Doctor Who website

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For the purposes of this wiki, theDoctor Who website is deemed to be the main site operated by theBritish Broadcasting Corporation athttp://bbc.co.uk/doctorwho. There areother officialDoctor Who websites operated by national broadcasters, but the definitiveDoctor Who website is the one operated byBBC Online on behalf of the variousBBC One,Two andThree transmissions.

Since the re-launch ofDoctor Who in 2005, the site has promoted the programme through a significant amount of original material, like:

Generally, the website has changed its theme weekly during the transmission of the programme onBBC One. Indeed, most of the material has been geared towards promoting the next upcoming episode. However, during the off-season, the site has reverted to a more general promotion ofDoctor Who.

Contents

Original website[[edit] |[edit source]]

1998-2001[[edit] |[edit source]]

BBC Cult TV homepage in 1998, advertising the new Doctor Who site.
Website homepage in 1999.
Website homepage in 2000.
An advert for the website shown onBBC Two during the 1999-2000 repeat season.
Website homepage in early 2001.

The website began inNovember1998 as a section of the BBC's Cult TV site. It was created for the 35th anniversary of the show. The address washttp://bbc.co.uk/cult/doctorwho. The original homepage was labelled "The Console Room" with the subtitle "on the official Doctor Who Site".

With the television series effectively "dead" the website chose to focus instead on information about the programme, its episodes and characters. It also featured information onUK Gold repeats, conventions, fan gatherings, merchandise and upcoming projects that featured Doctor Who alumni. It then expanded to include spin-off media such asBig Finish Productions,BBC Radio Collection,BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures,BBC Past Doctor Adventures andTelos Publishing.

In the autumn of2000 the website homepage had a small refresh. Newer sections introduced after this used the new style whilst existing sections remained unchanged.

The site also ran competitions with winners receiving Doctor Who CD's or videos.

Original sections[[edit] |[edit source]]

Features and Interviews[[edit] |[edit source]]

This section had interviews and live chats with various Doctor Who people and articles about different Doctor Who topics.

The TV Companion, later Episode Guide[[edit] |[edit source]]

"Episode Guide" was a guide to various Doctor Who stories which were currently being repeated on UK Gold and BBC Two. New pages would be added as different stories were repeated, however this meant that there were many gaps in coverage, with a total of 30 stories not having pages, especially from the First and Second Doctors' eras. The story pages were simply listed in alphabetical order. The information in this section was extracted and abridged fromDoctor Who: The Television Companion byDavid J. Howe andStephen James Walker. Pages in this section followed a standard layout - Plot; Popular Myths; Things To Watch Out For; Quote, Unquote; and Analysis.

In August 2002 a story finding tool called"Ooh, it's the one with..." was added, it was designed to help users jog their childhood memories and find specific serials.

On 5 March 2003 the Episode Guide was greatly expanded adding text fromThe Discontinuity Guide byPaul Cornell,Martin Day andKeith Topping including the books introduction and all 32 Q.V. articles, pages for the missing 30 stories plusK9 and Company andDimensions in Time, links to clips and articles already on the site, a list ofmissing episodes and original production paperwork in Adobe PDF format.[1] Story pages were now listed in broadcast order, categorised by Doctor. Pages in this section followed a new standard layout - Plot; Episode Endings; Roots; Quotes; Dialogue Triumphs; Dialogue Disasters; Double Entendres; Fluffs; Continuity; Location; Links; Future History; Untelevised Adventures; Trivia; Goofs; Technobabble; Myths; Fashion Victims; The Bottom Line; Analysis; and Cast & Crew.

On 13 June 2003 a further update added pages for every cast and crew member.[2]

Who News, later News[[edit] |[edit source]]

"Who News" was compiled monthly byJulian Knott and later byRob Francis. It covered the repeats schedule, merchandise releases, upcoming events such as signings and conventions; and film, television and radio programmes which involved Doctor Who alumni.

Quiz, later Game Zone[[edit] |[edit source]]

"Game Zone" initially only had one game calledEscape from the Master, a quiz with ten questions. If you got all ten correct, it would send you a codeword, which you emailed to the site to enter a prize draw. This was later renamedThe Expert Quiz Database. In c. January 2000The Matrix Quiz andCult TV Quizmaster had been added, as well as a Doctor Who screensaver for PC & Mac.

In c. June 2001Cult TV Quizmaster was removed and replaced with eight easy quizzes, one each for the first seven Doctors and a Timelord Triva quiz. In c. August 2004 the Timelord Triva was replaced with a Christopher Eccleston quiz.

Who Trumps was added to the section on 8 November 2002[3] andTARDIS Tennis was added on 21 June 2003.[4]

The Doctors, later Doctors[[edit] |[edit source]]

"The Doctors" had a short profile on each Doctor written by David J. Howe. On each Doctor's page there were pop-up windows for each of his companions with a short summery of their time in the TARDIS. On 25 May 2004, following the casting ofBillie Piper asRose Tyler this content was moved into its own feature called "Companions Guide".[5]

Alien Fact File, later Monsters[[edit] |[edit source]]

"Alien Fact Files" were a guide to a selection of monsters from Doctor Who set out like trump cards with a short biography alongside.

