Time’s up for ‘Doctor Who’ fan Web site

Outpost Gallifrey and the Doctor Who Forum, the most popular Doctor Who fan Web site on the Internet, will be closing for good July 31, the site announced in its forums and news page on Tuesday.

Not even the robust news page, the only part of the site to be maintained regularly of late, will continue. The only part of the site that will remain operational is the official page of its annual Gallifrey One conventions, which will go on. The next event, Gallifrey One: Blackjack 21, will be in Los Angeles in February 2010.

Site owner and operator Shaun Lyon said in a statement: “Some may wonder if there is a catalyst for this decision, when in fact it’s nothing but a simple and straightforward desire to move onto other things… a decision I made several months ago, counselled by many friends and supporters for a long time.”

Outpost Gallifrey, whose name was based on the home planet of the Time Lord known as the Doctor, has been a valuable bridge for fans of the long-running British sci-fi series across the pond here in the U.S.A. It’s been a source of hard-to-come-by information about the show since 1996, well before it finally returned to television after a long absence in 2005, and it will be missed.

See also:

• Sci-fi series give BBC America HD out-of-this-world welcome
• Karen Gillan hitches a ride in the TARDIS
• ‘Doctor Who’ in U.S. jumps from Sci Fi to BBC America