View source for 1989

{{timeline}}

== History of the Doctor Who Universe ==

=== [[July]] ===

*[[24th July|24]] - [[26th July|26]] - [[Sixth Doctor|The Doctor]] meets [[Melanie Bush]] for the first time. ([[PDA]]: ''[[Business Unusual]]'')

=== Unknown dates ===

*[[Seventh Doctor|The Doctor]] and [[Ace]] return to [[Perivale]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[Survival]]'')
*[[Seventh Doctor|The Doctor]] meets [[Raine Creevy]] for the first time.  ([[BFA]]: [[Crime of the Century (audio)|Crime of the Century]]).

*[[Bobby Prescott]] and a number of other people try and fail to stop a mob from destroying a library during riots in [[New York City|New York]]. ([[NA]]: ''[[Cat's Cradle: Warhead]]'')

*[[Ninth Doctor|The Doctor]] suggests that [[Rose Tyler|Rose]] and he go to Marbella in this year to avoid the [[Dalek]]s at the [[Battle of the Game Station]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Parting of the Ways]]'')

*[[Amy Pond]] and [[Rory Williams]] are born. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Beast Below]]'', ''[[The Vampires of Venice]]'')

== Real World ==

=== [[January]] ===

* [[4th January|04]] - [[DW]]: ''[[The Greatest Show in the Galaxy]]'' Episode 4 is first broadcast, concluding the anniversary Season 25.
* [[19th January|19]] - [[DWN]]: ''[[Delta and the Bannermen (novelisation)|Doctor Who - Delta and the Bannermen]]'' is first published.
** [[REF]]: ''[[The Doctor Who File]]'' is published in paperback.
* [[28th January|28]] - [[Lara Goodison]] is born.

=== [[February]] ===

* [[16th February |16]] - [[DWN]]: ''[[The War Machines (novelisation)|Doctor Who - The War Machines]]'' is first published.
* [[18th February |18]] - [[John Bailey]], who played the [[Commander (The Sensorites)|Commander]] in [[DW]]: ''[[The Sensorites]]'', [[Edward Waterfield]] in [[DW]]: ''[[The Evil of the Daleks]]'', and [[Sezom]] in [[DW]]: ''[[The Horns of Nimon]]'', dies in [[London]].

=== [[March]] ===

* [[16th March |16]] - [[DWN]]: ''[[Dragonfire (novelisation)|Doctor Who - Dragonfire]]'' is first published.
** Two ''Doctor Who Classics'' reprint volumes published: [[DWN]]: ''[[Doctor Who and the Dæmons|The Dæmons]]''/''[[The Time Monster (novelisation)|The Time Monster]]'' and [[DWN]]: ''[[The Mind of Evil (novelisation)|The Mind of Evil]]''/''[[Doctor Who and the Claws of Axos|The Claws of Axos]]''.

=== [[April]] ===

* [[REF]]: ''[[The Time-Travellers' Guide|Doctor Who: The Time-Travellers' Guide]]'' is published in paperback.
* [[12th April |12]] - [[Gerald Flood]], who portrayed [[King John]] in [[DW]]: ''[[The King's Demons]]'' and provided the voice of [[Kamelion]], dies from a heart attack.
* [[20th April |20]] - [[DWN]]: ''[[Attack of the Cybermen (novelisation)|Doctor Who - Attack of the Cybermen]]'' is first published.
* [[25th April |25]] - [[George Coulouris]], who played [[Arbitan]] in [[DW]]: ''[[The Keys of Marinus]]'', dies in [[London]] from a heart attack after a long battle with Parkinson's Disease.

=== [[May]] ===

* [[18th May |18]] - [[TME]]: ''[[The Nightmare Fair|Doctor Who - The Nightmare Fair]]'' is first published. This is the first of a new spin-off line by [[Target Books]] dubbed "The Missing Episodes". These are novels based upon the cancelled [[Season 23]], which was delayed a year due to the BBC-ordered hiatus and which ultimately was replaced by what became [[DW]]: ''[[The Trial of a Time Lord]]''. Although based upon a teleplay, the fact it was never produced makes this, in effect, the first original-to-print ''Doctor Who'' novel in which the Doctor himself is the lead character.
** [[Target Books]] publishes two final ''Doctor Who Classics'' reprint volumes before abandoning the venture: [[DWN]]: ''[[Doctor Who and the Face of Evil|The Face of Evil]]''/''[[Doctor Who and the Sunmakers|The Sunmakers]]'' and [[DWN]]: ''[[Doctor Who and the Seeds of Doom|The Seeds of Doom]]''/''[[Doctor Who and the Deadly Assassin|The Deadly Assassin]]''.
* [[26th May |26]] - ''[[Doctor Who: Voyager]]'' is published by [[Marvel Comics]]. This is a graphic novel collecting, in colourized form, the 1985 ''[[Doctor Who Magazine]]'' comic arc, ''[[Voyager (comic strip)|Voyager]]'' and is likely the first single-story ''Doctor Who'' graphic novel (albeit not featuring original material).

