whoisdoctorwho.co.uk
whoisdoctorwho.co.uk was an Earth-run website originally created by Clive Finch.
It had a photograph of the Ninth Doctor and asked to contact Clive if anyone had seen him. On 5 March 2005, Rose used search-wise.net to find the website and began emailing Clive about the Doctor. (TV: Rose)
Behind the scenes
Who is Doctor Who? (titled simply Doctor Who? in the search engine results in TV: Rose) is a real website that tied into series 1 of Doctor Who. It initially had simply the Ninth Doctor photograph and a "sightings" page, which during the active life of the site contained a web form with which users could submit their own "sightings" of the Doctor, under whichever name they wished. After a short delay, new sightings would be added to the page. Additional user-generated pages of this type were added for several episodes' updates to the site. Amusingly, the basic purpose of the "sightings" page was essentially to allow the public to add events to the real-world version of a Doctor Who universe website.
One particular entry on the "sightings" page describes a sighting of the Ninth Doctor "wearing some old Edwardian outfit" and "muttering 'They’re all gone, I'm the only one left'," seemingly a reference to the end of the Last Great Time War and implying that the events that ended it led to the Eighth Doctor's regeneration into the Ninth. That suggestion was later supported by a few stories released in the 2000s - most notably The Forgotten and Don't Step on the Grass - but it was thoroughly contradicted by The Day of the Doctor (and the many stories featuring the War Doctor which it spawned). Another entry states that he "tried to swap some Edwardian gear at an Oxfam in Sheffield for a pair of jeans and trainers". Another entry states that he was dumping clothes at the local tip. It stated there was a flute, which may reference the Second Doctor’s recorder. A velvet jacket, which may reference one of the jackets the Third Doctor wore, and a long scarf which may have been a reference to the Fourth Doctor. The Doctor then says he “never really liked cricket either.” This phrase may reference the Fifth Doctor‘s love for cricket. Another entry submitted by a person stated that she worked at a cinema near Totter’s Lane in 1963. She then states she met an older, white haired gentlemen who called himself the Doctor. She then states that a girl was with him and assumed she was his grand-daughter. The movie they showed on the evening was about the fall of Rome. After the showing, the man started ranting that the movie was historically inaccurate, and was later kicked out. She then saw the Doctor go back to a junkyard afterward and never see him again. She stated that the gentleman and the Doctor were connected somehow. Another entry says, “He argued with a little man with an umbrella.” This may reference the Seventh Doctor, who was short and had a question-mark umbrella. Other entries have been submitted by other familiar characters from the classic series. An entry written by Sarah-Jane Smith asked if there was an exclusive interview containing the Doctor, and they should contact her account on the Daily Mail. Another entry written by a “Mr. Yates” says, “To not concern yourself with the Doctor or his doings. He is not the man you think he is and he is not involved in the manner you think he is. I should know, he changed my life completely.” This may suggest it was Mike Yates who submitted it. Another entry submitted by Peri Brown says, “The Doctor walked into my life and out of my life.” She then asked if she could get some information from Clive.
After Clive's death in the story, Rose, Mickey Smith took over, writing fictional articles about various events, including the 2005 Auton invasion of London, the attempt by the family Slitheen to destroy the world and Guinevere One's flight to Mars, amongst others.
The site was renamed "Defending the Earth!" during series 2 and had missions for the readers of the website to help Mickey as he seemingly decided it was hard to do things all by himself, allowing the readers to help combat alien invasions.
Once Mickey was left in an alternate reality in The Age of Steel, a "David R" took over, the missions were replaced with games and a quiz was added to test the readers of the website about what David, Mickey, Clive, LINDA and various other groups had researched over the last few years. However, by the end of series 2, the website was no longer being updated.