Forum, later Message Board[[edit] |[edit source]]

The Doctor Who "Message Board" was open every day from 9am-10pm on weekdays and 10am-10pm at weekends.[6] It closed on 20 April 2004.[7]

Links[[edit] |[edit source]]

"Links" had information about other Doctor Who websites, including Beeb.com, Howe's Who,Outpost Gallifrey, Bevis & Duncan's Doctor Who Guide,The Restoration Team and Doctor Who Chronology.

More websites were added to the section between 2001-2002:Doctor Who Appreciation Society, Big Finish, Missing Episodes Gateway, Telos Publishing,Product Enterprise, This Planet Earth and Media Collectables.

Q&A[[edit] |[edit source]]

In the "Q&A" section visitors to the website could email any question about Doctor Who and the site would try to answer them.[8] It later moved to the Doctor Who "Message Board".

Later sections[[edit] |[edit source]]

Radio News, later Radio Pilot[[edit] |[edit source]]

This section was added in June 2000 to document the progress of what becameWC:Death Comes to Time. It became a sub-section of "Death Comes to Time" and renamed "The Making Of..." in June 2001.

Virtual TARDIS[[edit] |[edit source]]

The"Virtual TARDIS" was a 3D interactive version of the TARDIS console room made using Macromedia Shockwave which users could explore and pilot. It was added in c. July 2000.[9] It was later merged into the TARDIS-Cam section when it launched.

Photo Galleries[[edit] |[edit source]]

The "Photo Galleries" section contained wallpapers to download, available in three sizes - 640x480, 800x600 and 1024x768. It was added in the autumn of 2000. Initially it only had one gallery.

In October 2005 the website made some pictures and sounds available to be directly downloaded to WAP-enabled mobiles by texting "WHO" to 81010 or by going to bbc.co.uk/mobile/drwho on a mobile internet browser. Mobile wallpapers were available in three sizes - 128x128, 176x220 and 288x352.[10][11]

The following photo galleries were added -Daleks (c. autumn 2000);Radio Times (January 2001);Visual Effects Department (c. July 2001);The Power of the Daleks 1 (c. 12 October 2001);The Wheel in Space (c. 23 November 2001);The TV Movie 1 (by 14 February 2002);City of Death & The TV Movie 2 (by 1 June 2002);Elisabeth Sladen (17 September 2002[12]);Ice Warriors (20 September 2002);Maeve's Drawings (by 15 October 2002);Big Finish covers (by 1 December 2002);Lee Sullivan (30 May 2003);Doctor Who Magazine (29 July 2003);PanoptiCon 2003 (4 November 2003[13]);Gallifrey One 2004 (26 February 2004[14]);Nicola Bryant (26 March 2004[15]);Christopher Eccleston (by 5 April 2004);Mary Tamm (13 April 2004[16]);Jacqueline Hill (21 April 2004[17]);Lalla Ward (28 April 2004[18]);Anthony Ainley (13 May 2004[19]);Billie Piper (24 May 2004);Peter Davison & The Power of the Daleks 2 (by 3 June 2004);Mixed Monsters 1 & 2 (3 June 2004[20][21]);Louise Jameson (1 July 2004[22]);Carole Ann Ford (by 18 August 2004);William Russell (by 20 August 2004);The Evil of the Daleks (7 October 2004[23]);Jon Pertwee (25 January 2005[24]);Roger Delgado (28 January 2005[25]);Kate O'Mara (3 February 2005[26]);Sylvester McCoy &Sophie Aldred (10 February 2005[27]);William Hartnell (24 February 2005[28]);Patrick Troughton (4 March 2005[29]);Tom Baker (10 March 2005[30]);Colin Baker (14 March 2005[31]);K9 (24 August 2005[32]); andMobile Phone Wallpapers (4 October 2005).

Books[[edit] |[edit source]]

The "Books" section was a guide to all forthcoming Doctor Who books. It contained a release schedule, synopses, covers, chapter extracts, interviews and fan reviews, organised by Doctor. It was added in December 2000.

In May 2000Jacqueline Rayner at BBC Books set up a subscription e-newsletter called theDoctor Who Books Telepress to promote theBBC Eighth Doctor Adventures. In August 2001 it moved to the "Books" section of the website and expanded to cover theBBC Past Doctor Adventures and added interviews with authors and sample chapters of upcoming novels.[33][34]

On4 July 2001 theOfficial BBC Doctor Who Book Guidelines were added to the section. This gave fans the information needed to send their proposals for Doctor Who novels to BBC Worldwide and the chance to be published.[35][36]

On 9 January 2004 the section was revamped and reorganised.[37]

Dead Ringers[[edit] |[edit source]]

The "Dead Ringers" section collected many of prank calls featuringJon Culshaw'sTom Baker impression from the BBC Radio 4 series. It was added in December 2000. It was made a sub-section of "Clips" in c. July 2004.

