Doctor Who Online is a UK-based news, information, and forum site dedicated to the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who. The website was created by actor, writer, director and Science Fiction fanSebastian J. Brook.
Main site
The site was founded as Doctor Who: The REGENERATIVE website in 1996 as a site for fans to find out news and guides for the show whilst it was off the air. A review of the website by BBC Radio 2's Miles Mendoza described it as 'one of the most popular and longest established '. The leading UK Science Fiction magazine, SciFiNow cited the site as 'the web's premiere Doctor Who site'. When it launched in 1996, there was no current series of Doctor Who and the show was not shown in a regular cycle; because of this the website detailed when previous episodes were to be repeated on television, on channels such as UK Gold. The original website had regular features including news, episode guides, magazine releases and convention information. In 2000, the website changed its name to Doctor Who Online in response to former Doctor Tom Baker, who suggested the name would suit the website better. Many of the features the website used to have, such as the News section, still remain. The news section of the Doctor Who Online website has regular news contributors who help to document Doctor Who broadcast and merchandise announcements. The section also includes news from spin-off shows Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures. A regular feature on the website is the Podcast, which was started in April 2006. The podcast's hosts have included Trevor Gensch, Tony Gallichan, M M Gilroy-Sinclair, Marty Perrett, James Rockliffe, Tom Attah and, more recently, Sebastian J. Brook and Paul Wilson who are back in the role after two years away from it. In November 2010, Doctor Who Online teamed up with Blendtec for a Doctor Who Will it Blend Doctor Who special, in which DWO Editor, Sebastian J. Brook and Blendtec C.E.O, Tom Dickson, attempt to blend an Ironside Dalek action figure. The video has proved popular on YouTube with over 200,000 views so far. The site also has its own Minecraft server, containing a survival section, a minigames section where players can participate in Doctor Who-themed games and challenges, and a creative section where players can construct Doctor Who-inspired builds and replicas.
Community
The original forum went live in April 2003 and was powered using the Ezboard provider. Due to membership increasing, the forum was upgraded a few years later. The online community has over 48,000 members and discussion frequently takes place on the recently televised Doctor Who episodes, as well as merchandise, novels, video / audio, and past Doctor Who adventures. The Doctor Who Online forums are frequently used by the British media to gauge Doctor Who fan opinion. For example, the announcement of the new costume for the Eleventh incarnation of the Doctor was the subject of comments on the forum, which were picked up by the BBC News Magazine website. The choice of actor to play the Eleventh incarnation was also heavily discussed. When the actor announcement was made, Doctor Who Online editor Sebastian J. Brook said, "I think it is the right choice. It is good that they have got a young guy with lots of energy."
