How many licensed Doctor Who spinoffs are there?

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yes-scheming

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62

Possibly and probably. Certainly I imagine contracts are very different now to how they were in the classic series. Nyssa, for example, was technically Johnny Byrne’s copyright because she wasn’t originally going to be a companion. There’s no way the BBC would let that sort of thing happen nowadays in the modern world of IPs.

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63

I mean, don’t take my word as gospel! I’m just some know-it-all on a Doctor Who forum…

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64

I wouldn’t know who to seek out anyway :laughing:

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I’m not sure how it all works but I know there are certain elements that the writers retain copyright to, or at least receive royalties/there’s an agreement regarding credits. (That’s why in some episodes we get “XXX originally created by YYY” tags, I think.) I know the Trickster from SJA, as one example, would require paying royalties or a fee to Gareth Roberts for its use, hence why we’ll probably never see it again.

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66

PROBE, PROBE Case Files, and Hellscape

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67

Since I knew nothing about any controversy surrounding Gareth Roberts (I’d seen his name in writing credits and that was it), I just looked him up. Yikes, to say the absolute least. I no longer want the Trickster to return despite it being one of my favorite DWEU antagonists.

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68

If the Trickster did return, I highly doubt Roberts would be writing, seeing as he’s essentially been banned from working on Who now.

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69

That’s true, but he would still receive royalties from the use of the Trickster, which could also be problematic.

Which sucks. I just discovered the Trickster and want him back!

Could we all gang up and buy the rights from Roberts? And then allow the BBC to use him on the show?

Imagine seeing the end credits: “The Trickster used with permission from TARDIS Guide”.

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70

Rights are so confusing

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And that is why we soon will have over 10,000 stories on this site :joy:

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So if I asked RTD if I could use, say, the Judoon, would I be able to l make an official Judoon novel or something like that?

Or are New Who characters more difficult to use?

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New Who characters will be much trickier because I imagine the BBC had contracts that didn’t leave the rights with the writer - even if that writer was RTD.

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74

Shame cause I genuinely think The Trickster would be incredible to see in the main show…

Shame about who’d get the money…

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