Doctor Who tie-in websites: Difference between revisions

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=== Archiving and status in the 2020s ===
=== Archiving and status in the 2020s ===
As the websites were launched in the mid-2000s, they commonly utilised software such as [[Adobe Flash]], {{w|Windows Media Player}} and {{w|RealPlayer}}, which are all now defunct and/or incompatible with older content, which has resulted in much of the non-prose material to become [[lost media]]. Furthermore, the BBC failed to pursue retaining the website domains for the majority of the tie-in websites, allowing "{{w|domain sniping|domain snipers}}" to purchase the domain and either put them up for sale or to host potentially malicious content. This Wiki advises you only visit these websites through the {{w|Wayback Machine}}.
As the websites were launched in the mid-2000s, they commonly utilised software such as [[Adobe Flash]], {{w|Windows Media Player}} and {{w|RealPlayer}}, which are all now defunct and/or incompatible with older content, which has resulted in much of the non-prose material to become [[lost media]]. Furthermore, the BBC failed to pursue retaining the website domains for the majority of the tie-in websites, allowing "{{w|domain sniping|domain snipers}}" to purchase the domain and either put them up for sale or to host potentially malicious content. This Wiki advises you only visit these websites through the {{w|Wayback Machine}} or the [https://ghostarchive.org Ghost Archive].
 
The exact date many of these sites were launched is unclear. The dates for the [[Series 1 (Doctor Who)|series one]] websites can be worked out accurately by seeing when the website was first linked to on the home page of the [[Doctor Who website|''Doctor Who'' website]], which had been archived daily on the Wayback Machine; however this practise was abandoned during [[Series 2 (Doctor Who)|series two]], thus leaving the only evidence of when the websites were launched by accessing the first archive on the Wayback Machine; however, the sites were evidently archived ''days after'' they launched, and in the case of ''[[Deffry Vale (fictional website)|Deffry Vale]]'', around a whole year later.


