pudsey. As mentioned above. 81.108.82.15talk to me 23:59, 17 April 2023 (UTC)

The "no parody" rule does not cause Doctor Who comedies to be invalid, this is flatly false. This was explicitly ruled upon in the most recent CoFD thread. See User:Scrooge MacDuck/The Lost Closing Post. The work in question need not be merely humorous, but a parody of Doctor Who to fail this rule. Najawin ☎  00:04, 18 April 2023 (UTC)


 * Well I personally think that there's clearly a difference between a parody that says "This doesn't count" and a parody which says "This exists in its own universe, a universe which has different internal values." OS25🤙☎️ 01:13, 18 April 2023 (UTC)


 * Yes, I agree. As I understand it, the section of T:VS with regards to parodies ("What doesn't count") is just providing examples of applications of the four rules. Parodies are listed as an application of rule 4— i.e., most parodies are, by nature, not "intended to be in the DWU". However, as the evidence above shows, Doctor Who? and The Daft Dimension don't seem to follow this pattern. I think that section could do with better wording because not all parodies fail rule 4 in this way, and the current phrasing implies they are mutually exclusive.


 * Anyways, I fully support the proposal as well. I basically said as much on the talk page a while ago. I had found coverage of Doctor Who? confusing because it's very much set in its own continuity, and even in the invalid realm, explaining what happens in those strips with links to usual pages like Fifth Doctor is pretty misleading. Parallel universes aside, it's clear he's not only different from the usual Doctor you just saw on TV, but is also his own distinct version. So valid or not, these ought to be handled separately. But I do think there is sufficient evidence that these comics are intended to be set in the DWU, as parallel realities, and as such do pass rule 4. Chubby Potato ☎  03:43, 18 April 2023 (UTC)


 * I support the proposal, while I think Najawin is right to be cautious, I think OS25 and Chubby Potato make a compelling argument about why this is different from most parodies. Time God Eon ☎  16:06, 18 April 2023 (UTC)


 * I would agree with this characterization of parodies if they were only mentioned in the first chart. But they're also mentioned in the list of exceptions at the bottom.
 * Though almost everything which is licensed by the BBC and other rights' holders is considered a valid source here, our community occasionally rules certain works of fiction out of bounds. [...] If something is blatantly a spoof of the DWU rather than an "earnest" DWU narrative, it can safely be created as invalid even without a thread to specifically rule on the matter. However, "obvious" implies no significant disagreement; if there are conflicting opinions on whether a work qualifies asa parody, it should be taken to the forums.
 * This isn't a mere case of example, it's an explicit disallowal of parody. Maybe we should change this! But at the very least it's a pretty damn big deal, and isn't the same as just treating these things as "alternate universes", this is a much more serious discussion we need to have. Najawin ☎  19:42, 18 April 2023 (UTC)


 * Agreed that if this is passed we should change that rule.
 * Though almost everything which is licensed by the BBC and other rights' holders is considered a valid source here, our community occasionally rules certain works of fiction out of bounds. [...] If something is blatantly a spoof of the DWU rather than an "earnest" DWU narrative, it can safely be created as invalid. This is however unless there is specific authorial intent that places the official or licensed parody in the DWU or a later story brings the parody into the DWU. Official parodies should not be barred from validity due that nature, but can be assumed rule 4 failures until the aforementioned evidence is presented.
 * We should change it to this. 81.108.82.15talk to me 19:52, 18 April 2023 (UTC)

And as said, this is an absolutely massive change that needs substantially more evidence and motivating examples than what we have here. Maybe we should! But I'm not going to support doing such a thing in this thread on the basis of the evidence provided. We'd be turning over a decade of wiki jurisprudence, that's a big deal. It needs to be handled with care. (PS: In case you missed it, I addressed the Pudsey issue on your "talk page", such as it exists when you're an IP user.) Najawin ☎  20:00, 18 April 2023 (UTC)


 * Moving back to the debate, I had somehow missed this page linked in the OP. I think this is pretty convincing, that Lew actively agrees that Daft Dimension is a parallel universe and part of this greater works "Lewniverse". OS25🤙☎️ 22:19, 18 April 2023 (UTC)


 * That's precisely what I consider to be not even slightly convincing. :P Najawin ☎  23:01, 18 April 2023 (UTC)

I did some reading on this topic, and I was actually wrong to say that Tardis Wiki has never validated a parody story for being set in a parallel universe. In fact, it was once site policy that we were supposed to do this by default. So I think there is some precedent to do it for individual stories like these. OS25🤙☎️ 18:07, 19 April 2023 (UTC)


 * More complicated than that. It was policy, for about a year. But it's not clear that it ever meaningfully applied to anything except the Cushing films in that time. See Talk:The Curse of Fatal Death (TV story). There's an application of a proto R4bp and CoFD is taken to be DWU 3.5 months into the span of this policy. This change is applied to the page on October 4th. This was reversed in March, CoFD becomes outright notDWU, and things begin to slide towards valid/invalid. I note also that the thread this policy was "derived" from was Forum:More canon questions - which very much did not come to a consensus. It was just Tangerine trying to clean up the canon policy as he thought best, but ultimately didn't have community consensus.


 * I would be deeply hesitant to derive anything meaningful from this, given the surrounding historical context. Najawin ☎  18:42, 19 April 2023 (UTC)


 * It still seems to me that the "no parodies of any kind under any context" rule wasn't nearly as unanimous as our wiki's history books would suggest. So it seems to me there no fault in doing things in a case-by-case basis, instead of just invaliding everything or invalidating nothing. There's a good place between the two extremes.


 * As per that talk page, it seems to me that Tangerine was adopting the policy which had been suggested by others and is actually what we should have had in the first place, in regards to things like Curse of Fatal Death and the Unbound series. OS25🤙☎️ 21:48, 19 April 2023 (UTC)