DVD and Video[[edit] |[edit source]]

The "DVD and Video" section was a guide to all forthcoming Doctor Who VHS and DVD releases. It contained a release schedule, synopses, covers, clips, interviews and fan reviews, organised by Doctor. It was added in January 2001.

CD and Audio[[edit] |[edit source]]

The "CD and Audio" section was a guide to all forthcoming Doctor Who adventures on CD produced by the BBC Radio Collection and Big Finish. It contained a release schedule, synopses, covers, clips, interviews and fan reviews, organised by Doctor. It was added in January 2001.

Clips[[edit] |[edit source]]

The "Clips" section collected together the variousvideo andaudio clips uploaded to the BBC Cult site, organised by Doctor. It was added in March 2001.

2001-2004[[edit] |[edit source]]

Website homepage in mid 2001.
Website homepage in late 2001.
Website homepage in 2003.
Website homepage in early 2004.

InMay2001 the website had a substantial redesign, making use of the font Assiduous which was the main font on Doctor Who merchandise at the time. The site's tagline read"Doctor Who - news, reviews, video clips, pictures and quizzes", this was subsequently amended to"Doctor Who - news, video clips, photos and reviews from the official site".

InMay2003, in the build up to the 40th anniversary, the site was revamped. The pages were made wider with new banners. The site's tagline now read"Doctor Who - the official site. 10,000 pages of news, webcasts, competitions, pictures, video clips and more...". To celebrate the news of Doctor Who's return it was temporarily changed to read"Doctor Who - it's coming back. Oh my! Goodness me. What lovely news. Oooh. Well. Simply marvellous. Wheeee!".

New sections[[edit] |[edit source]]

PhotoNovels[[edit] |[edit source]]

"PhotoNovels" were created by usingJohn Cura'stele-snaps along with surviving video and audio clips and captions written byMarcus Hearn, to give fans a better idea of stories they would never have a chance of seeing. They used high resolution scans which were then cleaned up in Adobe Photoshop. They were released at a rate of one episode per week on Fridays. It was added on 6 June 2001.[38]

The following PhotoNovels were published -Fury from the Deep (8 June-13 July 2001);The Abominable Snowmen (20 July-31 August 2001[39]);The Power of the Daleks (7 September-12 October 2001);The Wheel in Space (19 October-23 November 2001);The Macra Terror (30 November-21 December 2001);The Savages (4-25 January 2002);The Faceless Ones (1 February-8 March 2002);The Moonbase (15 March-5 April 2002);The Web of Fear (12 April-17 May 2002[40]);The Ice Warriors (20 September-25 October 2002[41]);The Smugglers (23 January-13 February 2003[42][43]);The Highlanders (27 June-18 July 2003[44]);The Underwater Menace (25 July-15 August 2003[45]);The Enemy of the World (8-22 January, 5-19 February 2004[46]);The Daleks' Master Plan:Day of Armageddon (30 January 2004[47]);The Crusade (8-29 July 2004[48]); andThe Evil of the Daleks (26 August-7 October 2004[49]).

Webcasts[[edit] |[edit source]]

"Webcasts" were new animated episodes of Doctor Who broadcast over the internet beginning in July 2001. Originally each webcast had its own section until in December 2003 they were collected together in one section.

Death Comes to Time (13 July 2001 & 14 February-3 May 2002)[[edit] |[edit source]]

The first webcastDeath Comes to Time came about after a pilot radio episode commissioned byBBC Radio 4 was rejected. BBCi decided to broadcast it instead but with animated artwork byLee Sullivan. The pilot was a huge success and BBCi commissioned more episodes.

The"Death Comes to Time" section began on 15 June 2001. It only had the trailer for the episode but each Friday teaser images were added in the run-up to its broadcast. There were three teasers for the pilot, added on 22 June, 29 June & 6 July 2001.

The pilot broadcast on 13 July 2001, afterwards more features were added to the section includingA Brief History of a Time Lord, TARDIS Databank, 4 photo galleries, a screensaver, a poll asking whether Doctor Who should return?, FAQs about the webcast and Cast and Crew listings.

Weekly teaser images were again added in the run-up to broadcast of the remaining episodes, there were five in total added on 11 January,[50] 18 January,[51] 25 January,[52] 1 February[53] & 8 February 2002[54]

Again after the broadcast more features were added to the section including 13 video interviews, 5 more photo galleries, andDeath Comes to Time: The Striptease.[55]

BBCi's rights to streamDeath Comes to Time only ran for a year, so it had to be taken offline. The pilotAt the End of the Fourth was taken down on 1 July 2002 and the rest on 14 February 2003.[56]

Real Time (2 August-6 September 2002)[[edit] |[edit source]]

The"Real Time" section began on c. 28 July 2002 with daily teaser images in the run-up to its broadcast. There five teasers added between c. 28 July-1 August 2002.

