Case Files (series)

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Beginning in 2008, the Case File format has been used across a number of series to communicate information about the characters and species of the Doctor Who universe.

Precursors[[edit] | [edit source]]

Alien Fact File[[edit] | [edit source]]

Main article: Alien Fact File

The Alien Fact Files were included on the Doctor Who website when it launched in 1998. Unlike later iterations on the concept, these Files constituted static webpages rather than webcasts, and there was no indication given of whom was presenting the information to the reader. The files were designed to be printed as cards and used in a card game.

Tardisode[[edit] | [edit source]]

Main article: Tardisode

After the revival of television Doctor Who in 2005, the BBC experimented with formats of webcasts accompanying each episode. The first of these experiments were the Tardisode webcasts, short stories which served as prequels to the episodes of series 2. However, these failed to catch on, and no webcasts were produced to accompany series 3.

Mr Smith's data updates[[edit] | [edit source]]

Main article: Mr Smith's data updates

When The Sarah Jane Adventures began airing in 2007, the episodes were accompanied by webcasts called Mr Smith's data updates. Each episode was less than a minute long, recapping the events of the accompanying television stories. They were narrated by Alexander Armstrong as Mr Smith. These continued through series 1 and 2.

Torchwood[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Torchwood Mission Game included multiple webcasts and tied in with series 2 in early 2008, and episodes of the motion comic Web of Lies were released alongside series 4 in 2011. However, despite tying into the events on television, these focused on independent stories, and they did not use the "File" format.

Monster Files[[edit] | [edit source]]

Captain Jack's Monster Files[[edit] | [edit source]]

Main article: Captain Jack's Monster Files

Following the failure of the Tardisodes, the next attempt, released to accompany series 4, were Captain Jack's Monster Files.

Each webcast included Captain Jack's survival tips.

River Song's Monster Files[[edit] | [edit source]]

Main article: River Song's Monster Files

Three "Monster Files" narrated by Alex Kingston as River Song were released in May 2010 to accompany series 5. River Song's Monster Files used a format identical to Captain Jack's Monster Files, with the survival tips renamed "Useful Spoilers", and citing River Song's diary rather than Torchwood's files.

Title Accompanying episode Runtime Originally available
Weeping Angels Flesh and Stone 3'36" 1 May 2010
Vampires The Vampires of Venice 3'43" 8 May 2010
Silurians Cold Blood 3'25" 29 May 2010

Webcasts were released to accompany each episode in series 6 and 7, but they returned to a format similar to the previous Tardisodes: full-cast short prequels.

Alien Files[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Alien Files[[edit] | [edit source]]

Main article: The Alien Files

With series 3 (SJA),

Sarah Jane's Alien Files[[edit] | [edit source]]

Main article: Sarah Jane's Alien Files

For series 4 of The Sarah Jane Adventures, the . Uniquely, these Files were broadcast on CBBC and included extra information beyond what was given in the accompanying episodes.

TARDIS Index Files[[edit] | [edit source]]

Main article: TARDIS Index Files

On 23 November 2013, a short webcast called Zygon Stats was published on the BBC America YouTube channel to accompany the release of The Day of the Doctor on that day. The video description called it a "full report on the Zygon from the TARDIS's Index Files". Three years later, this became the basis of a new series of Files.

Unlike previous renditions of the format, these were not narrated but merely presented on the TARDIS scanner, with ambient TARDIS noises as the only audio. Additionally, they aired in 2016 between Doctor Who series 9 (Doctor Who 2005) and 10 rather than alongside related episodes.

# Name Subject Release date
1 Who Are the Silurians? Silurians 24 February 2016
2 Who Are the Weeping Angels? Weeping Angels 21 March 2016
3 Who Are the Silence? The Silence 28 April 2016
4 Who Are the Ood? Ood 21 May 2016
5 Who Is Davros? Davros 20 June 2016
6 Who Is the Master? The Master 18 July 2016
7 Who Are the Zygons? Zygons 3 August 2016
8 Who Are the Sontarans? Sontarans 14 September 2016
9 Who Are the Cybermen? Cybermen 26 October 2016
10 Who Are the Daleks? Daleks 26 November 2016

Case Files[[edit] | [edit source]]

Yaz's Case Files[[edit] | [edit source]]

Main article: Yaz's Case File

Yaz's Case Files was a series of webcasts released on the Doctor Who website in 2018 and 2019 to tie in with Doctor Who series 11. The webcasts were scripted by Jacqueline Rayner[1] and provided mini-recaps of the accompanying episodes from Yasmin Khan's perspective.

# Subtitle Released with Topic
1 "The Stenza" The Woman Who Fell to Earth The Stenza and Tim Shaw's conflict with the Thirteenth Doctor.
2 "The Remnants" The Ghost Monument The Remnants found on the planet Desolation, and how the Doctor defeated them during one encounter.
3 "Krasko" Rosa Krasko and Rosa Parks starting the Montgomery Bus Boycotts.
4 "Mutant Spiders" Arachnids in the UK Mutant Spiders and the events at Robertson Luxury Hotels.
5 "Pting" The Tsuranga Conundrum The Pting and the events on Tsuranga.
6 "The Thijarians" Demons of the Punjab The Thijarians and the events in Punjab.
7 "The Kerblam Man"
/ "The Postmen"
Kerblam! The Kerb!am Men and the events in Kerb!am.
8 "Morax" The Witchfinders The Morax and the events in Bilehurst Cragg.
9 "Creatures of the Antizone" It Takes You Away The Anti-zone and the creatures in it, specifically Ribbons and the flesh moths.
10 "The Ux" The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos The Ux's background and history, as well as some details of the events on Ranskoor Av Kolos in 5425.
11 "The Reconnaissance Dalek" Resolution The Dalek's history, the Order of the Custodians, and the events of New Year's Day 2019.

P.R.O.B.E. Case Files[[edit] | [edit source]]

Main article: P.R.O.B.E. Case Files

The P.R.O.B.E. Case Files, produced by BBV Productions rather than the BBC, reimagined the format of the Monster Files and Yaz's Case Files in the context of BBV's P.R.O.B.E. series. Each episode featured Giles discussing the files and activities of the Preternatural Research Bureau.

Footnotes[[edit] | [edit source]]

Category:Overview pages