Tardis:Italics
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Tables → Section headings → Use sentence case → Quotation marks → Capital letters → Bold text → Vertical spacing → Sentence spacing → Apostrophe → Comma → Period → Semi-colon → Movable type → Italics |
We also consider each BBC Wales episode a story, and so italicise them. However, Hartnell-era episodes are parts of a larger serial, and therefore enclosed in double quotation marks.
Only italicise titles; do not also enclose them in quotation marks.We render all story names in italics. This goes contrary to standard English rules, which generally hold that shorter works of fiction would be enclosed in quotation marks. Nevertheless, it was felt easier for our editors to consistently italicise all stories, regardless of medium or length, and all BBC Wales episodes.
There are also other things which may be italicised, a list of which is given below.
The biggest exception to the "always italicise" rule is that Hartnell-era episode titles, like "The Cave of Skulls", should be enclosed in quotation marks to clearly indicate when a Hartnell episode, rather than a full serial, is being referenced. This is particularly important because some Hartnell serials, like An Unearthly Child, have episodes of the same name.
Story names
Names of stories should be:
- Capitalised
- Italicised
e.g.
- Tooth and Claw
- Everything Changes
This means that they should be italicised everywhere, infoboxes, source citations — even page titles.
Note that infoboxes about stories will automatically italicise titles properly.
To change a page title into italics, please use:
- {{title dab away}}, if the page is about a story, like The Doctor Falls (TV story)
- {{retitle}} if the PAGENAME should be only partially italicised, like SS Bernice. This partial italicisation is achieved by typing:
{{retitle|SS ''Bernice''}}
Other cases
Aside from story titles, there are a number of other instances where one must make a choice between italicising and enclosing in "double quotations". This chart sorts out these other cases.
| Type | Quotes or italics | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Reference book | Italics | The Writer's Tale |
| Song | Quotation marks | "Song for Ten" |
| Album | Italics | 30 Years at the Radiophonic Workshop |
| Poetry | Quotation marks (epic length poems italicized) | "All Things Will Die", The Odyssey |
| Hartnell-era episode[it2 1] | Quotation marks | "Bell of Doom", "The Death of Doctor Who" |
| Games | Italics | The Gunpowder Plot, Destiny of the Doctors |
| Plays | Italics | Hamlet, Doctor Who: The Ultimate Adventure |
| Non-English words | Italics | deus ex machina, Allons-y! |
| Works of art (paintings, sculptures, etc.) | Italics | The Church at Auvers |
| Most major religious texts | Neither | The Bible |
| Commercial products | Neither | iPod |
| Legal documents | Neither | Magna Carta, Constitution of the United States |
| Periodical | Italics | TV Action, Doctor Who Magazine, The New York Record |
| Vehicle name | Italicize only the name | HMS Teazer |
- ↑ This is helpful in distinguishing between information which comes from a single episode of a serial, versus that which is applicable to the entire serial. One of the most helpful cases is the very first story, An Unearthly Child. The first episode, "An Unearthly Child" is so markedly different than the the rest of the story, that one would often have the need to cite the episode rather than the serial. Thus (TV: An Unearthly Child) is an attribution to the whole serial, whereas (TV: "An Unearthly Child") is the best way to cite simply the episode. Note that this only applies to Hartnell episodes; BBC Wales episodes are always italicised.
Don't use quotation marks
Some people get confused and put italicised title within quotation marks. Please don't do this.
| Do | Don't |
|---|---|
''The Snowmen'' |
"''The Snowmen''", ''"The Snowmen"'' |
