Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Doctor Who

An updated article index for WP:DOCTORWHO

The current list we have that contains all our articles is very outdated, and needs manual updating, with its last update being in 2024. Thus, I propose we do something similar to what Wikipedia:WikiProject Women in Red did with their list and have a category containing all our articles (I.e, Category:All WikiProject Women in Red pages). This would allow for a continually updating list that would allow us to get a full page count without needing to manually go through all WikiProject articles. This would require a consensus and the usage of Template:Category handler, obviously. Admittedly I'm less so familiar with the technical side of things, so if I'm missing something let me know, but I think this would be hugely beneficial for the project. Thoughts? Magneton Considerer: Pokelego999 (Talk) (Contribs) 21:32, 8 February 2026 (UTC)

Normally the cat name ends in "articles", not "pages", so an edit like this would be consistent with other WikiProject banners. Despite the name, it will pick up the talk pages of non-articles like templates, categories and so on. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 17:48, 9 February 2026 (UTC)

@Redrose64 ah, gotcha. Was unaware of that; that should work then. Magneton Considerer: Pokelego999 (Talk) (Contribs) 23:05, 9 February 2026 (UTC)

Forgot to mention: Category:WikiProject Doctor Who articles already exists. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 23:21, 9 February 2026 (UTC)

@Redrose64 is there a way to list all the pages out without being under a category like with the Women in Red example? Magneton Considerer: Pokelego999 (Talk) (Contribs) 02:59, 10 February 2026 (UTC)

WhatLinksHere. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 19:22, 10 February 2026 (UTC)

@Redrose64 Is there a way to make it not list redirects? Magneton Considerer: Pokelego999 (Talk) (Contribs) 19:32, 10 February 2026 (UTC)

If you follow the link that I provided, you'll see that the checkbox "Hide redirects" is selected. So it already doesn't list redirects. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 23:53, 10 February 2026 (UTC)

@Redrose64 even when selected, it's still showing many redirects. This includes articles such as Hand of Omega, Davros' Daleks, and more. Magneton Considerer: Pokelego999 (Talk) (Contribs) 05:47, 11 February 2026 (UTC)

From a technical standpoint, it's because Talk:Hand of Omega isn't a redirect, only Hand of Omega is. Talk pages that are actually redirects such as Template talk:Doctorwhoproject are excluded. TheDoctorWho (talk) 07:56, 11 February 2026 (UTC)

Man, that's annoying. Is there a way to exclude redirect talk pages or would we have to go through and do that manually? Magneton Considerer: Pokelego999 (Talk) (Contribs) 18:08, 12 February 2026 (UTC)

There might be a way to do it semi-automatically (I was trying to think through the AWB logic when I made my initial reply going forward), but it wouldn't update the Category or What Links Here pages, nor would it update automatically going forward. Redirects are placed in their own category, so I imagine there's an automation somewhere that could take the parent cat and then remove articles that are also in the redirect cat (again just not [updating] automatically)? Others that are more familiar with categories might have a better idea. TheDoctorWho (talk) 18:43, 12 February 2026 (UTC)

I've decided to try remaking the manual index by myself, which will have an easier to use layout (Hopefully). Will share once I've gotten it mostly done. Magneton Considerer: Pokelego999 (Talk) (Contribs) 20:24, 25 March 2026 (UTC)

The image conundrum

So frequently at Doctor Who articles, we use images of items from the series taken at conventions like the Doctor Who Experience. This is normally all well and good, but recently there's been a lot of questioning about our ability to use these kinds of images, especially those from the Experience. Due to British FoP laws, images from private displays cannot be taken and used unless permanent displays, and many Doctor Who exhibitions tend to be very short affairs. The Experience is closest to being permanent, at least initially, but is still very up in the air since there is no clear consensus in sources if this closure was planned from the get go or not.

