Doctor Who spin-offs: Difference between revisions

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Revision as of 22:16, 20 June 2024

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Long after leaving televised Doctor Who, K9 was the subject of new stories unbound by the Doctor or the BBC — even on television!

Since its beginning in 1963, Doctor Who has spawned a number of spin-offs that do not feature the Doctor as the main character, or, indeed at all.

These can be separated into two distinct categories: productions officially licensed by the BBC, whose lack of use of the Doctor or their TARDIS are a stylistic choice; and ones created without BBC involvement, grown around an element of the DWU owned by another party.

While some series spin off directly from a Doctor Who-branded work, spinoffs can themselves engender spinoffs. The sum total of Doctor Who's licensed "descendance", provided they pass our four little rules of validity, comprise the DWU as we define it.

Pete McTighe stated in DWM 571 that he viewed each of his minisodes packaged with trailers for The Collection as "the opportunity for a brand-new Doctor Who spin-off (…) albeit on a budget of 59p", although these minisodes were still released under the Doctor Who name rather than having their own series names.

Officially licensed by the BBC

Television

K9 and Company

Main article: K9 and Company (TV series)

Torchwood

Main article: Torchwood (TV series)

The Sarah Jane Adventures

Main article: The Sarah Jane Adventures

Class

Main article: Class (TV series)

Prose

Souvenir Press Ltd

World Distributors Ltd

Target Books

BBC Books

Panini Comics

Audio

Silver Fist/Who Dares

Big Finish

Main article: Big Finish Doctor Who audio spin-offs

BBC Audio

Comics

Marvel UK

Main article: DWM backup comic stories

Multi-media

Home video

Officially licensed from individual copyright holders

Beginning in 1987 with the release of Wartime by Reeltime Pictures, a number of professionally produced spin-off films and audio dramas have been produced. As noted above, these differ from BBC and Big Finish productions in that they usually only feature characters or monsters not owned by the BBC, but rather licensed from their creators. Some spin-offs are original works using original character strongly suggested by characters in Doctor Who (such as The Stranger). In many cases, original cast members from Doctor Who reprised their TV roles for these films and several involved behind-the-scenes veterans of the series (for example, Christopher Barry, who co-directed the very first Daleks story in 1963-64, directed Downtime).

A number of writers and actors involved in these productions later went on to work with BBC licensed Doctor Who spinoffs such as the Big Finish Productions audio dramas, and even on the revived Doctor Who series itself when it returned to TV in 2005 (most notably Nicholas Briggs and Mark Gatiss). By way of comparison, these spin-off productions, often classified as fan films, are in spirit similar to the professionally made fan films based upon the Star Trek franchise that began to emerge in the early 2000s when the rights holders for Star Trek relaxed their restrictions. However, unlike the Star Trek fan films, all of the productions listed below were fully licensed.

On this table, singular instalments are shown in quotation marks, whilst series are italicised.

