Today is a special day for both The Doctor Who Companion and Doctor Who — because 21st Century Doctor Who first hit screens 20 years ago, i.e. on 26th March 2005, and the DWC launched nine years ago, on 26th March 2016!
It feels quite a big milestone really — no, not quite the decade, though that’s just around the corner, but nonetheless, the DWC went online on 26th March because of the Ninth Doctor era, and our first week was filled with features about beginnings. Yes, we used to have themed weeks, which would still be neat to do, but hard to keep up with.
Thoughts naturally turn to next year, when we do celebrate a whole decade: nothing for a Time Lord, but substantial for a human bean. So far, we’ve published some 4,271 articles, which is… pretty darn amazing! Thank you to everyone who has contributed to the DWC over the years — whether by writing articles, sending in tips, or chatting in the comments sections.
If you’d like to write for the DWC, please do get in touch with us — doctorwhocompanion@outlook.com — and if you don’t hear back soon, you’ll likely have been caught in our spam filters; in which case, give me a prod in the comments section below! We’re always on the look out for new voices, so please get in touch if you want to write one article, regular pieces (news or features), or would like to review some goodies.
What have we got coming up on the DWC? Aside from all the latest news and reviews (not forgetting that Doctor Who Series 15, the second season with Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor and Millie Gibson’s Ruby Sunday, and the first with Belinda Chandra, played by Varada Sethu, is starting next month), we’ve got a couple of feature series coming up that really dig into the core idea of the site, i.e. putting the Doctor’s friends, his companions, front and centre. Plus, we’re not only building up to our tenth anniversary in just twelve months’ time, but we’ve also got a few exciting other projects coming up in 2025 that we’re hoping you’ll enjoy.
Personally speaking, a lot has happened in the last year — some good things that have changed my life, as well as some sad things. The DWC largely started because Kasterborous, the site’s forerunner, went down and Andy Reynolds and I didn’t want to see all its contributors drifting away; sadly, Andy left the site, but I’m happy that the Doctor Who Companion has acted as an anchor for so many people. Quite honestly, it hasn’t been easy, but nothing worth doing ever is; doubly so since Google changed its algorithms meaning nearly every site except Reddit and its ilk lost a huge amount of traction. Yes, stats have dropped, our readership shrunk in the past 18 months… and yet, now, it’s growing again. We’re almost back to what we were, in a very hostile online environment; it remains to be seen if those figures continue after Series 15 airs, but either way, everyone has managed to keep the ship afloat this far, and there’s always light on the horizon.
Oh, and to celebrate nine years, we’re sharing a free extract from Companions: More Than Sixty Years of Doctor Who Assistants, specifically the Expanded Universe section for the Ninth Doctor. The extract further includes the book’s opening essay, “What Makes a Companion?”
To download this exclusive extract of Companions for free, click here.
Thank you to Candy Jar Books for letting us share this exclusive. And of course, you can order Companions now!
Thank you to all our readers — we couldn’t be here without you.
