Everyone at the Doctor Who Companion wishes you, our dear readers, a very Happy New Year. We’ve done it, folks – we’ve survived 2019, a year with only a single new episode of Doctor Who on TV (Resolution), and now we’re in 2020, where we get to enjoy Doctor Who Series 12. That begins today, exactly a year after the previous episode aired, with Spyfall.
What does 2020 hold for us? Of course, there will be plenty to enjoy from Big Finish and BBC Books; we’ve also got animations of missing episodes scheduled, namely The Faceless Ones and Fury from the Deep.
We’ve got our usual mix of news, reviews, and features coming up on the DWC, with some exciting stuff bubbling along in the pipeline too. 2019 saw us publish a series of season reviews, which began in July and concluded yesterday (31st December), meaning that the DWC has now covered every single TV episode of Doctor Who – a fact I’m hugely proud of. And we’re going to build on that, of course.
Personally speaking, 2019 has been an odd time for me. Well, it’s been pretty relentlessly bad (though I should note that there’s been a lot of good as well; I’m reminded of that Vincent and the Doctor speech about life being a pile of good things and bad things). 2018 was bad and I didn’t think it could get worse; alas, the hits just keep on coming, so I’m not especially hopeful about 2020 either. However: one thing that has buoyed me is seeing this site go from strength to strength, for this community to get stronger; hopefully, we cater for as many people as possible, for fans of all eras, and that we’re a welcoming place. Yes, we have disagreements, and that’s because we don’t like to censor too much; I firmly believe that’s a dangerous thing (Fahrenheit 451 is one of my favourite books, so that probably won’t come as a great surprise). Fingers crossed our disagreements are all reasoned and expressed with mutual respect.
Our writing team has swollen too, and I’m so happy to see the range of writing currently available on the DWC.
Our daily reach has grown (that, despite my laziness when it comes to social media – our Facebook page, for instance, has had a glitch which I haven’t figured a way around, which I’m sure is a great hindrance). We’re routinely getting more readers than ever before. In fact, this year saw our most popular day ever – a 24-hour period in which the DWC was visited 12,950 times. That makes me immensely proud.
And so, as we look ahead, I’d like to thank all our of readers and all our contributors. Thank you, one and all. And Happy New Year.