Title Licensed connection Medium Publisher Date of first release
K9 K9 Television Metal Mutt Productions 31 October 2009
Wartime John Benton Home video Reeltime Pictures 20 January 1998
Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans Sontarans Home video Reeltime Pictures
(produced by Dreamwatch Media)
1 December 1998
Downtime Sarah Jane Smith Home video Reeltime Pictures 2 December 1995
Mindgame Saga Draconians and Sontarans Home video 1998
Dæmos Rising Dæmons Home video 2004
The White Witch of Devil's End Dæmons Home video Reeltime Pictures
(released by Koch Media)
13 November 2017
Sil and the Devil Seeds of Arodor Sil Home video Reeltime Pictures 4 November 2019
Auton Trilogy Autons Home video BBV Productions 1997
Zygon: When Being You Just Isn't Enough Zygons Home video 27 February 2008
The Time Travellers Alternate timeline first mentioned in The Roundheads [+]Loading...["The Roundheads (novel)"] Audio May 1998
Adventures in a Pocket Universe K9 Audio June 1999
BBV Zygon audios Zygons Audio August 1999
Krynoids Krynoids Audio October 1999
Sontarans Sontarans Audio December 1999
The I (sole instalment: I Scream) I Audio August 2000
The Rani Reaps the Whirlwind The Rani Audio November 2000
Race Memory Wirrn Audio February 2001
The Faction Paradox Protocols Faction Paradox Audio October 2001
Dionus's War Faction Paradox Audio 6 June 2021
In 2 Minds Rutans Audio September 2002
The Quality of Mercy Guy de Carnac Audio September 2002
P.R.O.B.E. Liz Shaw Home video, Audio 1994
The Brigadier Adventures The Brigadier Audio 28 June 2021
Erimem: The Audio Adventures Erimem Audio 19 August 2021
Vienna Vienna Salvatori Audio Big Finish Productions February 2013
Kaldor City Kaldor City Audio Magic Bullet Productions September 2001
The True History of Faction Paradox Faction Paradox Audio 23 July 2003
Imaginary Boys David Taylor Audio BBC Radio 4 3 October 2013
Glam Rock Detective Vince Cosmos Audio Bafflegab Productions 3 February 2013
Mystery Lady Dodie Golightly Audio Storytel 5 September 2018
The Minister of Chance The Minister of Chance Audio, Novelisation Radio Static (audio series),
Arcbeatle Press (novelisation)
2011, 2022
Children of the Circus (novelisation) Psychic Circus Audio, Novelisation AUK Studios (audio),
Oak Tree Books & Chinbeard Books (novelisation)
14 December 2023
The Adventures of K9 (audio adapation) K9, Omegon, Time Lords Anthology, Audio Sparrow Books (prose), Explore Multimedia (audio) 20 October 1980 (prose), 19 November 2013 (audio)
The New Adventures (1997-1999) Bernice Summerfield Novel Virgin Books 1 May 1997
Faction Paradox prose Faction Paradox Prose Mad Norwegian Press (2002-2006),
Random Static (2008),
Obverse Books (2013-present)
17 September 2002
To the Devil — a Diva! Cleavis and other concepts from Mad Dogs and Englishmen [+]Loading...["Mad Dogs and Englishmen (novel)"] & Kept Safe and Sound [+]Loading...["Kept Safe and Sound (short story)"] Novel Allison & Busby September 2004
Time Hunter Honoré Lechasseur and Emily Blandish Novella Telos Publishing 20 August 2007
Iris Wildthyme Iris Wildthyme Prose & Audio Big Finish, Obverse Books August 2005
Bernice Summerfield Bernice Summerfield Audio & Prose Big Finish September 1998
The Coming of the Queen Erimem Novel 13 October 2005
Project: Valhalla William "Nimrod" Abberton Novel 13 December 2005
Worlds of the Spiral Politic Faction Paradox Anthologies, Novel Obverse Books 1 June 2022
The Periodic Adventures of Señor 105 Señor 105 Anthology, Novellas 30 September 2011
The Casebook of the Manleigh Halt Irregulars Manleigh Halt Irregulars Short story anthology February 2013
The Unwoken Princess Icnopilli Short story 26 April 2013
The City of the Saved City of the Saved Anthologies 1 June 2012
Welcome Home, Bernard Socks Panda Obverse Books 2015
Closing the Casebook Manleigh Halt Irregulars Novel Obverse Books 9 December 2019
Paradise Towers Paradise Towers Anthologies, Comics Obverse Books, Cutaway Comics 19 October 2021
The Story of Fester Cat Panda Novel The Berkley Publishing Group 4 November 2014
The Lora Trilogy Celestial Omnibuses Novel series Firefly Press 14 May 2015
Lethbridge-Stewart Lethbridge-Stewart family Prose Candy Jar Books 26 February 2015
Travers & Wells Concepts from Timelash [+]Loading...["Timelash (TV story)"] Short stories May 2017
The Lucy Wilson Mysteries Lucy Wilson Prose 15 August 2017
Candy Jar UNIT series UNIT Anthologies 2021
Candy Jar Counter-Measures series Counter-Measures Novels 4 January 2022
Erimem Erimem Novels Thebes Publishing 9 June 2015
The Essential Book of K9 K9 Anthology Meteoric Books July 2015
Megabytes K9 Anthology 20 December 2020
Cwej: The Series Chris Cwej Anthologies, Novels Arcbeatle Press 19 May 2020
Cyberon P.R.O.B.E. Anthology 21 September 2020
Auteur Auteur Short stories 29 October 2023
Coloth Coloth Short stories 29 October 2023
Fellowship of Ink Concepts from Mad Dogs and Englishmen [+]Loading...["Mad Dogs and Englishmen (novel)"] Novel Snowbooks Ltd 1 June 2017
Golden Age Concepts from Against Nature [+]Loading...["Against Nature (novel)"] Novel Ce Acatl 29 November 2019
The Bloodletters Garglespike, among many others Novella Self-published by Ryan Fogarty 1 May 2020
Wringing Off Theo Possible Novella Self-published by Ryan Fogarty 29 November 2020
Novelisations in Time & Space Various between entries Novelisations BBV Productions 2021
The Daleks Daleks Comics, Audios, Short stories Century 21 Productions et al. 30 January 1965
Free-Fall Warriors Freefall Warriors Comics Marvel Comics 1985
The Forge The Forge Comics Graveyard Shifts Comics 12 November 2005
Devil's End: The Adventures of Olive Hawthorne Olive Hawthorne Comics Lucky Comics 5 May 2015
Lytton Gustave Lytton Comics Cutaway Comics September 2020
Omega Omega Comics, Audio January 2021
The Demons of Eden Mandrel Comics January 2021
The Happiness Patrol Happiness Patrol Comics 2021
Gods and Monsters Sutekh, Tharils Comics 2023
Orcini Orcini Comics 23 August 2021
Eldrad Must Live! Eldrad Comics 23 August 2021