Throughout the broadcast new features were added to the section including a competition to win a signed copy of the script, a competition to win a copy ofSpare Parts,History of the Cybermen, 5 photo galleries, 7 screensavers, 7 video interviews, clean music cues, FAQs about the webcast and Cast and Crew listings.

As withDeath Comes to Time, BBCi's rights to streamReal Time only ran for a limited time, but as it was a co-production withBig Finish Productions it only had to be offline for six months so as not to effect itsCD sales. It came down on 16 December 2002 and returned on 21 June 2003.[57][58]

Shada (2 May-6 June 2003)[[edit] |[edit source]]

The"Shada" section began on 4 April 2003. It only had the trailer for the serial but each Friday teaser images were added in the run-up to its broadcast. There were three teasers, added on 11 April,[59] 17 April[60] & 25 April 2003.[61]

Throughout the broadcast new features were added to the section including 11 video interviews, 3 photo galleries, outtakes' from the recording sessions,Director's Notes by Nicholas Pegg and Cast and Crew listings.

Shada was another co-production with Big Finish, and again had to be taken offline for six months when theCD was released. It came down on 8 December 2003 and returned episodically from 8 June-13 July 2004.[62][63]

Scream of the Shalka (13 November-18 December 2003)[[edit] |[edit source]]

The"Scream of the Shalka" section began on 31 October 2003 with a web teaser trailer.[64]

Throughout the broadcast new features were added to the section including a competition to win a life-size Ninth Doctor display figure, 9 video interviews, a photo gallery, clean music cues, a puppet theatre craft kit and Cast and Crew listings.[65]

TARDIS-Cam[[edit] |[edit source]]

"TARDIS-Cam" launched on 23 November 2001 for the 38th anniversary, it was a webcam with a constant feed of pictures and video of the TARDIS travelling throughout the universe.[66] Fans could send in their own artwork and photos which were put into a sister webcam calledYour TARDIS-Cam. Other features includedA Beginner's Guide to the TARDIS, a screensaver and 3 photo galleries.

Chatrooms[[edit] |[edit source]]

In c. January 2002 a Doctor Who "Chatroom" was set up, it operated from 8pm-10pm on Wednesdays and Fridays. BBC Chatrooms were real-time rooms where up to 40-50 people chatted together online at the same time.[67][68]

eBooks[[edit] |[edit source]]

"eBooks" began because of fan demand for now out-of-printVirgin New Adventures andVirgin Missing Adventures novels which were becoming increasingly expensive to obtain, with some commanding as much as fifty times their cover price on auction sites such as eBay. After discovering the copyright on these had since reverted to the original authors, the website team contacted several of them to ask permission to re-publish their books online for free. Each eBook had an introduction and chapter-by-chapter commentary by the original author, new illustrations and a dedicated message board. At the end of each release the new illustrations were collected together in photo galleries. They were released at a rate of one-three chapters per week on Thursdays or Fridays. It was added on 23 May 2002.[69]

Initially, like the webcasts, each eBook had its own section but by the start of third one on c. 20 February 2003 they were collected into one section.

The following eBooks were published -The Dying Days, illustrated byAllan Bednar (23 May-15 August 2002[70]);Human Nature, illustrated byDaryl Joyce (31 October 2002-17 January 2003[71][72]);The Well-Mannered War, illustrated by Daryl Joyce (c. 20 February-c. 1 May 2003[73]);Lungbarrow, illustrated by Daryl Joyce (22 August-7 November 2003[74]);The Scales of Injustice, illustrated by Daryl Joyce (4 March-15 April 2004[75][76]);The Sands of Time, illustrated byPeter McKinstry (22 April-24 June 2004[77]); andThe Empire of Glass, illustrated byMike Nicholson &Clayton Hickman (14 October-9 December 2004[78]).

The final two eBooks were also made available to download to handheld devices. They used the PalmReader (.pdb), Microsoft Reader (.lit) and MobiPocket (.prc) formats.

BBC Connector[[edit] |[edit source]]

The "BBC Connector" chat service pilot launched on c. 20 October 2003 on the Doctor Who website. It allowed users to chat in real time with other people on the site and ran 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. On 4 June 2004 the website team began to run special themed chats between 8:30pm-12:00am each evening; the topics were Who history on Mondays, General Who chat on Tuesdays & Saturdays, CDs on Wednesdays, Books on Thursdays and DVDs on Fridays.[79] The chat service shut down on 14 March 2005.[80]

New TV Series[[edit] |[edit source]]

The "New TV Series" section started on11 November2003, it collected together all the information, news and interviews about Doctor Who's return to television.[81] A feature calledWhoSpy started on20 July2004.[82] A "spy" on the Doctor Who production team uploaded a new behind-the-scenes photo every weekday throughout the filming ofSeries 1. It ran for 36 weeks, finishing on23 March2005 and had a total of 176 photos. During the broadcast of Series 1 the pictures were updated with captions explaining what the photos were of and which episodes they came from. It returned for thesecond series on5 August 2005[83], but it stopped abruptly after only 15 weeks and 74 photos on17 November 2005. The next day the website was redesigned andWhoSpy was completely missing.