As a result of these variables, I think it's high time we finally settle how to handle this. I believe that, due to how questionable the status of these images are under copyright law, we should either remove or refrain from using them in articles, and instead replace free use images, where applicable, with valid fair use ones, or instead finally try to get a consensus going, either on Commons or elsewhere, toward these images' usability. These have been a problematic sticking point for a while, and, given a recent failure to get clarity on it at Wikipedia:MCQ, I figured I'd bring it up here to try and get a plan of action together regarding this, as this debateability is impacting our ability to use these images as it stands. Some form of consensus needs to be determined given the weird limbo we're in right now, and I'd appreciate any and all thoughts on the matter. Magneton Considerer: Pokelego999 (Talk) (Contribs) 05:56, 19 February 2026 (UTC)

A Character List Proposal

So a while back I BLAR'd the article for List of Doctor Who supporting characters, given that the list was completely CRUFTy, needed a TNT, and on top of it had little coverage (Most discussion of Who's characters tend to be toward particular sets of characters, not the overarching group). However, recently I've brainstormed an idea for a replacement list, since for a show as big as Who it feels weird not to have something covering the whole thing.

My proposal is here: User:Pokelego999/sandbox/Doctor Who Characters List Proposal. Obviously unfinished, but the end goal is basically a primarily navigational list. You get a list of all the articles we have for characters, get a pointer to where to go with a brief blurb on them if you're unfamiliar, and then move on. This way it should avoid the bloat we had last time while still providing an article that'll help for those unfamiliar with the series who need to navigate and learn about the universe as a whole.

This has four proposed sections: The Doctor, Companions, Antagonists/Aliens, and Other.

-The Doctor will give a brief overview of the character, their role, and the basic bits. This would be short, with most incarnation-specific info-bits being for their own article. Admittedly not quite sure how to format this yet; not sure if collist or table would work better.

-Companions. Since there's so many, this will likely not delve too deep into individual ones, but rather provides an overview of their role before giving a list of all the articles on them we have. Could potentially indicate in the prose a timeframe for the companions for better navigation, but admittedly not sure on that.

-Antagonists/aliens is what it says on the tin: Basically all the "villains" the Doctor encounters. These are in table format since there aren't as many with articles, leaving room for a blurb.

-Other: Similar to the Antags, not many so there's table room. This is basically for anyone who doesn't fall into the above categories and provides a place to cover them since they don't have a separate article unlike the ones above.

The plan for this list is to keep things as brief as possible to avoid bloat (Especially important given scope) so for now the inclusion criteria is this:

-Has to have an article of their own

-Has to be from Doctor Who

This excludes spin-off characters not originally from Who, though likely it'd be good to include hyperlinks to relevant articles (Namely List of Torchwood characters) which have their own lists. It also excludes those without articles, meaning we get to avoid the bloat of minor recurring characters entering into the fray.

I am unopposed to potentially working in those without articles in some way, since that would likely be helpful for their navigation, but that would require a far stricter bar than is currently used at the aliens list currently (I'm thinking at least three appearances in different stories, have no idea how the hell I'd gauge spin-off appearances though) to avoid the very high amount of minor, two-story recurring characters that exist.

Anyway, that's my pitch for right now. This is mostly just a spitball right now, I would appreciate thoughts on if it should be completed and mainspaced once it is, and/or methods on how to improve this. Otherwise, if it's not good, I can easily put this on ice. Please let me know thoughts on this and if I can elaborate anything about it! Magneton Considerer: Pokelego999 (Talk) (Contribs) 06:36, 19 February 2026 (UTC)

Update: The list is mostly complete, and can be viewed at the previously linked draft.

I would like some consensus on inclusion criteria before publishing, as I want to ensure we either stick to exclusively just characters with articles, or that we have some criteria for including characters who don't. Pinging some active contributors: @Alex 21 @Rhain @SkywalkerEccleston @TheDoctorWho @Olliefant for thoughts, since how this is achieved will be a very big thing for the project to finally have resolved and will be extremely helpful navigationally going forward, and I would appreciate all thoughts or suggestions (Even if it is just in how to improve the proseline). Magneton Considerer: Pokelego999 (Talk) (Contribs) 20:27, 25 March 2026 (UTC)

You won't hear any strong opposition from me. At a quick glance, I think your draft looks pretty good! I wonder if a table is actually the best way to present this information, but I'm not sure I have a better alternative anyway. – Rhain ☔ (he/him) 00:36, 26 March 2026 (UTC)

@Rhain It's presented this way largely because, as a navigational list, it assumes you're going to be clicking links to see who these characters are, especially since most are present at wider articles (The Doctor, Companion, Aliens) and thus most of the intricate detail is going to be covered at those parents. This is less like the aliens list where things are going to need multiple paras for each entry, whereas here each entry is largely a broad overview before leading the reader to explore further if interested. Magneton Considerer: Pokelego999 (Talk) (Contribs) 03:12, 26 March 2026 (UTC)

