For more than sixty years, Doctor Who has generated one of the most remarkable bodies of material culture in the history of British television, and it lives on two levels.

The production record: props, costumes, concept art, set dressings, and working documents that came directly out of making the programme. The promotional record: the merchandise, toys, books, annuals, and press materials that carried Doctor Who into homes, high streets, and imaginations around the world. Both are what The Who Archive exists to hold.

The Archive is a permanent, professionally managed repository built for fans, researchers, and future generations. Our scope covers every era, from Hartnell to the present, through scholarly documentation, provenance research, and curated acquisition.

This work cannot be done alone. Partnerships with collectors, researchers, institutions, production veterans, and the wider Doctor Who community aren't supplementary to the mission. They are the mission.

A debt of gratitude, long overdue. Whatever survives from the earliest decades of this programme exists because of people: researchers who spent years reconstructing production histories from fragments and fading memories; fans, collectors, and custodians who rescued artefacts and ephemera at their own expense; and the many within and around the BBC who quietly fought to hold onto what they could. The Who Archive rests upon the foundation they laid. Their stewardship - institutional and individual alike - is the reason there is anything left to archive.

Production Heritage The screen-used and production-made record: props, costumes, concept art, set dressings, scripts, and working documents from across the programme's history. Catalogued with rigorous provenance research and historical context, and acquired with long-term conservation in mind.

Promotional Heritage The cultural footprint beyond the screen: licensed merchandise, toys, games, annuals, books, magazines, press and advertising materials, and branded ephemera spanning sixty-plus years - a record of how the programme reached the world and what it meant to the people who encountered it.

Preservation Curated acquisition of at-risk material as it passes between hands, ensuring the record remains intact for the long term.

Continuity of Stewardship A responsible home for material leaving private collections, keeping bodies of work coherent and ensuring they remain accessible rather than dispersed.

Public Access A permanent commitment to exhibition and public engagement - so that this heritage is not merely held, but seen, studied, and shared.

The private collections that exist today are not accidents. They are the result of decades of dedicated work by individuals who were present at auctions and sales when few others recognised what was at stake - who bought, preserved, researched, and in many cases rescued material that would otherwise have been lost entirely.

Many of those collectors are now beginning to think about what comes next. Succession planning for a significant collection is not straightforward. Private sale, public auction, estate dispersal - each path carries its own risks, and none of them are designed with the collector's wishes at their centre.

The Who Archive offers a confidential, collector-centred alternative: one that prioritises the integrity of collections, keeps assembled bodies of work together where possible, and ensures that the individuals responsible for a collection's survival are recognised as part of its permanent record. The steward matters as much as the object.

If you are a collector - of production material, promotional material, or both - we would welcome a private conversation.

Contact The Who Archive in confidence to discuss your collection. contact@whoarchive.org