2004 onwards[[edit] |[edit source]]

Website homepage in late 2004.
Classic series website homepage in 2005.
This flash-based animated banner appeared on the site's pages in 2005.
Classic series website homepage in 2009.

On 17 August 2004 the website had a re-design increasing emphasis on the new series which was now in production.[84] On 8 March 2005, after the launch of the new website, the original sites' address was amended tohttp://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/doctorwho/classic.shtml.

InAugust2005 the original site's address was moved tohttp://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/index.shtml, and the homepage was refreshed to match the design and layout of the then-current one, but focused solely on the "Classic Series", the page banners were updated with the new logo and the colour scheme was changed from blue to teal. This coincided withBBC Radio 7's broadcast of fourEighth Doctor Big Finish audio stories starting on 6 August 2005.[85]

On 20 December 2004 the site launchedRadiophon-A-Tron, a flash-based application to mix and re-mix the theme tune, it contained excerpts and samples of every version of the theme tune from 1963-89 including the "Deleware" theme.[86]

On8 June2006 the site launchedThe Beginner's Guide to Doctor Who, a flash-based animated guide to the classic series, targeted at fans of the new series who wanted to learn about the history of the show.[87] Alongside this the "Episode Guide" was refreshed incorporating the new series graphics and fonts.

In c. March 2009 the site had one final refresh, with a new flash-based animated homepage with links to five new "Monster" pages, all of which had appeared since the start of series 1 - The Sontarans, The Master, The Cybermen, The Daleks and Davros. As of March 2019 this is still the homepage, although many sections have been taken down or no longer work properly.

Series 1-3 website[[edit] |[edit source]]

2005[[edit] |[edit source]]

Website homepage in 2005 (Flash version).
Website homepage in 2005 (Non-flash version).
Website page banner in early 2005 (Flash version).
Website page banner in early 2005 (Non-flash version).

See main:Doctor Who website/Gallery#2005

On8 March2005 the BBC launched a website for the new series with the addresshttp://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/. The design was based on various sizes of hexagonal graphics, with flash-based animated page banners and homepage, which featured a countdown clock, counting down to the broadcast ofRose. The new site was designed byLee Binding &Clayton Hickman.[88] Because the new site used a large amount of flash-based animation and sounds, there was a second non-flash version running in tandem for web users who didn't have flash-enabled internet browsers. The two versions of the site were identical in content but with the animation removed and replaced with images and text, the homepage being where the biggest differences occurred. A link back to the old BBC Cult website was labelled "The Classic Series".

Sections[[edit] |[edit source]]

Video Clips and Trailers[[edit] |[edit source]]

This section contained the various trailers for the series as well as the threeDoctor Who Years videos.

Downloads[[edit] |[edit source]]

When the website launched, the "Downloads" section featured a screensaver and 4 audio files in (.mp3) and (.wav) format. The officially licensed Doctor Who theme ringtone was added on 26 March 2005. Over the course of the series the number audio files increased to 29.

Desktop Wallpaper, later Pictures[[edit] |[edit source]]

This section contained galleries of desktop and mobile phone wallpapers.

Characters, later The TARDIS Crew[[edit] |[edit source]]

Initially the "Characters" section only had two pages -The Doctor andRose Tyler. Both pages featured a short introduction to the character, a biography on the actor and a photo gallery. A page forCaptain Jack was added on 17 June 2005, the section was renamed "The TARDIS Crew" at the same time.

The Making of Doctor Who[[edit] |[edit source]]

"The Making of" section collected together various behind-the-scenes content on the site,WhoSpy was moved here from the BBC Cult site. Over the course of the series 76Video Diaries and 29Photo Stories were added to the section. A page calledTARDIS Tours featured 4360° Panoramic Views of the TARDIS (added 26 March 2005); andTARDIS Explorer a flash-based interactive version of the console room (added 29 March 2005). Links to Doctor Who features on other BBC websites were also included, such asProject Who on the BBC Radio Two site (added 10 March 2005) andCardiff Press Launch gallery (added 11 March 2005) andLocations Guide (added 2 April 2005) on the BBC South East Wales site.

About Doctor Who, later News[[edit] |[edit source]]

The "About Doctor Who" section gave a brief introduction to the show and what to expect from the new series. Over the following weeks, links to "new series" news stories were added here from the news section of the old BBC Cult site, until the entire news section moved to this site in the summer.

Doctor Who Confidential[[edit] |[edit source]]

The "Doctor Who Confidential" section was added on 13 March 2005, it contained a brief introduction to the show, an episode list and broadcast details. During transmission the website received many requests about what songs and music were used in episodes ofConfidential, so on c. 25 June 2005 aMusic List in Adobe PDF format was added to the section.

