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| {{tardis manual}}
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| {{sc|T:SCOPE|T:WHAT WE COVER|T:CAN}}
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| 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.
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| 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]]'' or even ''[[The Ghosts of N-Space (audio story)|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.
| | = HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! = |
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| This policy therefore tells us which stories we can use, and which we can't.
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| == Background == | |
| The world of ''[[Doctor Who]]'' — otherwise known as the [[Doctor Who universe|''Doctor Who'' universe]] or [[DWU]] — is a very different place to that of ''[[Star Trek (franchise)|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.
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| <div id=inline-box style="line-height:110%;font-style:normal;text-align:left">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.</div>
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| 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 (The Curse of Fatal Death)|Thirteenth Doctor]] or that [[Dr. Who (Dr. Who and the Daleks)|Dr. Who]] was a human who had built a machine called [[TARDIS (Dalek movies)|TARDIS]].
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| <div id=inline-box style="line-height:110%;font-style:normal;text-align:left">We also have to deal with stories ''legally'' authorised by parties '''other''' than the BBC.</div>
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| 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 [[Dalek]]s, the [[Auton]]s 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.
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| 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.
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| == The main rule ==
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| 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.
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| <div id=license style="background:#2f2cb8;color:white;width:560px"><div id =ss style="font-size:125%">We believe that only stories that "count" are those '''officially licensed by the relevant copyright holder''' — usually, the BBC. </div></div>
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| This guideline is super-easy to apply:
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| Is a televised episode of ''[[Doctor Who]]'' licensed by the BBC? Obviously. Is a ''Torchwood'' book that you find at your local bookstore licensed by the BBC? Clearly it is. Is an ''[[TV]]'' audiobook that you've downloaded from [[AudioGO]] a properly licensed story? Most assuredly. Most of the time you're safe if the story bears a logo of one of our shows and the phrase "© BBC".
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| == Trickier stuff ==
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| Our simple little rule works to help you understand what stories "count" on this wiki well over 90% of the time. The rest of this document is concerned with the ''other'' 10% — the marginal cases that are a little less clear.
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| === When the licensor isn't the BBC ===
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| The wrinkle that is difficult to understand for those who are new to the world of ''[[Doctor Who]]'' is the phenomenon of the '''author-owned character'''. Copyright for individual stories of ''Doctor Who'' has long resided in the individual writer, unless the [[British Broadcasting Corporation]] made other arrangements. This meant that a lot of characters — particularly species — were owned by ''individuals'', not the BBC. Clever publishers were therefore able to release stories connected to ''Doctor Who'' without having to ask for the BBC's permission.
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| <div id=inline-box style="line-height:110%;font-style:normal;text-align:left">Stories licensed by an individual author '''are generally allowed here'''. [[BBV Productions#Releases|'''Click here''']] for a detailed list of these kind of stories produced by BBV Productions, the major publisher of them.</div>
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| The major publisher of this kind of story was [[BBV Productions]]. Typically, they would approach people like [[Robert Holmes]] (or, more precisely, his estate) and get permission to write, say, a [[Sontaran]] story that didn't involve other characters from the [[DWU]]. They then ended up with a story that was, in effect, fully licensed, because they got permission from the owner of the DWU element, and then they created wholly new characters around that copyrighted element.
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| '''Our approach is to generally allow these sorts of stories.'''
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| <div id=inline-box-rt style="line-height:110%;">A rose by any other name is '''not''' as sweet. If the story '''consistently''' uses alternate names for DWU characters, places and situations, it's probably '''not allowed'''.</div>
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| The big exception to this is the story that contains analogous elements. As a general rule, if something is an '''approximation''' of something else in the DWU, then we don't fool with it. The classic example is the independently-published [[Faction Paradox (series)|Faction Paradox]] stories that are not a part of the [[BBC Books]] range. Because writer [[Lawrence Miles]] does not have a license to DWU elements ''other than'' the [[Faction Paradox]] organisation itself, he must resort to using "code names" for [[Gallifrey]], [[the Doctor]], [[TARDIS]]es, [[the Master]] and any number of the basic building blocks of the universe. Moreover, his "Faction Paradox universe" is an ''explicit'' reaction against the Faction Paradox narrative seen in [[BBC Books]]. It's therefore not the DWU at all. In early 2012, [[Forum:BBV and canon policy|after a year of debate]], [[Forum:How do we best include Faction Paradox on the wiki?|we put Faction Paradox outside our fences.]]
