Should Doctor Who Follow Star Wars’ Example With Expanded Universe Canon?
By Barry Rice
Like most geeks, Doctor Who is not my only passion. Sure, it’s at the top of the list, but I’ve been a Trekkie longer than I’ve even known what a TARDIS was, and I follow dozens of other popular fandoms (a word I loathe, by the way).
So it probably goes without saying that I’m also a Star Wars fan. I’m not one of those rabid, stormtrooper armor-wearing fans who can quote every line, though. I’m somewhere in the middle — more than a casual fan, but not a fully-fledged Jedi by any means.
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One of the things that I’ve always been interested in regarding Star Wars is its massive library of expanded universe media. Lucasfilm had keep a fairy tight continuity between all of its book series and other properties, a continuity that stayed mostly intact until the prequels came along (one of the many crimes against humanity for which they are guilty). Every time I would visit the book store, I would gaze longingly over the latest post-Return of the Jedi novels, and each time I would come closer and closer to buying one. The problem was that the catalog was so huge, I had no idea where to start!
Then, last year, in the wake of the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens movie, Lucasfilm made a stunning announcement: all of the previously published expanded universe stories were no longer canon. All of the novels I’d stared at over the years would now carry a “Legends” banner indicating that they no longer count toward the official story. But going forward, EVERYTHING would be canon.
Lucasfilm assembled what they call the “Story Team,” whose sole job is to ensure that every piece of Star Wars media — novels, comics, video games, TV series, etc. — is canon and does not contradict any established or planned storylines. It’s already had some interesting repercussions: in a recent issue of Marvel’s new Star Wars comic book, it was revealed that Han Solo was actually married during the original movie and his flirtations with Leia were therefore of an adulterous nature. And that’s canon, folks. From now on, Han Solo was married, and there’s not a damn thing you can do about it.
For me, the impact of this change is huge. First of all, it all but eliminates the intimidating barrier keeping me from jumping into the Star Wars expanded universe (I already have a couple of the newly released books), and it makes the desire to devour all of the upcoming content more intense, because I know that it’s all official now.
Related: Doctor Who: The Great Canon Debate
So here’s my question: should the BBC adopt a similar policy for Doctor Who? Curiously, at the moment there’s no official Doctor Who canon at all. The BBC has never set forth any policy regarding what is or isn’t canon. That allows some wiggle room, because if no one’s saying something’s not canon, then there’s no reason not to consider to actually be canon.
When it comes to Doctor Who expanded media, you’ve basically got three prongs right now: the Big Finish audio plays, the BBC novels, and the Titan comic books. The show itself gave a nod toward Big Finish with ‘The Night of the Doctor,’ when Paul McGann’s Eighth Doctor gave a tribute to all his former companions, and it recently gave a nod to the classic comics when Abslom Daak, Dalek Killer was thrown in as an Easter egg in ‘Time Heist.’
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So what if the BBC were to assemble a Story Group and announce that, going forward, everything Doctor Who-related would be canon? First, in order to have any impact at all, the tie-ins would have to be more overt. You’d need hard references from Big Finish audios to start showing up on the show, and events from the books would have to set up or expounded upon so they could be referenced onscreen later. Imagine a new character or enemy showing up in the pages of a Titan comic book or a Doctor Who novel, only to appear onscreen a few weeks or months later?
Existing properties could get a boost, too. Say a book like Doctor Who: Engines of War were suddenly announced to be canon, or there was an announcement that all of the Eighth Doctor Big Finish audios were now 100% official canon.
Of course, the great thing about Doctor Who is that all the wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey stuff can make almost anything canon, whether it contradicts or not. Already there are two timelines for the Eighth Doctor: one from the 90’s BBC books and another from the Big Finish audios. Neither is incorrect; they exist in different dimensions. When the show was revived in 2005, Russell T. Davies invented the Time War in part to purposely cloud the past and allow any contradictions to exist without complaint.
So should the BBC create an official expanded universe? Honestly, I don’t know. I can see the benefits if the show were committed to referencing the other materials more fluently, but the timey-wimey-ness of Doctor Who almost makes it a moot point.
What do you think? Should the BBC adopt an official canon for Doctor Who? Sound off in the comments below!