Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Doctor Who/Episode citations

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[edit] Kudos and a question

First of all, huge thanks to everyone who put in the time and effort to get this list done. Well done all round — you've done a public service, and deserve kudos for it.

Second, a small question: both {{cite serial}} and {{cite episode}} have a parameter for "station" as well as "network". Obviously, it was written with a US context in mind, but one would assume that in a UK context "BBC" would be the network, and "BBC One" the station. Should we include this in the citations? If so, it's worth remembering that until the third episode of The Keys of Marinus, both station and network were BBC, so we certainly don't need to include both parameters in those earliest stories. (BBC2 debuted on April 20, 1964, at which point "BBC tv" was rebranded "BBC1". While I'm being pedantic, I'll point out that the station was styled "BBC1" in the days of the classic series, and was rebranded "BBC One" in 1997, so if we do implement the "station" parameter, we should use "BBC1" for classic stories and "BBC One" for new ones.)

Anyway, that's a very small matter — the big deal is that this has been done, and it will be to the benefit of all Doctor Who articles. Bravo! —Josiah Rowe (talk • contribs) 19:06, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

I do think we should include the station parameter. I haven't been putting it in (usually) because I didn't know any of the specifics you just described, but I figured there had to be some complications! I'll start including that in new ones I do, and then go back and add it to the old. I'm thinking of also eliminating the "episodelink" and "serieslink" parameters and just wikilinking "title" and "series", to cut down on the size of the page.

I'm also thinking that it may not be enough to just have citations for the serials. Do you think we need this for each individual episode as well? I would think those would be more often cited than the serials as a whole. That's a lot of work, but I seem to be in a frame of mind where I'm enjoying rote tasks. --Brian Olsen 20:05, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

And another question. The {{cite episode}} documentation describes the "city" field as for "City of the local station (if any) or network." But I think we've been using it as where the program was filmed - so the new series says "Cardiff", and Horror of Fang Rock says "Birmingham". But should they all say London, since that's where BBC One is based? --Brian Olsen 21:32, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Hmm. I think that what the template has in mind is the city of originating broadcast, not the city where the programme was filmed. That said, in the case of a BBC programme (broadcast across the UK) an argument could be made that the filming location is more useful information, and indeed the {{cite episode}} documentation example uses the "city" parameter for the location from which a live broadcast is made. I can see arguments both ways on this; I'll ask for more opinions at Template talk:Cite episode. —Josiah Rowe (talk • contribs) 18:19, 18 August 2007 (UTC)