Okay, so this is pretty much a GIP but I am actually curious!

[janetmaca]

So if you guys were paying attention: I love Barbara/Ian (I also love that I think of them as Barbara/Ian rather than Ian/Barbara) so I was reading about the characters (as I am wont to do) and I came across their roles in other media, so I put a question to you:

Poll

Comments

[_thirty2flavors]

MY THOUGHTS ON CANON LET ME SHOW YOU THEM (your poll did not really allow for these options):

There's a hierarchy in my head of like, New Who > Old Who in the sense that if something hasn't been discussed in New Who but was discussed in Classic canon, sure, it can still be canon. In cases of stuff like the regeneration limit, when stuff that is canon in Old Who but gets directly contradicted in New Who, New Who trumps Old Who by virtue of.... being current. And also better.

The 90s movie isn't canon at all tbh, aside from Eight existing. I mean, the human mom thing? Snake Master? ....Everything? Ehhh, pass.

Spinoffs are canon too, though their canon doesn't usually directly impact Doctor Who canon. Except stuff like the regeneration wank which is my new favourite.

Books/audios/interviews are take-it-or-leave-it canon for me -- if I like something I'll adopt it, but if I don't like something I can reject it pretty easily.

[janetmaca]

There's a hierarchy in my head of like, New Who > Old Who in the sense that if something hasn't been discussed in New Who but was discussed in Classic canon, sure, it can still be canon. In cases of stuff like the regeneration limit, when stuff that is canon in Old Who but gets directly contradicted in New Who, New Who trumps Old Who by virtue of.... being current. And also better. Yeah, you best be striking out that last part! *snorfles* Still I get that, it makes sense.

The 90s movie isn't canon at all tbh, aside from Eight existing. I mean, the human mom thing? Snake Master? ....Everything? Ehhh, pass. I forgot about the human mom thing!

Spinoffs are canon too, though their canon doesn't usually directly impact Doctor Who canon. Except stuff like the regeneration wank which is my new favourite.
LOL. Here's a question about the reverse: why don't the spin-offs seem impacted by the happenings in Doctor Who? I'd love to see Ealing affected by the cracky-cracks in time.

Books/audios/interviews are take-it-or-leave-it canon for me

[_thirty2flavors]

The human mom thing loooool. Every time someone brings it up as canon I am so amused too, because... no man, they clearly abandoned that idea forever, lol.

The funny thing about the spinoffs is that the verses... well sometimes they converge in Doctor Who, but for instance, where was Sarah Jane and co during Children of Earth? (Probably coming up with a better solution than Torchwood, but I digress.) And like, LOL FOREVER @ Torchwood failing so epically that Sarah Jane and a bunch of teenagers save the world on a regular basis etc.

I wonder how, if at all, books (or other media) affect later shows?

Doubt it. I mean, they don't hesitate (much) to retcon Classic Who as they please, I really doubt they're worried about what happened in a book or audio or comic. I think they borrow from them as they please, rework them etc (I think Human Nature/Family of Blood was a reworking of a novel or audio, and The Lodger was a comic etc) but I don't think it would influence it in a "we can't do that" way.

[janetmaca]

The human mom thing loooool. Every time someone brings it up as canon I am so amused too, because... no man, they clearly abandoned that idea forever, lol. Pretty much. We all know the woman who appeared to Wilf in EoT was the Doctor's mother. :D

where was Sarah Jane and co during Children of Earth? (Probably coming up with a better solution than Torchwood, but I digress.) Probably!

LOL FOREVER @ Torchwood failing so epically that Sarah Jane and a bunch of teenagers save the world on a regular basis etc. Hahahaha, oh that's such a good point.

Doubt it. I mean, they don't hesitate (much) to retcon Classic Who as they please That actually kinda depresses me... except for the 13 lives limit. That was just silly.

I don't think it would influence it in a "we can't do that" way.
I'm actually kinda glad by that line of thought... although I would lol forever if Ian and Barbara did indeed have a son who married Tegan. :D

[mrv3000]

The Dalek movies: LOL

Audios and books: quasi-canon

Interviews with TPTB: take-it-or-leave-it

[janetmaca]

lol, I've never seen the Dalek movies and I'm kinda gathering this is a good thing. :D

[shutterbug_12]

I'm not a Who person, but I have very precise feelings on what is "canon" and what isn't for things. (E.g. books and TV series with the same title/characters are not the same works and so don't share canon--but can supplement ideas for fic writers if they wish, but I don't consider a book canon for a TV series or vice versa. Interviews/commentary from TPTB or actors for any show is never ever ever canon. Unaired pilots are not canon. The only thing that's canon for me is originally aired content--for TV series. For books, it's the texts only. I'm...a purist, if that's the word, I guess. Heh.) Just thought I'd say. ;) Not that it really matters. I suppose I just felt like it. My strict views about canon have...annoyed some people, but it's the most consistent for me and makes the most sense to me.

...goes away now.

[janetmaca]

Ahh, don't go away! I think it's interesting to hear of non-DW fandoms in this situation. :D Honestly no matter what the fandom I take the original source material and closely-related spin-offs, anything not established in that (be they interviews from TPTB or spin-offs that aren't closely related to the original material) I discount.

[annissa]

I ticked "tv series" but I would not say that 8's movie is canon at all. From what I've heard of it (still haven't seen it), it's totally out of left field and makes no sense with anything else.

[janetmaca]

I guess with Eight's movie I consider it canon for the simple fact that we got Eight. I really should have made that a separate option. :D Thanks for answering!

[annissa]

That's true, too... I'd really like an explanation for that movie! And to, you know, actually see it so I know what I'm talking about. I don't understand why that movie is so different from everything else...

[janetmaca]

I remember hearing they were going to use it as a springboard for a new series of DW (Thank God they didn't!). I think maybe it's because the movie was so Americanized that it just felt odd. *shrugs*

[scarfman]

I don't believe in canon.