{{As of|2023|1|23}}, one of the only websites still hosted by the [[BBC]] is ''[[Who is Doctor Who? (fictional website)|Who is Doctor Who?]]'', however the BBC's ownership of the domain is set to expire on [[29 June (production)|29 June]] [[2023 (releases)|2023]].<ref name="29June">[https://www.whois.com/whois/whoisdoctorwho.co.uk whoisdoctorwho.co.uk on Whois]</ref> The domain of the ''[[U.N.I.T. (fictional website)|U.N.I.T.]]'' website is set to expire on [[23 November (production)|23 November]] [[2023 (production)|2023]].<ref name="23nov">[https://www.whois.com/whois/unit.org.uk unit.org.uk on Whois]</ref> There also hasn't been a new tie-in website since 2007, leaving them a relic of the past.
{{As of|2023|1|23}}, one of the only websites still hosted by the [[BBC]] is ''[[Who is Doctor Who? (fictional website)|Who is Doctor Who?]]'', however the BBC's ownership of the domain is set to expire on [[29 June (production)|29 June]] [[2023 (releases)|2023]].<ref name="29June">[https://www.whois.com/whois/whoisdoctorwho.co.uk whoisdoctorwho.co.uk on Whois]</ref> The domain of the ''[[U.N.I.T. (fictional website)|U.N.I.T.]]'' website is set to expire on [[23 November (production)|23 November]] [[2023 (production)|2023]].<ref name="23nov">[https://www.whois.com/whois/unit.org.uk unit.org.uk on Whois]</ref> There also hasn't been a new tie-in website since 2007, leaving them a relic of the past.
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| ''[[U.N.I.T. (fictional website)|U.N.I.T.]]''
| ''[[U.N.I.T. (fictional website)|U.N.I.T.]]''
| [https://web.archive.org/web/20050426004730/http://www.unit.org.uk/ <tt>unit.org.uk<tt/> via the Wayback Machine]
| [https://web.archive.org/web/20050426004730/http://www.unit.org.uk/ <tt>unit.org.uk<tt/> via the Wayback Machine]
| c.[[20 April (releases)|20 April]] [[2005 (releases)|2005]]
| [[20 April (releases)|20 April]] [[2005 (releases)|2005]]
| This site was launched alongside ''[[Aliens of London (TV story)|Aliens of London]]''.
| This site was launched alongside ''[[Aliens of London (TV story)|Aliens of London]]''.
|-
|-
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| ''[[Leamington Spa Lifeboat Museum (fictional website)|Leamington Spa Lifeboat Museum]]''
| ''[[Leamington Spa Lifeboat Museum (fictional website)|Leamington Spa Lifeboat Museum]]''
| [https://web.archive.org/web/20060406203837/http://www.leamingtonspalifeboatmuseum.co.uk/ <tt>leamingtonspa<br>lifeboatmuseum.co.uk</tt> via the Wayback Machine]
| [https://web.archive.org/web/20060406203837/http://www.leamingtonspalifeboatmuseum.co.uk/ <tt>leamingtonspa<br>lifeboatmuseum.co.uk</tt> via the Wayback Machine]
| c.[[6 April (releases)|6 April]] [[2006 (releases)|2006]]
| c. [[6 April (releases)|6 April]] [[2006 (releases)|2006]]
| This website launched at the same time as ''[[New Earth (TV story)|New Earth]]'', but as it was set in the year [[5,000,000,023]], ''The Leamington Spa Lifeboat Museum'' is entirely unconnected narratively.
| This website launched at the same time as ''[[New Earth (TV story)|New Earth]]'', but as it was set in the year [[5,000,000,023]], ''The Leamington Spa Lifeboat Museum'' is entirely unconnected narratively.
|-
| [[File:Deffry Vale website.jpg|center|thumb|link=Deffry Vale (fictional website)]]
| ''[[Deffry Vale (fictional website)|Deffry Vale]]''
| [https://web.archive.org/web/20070217111536/http://www.deffryvale.co.uk/ <tt>deffryvale.co.uk</tt> via the Wayack Machine]
| c. [[6 May (releases)|6 May]] [[2006 (releases)|2006]]<ref>Evidenced by the earliest archive of [[PROSE]]: ''[[Local Wins Lottery (short story)|Local Wins Lottery]]''; there are no archives of the home page from when the website was first launched.</ref>
| This website was launched alongside ''[[School Reunion (TV story)|School Reunion]]''. This website would also contribute information pertaining to ''[[Defending the Earth! (fictional website)|Defending the Earth!]]''.
|-
| [[File:Deffry Vale High School website.jpg|thumb|center|link=Deffry Vale High School (fictional website)]]
| ''[[Deffry Vale High School (fictional website)|Deffry Vale High School]]''
| [http://www.deffryvaleschool.org.uk/ <tt>deffryvaleschool.org.uk</tt> via the Wayback Machine]
| c. [[15 May (releases)|15 May]] [[2006 (releases)|2006]]
| This website was launched alongside ''[[School Reunion (TV story)|School Reunion]]''.
|-
|-
| [[File:Cybus Industries website.jpg|thumb|center|link=Cybus (fictional website)]]
| [[File:Cybus Industries website.jpg|thumb|center|link=Cybus (fictional website)]]
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| [[May (releases)|May]] [[2006 (releases)|2006]]
| [[May (releases)|May]] [[2006 (releases)|2006]]
| This website was launched alongside ''[[Rise of the Cybermen (TV story)|Rise of the Cybermen]]''.
| This website was launched alongside ''[[Rise of the Cybermen (TV story)|Rise of the Cybermen]]''.
|-
| [[File:International Electromatics website.jpg|thumb|center|link=International Electromatics (fictional website)]]
| ''[[International Electromatics (fictional website)|International Electromatics]]''
| [https://web.archive.org/web/20060701044747/http://internationalelectromatics.co.uk/ <tt>internationalelectromatics.co.uk</tt> via the Wayback Machine]
| rowspan="2" | [[2006 (releases)|2006]]
| rowspan="2" | These websites launched alongide ''[[Rise of the Cybermen (TV story)|Rise of the Cybermen]]'' and ''[[Cybus (fictional website)|Cybus]]''.
|-
| [[File:Henrik & Son website.jpg|thumb|center|link=Henrik & Son (fictional website)]]
| ''[[Henrik & Son (fictional website)|Henrik & Son]]''
| [https://web.archive.org/web/20060701171710/http://www.henriksonline.co.uk/ <tt>henriksonline.co.uk</tt> via the Wayback Machine]
|-
|-
|}
|}
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|}
|}


