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In '' Doctor Who Magazine '' #367, James Goss, producer of Bbc.co.uk 's cult television websites, announced that Series 2 would feature "dozens" of inter-related sites featuring interactive games, to create "the most ambitious online fictional world ever". One of these sites is planned to include a Chatbot based on the Face Of Boe . WEBSITES Series One Who is Doctor Who? ''.]] In the premiere episode of the 2005 Series , '' Rose '', the character of Rose Tyler searched the Internet for information about the mysterious Doctor . Rose used a fictitious Search Engine called search-wise.net which was set up to provide television programmes with a search website that could be shown on screen. While search-wise.net does not actually work as a search engine, the website that she found, http://www.whoisdoctorwho.co.uk, can be accessed. At the time the episode was transmitted, the search term used by Rose, "doctor blue box", if typed into . The website "Who is Doctor Who?" turned out to be run by a Conspiracy Theorist named Clive, who had been tracking the appearances of the Ninth Doctor through history, and was under the impression that the Doctor was an Immortal alien. Clive was killed by an Auton during the course of the episode, but when Rose disappeared to travel with the Doctor, the website continued to be updated, with video clips from the Auton invasion and an invitation to readers to send their own stories of encounters with the Doctor. Later updates of the site tied in to new episodes as they were broadcast. The "guest book" section of the site featured several entries apparently signed by former companions or supporting characters, including Sarah Jane Smith , Peri Brown and Mike Yates . It is not clear which of these were written by the BBC website team and which messages (if any) were by fans writing in, since all messages are screened by the website team before they are posted. It also features comments from the fictional characters Arthur Dent and Marty McFly . After '' Aliens Of London '' was first broadcast on April 16 , 2005, it became apparent from a note on the website that the person who had taken over Clive's website was Mickey Smith , Rose's boyfriend. Interestingly, as ''Aliens of London'' took place in 2006 and the updates were contemporaneous with the series as it progresses, it meant that the website was at least one year in the relative future of the reader. Following the events of '' Boom Town '', the site featured a bitter message from Mickey ("World saved. Who cares?"), who has realised that Rose no longer loves him. After this episode, the website remained static for many months before it was updated with references to the Guinevere One probe in time for the 2005 Christmas Special . On March 30 2006 , the website underwent a redesign and was renamed " Defending The Earth! ", two weeks before the start of Series 2 . UNIT ''Aliens of London'' also featured the return of the . The password (later changed to "badwolf") allowed access to "classified" reports, one of which described the events of ''Rose''. The "Conferences" section of the website shows that UNIT has a facility at Maidstone Barracks . In the second part of the story, '' World War Three '', the website was shown on screen, and the Doctor used the password "buffalo" to access it. Using that password on the "live" website activates a simple Flash animation simulating the missile control website featured in the episode. The UNIT site was updated with reports detailing the aftermath of the story, putting it in the same position as Mickey's website of being a year in the future. The website also named the unnamed-on-screen UNIT officer that died in the episode as a "Major Frost", who may have been the '' Doctor Who Magazine '' comic strip character Muriel Frost . Other reports reference the episodes ''Rose'' and '' Dalek ''. In an interview in '' Doctor Who Magazine '' #360 (August 2005 ), new series executive producer Russell T. Davies explained that the United Nations were no longer happy to be associated with the organisation, and its full name could not now be used. However, the "UNIT" and "UN" abbreviations can be used, as long as it is not explained what the letters stand for. Following '' The Christmas Invasion '', a press release confirming the existence of alien life was added to the site, and the "secure portion" of the website was updated with reports on Guinevere One and "Project Rooftop", referring to the events of that episode. Geocomtex The third fictional website to be featured so far has been http://www.geocomtex.net, the corporate website for Henry Van Statten 's company, whose logo was seen in the background in the episode '' Dalek ''. The site is more sparse compared to the others, with a "products" page, an uneditable "support" page and a "recruitment" page aside from the usual disclaimer. The GeoComTex website, like the others, has numerous in-jokes and references to the old series. Products that GeoComtex manufactures include "IE core chip Transistor s" (International Electromatics in '' The Invasion ''), " Bubble Memory " ('' Logopolis ''), "Ether beam sensing technology" ('' Genesis Of The Daleks '') and "bonded polycarbon" ('' Remembrance Of The Daleks ''). The support page has a question that asks whether a "MX-TBL plug-in" is needed for the "WTFLD Generator" — a reference to the characters of Maxtible and Waterfield in '' The Evil Of The Daleks '' — and refers to a "finklegruber", a Gallifrey an tool mentioned