Episode Guide[[edit] |[edit source]]

The "Episode Guide" section was added on 26 March 2005. Each week a new page was added for the latest episode which included a short synopsis, the trailer, a photo gallery,Factsheet,Photo Stories andVideo Diaries.

A feature calledThe Fear Forecast was added on21 April 2005.[89] It featured a team of children who watched each upcoming episode of Doctor Who, giving their minute-to-minute reactions and overall "Fear Factor" score from 1 to 5. The first episode they previewed wasWorld War Three.

In-universe websites[[edit] |[edit source]]

The following "in-universe websites" were created for the first series:

Dalek Game[[edit] |[edit source]]

A video game calledThe Last Dalek was added on 30 April 2005.

2005-08[[edit] |[edit source]]

See main:Doctor Who website/Gallery#2005-08

Series 1-3 website homepage in 2008.

On 18 November 2005 the website had a small refresh to coincide with David Tennant's debut as The Doctor in theChildren in Need Special. The new design made more use of the circularGallifreyan text motifs and animated flash content.

During the firstRussell T Davies era,BBC Online worked extensively with theDoctor Who production office to deliver a considerable amount of content for the show, particularly when it was actively in season. Each episode got its own home page, and each of these home pages had extensive content, ranging from interviews toDoctor Who Confidential snippets, toflash video games.

The homepage went offline in early 2010, with the remainder of the website taken down in September 2014.

Series 4 website[[edit] |[edit source]]

See main:Doctor Who website/Gallery#2008-10

Series 4 website homepage in 2008.

On 2 April 2008 BBC Online launched a new website for theDonna Noble season,[90] its address washttp://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/s4.

The new site was split into the following sections:[91]

  • Home
  • News (split into the following categories - Latest, Production, Media, Awards, Reviews, Classic and Archive; was replaced Features)
  • Episodes (split into the following categories - Series Four, Series Three, Series Two, Series One and Specials - with features likeFact File andFear Forecast.
  • Characters (split into the following categories - The Doctor, Companions, Friends & Allies, Monsters/Villians and Ships & Gadgets)
  • Games (split into the following categories - Action Games, Strategy Games, Jigsaws and Other Games)
  • Videos
  • Images (split into the following categories - Wallpapers and Screensavers)
  • Audio
  • Create (containedComic Maker &Trailer Maker)
  • Confidential
  • Archive (link to the old series 1-3 site; it was removed once those series content had been added to the new site)

Sections added later:

  • Classic (link to the classic series website)
  • Features (added on 20 August 2009; split into the following categories - Adventure Calendar, Main Features, Bulletins, Interviews, Galleries, Quizzes, Video Features, Stories, Reviews, All Features and Archive)
  • Blog (ran to document the making ofDreamland between 20 August-12 November 2009[92][93])

Desktop wallpapers were now available in a new size of 1440x900, for widescreen monitors.

After initially focusing on Series 4, the new site gradually added Series 1-3 content from the old website, adding to it in some cases. The video and audio content was converted from RealPlayer/Windows Media Video to high quality flash format.[94] This process was completed on 8 December 2008.[95]

Homepage in 2010 with the series 5 logo.

After transmission ofThe End of Time theseries 1-[[Series4 era logo was replaced with the new series 5 one. As of March 2019[update] the majority of this site is still online, although many sections no longer work properly or have had content removed.

In very general terms, webpages developed for the site during this period were characterised by ared colour palette and use of the Deviant Strain and Trebuchet MS fonts.

Series 5-6 website[[edit] |[edit source]]

Series 5 website homepage in 2010.

On 24 March 2010, a third new website launched for thefifth series ofDoctor Who, its address washttp://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/dw. The new site had a far more simplistic look, in line with the wider BBC website being made to follow a more modular, unified design. Though still active, the volume of new material flowing into the new website radically decreased.

Broadly speaking, webpages during this time were readily identifiable by their blue colour palate and use of the Gazz font.

Series 7 onwards website[[edit] |[edit source]]

Series 7 website homepage in 2012.

On c. 16-17 May 2012, the website was moved to a new address -https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006q2x0, and underwent further simplification. The standard template was modified to add more integration with social media and iPlayer, and removed all flash animated content.

BBC Studios website[[edit] |[edit source]]

Main article:doctorwho.tv

In 2013,BBC Studios opened asecond website athttp://doctorwho.tv to celebrateDoctor Who's 50th anniversary. As of 2019[update], this website has more content and activity than the programme website at bbc.co.uk.

Along with games (likeThirteen) , and short articles on the Doctor's friends and enemies, this website is used frequently to report on the latest news in the widerDoctor Who franchise — on television, comics, novels and audio stories. It also includes a section detailing theTime Lord Victorious event.