=== Series 4 ===
== ''Torchwood'' ==
No official tie-in websites were released for [[Series 4 (Doctor Who)|series four]] of ''[[Doctor Who (TV series)|Doctor Who]]'', thus ending the era.
=== Series 2 ===
 
== Cancelled or unproduced websites ==
The existence of many of these websites can only be determined from the domains that were registered.
{| class="wikitable five-equal-columns"
{| class="wikitable five-equal-columns"
|-
|-
! Image || Wiki Link || External Link || Release Date || Notes
! Image || Wiki Link || External Link || Release Date || Notes
|-
| N/A
| N/A
| [https://web.archive.org/web/20070216062716/http://www.cybusproperty.co.uk/ <tt>cybusproperty.co.uk<tt/> via the Wayback Machine]
| N/A
| It appears that the BBC registered a domain for [[Cybus Property]], however this seemed to have been abandoned.
|-
| N/A
| N/A
| [https://web.archive.org/web/20070215192224/http://www.cybusfinance.co.uk/ <tt>cybusfinance.co.uk<tt/> via the Wayback Machine]
| N/A
| It appears that the BBC registered a domain for [[Cybus Finance]], however this seemed to have been abandoned.
|-
|-
| N/A
| N/A
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| [https://web.archive.org/web/20090317073802/http://adiposeindustries.com/ <tt>adiposeindustries.com<tt/> via the Wayback Machine]
| [https://web.archive.org/web/20090317073802/http://adiposeindustries.com/ <tt>adiposeindustries.com<tt/> via the Wayback Machine]
| N/A
| N/A
| It appears that the BBC registered a domain for [[Adipose Industries]], however this seemed to have been abandoned.
| It appears that the BBC registered a domain for [[Adipose Industries]], however this seemed to have been abandoned.<br>It appears if something was developed with this website, as there two other webpages created under this domain, but they too are empty.
|-
|-
|}
|}
== ''Torchwood'' ==
=== Series 2 ===


== Fan-made websites ==
== Fan-made websites ==

Revision as of 14:03, 25 January 2023

RealWorld.png

Beginning with the launch of the first series of the 2005 revival of Doctor Who, the BBC began releasing tie-in websites to coincide with both Doctor Who and Torchwood, distinct from the primary Doctor Who website. These sites were also referred to as spin-off sites[1] and fictional sites by official sources.[2]

Nature

The websites can be sorted into three categories: websites that are based upon counterparts within the television series; websites that have no counterpart from the television series but their respective company or group is; and those that are wholly out-of-universe websites.

In the 1990s, promotion for Doctor Who was either broadcast or in print, with the Doctor Who website not being concieved of in the days of the early internet. Eventually, the BBC Cult website was made home to the online streaming of Death Comes to Time, Real Time, Shada, and Scream of the Shalka. By the time Rose came to be first broadcast, unlike in 1996, the BBC had a wealth of web content to supplement their revival of Doctor Who. And so, going a step further, the BBC made "the web [... become] part of the programme", producing real life websites based upon organisations seen in the programme;[3] these websites also narratively linked to the ongoing storyline and story arc of series one, with Who is Doctor Who?, based upon Clive Finch's conspiracy website Doctor Who?, becoming Mickey Smith's personal blog in his determination to bring Rose Tyler safely back to Earth and away from the Doctor, whom Mickey thought would get Rose killed. While not part of the tie-in websites proper,[2] the Bad Wolf website provided an out-of-universe look on the Bad Wolf story arc, providing many false theories and explanations.

