“A compromise would be nice but in establishing factors for canonicity we cannot bend.”
Thus spake the self-appointed arbiter of what may constitute a proper Doctor Who story. The only reason I found myself reading this was to see what the popular opinion is as to whether Paul McGann is generally accepted to be the eigth doctor, of if Christopher Eccleston’s stories will ignore him. I had some vague awareness that there are fans who take this seriously, but GOOD GALLIFREY I didn’t reckon on this. A twenty three page essay with footnotes.
And what prompted his unwillingness to compromise? It was the lovely and appalling K9 and Company, which apparently almost counts, because it was made by the BBC with the characters from Doctor Who, following a Doctor Who story and is refered to in other Doctor Who stories (well, The Five Doctors, but that’s still more than none).
BUT! It does not have the words ‘Doctor Who’ in its title, and so therefore, no matter how much evidence is weighed in its favour, it can under no circumstances be considered a part of Doctor Who continuity. Sorry, that’s it. Final. Fails the second law of canonicity. Nothing he can do. Hands are tied.
So what of the Doctor Who movie? Apparently it would only be considered canonical if it had become a series, but it didn’t and so it isn’t, although if it does then it will.
Funny, that sounds like a bit of a compromise to me.