Forum:Proposal: New section in spin-off media articles

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Okay, so we all know that, in the interim between the old and new series, a LOT of books, audios, and comics were produced that, now that the new series is up and running, contain things that are, for lack of a better term, retroactive discontinuities.

Here's the example I'm going to use to explain what I'm talking about: In the novel Lungbarrow, it's established that Time Lords emerge from the Looms in adult bodies; however, The Sound of Drums shows the Master as a child.

Now, it wouldn't make sense to list that as a discontinuity on the Lungbarrow page, because when it was written, it wasn't a discontinuity. And listing it as a discontinuity on the Sound of Drums page opens a whole can of worms as to canonicity.

So, I'm suggesting that a new section be added to pages for novels, audios, comics, et cetera, to note when the televised stories contradict or override them after the fact. I'm not sure exactly what to call it; "Retroactive discontinuity" is a bit unclear, and "retcon" would be inaccurate.

Thoughts? Feedback? Rants? Monkey with a Gun 05:54, 8 July 2009 (UTC)

I have thoughts, just none really...concise. The idea has merits, but I'm worried it might turn into a forum for people to air all their thoughts and general mindless wanderings.

The discontinuity section on the TV story pages are already pretty over run, I think if we were to put this retroactive discontinuity section in we would have to be very clear about what would go in there.

I just wouldn't want it to imply the TV stories are more valid and say a book or an audio. --Tangerineduel 14:43, 9 July 2009 (UTC)

"a forum for people to air all their thoughts and general mindless wanderings."

on this Wiki?! never!? well, I had proposed a forum just reserved for such fan-wankery. --Stardizzy2 19:07, 10 July 2009 (UTC)

I'm getting around to the additional forum, it's on my to do list!... It'll get done soon. --Tangerineduel 14:04, 11 July 2009 (UTC)

Good points. Perhaps a full-on section would be too much. Maybe something like this:

MADE-UP EXAMPLE (excuse the auto-contents)

Continuity

• The Doctor would also profess his love of ice cream in DW: Revelation of the Daleks.
• K-9 learned to juggle in DW: Underworld.

Retroactive Discontinuity

• Davros is described here as a bon vivant and lover of cocktail parties; this would later be contradicted in DW: The Stolen Earth.

LUNGBARROW EXAMPLE

Continuity

• The hermit that lived on the mountain near the Doctor's home was mentioned in DW: The Time Monster (and more details given in:) Planet of the Spiders.
• The Sisterhood of Karn debuted in DW: The Brain of Morbius.
• Leela met Andred in DW: The Invasion of Time.
• Romana returned from E-space in NA: Blood Harvest, and became president in Happy Endings.
• A lot of Gallifreyan history revisited in this novel first appeared in NA: Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible.
• Romana gives the Doctor her sonic screwdriver which she built in DW: The Horns of Nimon.
• The Doctor used the Hand of Omega in DW: Remembrance of the Daleks.
• The Doctor goes on one final mission to pick up the Master's remains leading into DW: Doctor Who: The TV Movie.

Retroactive Discontinuity

• The novel's revelations about the odd way in which Time Lords reproduce through Looms — and the related suggestion that Susan may not have in fact been his biological granddaughter — have proven divisive in fandom. It has also been roundly rejected by the BBC Wales production of Doctor Who, which has on diverse occasions depicted the Doctor as having had familial relationships close to what a Human would experience (DW: Fear Her, Smith and Jones, The Sound of Drums). Nowhere is it more clearly contradicted, perhaps, than in The Doctor's Daughter in which the Doctor must compare one method of reproduction to what he understands to be "true", conceived parenting using two parents.

• In addition, the claim that Time Lords are born fully mature, never having a physical childhood, is contradicted in DW: The Sound of Drums, when a child is shown in a Time Lord ritual.

This way, the elements that are later contradicted are separated out from the main "Continuity" and "Story Notes" section. The second example is a cut and paste, moving some elements of "Notes" to the new sub-section. Monkey with a Gun 17:54, 9 July 2009 (UTC)