Not unlike alternate reality games, the tie-in websites employed "unfiction", a type of fiction that attempts to convince its readers that it is actually reality;[4] this was so effective the real world United Nations began taking legal action against the U.N.I.T. tie-in website and its creators, ultimately resulting in the UNIT acronym being changed,[5][6][7][8] and the Leamington Spa Lifeboat Museum caused much confusion to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, who posted about it on Facebook.[9] The tie-in websites also featured certain production jokes that spurred much fan speculation.[1]

Archiving and status in the 2020s

As the websites were launched in the mid-2000s, they commonly utilised software such as Adobe Flash, Windows Media Player and RealPlayer, which are all now defunct and/or incompatible with older content, which has resulted in much of the non-prose material to become lost media. Furthermore, the BBC failed to pursue retaining the website domains for the majority of the tie-in websites, allowing "domain snipers" to purchase the domain and either put them up for sale or to host potentially malicious content. This Wiki advises you only visit these websites through the Wayback Machine or the Ghost Archive.

The exact date many of these sites were launched is unclear. The dates for the series one websites can be worked out accurately by seeing when the website was first linked to on the home page of the Doctor Who website, which had been archived daily on the Wayback Machine; however this practise was abandoned during series two, thus leaving the only evidence of when the websites were launched by accessing the first archive on the Wayback Machine; however, the sites were evidently archived days after they launched, and in the case of Deffry Vale, around a whole year later.

As of 23 January 2023 (2023 -01-23), one of the only websites still hosted by the BBC is Who is Doctor Who?, however the BBC's ownership of the domain is set to expire on 29 June 2023.[10] The domain of the U.N.I.T. website is set to expire on 23 November 2023.[11] There also hasn't been a new tie-in website since 2007, leaving them a relic of the past.

Doctor Who

Series 1

Production on the websites that coincided with series one seem to go as far back as 29 June 2004, with the registering of the domain "www.whoisdoctorwho.co.uk".[10] The domain "www.unit.org.uk" was registered on 23 November 2004,[11] incidentally the 51st anniversary of Doctor Who. Production wise, the website created to coincide with The Christmas Invasion was clearly created during the rest of the series one websites.

According to James Goss, the website editor[7] four fictional websites were created in 2005,[2] evidently not counting Bad Wolf, which contained no original fiction.

Image Wiki Link External Link Release Date Notes
Who is Doctor Who?.jpg
Who is Doctor Who? whoisdoctorwho.co.uk via the Wayback Machine 25 March 2005 The site was launched alongside TV: Rose. Over the course of the next few weeks, it was updated in tandem with series one of Doctor Who, often narratively tying into the other websites.
UNIT website.jpg
U.N.I.T. unit.org.uk via the Wayback Machine 20 April 2005 This site was launched alongside Aliens of London.
GeoComTex website.jpg
GEOCOMTEX geocomtex.net via the Wayback Machine 6 May 2005 This site was launched alongside Dalek.
Bad Wolf website.jpg
Bad Wolf badwolf.org.uk via the Wayback Machine 5 June 2005 A wholly out-of-universe website based around discussion of the Bad Wolf arc.
Guinevere One website.jpg
British Rocket Group guinevere.org.uk via the Wayback Machine 18 December 2005 This website was launched alongside The Christmas Invasion

Series 2

In mid-2006, the BBC released a survey about Doctor Who, to which they received many positive responses regarding the spin-off sites with many "comments and suggestions" for the future of the sites. The official response to the survey announced that new websites were being developed.[1] One of the most positive responses about the Doctor Who website were the "games and those fictional sites", so it was decided that for 2006, the BBC would be combining the two. James Goss,[2] the website editor,[7] announced in Doctor Who Magazine that each week, readers would have a mission, being sent to "a vast online world of secret organisations, [...] hidden footage, and ice cream parlours", to help Mickey Smith. Goss billed Joseph Lidster as the writer and Rob Francis as the producer, who were working in association with the games company Sequence to develop series two's tie-in websites.[2]