I understand, I just get thrown off seeing full descriptions (up to seven lines) in a table. It still probably makes the most sense though, and the text can always be trimmed slightly later if necessary anyway. – Rhain ☔ (he/him) 04:22, 26 March 2026 (UTC)

Yeah that's fair. If there's a better method I'm open to shifting to it later. Magneton Considerer: Pokelego999 (Talk) (Contribs) 16:28, 26 March 2026 (UTC)

Looks good to me. SkywalkerEccleston (talk) 00:48, 26 March 2026 (UTC)

@Rhain @SkywalkerEccleston are you both alright with the proposed inclusion criteria? This is the main thing I want to have ironed out before I publish this publicly. Magneton Considerer: Pokelego999 (Talk) (Contribs) 04:30, 1 April 2026 (UTC)

@Pokelego999 Yep, the criteria looks fine. No complaints from me. I wonder if there are any recurring villains that are missing from the page? It just feels odd for Cassandra and the Mara to be put alongside Davros and the Master. SkywalkerEccleston (talk) 04:52, 1 April 2026 (UTC)

@SkywalkerEccleston A lot of it is because the bulk of the villains are lumped into the "Aliens and creatures" category. Perhaps they could be merged into one "Antagonists and creatures" category? Since there's a considerable bit of overlap and would make more sense for those unfamiliar with the franchise. Magneton Considerer: Pokelego999 (Talk) (Contribs) 05:07, 1 April 2026 (UTC)

@Pokelego999 It could work, as the Daleks and Cybermen would be ranked near the top, which is helpful for a newcomer. On second thoughts, I feel it would make the section slightly messy. I would just leave the section as is. SkywalkerEccleston (talk) 12:24, 1 April 2026 (UTC)

@SkywalkerEccleston Alright, will leave it as is for now, but open for change later if need be. Thank you for your input! Magneton Considerer: Pokelego999 (Talk) (Contribs) 19:25, 1 April 2026 (UTC)

Agree with the above—no complaints from me. I suppose my only suggestion at the moment might be to change § Other to something like § Supporting characters, but I'll leave that to you. As always, thanks for your work on this. – Rhain ☔ (he/him) 21:10, 1 April 2026 (UTC)

@Rhain will do, thank you so much! Magneton Considerer: Pokelego999 (Talk) (Contribs) 23:53, 1 April 2026 (UTC)

It has been published: List of Doctor Who characters. Magneton Considerer: Pokelego999 (Talk) (Contribs) 01:07, 2 April 2026 (UTC)

We Are Cult

A discussion is being held at WP:RSN about the Website We Are Cult, which affects this Wikiproject. Yes I am a nerd -XCBRO172 (How could you tell?) 05:16, 6 April 2026 (UTC)

Deletion discussion - List of unmade Doctor Who serials and films

Please see Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/List of unmade Doctor Who serials and films. U-Mos (talk) 10:01, 18 April 2026 (UTC)

Reopening of "Consensus for Classic Episodes as ELs"

As seen in archive 37, we had previously agreed that we could use the videos from the channel "Doctor Who: Classic | FULL EPISODES" as ELs. However, I have found out after linking them that they may perhaps fall under Wikipedia:ELNO point 7: Sites that are inaccessible to a substantial number of users, such as sites that work only with a specific browser or in a specific country. Any thoughts @Pokelego999 and @User:UniProbe62, since both of you were part of the consensus last time? Yes I am a nerd -XCBRO172 (How could you tell?) 07:41, 25 May 2026 (UTC)

Was unaware of this stipulation until now. If it falls under the guideline perhaps removing them may be for the best, especially since I forgot that channel indeed is America-locked. This is admittedly not my area of expertise though, so if others have reasons to keep it let me know. Magneton Considerer: Pokelego999 (Talk) (Contribs) 03:21, 26 May 2026 (UTC)

Perhaps some may be kept in some form, because I do know the main youtube channel also has some of the serials in full. I however do not know whether the videos are also region locked. Yes I am a nerd -XCBRO172 (How could you tell?) 03:53, 26 May 2026 (UTC)

Turns out: no. Yes I am a nerd -XCBRO172 (How could you tell?) 03:56, 26 May 2026 (UTC)