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| ==Things that don't count==
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| {| width=660px id=ss style="background:transparent;border-collapse:collapse;border-bottom:3px #ccc solid"
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| !width=30% | Rule | |
| !width=50% | Explanation | |
| !width=20% | Examples | |
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| |No fanfic, period.||Fan fiction isn't allowed.||Seriously, [[T:NO FANFIC|NO FANFIC]].
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| |-style="border-bottom:3px #ccc solid"
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| |Charity publications are a no-no.||Any fiction, by any author, where '''the copyright holder hasn't given permission''' isn't allowed. And no, it doesn't matter that the story was written by someone who has otherwise written licensed fiction. Or that the publisher did a nice thing and gave his or her profits to charity.||{{bp|''Time's Champion''}}
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| |-style="border-bottom:3px #ccc solid"
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| |Only the licensed version works for us.||A few stories have appeared in charity publications or fan-published media and ''then'' were made into professional, licensed fiction. We only cover the licensed version.||{{bp|''[[The Wings of a Butterfly]]''}}
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| |Just because someone was involved with ''Doctor Who'' doesn't give them the legal right to write about it.||Some things ''seem'' like they might be licensed cause they're written by people associated with the DWU. But they're really not licensed at all.||{{bp|''The Killing Stone''}}
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| |It's not the DWU just because a DWU actor is involved.||Fan-run companies have generously employed a ''lot'' of DWU actors over the years. But we don't cover '''everything''' [[Sophie Aldred]] and [[Colin Baker]] were in. It '''must''' be a licensed DWU story.||{{bp|''The Airzone Solution''|''The Stranger''}}
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| |Parody||Explicitly parodical stories are things that cannot be used to write an in-universe article. But we often do allow there to be a page ''about'' the parody.
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| |-style="border-bottom:3px #ccc solid"
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| |Faction Paradox||Faction Parodox stories which do not appear within BBC-licensed stories are not covered by this wiki. Please use [[w:c:factionparadox]] instead.||{{bp|Anything that bears a Faction Paradox logo}}
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| |Whatever we say||On '''very rare''' occasion, we will have debates about specific stories at [[forum:Panopticon|the Panopticon]] to declare something outside our borders. These [[#Stories specifically disallowed|specific discussions are enumerated below]]
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| |}
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| <div id=inline-box-rt style="line-height:100%">Want a more positive list? [[user:CzechOut/Sandbox8/WhatThisWikiCovers|'''Go here for a comprehensive list of things that ''do'' count.''']]</div>
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| The stories we don't allow in our discussion of in-universe topics are actually few and far between. However, for clarity, we've composed a detailed list below.
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| #Since they have no official BBC sanction, fan fiction, charity publications, and other unlicensed products are disallowed. Clearly, stories found on LiveJournal or in fanzines are well outside our scope. Likewise, fan films, no matter how good, or whether included on official DVD releases, aren't allowed, either. ''[[Devious]]'', for instance, cannot be considered a valid explanation for the [[regeneration]] between the [[Second Doctor]] and the [[Third Doctor]] — even if (some) of it did appear on [[BBC DVD]]: ''[[The War Games]]''. (An article ''about'' ''Devious'' is allowed, however, because it's a DVD extra.)
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| #Professional productions or publications where characters are almost certainly used illegally. This doesn't happen too often, because of the risk of being sued. Nevertheless, one clear example of this is ''The Killing Stone'', which contains the character of the [[Fourth Doctor]] in a way that '''was not''' licensed by the BBC.
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| #Professional or semi-professional productions involving '''approximations''' of [[Doctor Who universe|DWU]] characters that deliberately "get around" the BBC copyright. These can be confusing, because they often star actors who played [[the Doctor]] or his [[companion]]s in the main show. Nevertheless such things are '''completely''' disallowed by the wiki, as they aren't even set in the DWU. Disallowed are:
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| ##Cyberon stories
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| ##The Stranger series
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| ##The Wanderer series
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| ##The Time Travellers series
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| ##''The Airzone Solution''
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| #Stories which have nothing to do with the DWU made by production companies generally associated with making ''Doctor Who''-related content. This may seem to be a bit of a no-brainer, but it's worth repeating that this is not the wiki for [[Big Finish]]'s ''entire'' output, or for BBV ''original'' science fiction like ''Infidel's Comet''.
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| #When there are unlicensed and licensed versions of the same story, the unlicensed version is disregarded. This doesn't happen too often, but it ''has'' happened. An example is ''[[The Wings of a Butterfly]]'', a [[Colin Baker]]-written story that appeared in print in a charity publication — which '''doesn't count''' — and its later [[Big Finish]] audio adaptation — which '''does count'''.
