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Doctor Who's returning showrunner Russell T Davies has confirmed that new BBC iPlayer spinoff series Tales of the TARDIS is a canonical continuation of the show's universe.
In the new issue of SFX magazine, out today, Davies laughed off the suggestion that some fans might not consider the spin-off a real part of the 60-year-old show's history. When asked directly if the show is canon, he responded. "ABSOLUTELY! Good god almighty! What the flip?!"
He then joked that the show launching on the streamer might somehow disqualify it in the eyes of some fans. "Well, it's going out on the iPlayer. So some fans will be completely justified in saying, if it hasn't been transmitted on BBC One, then it's not canon. I mean, welcome to your life. I have nothing to say to you. [laughs]"
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Announced earlier this week, Tales of the TARDIS is a new six-episode spin-off designed to complement the recent uploading of 800+ episodes of the original 1963-1989 version of the show to BBC iPlayer.
Each episode weaves newly filmed scenes featuring returning Doctors and companions into a classic story to create a feature-length omnibus episode.
Writer Pete McTighe, who has penned the Tales of the TARDIS episodes for 'The Mind Robber' and 'The Curse of Fenric', echoed Davies' statement, saying, "It's not just a simple intro and outro. It's actually a story that moves the characters on. Russell's written this amazing piece for 'Earthshock', which is dealing with Adric's death, which never happened in the show... We've never had this stuff before. It is 100% canon."
Doctor Who: Tales of the TARDIS launches on BBC iPlayer on November 1.
The above is just a snippet from our interview with Davies, which you can see more of from in the latest issue of SFX Magazine, which features Doctor Who on the cover and is available on newsstands from Wednesday, November 1. Keep up to date with all things SFX by signing up to the newsletter, which sends all the latest exclusives straight to your inbox.
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