in '' The Invasion Of Time '' and the Virgin Missing Adventures novel ''The Well-Mannered War'' by Gareth Roberts. Another support entry answers the question, "My Tubbs just doesn't work like it used to. How do I reset it?" with "Enter code 12-T", a reference to '' The League Of Gentlemen '' (an earlier project of Doctor Who writer Mark Gatiss ). The support page also contains the word BADWOLF written in Morse Code (although for the first few days, the Morse actually read " Twat s"), and on an unrelated note, the words " VOTE LIB DEM " scrambled and backwards. This references a joke started on the Outpost Gallifrey forum after transmission of '' World War Three '' claiming that a flashing light at the end of this episode signals this sentence in Morse Code. Bad Wolf The phrase "Bad Wolf" was a Recurring Theme throughout the 2005 series, beginning from '' The End Of The World '' (although some fans argue that the Nestene Consciousness mouths "Bad Wolf" in ''Rose''). What "Bad Wolf" refers to was not revealed until the final episode of the series, and was the subject of intense fan speculation, especially since the penultimate episode of the series is titled '' Bad Wolf ''. The BBC registered the at the end of an included audio clip. The website's disclaimer noted that its contents were merely to speculate on what "Bad Wolf" meant, but did not propose to provide a definitive answer. It also stated that the Internet was "used by kind permission of GeoComtex" (In ''Dalek'', Henry van Statten claimed to own the Internet) and referred to "an enormous experiment in Neuro-linguistic Programming ". There was also a hidden message that was visible only when the text beneath the disclaimer was highlighted. In the series finalĂ©, '' The Parting Of The Ways '', it was revealed that Rose (or the TARDIS , through her, after she had looked into its "heart") had distributed the words ''Bad Wolf'' throughout time as a reminder, so that she would know she could go back to the future and save the Doctor. The website has since been updated to include the conclusion. Series Two Guinevere One In the lead-up to '''' science fiction serials of the 1950s) to land a probe on Mars on Christmas Day . It includes an introduction by Prime Minister Harriet Jones and an interview with the project director, Professor Danny Llewellyn. Other elements of the site include a history of the British Rocket Group, a Mars FAQ, a "live tracker" for the probe, a game in which you have to pilot Guinevere One through a narrow "launch window", and the opportunity to add your own message of peace to the probe. Previous British manned missions to Mars ('' The Ambassadors Of Death '', 1970) are not referred to on the site. The British Rocket Group was previously mentioned in the series in '' Remembrance Of The Daleks '' (1988). Following ''The Christmas Invasion'', the website's front page has been changed to memorialise project manager Daniel Llewellyn, who was killed during the events of that episode. Defending the Earth! This is Mickey's new website, although the URL is still at http://www.whoisdoctorwho.co.uk. The previous pages are still available as links, but it has undergone a radical redesign. The week before the 2006 series began, a video message from Mickey (played, as in the series, by Noel Clarke ) was available, where he asked the reader for help and led them to the Leamington Spa Lifeboat Museum Website which included an interactive game. This was the first of several "mini-missions" that will become available through the various tie-in websites over the course of Series 2. The name of the site may be a reference to the Doctor's declaration to the Sycorax in ''The Christmas Invasion'' that when they talk of the Earth, to "make sure you tell them this. It is ''defended''!" Mickey repeats this declaration as the Sycorax ship leaves the Earth's atmosphere. Leamington Spa Lifeboat Museum http://www.leamingtonspalifeboatmuseum.co.uk/, apparently the website of the fictitious Leamington Spa Lifeboat Museum (oddly, Leamington Spa is around 60 miles from the nearest saltwater, the Severn Estuary ). This website tells the tale of the Leamington Spa Lifeboat Society, which saved hundreds of lives all over the Leamington Spa area, including Carlisle , Manchesterford and Cardiff (if the map on the website is to be believed). We learn of a family who were killed by a " Mad Wolf ", and various small hints are dropped throughout the history pages. Although the disclaimer admits freely that this website is fictional, it does recommend the viewer to visit the website of the real Royal National Lifeboat Institution website and to donate if possible. There is an interactive game where the player, on Mickey's behalf, controls a robot through the museum in search of a Sycorax sword, trying to avoid security robots and finding other alien artefacts (most related to past stories) in the process. One of these, a large alien firearm recovered in 1938 from the Brooklyn Bridge , may be a reference to the Big Finish Productions audio play '' Invaders From Mars ''. Which 2006 series episode the site specifically relates to, if any, is not yet known, but the mention of Queen Victoria opening the museum and the picture of a werewolf in the history pages may point to the episode '' Tooth And Claw ''. Millingdale Organic Ice Cream http://www.millingdaleicecream.co.uk/, the website for the Millingdale Organic Ice Cream company, is linked to from the Leamington Spa Lifeboat Museum and Torchwood House websites. The background music for