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| #We allow ''some'' products that are not BBC copyright, but these items must have initially appeared in a BBC-licensed product. Examples would include the [[K9 (TV series)|''K9'']] series, which flows from the [[Bob Baker]]/[[Dave Martin]] copyright on the character of [[K9]], but is allowed here because K9 initially appeared on ''[[Doctor Who]]'', a BBC product. Likewise the [[Bernice Summerfield]] stories published by both [[Virgin Books]] and [[Big Finish]] are allowed because the character originated in the [[Virgin New Adventures]] line, at the time a BBC-licensed product. We therefore allow material which is sanctioned by a copyright holder other than the BBC, so long as the character or situations debuted within an official range of ''Doctor Who'' stories. More detailed guidance on this point is provided at our [[/Allowed/|list of approved spin-offs]]''.
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| #Conversely, we ''disallow'' a few things that ''were'' produced under BBC license. Note that the presence of a BBC license, however, gives these items a "special" status. Articles ''about'' these items may be included on the wiki, so long as they are clearly marked with an {{tl|notdwu}} tag, and placed in a non-canonical cateogry. However, these items may not be referred to within an [[in-universe]] article. For instance, nothing in the article, [[Eleventh Doctor (The Curse of Fatal Death)]], should find its way into the article about [[Matt Smith]]'s [[Eleventh Doctor]], as these are wholly different characters. Generally, such items are confined to obvious parody or obviously discontinuous storylines. Such things include:
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| ##Any BBC parody, including, but not limited to, ''[[The Curse of Fatal Death]]''.
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| ##''[[Dimensions in Time]]'', which sits awkwardly in both ''[[Doctor Who]]'' and ''[[EastEnders]]'' continuity.
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| ##The [[Peter Cushing]] movies of the [[1960s]]
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| ##[[:Category:Doctor Who role-playing games|Doctor Who role-playing games]], regardless of manufacturer or license
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| ##The ''[[Tonight's the Night]]'' sketch
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| ##[[Big Finish]]'s [[Doctor Who Unbound]] audio range, and any prose which flows from them
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| #We also disallow the integration of material from any professionally-produced, non-BBC parody into "in-universe" articles. However, such stories are "special cases". We ''do'' allow for the creation of articles ''about'' professional parodies — on the grounds that they are ''legal'' parody under the laws of the [[United States]] and other countries — so long as they are clearly marked with an {{tl|notdwu}} tag, and put into a non-canonical category. Examples of this type include:
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| ##''[[The Doctor and the Enterprise]]'', a parodic book which posited a ''[[Star Trek]]''/''[[Doctor Who]]'' crossover
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| ##The [[1970s]] ''[[wikipedia:MAD Magazine|MAD Magazine]]'' comic strip featuring the [[Fourth Doctor]], [[Harry Sullivan]] and [[Sarah Jane Smith]]
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| ##Any comic strips by [[Tim Quinn]] or [[Dicky Howett]]
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| ##Any appearances on ''[[The Simpsons]]'', ''[[wikipedia:Saturday Night Live|Saturday Night Live]]'' or similar parodic television shows
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| ##Anything listed at [[Doctor Who parodies]]
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| #Background information given by production staff cannot be used by "in-universe" sections of articles. [[RTD]] explaining what he ''meant'' to write in a story is not the same thing as the story that was actually broadcast. Care must be taken not to let interviewees on ''[[Doctor Who Confidential]]'' influence description of the narrative elements within a story. Any out-of-universe commentary by production staff must be kept firmly within "behind the scenes" sections of articles or fully "real world" articles.
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| #Scenes that were not originally broadcast or published do not "count", unless they were created specifically for home video release. Thus deleted scenes on, say, the ''Doctor Who'' [[series 4 (Doctor Who)|series 4]] cannot be referred to within the body of an in-universe article. However, scenes like ''[[Meanwhile in the TARDIS (TV story)|Meanwhile in the TARDIS]]'' can, because these were direct-to-DVD scenes — not rejected material.
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| #Parts of [[Target Books]] or [[BBC Books]] novelisations of ''[[TV]]'' or ''[[TV]]'' television stories that conflict with the televised stories or the preponderance of evidence from other sources. Generally, this means that the televised story is considered "superior" to the novelisation where there is conflict. But it can also mean that if more than one other source establishes a fact, the other sources might "outweigh" the novelisation. This doesn't happen often, however.