Image Wiki Link External Link Release Date Notes
Defending the Earth!.jpg
Defending the Earth! whoisdoctorwho.co.uk via the Wayback Machine March 2006 The relaunched Who is Doctor Who? website.
Leamington Spa Lifeboat Museum website.jpg
Leamington Spa Lifeboat Museum leamingtonspa
lifeboatmuseum.co.uk via the Wayback Machine 		c. 6 April 2006 This website launched at the same time as New Earth, but as it was set in the year 5,000,000,023, The Leamington Spa Lifeboat Museum is entirely unconnected narratively.
File:Deffry Vale website.jpg
Deffry Vale deffryvale.co.uk via the Wayack Machine c. 6 May 2006[12] This website was launched alongside School Reunion. This website would also contribute information pertaining to Defending the Earth!.
Deffry Vale High School website.jpg
Deffry Vale High School deffryvaleschool.org.uk via the Wayback Machine c. 15 May 2006 This website was launched alongside School Reunion.
Cybus Industries website.jpg
Cybus cybusindustries.net via the Wayback Machine May 2006 This website was launched alongside Rise of the Cybermen.
International Electromatics website.jpg
International Electromatics internationalelectromatics.co.uk via the Wayback Machine 2006 These websites launched alongide Rise of the Cybermen and Cybus.
Henrik & Son website.jpg
Henrik & Son henriksonline.co.uk via the Wayback Machine

Series 3

When series three began broadcasting, the BBC continued to release tie-in websites, but not to the same frequency.

Image Wiki Link External Link Release Date Notes
Myspace Martha Jones .jpg
Martha Jones' MySpace blog myspace.com/marthajonesuk via the Wayback Machine 23 March - 3 July 2007. This tie-in website, unconventionally but not without precedent, utilised the real world blogging platform MySpace to host the prose story that depicted Martha Jones's perspective of series three.

Torchwood

Series 2

Cancelled or unproduced websites

The existence of many of these websites can only be determined from the domains that were registered.

Image Wiki Link External Link Release Date Notes
N/A N/A cybusproperty.co.uk via the Wayback Machine N/A It appears that the BBC registered a domain for Cybus Property, however this seemed to have been abandoned.
N/A N/A cybusfinance.co.uk via the Wayback Machine N/A It appears that the BBC registered a domain for Cybus Finance, however this seemed to have been abandoned.
N/A N/A adiposeindustries.com via the Wayback Machine N/A It appears that the BBC registered a domain for Adipose Industries, however this seemed to have been abandoned.
It appears if something was developed with this website, as there two other webpages created under this domain, but they too are empty.

Fan-made websites

The following websites are fan made and thus cannot be covered on this Wiki. They are listed here so no errors in their coverage can be made.

Gallery

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Website survey results on bbc.co.uk
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 DWM 367 - Production Notes
  3. ↑ A Brief History Of Time (Travel) on BBC Internet Blog
  4. ↑ The Mysterious World of Unfiction and Immersive Storytelling on The Emerald
  5. ↑ Privacy Policy, Disclaimer and Terms of Use (original) on unit.org.uk via the Wayback Machine
  6. ↑ A History of the Universe in 100 Objects
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 James Goss on Twitter via the Wayback Machine
  8. ↑ DWM 360 - Production Notes
  9. ↑ RNLI on Facebook via the Ghost Archive
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 whoisdoctorwho.co.uk on Whois
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 unit.org.uk on Whois
  12. ↑ Evidenced by the earliest archive of PROSE: Local Wins Lottery; there are no archives of the home page from when the website was first launched.
  13. ↑ Doctor Who Fans Have Brought Cybus Industries To Life In Mock Campaign on The Gamer
  14. ↑ ‘Doctor Who’ Might Bring Back Cybus Industries, Here’s How on Fangirlish
  15. ↑ Cybus Industries (parody) on Twitter
v • e
Doctor Who tie-in websites
2005
Who is Doctor Who? (aka Defending the Earth!) • U.N.I.T. • GEOCOMTEX • Bad Wolf • British Rocket Group (aka Guinevere One)
2006
2007
2011
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