Non-fiction spin-offs

Since the revival of the Doctor Who franchise in 2005, several ongoing non-fiction series have been commissioned to supplement the main programmes. All primarily featured behind-the-scenes documentary coverage of production, but some also served as the venue for the release of some new licensed Doctor Who fiction: Totally Doctor Who included a serialised form of the animated serial The Infinite Quest, and The Fan Show frequently included more-or-less developed humorous skits.

Reeltime Pictures

Mad Norwegian Press

Obverse Books

Other

Devious

Devious is an incomplete privately made fan film notable for featuring Jon Pertwee as the Third Doctor in his final known performance in the role. Audio of Pertwee was reused by Big Finish Productions for the audio drama Zagreus. In 2009, a 12-minute excerpt/trailer from the production, featuring the extant footage of Pertwee, and which cannot really be deemed a complete narrative in its own right, was released by BBC Video with the DVD release of The War Games.

Notwithstanding a few Reeltime-produced comedy skits included in previous DVD sets, this makes Devious to date the only fan/unofficial spin-off to actually be released by the BBC. It is not, however, by far, the only unlicensed spin-off project to have featured a DWU actor returning to their original part in an unauthorised context.

Non-valid and non-covered spin-offs

Some series feature characters and/or elements that originated in a Doctor Who universe story but do not pass this wiki's four little rules and as such are not considered valid; in some cases, their connection to Doctor Who is even so tenuous that they are not even covered on the Wiki at all.

BBV

Big Finish

Epic Comics

Snowbooks Ltd

Bafflegab Productions

Footnotes

  1. The BBC allowed for several characters, such as Sarah Jane Smith and Victoria Waterfield, to appear in the film.
  2. The BBC authorised the use of Liz Shaw in the P.R.O.B.E. home video releases so long as they received an acknowledgement, but had no direct involvement with the production of the films. (REF: DWM 219) This license does not extend P.R.O.B.E. releases in other media, such as audio and prose, which have avoided using the character, and have only referenced her indirectly, for example through her BBV-owned married name of "Director Haggard".