I'm ready to say goodbye to Ten, and yet, in a way, I really don't. I LOVED Tennant, the passion and the innocence he brought with him to the part.

ita, I see your point regarding to kick-ass moms. You're right, we're missing those on TV.

"Canon" is the authorized version, and there isn't one.

I agree over Who as a whole, but I do think RTD and co. have tried to make the new series consistant and of a piece with the old series (as in WoM with the reference to the ice people) . So I do think that there's something approximating to canon, at least for all the new series.

RTD has explicitly abdicated from the idea of a canon. And if the only people in position to declare things canonical refuse to do so... there isn't one. Even within the current series. (And Moffat has echoed him as far as the idea of "canon" being nonsensical WRT Doctor Who.) If random subsets of fans of the show decide that X is "true" and Y is "imaginary" that's fine, but saying something is/isn't canon is meaningless.

Within Doctor Who, your choices are: it all happened; some of it happened, and you can pick and choose, and understand that other people may disagree; or, I guess, none of it happened, although then it's an odd thing to even have an opinion about.

Different fans have chosen different things to be semi-canon (e.g. there are some books that are considered so), but it's generally agreed that most of the TV stuff (usually excepting the TV movie) is canon. But yeah, there's a massive debate around it. So there are something like three different stories showing how Ace ended her travels with the Doctor, with about two of those being BBC-authorised or BBC-created work.

I'm assuming that, for the new series, they're not going to contradict much that we've seen in the original series. RTD is enough of a fanboy to know what he thinks is canon, even if he won't confirm that to the fans. I believe the destruction of Gallifrey was inspired by time wars shown in the books, for example.

And if the only people in position to declare things canonical refuse to do so...

I agree that RTD is wise not to comment on what he considers canon and what not - he'd never get anything else done, for one thing. But I still think he has been trying to make the tv series a consistant continuation of the previous tv series and the movie (which he could have ignored - lots of fans do) and that's about all one can ask of a series which has been going for so long in so many media. Whether you label it "canon" or "non-canon" is up to you.

One of the things I love about the new series is that they keep dropping in little references to the old shows. They're clearly people who love the programme and want to honour its history.

but it's generally agreed that most of the TV stuff (usually excepting the TV movie) is canon.

But it's a canon without continuity. I mean, how many origin stories have the Daleks had?

I mean, how many origin stories have the Daleks had?

Obviously, not enough.

I mean, how many origin stories have the Daleks had?

"Genesis of the Daleks". What other origin is there?

What other origin is there?

The first Doctor encountered them in The Daleks and basically wiped out the entire species at the end of the arc. Then they were brought back a bunch more times in the 60's with whatever backstory & abilities seemed cool to the writers at the time. Genesis of the Daleks was Terry Nation wiping the slate clean and starting over more or less from scratch.

ita, I see your point regarding to kick-ass moms. You're right, we're missing those on TV.

Gemma on Sons of Anarchy. She shoots (owns an arsenal of guns), she delivers beat-downs, she scares hardened biker guys. Katey Sagal is awesome in the role.