...must come to an end, and such is the case with Outpost Gallifrey. For eleven years, I've run this website and turned it into the most popular and influential Doctor Who website on the Internet -- all despite the fact that the site has been run since day one from the USA. And though I've very much enjoyed the new Doctor Who series since its return in 2003 (and loved much of the previous season's worth of stories), I'm sure it's become clear to all of our readers that my passion for Doctor Who fandom has waned. Simply put, there are other pressing concerns on my life -- my career and my higher education, my personal life, my other hobbies and so forth -- that I enjoy much more these days, as a zeal for editing this website becomes more of a burden. In fact, I nearly gave it up a year ago, but due to the overwhelming response by our readers I kept things going, half-heartedly; it was due to the fantastic efforts put forth by my volunteer editors on the News Page that allowed things to continue into 2007. But even with the best of intentions, I have come to realize that I'm at the point where I just cannot devote the time and energy to it anymore.

And so, it is with heavy heart that I must announce that Outpost Gallifrey as you know it has come to an end.

However... as bittersweet as that may sound, this isn't quite a goodbye... because while the Outpost itself goes away, four of its features will continue indefinitely, under the auspices of people who currently manage them for me:

» DoctorWhoNews.Com will be the continuation of the Outpost's most prominent feature, with all of the latest Doctor Who news from around the world. Our editorial staff will continue from today's Outpost, bringing you all the latest in an easy-to-read blog-style format. I'll continue to have supervisory input, and will be welcoming additional news editors to keep you informed as we've always done.

» The Doctor Who Forum, located at doctorwhoforum.com, will be the next phase of the Outpost Gallifrey forum community of today, managed by the same group of people. Very soon, we will be archiving the forum as it currently exists into an 'old' area, and then porting all of our user data and a collection of recent messages to a 'new' area which will run faster and be ready for the new series and Christmas special.

» The current gallifreyone.com web address will remain, as the primary location for the web space of the Gallifrey One Conventions events here in Los Angeles, with our next event coming in February 2008 with special guests Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred, Daphne Ashbrook, Paul Cornell, Steven Moffat and many more to be announced. Gallifrey One the event is most assuredly continuing, with plans for 2008 and 2009 already in the pipeline.

» And finally, the Web Guide to Doctor Who will continue to grow at its new location at doctorwhowebguide.com, maintained as it currently is by Kenny Davidson. The Web Guide is the single best source of Doctor Who links on the Web, and I hope it will remain so for ages to come.

Bringing Outpost Gallifrey to an end but allowing these four active parts to continue will allow fans to continue to enjoy the best we have to offer, and at the same time let me move on to other projects and concerns. Much of the rest of this website in its current state will be archived for posterity. These changes will be coming as soon as I'm able to deal with them -- very likely you'll see the splintering off of each section in September.

In closing, I would like to thank all of our readers for their endless support over the years. The people I've met in Doctor Who fandom who have shared this experience with me have been some of the greatest people I've ever become fortunate enough to know, and the people who have helped shape this site along the way: my brilliant Forum staff, especially Steve Hill who runs the forum day-to-day; the news editors, most especially Steve Tribe and Paul Engelberg for sharing several years of adventure with me as we welcomed the show back; the terrific folks at Doctor Who Podshock; the wonderful relationships I've forged with companies such as Big Finish, BBV, Telos Publishing, Tenth Planet, Galaxy 4, Doctor Who Magazine, SFX, Dreamwatch and Mad Norwegian Press; the friends at so many Doctor Who websites who have flourished, prospered and followed in our footsteps; and the well-wishes and positive discussions with countless members of the professional Doctor Who community, including Russell T Davies and David Tennant who have both counted themselves amongst the site's many fans. Outpost Gallifrey has been an adventure, but there will be other adventures and other fun, and I thank you all for the opportunity to share the trip of a lifetime.

Shaun Lyon, Editor, Outpost Gallifrey