External links[[edit] |[edit source]]

Footnotes[[edit] |[edit source]]

  1. ↑Our new Who guide. bbc.co.uk (5 March 2003). Retrieved on 27 January 2019.
  2. ↑Episode guide update. bbc.co.uk (13 June 2003). Retrieved on 15 February 2019.
  3. ↑Doctor Who Trumps. bbc.co.uk (8 November 2002). Retrieved on 28 January 2019.
  4. ↑TARDIS Tennis. bbc.co.uk (21 June 2003). Retrieved on 27 January 2019.
  5. ↑Companion guide. bbc.co.uk (25 May 2004). Retrieved on 3 February 2019.
  6. ↑Doctor Who Message Board Opening Times. bbc.co.uk (13 November 2001). Retrieved on 9 February 2019.
  7. ↑Who messageboards end. bbc.co.uk (20 April 2004). Retrieved on 28 January 2019.
  8. ↑Q&A. bbc.co.uk (3 February 2000). Retrieved on 11 February 2019.
  9. ↑Virtual TARDIS. bbc.co.uk (15 August 2000). Retrieved on 11 February 2019.
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  16. ↑Mary Tamm gallery. bbc.co.uk (13 April 2004). Retrieved on 16 February 2019.
  17. ↑Babs gallery. bbc.co.uk (21 April 2004). Retrieved on 16 February 2019.
  18. ↑Noblest Romana. bbc.co.uk (28 April 2004). Retrieved on 16 February 2019.
  19. ↑Master remembered. bbc.co.uk (13 May 2004). Retrieved on 16 February 2019.
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  21. ↑Monsters gallery two. bbc.co.uk (3 June 2004). Retrieved on 16 February 2019.
  22. ↑World of leather. bbc.co.uk (1 July 2004). Retrieved on 16 February 2019.
  23. ↑Evil of the Daleks 7. bbc.co.uk (7 October 2004). Retrieved on 16 February 2019.
  24. ↑Pertwee pictures. bbc.co.uk (25 January 2005). Retrieved on 16 February 2019.
  25. ↑Master pieces. bbc.co.uk (28 January 2005). Retrieved on 16 February 2019.
  26. ↑Mistress Rani gallery. bbc.co.uk (3 February 2005). Retrieved on 16 February 2019.
  27. ↑Doctor and Ace. bbc.co.uk (10 February 2005). Retrieved on 16 February 2019.
  28. ↑First Doctor gallery. bbc.co.uk (24 February 2005). Retrieved on 16 February 2019.
  29. ↑Troughton gallery. bbc.co.uk (4 March 2005). Retrieved on 16 February 2019.
  30. ↑Tom gallery. bbc.co.uk (10 March 2005). Retrieved on 16 February 2019.
  31. ↑Sixth Doctor Gallery. bbc.co.uk (14 March 2005). Retrieved on 16 February 2019.
  32. ↑K9 returns. bbc.co.uk (24 August 2005). Retrieved on 16 February 2019.
  33. ↑Who News: May 2000. bbc.co.uk (11 May 2000). Retrieved on 8 February 2019.
  34. ↑Doctor Who Telepress to go Online. bbc.co.uk (7 August 2001). Retrieved on 8 February 2019.
  35. ↑The Write Stuff. bbc.co.uk (4 July 2001). Retrieved on 8 February 2019.
  36. ↑Doctor Who Book Guidelines. bbc.co.uk (13 September 2001). Retrieved on 8 February 2019.
  37. ↑Books section relaunch. bbc.co.uk (9 January 2004). Retrieved on 15 February 2019.
  38. ↑Telesnaps Materialise on the Web. bbc.co.uk (6 June 2001). Retrieved on 27 January 2019.
  39. ↑Yeti beaten by modern technology. bbc.co.uk (28 August 2001). Retrieved on 27 January 2019.
  40. ↑Photonovel poll results. bbc.co.uk (12 April 2002). Retrieved on 27 January 2019.
  41. ↑Ice Warriors Photonovel. bbc.co.uk (20 September 2002). Retrieved on 27 January 2019.
  42. ↑Next Photonovel announced. bbc.co.uk (17 January 2003). Retrieved on 27 January 2019.
  43. ↑New Photonovel launched. bbc.co.uk (23 January 2003). Retrieved on 27 January 2019.
  44. ↑New photonovel launched. bbc.co.uk (27 June 2003). Retrieved on 27 January 2019.
  45. ↑Photonovel news. bbc.co.uk (18 July 2003). Retrieved on 27 January 2019.
  46. ↑The Enemy of the World. bbc.co.uk (8 January 2004). Retrieved on 27 January 2019.
  47. ↑Dalek Photonovel. bbc.co.uk (30 January 2004). Retrieved on 27 January 2019.
  48. ↑Crusade photonovel. bbc.co.uk (8 July 2004). Retrieved on 27 January 2019.
  49. ↑Evil of the Daleks: 1. bbc.co.uk (26 August 2004). Retrieved on 27 January 2019.