=== [[June]] ===

* [[15th June |15]] - [[DWN]]: ''[[Mindwarp (novelisation)|Doctor Who - Mindwarp]]'' is first published. This is the fourth and final novelisation based upon segments of [[DW]]: ''[[The Trial of a Time Lord]]''. It is was also the final [[Sixth Doctor]] story to be novelised; plans for a novelisation of [[DW]]: ''[[Revelation of the Daleks]]'' were made, but the book was never published and that story remains officially unnovelised.

=== [[July]] ===

* [[20th July |20]] - [[DWN]]: ''[[The Chase (novelisation)|Doctor Who - The Chase]]'' is first published. Written by [[John Peel]], ''The Chase'' was the first of a series of [[Dalek]] story novelisations by Peel that were commissioned after [[Target Books]] reached an agreement with [[Terry Nation]] that would allow his remaining Dalek stories to be adapted as novels. (Prior to this, [[DW]]: ''[[The Chase]]'', and other Nation-penned Dalek episodes, were expected to remain in limbo, novelisation-wise). Around the time of this book's release, it's announced that a similar agreement had been reached with [[Eric Saward]] regarding his two Daleks serials, but ultimately these two stories were never adapted.

=== [[August]] ===

* [[3rd August|03]] - The final studio recording session for the 1963-89 series of ''Doctor Who'' is undertaken as work is completed on [[DW]]: ''[[Ghost Light]]''. Discounting a voiceover session conducted in November, this marks the end of BBC production on the series until work on the revival commences in 2004.
* [[4th August|04]] - [[Maurice Colbourne]] dies.
* [[17th August|17]] - [[TME]]: ''[[The Ultimate Evil|Doctor Who - The Ultimate Evil]]'' is first published. Second release in the "Missing Episodes" line.
* [[29th August|29]] - The second volume of [[Doctor Who: The Scripts]] is published: [[DW]]: ''[[The Tomb of the Cybermen]]''

=== [[September]] ===

* [[6th September |06]] - [[DW]]: ''[[Battlefield]]'' Episode 1 is first broadcast, launching [[Season 26]], what would ultimately be the final season of the 1963-89 series. [[Nicholas Courtney]] returns for the first time since [[DW]]: ''[[The Five Doctors]]'', and [[UNIT]] takes an active role in a story for the first time since [[DW]]: ''[[The Android Invasion]]''. [[Jean Marsh]], who played companion [[Sara Kingdom]], returns in a different role.
* [[13th September |13]] - [[DW]]: ''[[Battlefield]]'' Episode 2 is first broadcast.
* [[16th September |16]] - [[Sylvester McCoy]] appears as [[Seventh Doctor|The Doctor]] in a skit on ''The Noel Edmunds Saturday Roadshow''. [[David Banks]] also appears as the [[Cyberleader]] in what would be his final television appearance to date as a Cyberman.
* [[20th September |20]] - [[DW]]: ''[[Battlefield]]'' Episode 3 is first broadcast. First appearance of [[Bessie]] since [[DW]]: ''[[The Five Doctors]]'' (and since [[DW]]: ''[[Robot (TV story)|Robot]]'' in a regular episode).
* [[21st September |21]] - [[DWN]]: ''[[The Daleks' Master Plan Part 1: Mission to the Unknown|Doctor Who - Mission to the Unknown]]'' is first published. Part one of a two-volume adaptation of [[DW]]: ''[[The Daleks' Master Plan]]'', the only two-part novelisation ever issued by Target.
* [[27th September |27]] - [[DW]]: ''[[Battlefield]]'' Episode 4 is first broadcast. Final appearance of [[Nicholas Courtney]] in a ''Doctor Who'' story to date, though he would later appear in the independent spin-off ''[[Downtime]]'', as well as [[SJA]]: ''[[Enemy of the Bane]]''. Final appearance of [[UNIT]] until [[DW]]: ''[[Aliens of London]]''. Final appearance of [[Bessie]] to date.

=== [[October]] ===

* ''The Ultimate Interview: Colin Baker Talks with David Banks'' is first released on cassette by Silver Fist Productions.
* [[4th October |04]] - [[DW]]: ''[[Ghost Light]]'' Episode 1 is first broadcast.
* [[11th October |11]] - [[DW]]: ''[[Ghost Light]]'' Episode 2 is first broadcast.
* [[17th October |17]] - 10th anniversary of ''[[Doctor Who Magazine]]''.
* [[18th October |18]] - [[DW]]: ''[[Ghost Light]]'' Episode 3 is first broadcast.
* [[19th October |19]] - [[DWN]]: ''[[The Daleks' Master Plan Part 2: The Mutation of Time|Doctor Who - The Mutation of Time]]'' is first published, concluding the adaptation of [[DW]]: ''[[The Daleks' Master Plan]]''.
* [[25th October |25]] - [[DW]]: ''[[The Curse of Fenric]]'' Episode 1 is first broadcast.

