Paul McGann does count

Relax - BBC not distancing itself from TV movie.

The message boards have been alive recently with speculation about whether or not the BBC is disowning the 1996 Paul McGann TV Movie.

At the time of writing no statement has been made by the TV Series production office about whether or not it will be referring to the original series or the TV Movie.

Fan fears were sparked off when the Eighth Doctor was left out of The Story Of Doctor Who documentary, and theories abounded that this was all part of a carefully orchestrated BBC conspiracy to rewrite the history of Doctor Who.

The truth couldn't be more different - here's the original audience response prepared for BBC Information:

WHY DOES THE DOCUMENTARY NOT CONTAIN ANY REFERENCE TO PAUL McGANN?
The producers decided to concentrate on Doctor Who during the period when it was an on-going series (between 1963 and 1989) so the documentary only covers the home-grown BBC episodes. There were lots of other items connected to Doctor Who that they didn't have time to mention - including the two feature films made in the mid-Sixties - and they chose to regard the 1996 TV Movie (which was made in America) as a one-off addition to the series, rather than part of the normal run.

In other words, the documentary had to pack a lot into an hour, and concentrated on the regular tv series, much as The Story of Absolutely Fabulous documentary shown the same week focused on the BBC series, rather than mentioning the US series and Eddie and Patsy's appearances on Roseanne.

However, since then, an additional statement has been reported from BBC Information. It went a little further, and apparently dismissed the TV Movie as a "one-off experiment" rather than an addition to the series.

We've checked with BBC Information, and the quote was based on no new information, and was just a slightly unfortunate rephrasing of the standard response - and honestly nothing to worry about.

Please don't be too upset with BBC Information - they do an excellent job of answering viewers' queries about anything and everything, and can't be expected to have a thorough grounding in Doctor Who continuity as well!

For those of you worried that the BBC really do view the TV Movie as a "one-off experiment", we should point out that the BBC has allowed the Paul McGann movie to form the basis of a dozen audio plays, nearly 70 books, and a webcast.

We tracked down Justin Richards, range consultant for the "experimental" BBC Books range. "For thousands of readers of BBC Books' Doctor Who series, Paul McGann IS the Doctor," he said. "It isn't just that we use his image on some of the covers.

"The Doctor as a character may have developed and changed since the 1996 TV Movie, but that character is still firmly rooted in Paul's exemplary performance. And while the Past Doctor books allow us to conjure up the past of the programme and relive our favourite bygone times, it is with the Eighth Doctor books that the range moves onward and upward and breaks new ground - just as the new television series will, and the old series always did..."

What started off as a simple editorial decision that made it easier explain Doctor Who in fifty-eight minutes flat appears to have escalated out of all proportion.

So, no need to start scraping off your Paul McGann wallpaper just yet.