  50. ↑Death teaser artwork. bbc.co.uk (11 January 2002). Retrieved on 15 February 2019.
  51. ↑Second Death teaser online. bbc.co.uk (18 January 2002). Retrieved on 15 February 2019.
  52. ↑Third Death teaser online. bbc.co.uk (25 January 2002). Retrieved on 15 February 2019.
  53. ↑Fourth Death teaser online. bbc.co.uk (1 February 2002). Retrieved on 15 February 2019.
  54. ↑Fifth Death teaser online. bbc.co.uk (8 February 2002). Retrieved on 15 February 2019.
  55. ↑Death Comes to Time: The Striptease. bbc.co.uk. Retrieved on 15 February 2019.
  56. ↑Time to go. bbc.co.uk (25 June 2002). Retrieved on 27 January 2019.
  57. ↑Real Time goes offline. bbc.co.uk (13 December 2002). Retrieved on 27 January 2019.
  58. ↑Real Time is back. bbc.co.uk (21 June 2003). Retrieved on 27 January 2019.
  59. ↑Shada teaser card. bbc.co.uk (11 April 2003). Retrieved on 15 February 2019.
  60. ↑Shada teaser card 2. bbc.co.uk (17 April 2003). Retrieved on 15 February 2019.
  61. ↑Shada cards. bbc.co.uk (25 April 2003). Retrieved on 15 February 2019.
  62. ↑Shada webcast ends. bbc.co.uk (1 December 2003). Retrieved on 27 January 2019.
  63. ↑Shada returns. bbc.co.uk (8 June 2004). Retrieved on 27 January 2019.
  64. ↑Shalka teaser. bbc.co.uk (31 October 2003). Retrieved on 15 February 2019.
  65. ↑Shalka puppet theatre. bbc.co.uk (23 December 2003). Retrieved on 12 February 2019.
  66. ↑TARDIS Cam Materialises. bbc.co.uk (23 November 2001). Retrieved on 27 January 2019.
  67. ↑Dr Who Chatroom. bbc.co.uk (9 April 2002). Retrieved on 15 February 2019.
  68. ↑Doctor Who Chatroom. bbc.co.uk (29 October 2002). Retrieved on 14 February 2019.
  69. ↑Dying Days coming to BBCi. bbc.co.uk (7 May 2002). Retrieved on 27 January 2019.
  70. ↑Dying Days ebook launched. bbc.co.uk (23 May 2002). Retrieved on 27 January 2019.
  71. ↑Next ebook announced. bbc.co.uk (26 July 2002). Retrieved on 27 January 2019.
  72. ↑Human Nature ebook launched. bbc.co.uk (31 October 2002). Retrieved on 27 January 2019.
  73. ↑The Well-Mannered Ebook. bbc.co.uk (7 February 2003). Retrieved on 27 January 2019.
  74. ↑Lungbarrow ebook. bbc.co.uk (22 August 2003). Retrieved on 27 January 2019.
  75. ↑New Ebook announced. bbc.co.uk (9 January 2004). Retrieved on 27 January 2019.
  76. ↑New Ebook launches. bbc.co.uk (4 March 2004). Retrieved on 27 January 2019.
  77. ↑Sands of Time ebook. bbc.co.uk (22 April 2004). Retrieved on 27 January 2019.
  78. ↑The Empire of Glass. bbc.co.uk (14 October 2004). Retrieved on 27 January 2019.
  79. ↑Doctor Who Connector. bbc.co.uk (4 June 2004). Retrieved on 3 February 2019.
  80. ↑Connector closing. bbc.co.uk (3 March 2005). Retrieved on 1 February 2019.
  81. ↑BBCi news policy. bbc.co.uk (11 November 2003). Retrieved on 27 January 2019.
  82. ↑Who Spy 1: Clapperboard. bbc.co.uk (20 July 2004). Retrieved on 8 February 2019.
  83. ↑WhoSpy returns. bbc.co.uk (5 August 2005). Retrieved on 28 February 2019.
  84. ↑We've regenerated!. bbc.co.uk (17 August 2004). Retrieved on 15 February 2019.
  85. ↑Eighth Doctor on BBC 7. bbc.co.uk (2 August 2005). Retrieved on 28 January 2019.
  86. ↑Radiophon-A-Tron. bbc.co.uk (20 December 2004). Retrieved on 27 January 2019.
  87. ↑The Classic Series. bbc.co.uk (8 June 2006). Retrieved on 28 January 2019.
  88. ↑CREDITS & THANKS. bbc.co.uk. Retrieved on 12 January 2019.
  89. ↑Meet the Fear Forecasters. bbc.co.uk (21 April 2005). Retrieved on 28 February 2019.
  90. ↑Time For A Change. bbc.co.uk. Retrieved on 7 January 2019.
  91. ↑Home Page. bbc.co.uk. Retrieved on 6 January 2019.
  92. ↑All change!. bbc.co.uk (20 August 2009). Retrieved on 13 January 2019.
  93. ↑The Last Post. bbc.co.uk (12 November 2009). Retrieved on 21 January 2019.
  94. ↑Series Two Guide. bbc.co.uk (6 November 2008). Retrieved on 16 January 2019.
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