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| #Non-fiction books aren't valid sources of information, even though licensed by the BBC, for the main body of in-universe pages. ''[[The Doctor Who Technical Manual]]'', ''[[The Terrestrial Index]]'', ''[[The Doctor Who Monster Book]]'', ''[[AHistory]]'', ''[[The Discontinuity Guide]]'', and really anything in [[:category:reference books]] may be used on '''real world''' pages, like story pages. But only '''narratives''' are valid resources on in-universe pages. Sources [[Tardis:list of prefixes|prefixed]] by "[[REF]]" can be useful for information on a story page like ''[[The Daleks]]''. But they shouldn't be used on the in-universe article about the [[Dalek|Dalek ''species'']] — except, perhaps, in a "behind the scenes" section.
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| #If a comic strip is reprinted and there are discrepancies between the original and reprinted version, '''the original version''' shall be deemed "correct".
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| #If a novel is converted into an audiobook, and there are discrepancies between the printed original and the reading of the audiobook, '''the printed original''' shall be deemed "correct".
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| #First-person videogames, like ''[[Attack of the Graske (video game)|Attack of the Graske]]'', are non-canonical to the extent that the player, you, or your actions are not a part of the [[Doctor Who universe|DWU]]. However, ''Graske'', and games like it, are canonical, in that the observed facts, which don't have anything directly to do with gameplay, are allowable. Put more simply, ''Graske'' is a valid resource for defining the species of the [[Graske]], but you may not refer to any impact your gameplay has on the specific Graske in the game. Likewise, ''Graske'' canonically describes that [[Rose Tyler]] saw an [[ABBA]] concert in [[1979]], and that a Graske came to [[Earth]] one Christmas to kidnap humans — but it does '''not''' establish that you are a companion of the Tenth Doctor.
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| === When multiple versions collide ===
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| Sometimes, two versions of the same story exist. In such cases, we generally designate one as the primary version and the other as the secondary version. Here are some examples:
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| #If a comic strip is reprinted and there are discrepancies between the original and reprinted version, '''the original version''' shall be deemed "correct". This means that colourised versions of originally monochromatic comics are ''inferior'' to the black-and-white originals. It also means that the [[Third Doctor]] version of comics which were later printed with the [[Fourth Doctor]] are deemed the superior version.
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| #If a novel is converted into an audiobook, and there are discrepancies between the printed original and the reading of the audiobook, '''the printed original''' shall be deemed "correct".
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| #Parts of [[Target Books]] or [[BBC Books]] novelisations of ''[[TV]]'' or ''[[TV]]'' television stories that conflict with the televised stories or the preponderance of evidence from other sources. Generally, this means that the televised story is considered "superior" to the novelisation where there is conflict. But it can also mean that if more than one other source establishes a fact, the other sources might "outweigh" the novelisation. This doesn't happen often, however.
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| == The real world doesn't count ==
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| It is a ''great'' temptation to believe that the ''Doctor Who'' universe is very much like the real world. '''It is not.''' There are many, many ways in which the DWU's version of Earth history is different from real world Earth history. You should never assume that because you personally know, say, [[Albert Einstein]]'s birthdate, or the year the film ''[[Breakfast at Tiffany's]]'' debuted, or the duration of the [[Second Afghan War]], that these dates will be the same in the DWU.
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| <div id=inline-box-rt style="line-height:110%">'''This wiki is an encyclopedia of the known DWU, not the real world.''' If a DWU source doesn't ''explicitly'' give a detail about a real world item, you can't include it in the main body of an article.</div>
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| Historical episodes of ''Doctor Who'' — even from as far back as [[season 1]], when the show was explicitly meant to be "educational" — are replete with historical inaccuracies. [[Marco Polo]]'s given DWU birthdate is different from the real world date. Modern day episodes of the show, like ''[[The War Machines]]'', are based on qualities of [[British]] computer science that didn't exist in [[1966]]. And episodes that ''were'' supposed to be set in the clear future, like ''[[The Tenth Planet]]'', described events that obviously never came to pass.
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| <div id=inline-box style="line-height:110%;text-align:left;font-style:normal">A DWU source cannot be described as "wrong" about a real world person, place or thing. Differences simply show ways in which the DWU is not the real world.</div>
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| The long and the short of it: don't write articles about subjects that exist in both the DWU and the real world using Wikipedia. Trust '''only''' ''Doctor Who'' sources. Additionally don't go further than what the DWU source actually tells you.
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| <insert some kinda wrong/right chart here>
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| == Stories specifically disallowed ==
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| <dpl>
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| shownamespace=false
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| category=Inclusion debates
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| </dpl>
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