Whoniverse

The Whoniverse is a British media franchise and shared universe centring on the BBC television series Doctor Who, its spin-offs and other associated media. The shared universe nature was established by crossing over common plot elements, settings, cast, and characters, usually deriving from the main programme.

Doctor Who depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being with a human appearance. The Doctor explores the universe in a time-travelling space ship called the TARDIS. With various companions, they combat foes, work to save civilisations, and help people in need.

Doctor Who was first broadcast in 1963 and ran for 26 seasons until 1989, briefly returning in the form of a TV film in 1996. It was later revived in 2005, when the show's newfound success led to the commissioning of several spin-offs – Torchwood (2006–2011), The Sarah Jane Adventures (2007–2011) and Class (2016). Other spin-offs include the pilot K-9 and Company (1981) and non-BBC produced series K9 (2009–2010).

The franchise name, a portmanteau of the words "who" and "universe", was originally used to describe Doctor Who production and fanbase. In 2023, the year of the show's sixtieth anniversary, the BBC adopted the name in an official capacity, making the Whoniverse the umbrella brand for all programmes connected to Doctor Who, including documentaries.

The majority of the Whoniverse's programmes have been commercially successful and generally received positive reviews. They have also inspired an extensive collection of book, comic and magazine publications, audio plays, films, video games, exhibitions, and stage plays.

Background
The earliest official usage of "Whoniverse" was in the introduction to the appendices of The Doctor Who Programme Guide Volume 2 by Jean-Marc Lofficier published May 1981 in its hardcover edition. The publicitity blurb on the back of The Second Doctor Who Quiz Book by Nigel Robinson published in December 1982 also used the term. In his 1983 book Doctor Who: A Celebration; Two Decades Through Time and Space, Peter Haining called his final chapter "The Whoniverse". The section assembled factual information about all the episodes to date, but also gave information about fan clubs and ancillary entertainments related to the programme. Thus, the term Whoniverse referred to everything connected with the programme behind-the-scenes. In this meaning, standing exhibitions, discussions about the filming of episodes and even the fandom itself were considered part of the "Whoniverse". The term Whoniverse is still used with this definition today,    including as the name of a Doctor Who convention in Australia.

The term began to appear in mainstream press coverage, placing greater emphasis on it as a fictional universe, following the popular success of the 2005 Doctor Who revival and the establishment of its spin-offs Torchwood (2006–2011) and The Sarah Jane Adventures (2007–2011).

Development
In October 2022, it was reported that Bad Wolf Studios had filed for a new subsidiary company, run by former Doctor Who executive producer Julie Gardner and former BBC head of drama Jane Tranter, called "Whoniverse1 LTD". On 17 January 2023, outlets reported that a new sign at Bad Wolf Studios possessed the tagline "Home of the Whoniverse".

On 30 October 2023, the BBC announced it would be using the term "Whoniverse" in an official capacity to describe all shows within the orbit of Doctor Who, and specifically their home on BBC iPlayer, including documentary programming. It had previously been announced that over eight hundred previous episodes would be available to stream on BBC iPlayer. A Whoniverse ident was also adopted to unify content within the Whoniverse collection.

Tales of the TARDIS
Marketed as the first Whoniverse exclusive release, Tales of the TARDIS features omnibus re-releases of stories from the show's original run, enclosed by additional material featuring actors reprising their roles. The series is produced by Bad Wolf and BBC Studios, and executive produced by Russell T Davies, Jane Tranter, Phil Collinson, and Joel Collins. The new material takes place within Doctor Who's official canon.

The first six episodes were released on 1 November 2023 on BBC iPlayer, and feature several actors reprising their roles from Doctor Who and The Sarah Jane Adventures, including Peter Davison, Colin Baker, and Sylvester McCoy as the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Doctors, respectively. New material for Tales of the TARDIS, filmed over six days at Bad Wolf Studios from 25 to 30 September 2023, was written by Doctor Who writers Davies, Pete McTighe, and Phil Ford, directed by Joshua M.G. Thomas, and produced by Scott Handcock.

A seventh episode was released on iPlayer and broadcast on BBC Four on 20 June 2024, two days before the series 14 finale "Empire of Death", featuring Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson as the Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby Sunday. In conjunction with the return of antagonist Sutekh in the parent series, the episode presents a remastered version of Pyramids of Mars with updated special effects, as well as new material written by Davies, directed by Jamie Donoughue, and produced by Vicki Delow.

The War Between the Land and the Sea
Deadline Hollywood reported that a new Doctor Who spin-off titled The War Between the Land and the Sea is set to begin filming in September 2024.

In other media
The Whoniverse version of Earth is referred to as Earth-5556 in the Marvel Multiverse.

References to the Whoniverse appear in The Inheritance Cycle fantasy novels by Christopher Paolini.

Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies cast John MacKay as John Logie Baird for the episode "The Giggle" (2023), reprising the role he played in Davies' ITV series Nolly earlier in 2023. Davies joked that this casting meant that all the television series he has written are set in the same universe.

Museums and exhibitions
There have been various Doctor Who–related exhibitions in the United Kingdom, including the now-closed exhibitions at:


 * Land's End (Cornwall)
 * Blackpool
 * Llangollen
 * Kelvingrove Museum, Glasgow
 * Coventry Transport Museum, Coventry
 * Centre for Life, Newcastle upon Tyne
 * Melbourne, Australia
 * Kensington Olympia Two, London
 * Longleat, which ran for 30 years.
 * Cardiff (the city where the series is filmed).

Merchandise
Since its beginnings, Doctor Who has generated hundreds of products related to the show, from toys and games to collectible picture cards and postage stamps. These include board games, card games, gamebooks, computer games, roleplaying games, action figures and a pinball game. Many games have been released that feature the Daleks, including Dalek computer games.