Doctor Who spin-offs
Since its beginning in 1963, Doctor Who has spawned a number of spin-offs that do not feature the Doctor as the main character. These can be separated into two distinct categories: productions officially licensed by the BBC, and other productions that contain a monster or element of Doctor Who licensed from the original holder without BBC involvement.
Officially licensed by the BBC
Television
K9 and Company
- Main article: K9 and Company
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
Comics
Marvel UK
- Main article: DWM backup comic stories
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.
Television
Metal Mutt Productions
Video
Reeltime Pictures
- Wartime
- Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans
- Downtime
- Mindgame Saga
- Dæmos Rising
- White Witch of Devil's End
- Sil and the Devil Seeds of Arodor
BBV Productions
Audio
BBV Productions
- Adventures in a Pocket Universe
- Zygon
- Krynoid
- Sontarans
- I (I Scream)
- The Rani (The Rani Reaps the Whirlwind)
- Wirrn
- The Faction Paradox Protocols
- Rutans (In 2 Minds)
- The Quality of Mercy
Magic Bullet Productions
BBC Radio 4
Bafflegab Productions
Prose
Sparrow Books
Virgin Books
- The New Adventures (1997-99)
Mad Norwegian Press
- Faction Paradox (2002-06, 13)
Allison & Busby
Random Static
- Faction Paradox (2008)
Telos Publishing
Big Finish Productions
Obverse Books
- Iris Wildthyme (2009-present)
- Faction Paradox (2013-present)
- Obverse Quarterly
- The City of the Saved
- Obverse Sextet
Candy Jar Books
Thebes Publishing
Meteoric Books
Arcbeatle Press
Snowbooks Ltd
Comics
TV Century 21
Marvel UK
Image Comics
Graveyard Shift Comics
Comeuppance Comics
Meteoric Books
Lucky Comics
Telos Publishing
Cutaway Comics
Non-fiction spin-offs
BBC
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.
- Doctor Who Confidential (2005-11)
- Totally Doctor Who (2006-07)
- Torchwood Declassified (2006-11)
- Doctor Who Extra (2014-15)
- The Fan Show (2015-18)
- Inside Look (2017)
- Closer Look (2018)
- Access All Areas (2018-19)
Reeltime Pictures
- Myth Makers (1985-2016)
Mad Norwegian Press
- AHistory (2006-present)
- About Time (2006-present)
Obverse Books
- The Black Archive (2016-present)
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-DWU 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.
BBC
- What's inside the Doctor Who LEGO set? (webcast; featuring Estelle)
BBV
- Do You Have a Licence to Save this Planet? (video; featuring Autons, a Krynoid and a Sontaran)
Big Finish
- The Confessions of Dorian Gray (audio; featuring a version of Dorian Gray)
- Vienna (audio; featuring Vienna Salvatori)
Epic Comics
- The Sleeze Brothers (comics; featuring the Sleeze Brothers)
Obverse Books
- The Periodic Adventures of Señor 105 (prose; featuring Señor 105)
Radio Static
- The Minister of Chance (audio; featuring the Minister of Chance)