=== [[November]] ===

* [[1st November |01]] - [[DW]]: ''[[The Curse of Fenric]]'' Episode 2 is first broadcast.
* [[8th November |08]] - [[DW]]: ''[[The Curse of Fenric]]'' Episode 3 is first broadcast.
* [[15th November |15]] - [[DW]]: ''[[The Curse of Fenric]]'' Episode 4 is first broadcast.
* [[16th November |16]] - [[DWN]]: ''[[Silver Nemesis (novelisation)|Doctor Who - Silver Nemesis]]'' is first published.
* [[22nd November |22]] - [[DW]]: ''[[Survival]]'' Episode 1 is first broadcast.
* [[23rd November |23]] - [[Sylvester McCoy]] records the monologue that ends episode 3 of [[DW]]: ''[[Survival]]'' and, ultimately, the original 1963-89 ''Doctor Who'' series. This is a late addition to the serial by [[John Nathan-Turner]], who expects it to be the final episode. Ironically this is also the anniversary of the debut of ''Doctor Who'' in 1963. It's also one of the few times since the 1960s that a major element of a televised serial is produced while the serial in question has already begun airing.
* [[29th November |29]] - [[DW]]: ''[[Survival]]'' Episode 2 is first broadcast.
* The [[Doctor Who: The Scripts]] release of [[DW]]: ''[[The Talons of Weng-Chiang]]'' is first published.

=== [[December]] ===

* [[6th December |06]] - [[DW]]: ''[[Survival]]'' Episode 3 is first broadcast. The 26th season finale ultimately proves to be the final episode of the original series, and the last weekly episode to be broadcast until 2005. Final use of the [[Keff McCulloch]] theme music arrangement, while the current series logo would continue to be used for merchandise and books until [[1996]] and it and a version of the [[1987]] opening credits sequence would be used again in the [[1993]] special [[DW]]: ''[[Dimensions in Time]]''. Final 25-minute episode produced (although ''[[The Sarah Jane Adventures]]'' revives the format in 2007. Although producer [[John Nathan Turner]] later says he was aware the series was going off the air, and [[Sophie Aldred]], in the documentary ''[[Thirty Years in the TARDIS]]'' says she was told it was cancelled, the BBC does not make any cancellation announcement, and it is widely assumed by fans, and hoped, that a 27th season would air in 1990. Final regular-series appearance of [[Sophie Aldred]] and [[Anthony Ainley]] (though both would reprise their characters in later productions not directly considered part of continuity.
* [[12th December |12]] - [[Howard Lang]], who portrayed [[Horg]] in [[DW]]: ''[[An Unearthly Child]]'', dies.
* [[21st December |21]] - [[DW]]: ''[[The Greatest Show in the Galaxy (novelisation)|Doctor Who - The Greatest Show in the Galaxy]]'' is first published. The title of this release ends up being ironic, as it becomes the first [[Target Books]] novelisation to be published after the de facto end of the original 1963-89 series.
** [[REF]]: ''[[The Doctor Who Programme Guide]]'', first published in two volumes in 1981, is reissued in a single-volume, expanded and revised edition. Author [[Jean-Marc Lofficier]] will follow this release with several more reference volumes over the next decade.
* The [[Doctor Who: The Scripts]] release of [[DW]]: ''[[The Daleks]]'' is first published. The next release in this series would not occur until 1992.

=== Unknown dates ===

* Pioneer Books publishes the second edition of ''[[The Doctor and the Enterprise]]'' by [[Jean Airey]]. An unauthorized crossover between Doctor Who, [[Star Trek]] and The Wizard of Oz, the book had previously been published in a small-press edition in [[1982]]; this new version edits out most overt references to Star Trek character names.
* First edition of the four-track EP, ''[[Doctor Who: Variations on a Theme]]'' released in 12-inch vinyl, standard CD and as an unusual square-shaped CD. This release features unique rearrangements of the [[Doctor Who theme]] by [[Mark Ayres]], [[Dominic Glynn]] and [[Keff McCulloch]] that had been created for various [[wikipedia:Doctor Who Appreciation Society|Doctor Who Appreciation Society]] conventions in the 1980s. One of these, the "Latin Version", would later be adopted by [[BBC Video]] as the theme for its "Years" series of video retrospectives.
[[Category:1980s]]
[[Category:20th century years]]