the site is a bells-only, jingle-like version of "Flavia's Theme" from Series 1, a theme that is used by the production team when things get (in their words) "Time Lord-y". As the logo fades in, the repeated text "they're coming" is visible. This website claims that Millingdale's is a family company established in 1860, although they only went public in 1980. Since 1981, they have had parlours the length and breadth of the UK, and are internationally renowned for their unique taste and the enigma of their " Secret Formula " (compare to Coca-Cola ). They state that their first parlour opened on June 23 1981 (in the British calendar, 23/6/81 ). A list of flavours is given on this website whose names reference various episodes, both past and upcoming, including " Silver Giant ". Which episode this site specifically relates to, if any, is not yet known. Torchwood House http://www.visittorchwood.co.uk, the Torchwood House website, is linked to from Defending The Earth and contains a link to Millingdale Organic Ice Cream . The site is for the Torchwood Estate from ''Tooth and Claw''. There is a interactive game on the site, accessed by entering the password "Victoria" on the "Scan for Heavenly Bodies" bell of the Observatory page . The Observatory page also contains a reference to the Butler Institute, an organisation featured in several of the Virgin New Adventures novels. Deffry Vale School http://www.deffryvaleschool.org.uk is the website of Deffry Vale High School, seen in '' School Reunion ''. The site contains a concealed link to Deffry Vale , as well as a game based on the Skasis Paradigm Code seen in the episode, involving continuing visual patterns and memory tests. The website also refers to unlocking the secrets of the universe "with the eyes of a child", foreshadowing events in the show. The website is based on the colour green, and all the logos are in tones of green, rather than the red and blue seen in the episode. However, there is a link to the welcome poster seen at the main entrance, and the archive shows the "proper" logo as well. The ''eat more chips'' poster seen in the episode is available for download. The "Grounds" section of the site shows a plan of the school with alien-looking notations, taken from the lockdown scene in ''School Reunion''. The archive claims that the school is twinned with one in Gorselbaten, Germany and that they recently put on a "highly commended" performance of '' Romeo And Juliet ''. Deffry Vale http://www.deffryvale.co.uk , the website of the borough in which of the Doctor. The photographs of "weird orange lights in the sky" were taken by a David Roberts. The website also includes images of both a bus stop and a playground which include the numbers iconography on the website it can be assumed that Deffry Vale is a London Borough or nearby, although Deffry is a Welsh word meaning "Awaken". There is a section of the site devoted to Queen Victoria . CANONICITY Although they are produced by the BBC, the Canonicity of the material on these websites is unclear. While parts of "Who is Doctor Who?" and the UNIT website are consistent with the events of the episodes as broadcast, other parts are not. For example, the UNIT website dates the climactic events of ''Rose'' to March 26 , 2005 (the date of broadcast). However, a poster clearly seen in ''Aliens of London'' states that Rose Tyler had gone missing on the night of March 6 . The "History" section of the website claims that UNIT was formed in 1968 following the " London Underground " incident, a reference to the events of '' The Web Of Fear ''. This seems to establish the events of the serial as happening in that year, although the dating of the UNIT serials is a long-standing controversy in ''Doctor Who'' fandom. See UNIT Dating Controversy for more details. In addition, despite the implication that at the end of '' Father's Day '' the attack of the Reapers did not happen due to changes in history, "Who is Doctor Who" featured photographs that showed the attack. The UNIT website also referred to a report about the incident, although the Doctor claimed no one would remember it. REGISTERED DOMAINS The BBC has registered the following domain names, but none of them have active websites at this time:
NON-BBC WEBSITES Patterned after the fictional websites set up by the BBC, some fans have set up their own websites tying into the series. These sites are not featured or referred to in the programme and are not sanctioned by the BBC. These include: Flydale North http://www.flydale-north.org.uk/ - the website for Flydale North, the fictional constituency of MP Harriet Jones from ''Aliens of London'' and ''World War Three'', and who is Prime Minister in '' The Christmas Invasion ''. Cybus Corporation http://www.cybuscorporation.com/ - the website for the Cybus Corporation. The corporation will play a role in the 2006 series' Two-part Story featuring the Cybermen (the password for the "restricted files" area is " Nemesis "). Powell Estate Tenants and Residents Association http://www.powellestate.org.uk/ - the website for the Powell Estate Tenants and Residents Association. Rose Tyler, her mother Jackie and Mickey live on the Powell Estate and several scenes and episodes have been set there. The site includes photos of a BBC film crew at work filming ''Doctor Who'', however in the fiction of the site, they are said to be filming scenes for a new BBC series entitled '' Time War '' starring Paul McGann (who played the Eighth Doctor ). |
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