We want your reviews!


Televised Adventures
Comic Strips
Novelisations
New Adventures
Past Doctor Adv.
Audio Adventures
Benny Adventures
Torchwood
Sarah Jane
Lethbridge-Stewart
Independent Adv.
Articles
The Doctors
The Companions
Enemies
The Creators
Non-fiction
Fandom
About the Guide
The Top Ten
Submission Info

The Doctor Who Ratings Guide
By Fans, For Fans
since Sept. 10, 1996.


The Doctor Who Ratings Guide:  By Fans, 
For Fans
Brought to you by:
Stacey Smith?
Webmaster and Editor-in-chief
Matthew Kresal
Associate editor
Matt Harris
Logo design


WANTED!

Your reviews of and about Doctor Who

Send A Review!

Just email Stacey at smithr (at) math.mcmaster.ca with the word "Review" in the title of the email.


Submission Information

Just about everything to know about sending reviews to the Guide:

  • Attitude: As a reviewer, you have the right to believe that your critical assessment is right, true and good, regardless of what others believe. Polite criticism of other points of view is not only acceptable but also part of the reason to write reviews in the first place. However, trashing or flaming another reviewer or review is unacceptable.

  • Length: Consider the minimum to be 250 words and the maximum to be 1000 words. That's not absolutely strict, however - but if you're going to write something outside these boundaries, it should be very well-written. Bear in mind that if it's too long it may get edited down, but if it's too short I'll ask you for a rewrite.

  • Format: Reviews should be sent in plain text, in the body of an email (not an attachment). I can't read anything even vaguely complicated, so forget about word documents or anything like that; I can just about handle HTML in a pinch, but it's a pain in the neck to reformat. I'd also appreciate it if you could configure your email program so that text wraps around. Please use the word 'review' in the title of the email, so I don't mistakenly delete it thinking it's spam.

  • Story Titles: Please refer to the titles of stories in regular text, with only the first letters of key words capitalised. Please don't capitalise titles or put them in any punctuation whatsoever. So it's Pyramids of Mars, not PYRAMIDS OF MARS or 'Pyramids of Mars'. This makes my life much simpler...

    ...however, the titles of the sixties' stories are completely up to you. I'm definitely not going into that minefield.

  • Names: Please submit reviews with your name attached somewhere. That sounds obvious, but there are a surprising number of people who forget this. If it's automatically in your email program, that's fine, but if not you really have to put your name somewhere on the review.
    The Guide maintains an air of formality slightly higher than elsewhere on the net, so please use your real name. We no longer accept pseudonyms.

  • Copyright: All copyright remains with the original reviewer. If you wish to use someone's review, please contact them directly, or myself and I'll direct your request to the appropriate person.

  • Mini-FAQ
    1. Can I link my page to a review in the Guide? Please don't; link to the main page http://pagefillers.com/dwrg instead.
    2. Can I submit a review to this site and to other review sites? Absolutely! As far as we're concerned, you maintain the copyright on your reviews. However, make sure to check with the webmasters of those sites before sending them duplicate reviews, just to make sure of their policy on the matter.
    3. I've sent in a review. Now what? Wait for it to appear in the Guide. Usually, you won't receive e-mails unless you write with a specific question or comment or unless the review is rejected. Bear in mind that sometimes we just get busy, though.
    4. What's the difference between this Guide and other sites? Here there are several limits, including length, content, spoiler-free for a year etc. The Guide also archives all the reviews and cross-links pages.
    5. Why do some people have so many reviews in the Guide? Because they send quality reviews on a regular or semi-regular basis. That's the only trick involved.
    6. The Guide's editor, Stacey Smith?, has written some Doctor Who books (some under the name Robert Smith?). Can I review them? Will she be upset if I hate them? Absolutely you can review them! To avoid any conflict of interest, Matthew Kresal has agreed to act as handling editor on any books Stacey has written or edited. All such reviews will be sent to Matthew for approval, and he has complete veto power over them (or you can email Matthew directly at timdalton007 at yahoo dot com). And no, Stacey will not be upset in the slightest. She's made of tougher stuff than that.

  • Posting Reviews:

  • Quality:
  • Common errors:

  • Spoilers: The Guide will enforce a one-year rule on spoilers. No exceptions. If what you are reviewing is less than a year old, no spoilers are allowed. After a year, spoilers are acceptable, but please keep them to a minimum: some fans have not seen or read what you have. This includes your humble editor, so for my sake as well, please don't spoil me either!
    The definition of a "spoiler" for review purposes constitutes anything significant in a book/audio/video not mentioned on the back cover. This includes surprise villains, giving away the ending and mentioning spoilers from previous books/videos/audios. For the new series, a spoiler constitutes anything that you found especially surprising during the episode, as well as its ending. For example, in the episode The End of the World, this would include the identity of the villain, as well as the Doctor's revelations about his home planet.

  • Editing: The Guide reserves the right to edit reviews that do not conform to these guidelines (such as removing spoilers, fixing typos etc). Usually, this just means minor edits, but if you have a problem with the review as posted, drop us a line and we'll discuss it. Our policy is: we'll treat your reviews with respect, so we don't anticipate too many problems on this score.

  • Topics: Any relevent topic concerning Doctor Who is accepted. If you have an idea for a review that won't fit into one of the Guide's categories, let us know. We'll find a way to include your review, even if we have to start a new section to the Guide.

  • Updates. There are two options for you to amend a previous review:
    1. Update the review. You may completely rewrite the review. This version will entirely replace the existing review. You may repeat sections from the previous review, or write an entirely new review.
    2. Supplement the review. In this case, a supplementary review will appear below the original review. A supplement should not repeat portions of the original review, since both will be visible.

    Typos or mistakes made by the editors will be fixed as soon as we are made aware of them (and as soon as we can break away from that hulking distraction we call "life"). If you notice a typo anywhere, please let us know.

  • Deleting a review: Unfortunately, this is not possible. Once a review has been posted, it become interlinked with other reviews, as people address points you may have made (even in reviews of completely different topics). For this reason, we cannot delete reviews once posted.

    This doesn't mean we're insensitive to errors or changes. If there are minor errors that need correcting, drop us a line and we'll fix them as soon as we can. If you're really desperate to delete a review for some reason, you can write an updated review of that topic and send it in. The new one will then replace the old version, with a separate announcement in the New Reviews section.


    The Guide Button:
    Add the code to your site!
    The Doctor Who Ratings Guide Button

    <!-- Begin Doctor Who Ratings Guide Button -->
    <!-- Please copy and paste to your own page -->
    <center>
    <a href=http://pagefillers.com/dwrg target=_parent><img src=http://pagefillers.com/dwrg/dwfr.jpg height=70 width=160 border=0 alt="The Doctor Who Ratings Guide Button"></A>
    </center>
    <!-- End Doctor Who Ratings Guide Button -->

    My thanks to
    Rob Matthews
    Logo designer
    Michael Hickerson
    Former Missing Adventures and Reference Editor
    Daniel Callahan
    Founder and Editor Emeritus

    Thanks for stopping by! We hope you'll be a regular visitor and/or contributor.