2003

2003 in

---

the DWU • production history • vital statistics • releases

Likely the most significant event of 2003 was the deaths of millions of people on the planet Earth caused by Agent Yellow virus and the subsequent sterilisation of the Earth's surface to rid the planet of the virus by the Seventh Doctor. (PROSE: Eternity Weeps)

The new US state of Malebolgia was granted provisional statehood in 2003, with TV evangelist Brigham Elisha Dashwood III announcing his candidacy for first state governor. (AUDIO: Minuet in Hell)

On 23 August, the Seventh Doctor, Ace and Bernice Summerfield arrived at the Pinehill Crest Hotel in time for a demonstration of spiritual channelling, a demonstration of a temporal accelerator, a cross stitch convention and an attempt by the Scourge to manifest in the Doctor's reality. (AUDIO: The Shadow of the Scourge)

The Sixth Doctor and Evelyn Smythe arrived at the Tower of London in an alternate timeline in which the British Empire had conquered Earth with the aid of Dalek technology acquired from their invasion attempt one hundred years earlier. This timeline was negated by the last surviving Dalek. (AUDIO: Jubilee)

Individuals

• January - This was the supposed birth of the Tenza boy George to his human parents Alex and Claire. (TV: Night Terrors)
• 2003 saw Ruby Duvall became a reporter for the Sunday Seeker. (PROSE: Iceberg)
• Liz Shaw died of the Agent Yellow virus on the Moon. By the time of her viral-related death, she had become Chief of Operations at Tranquility Base on the Moon. (PROSE: Eternity Weeps)
• AUDIO: No Place Like Home was first released as an exclusive CD with Doctor Who Magazine. The CD also included Episode 1 of AUDIO: Dalek War: Chapter One.
• AUDIO: Jubilee was first released.
• AUDIO: Dalek War: Chapter One was first released, launching Big Finish Productions' second Dalek Empire mini-series.
• PROSE: Rip Tide was first published.
• First issue of Miranda, a comic book series featuring Miranda Dawkins, a character introduced in PROSE: Father Time, was published.
• 1 January - Actor Cyril Shaps died.
• PROSE: The Domino Effect was first published.
• AUDIO: Nekromanteia was first released.
• AUDIO: Dalek War: Chapter Two was first released.
• 3 February - TV: Resurrection of the Daleks was released to DVD in Region 4.
• 7 February - Actor Stephen Whittaker died.
• 9 February - The BBC's third UK network, naturally named BBC Three, was launched.
• 14 February - Actor Neil Seiler died.
• 17 February - TV: The Seeds of Death was released to DVD in the UK.
• PROSE: Blue Box was first published.
• PROSE: Short Trips: Companions was first published.
• AUDIO: The Dark Flame was first released.
• AUDIO: Taren Capel was first released.
• 4 March - TV: Vengeance on Varos and The Aztecs were released to DVD in Region 1.
• 18 March - Writer Lewis Greifer died.
• PROSE: Reckless Engineering was first published.
• AUDIO: Doctor Who and the Pirates was first released.
• PROSE: Wonderland was first published.
• AUDIO: Dalek War: Chapter Three and AUDIO: Dalek War: Chapter Four were first released, concluding Big Finish Productions' second Dalek Empire mini-series.
• REF: The Nth Doctor, 2nd edition, was published.
• 28 April - TV: The Talons of Weng-Chiang was released to DVD in the UK.
• PROSE: Loving the Alien was first published.
• AUDIO: Creatures of Beauty was first released.
• NOTDWU: Auld Mortality was first released. This was the first of a new series of audio dramas entitled Doctor Who Unbound, featuring "alternate reality" or "What if?" versions of the Doctor. Geoffrey Bayldon played the Doctor, with Carole Ann Ford as Susan.
• PROSE: Shell Shock was first published.
• The second issue of the comic book series Miranda was published. At least four more issues were published in 2003.
• Actor Jack Pitt died from bronchial pneumonia.
• 2 May - The BBC's website launched a six-part webcast production of WC: Shada, remounting the TV story of the same title that was abandoned in 1979. In this version, Paul McGann appeared as the Eighth Doctor, with Lalla Ward and John Leeson reprising their original roles.
• 5 May - TV: The Seeds of Death was released to DVD in Region 4.
• 9 May - WC: Shada webcast Episode 2 was released.
• 9 - Actor Bernard Spear died.
• 16 May - WC: Shada webcast Episode 3 was released.
• 23 May - WC: Shada webcast Episode 4 was released.
• 30 May - WC: Shada webcast Episode 5 was released.
• PROSE: The Last Resort was first published.
• AUDIO: Project: Lazarus was first released.
• NOTDWU: Sympathy for the Devil was first released. This Doctor Who Unbound story featured David Warner as the Doctor. Future Doctor David Tennant also appeared in this drama.
• PROSE: Short Trips: A Universe of Terrors was first published.
• 6 June - WC: Shada webcast Episode 6 was released. It was the final episode.
• 9 June - TV: The Dalek Invasion of Earth was released to DVD in the UK.
• 30 June - TV: The Talons of Weng-Chiang was released to DVD in Region 4.
• PROSE: The Colony of Lies was first published.
• AUDIO: Flip-Flop was first released.
• NOTDWU: Full Fathom Five was first released. This Doctor Who Unbound story featured David Collings as the Doctor.
• PROSE: The Cabinet of Light was first published. This novella featured an unspecified incarnation of the Doctor, and resulted in a spin-off series of books, Time Hunter, featuring characters introduced here.
• 2 July - Actor James Saxon died after suffering a heart attack in Chichester, England.
• 2 - TV: Carnival of Monsters and Resurrection of the Daleks were released to DVD in Region 1.
• 25 July - Actor Michael Mundell died.
• 28 July - Actor Peter Russell died.
• PROSE: Timeless was first published.
• AUDIO: Omega was first released.
• PROSE: Fallen Gods was first published.
• The first issue of a comic book based upon Faction Paradox was published by US-based Image Comics.
• 12 August - Actor Anne Tirard died.
• 13 August - TV: The Dalek Invasion of Earth was released to DVD in Region 4.
• 14 August - TV: Vengeance on Varos was released to DVD in Region 4.
• 18 August - TV: Earthshock was released to DVD in the UK.
• PROSE: Wolfsbane was first published.
• AUDIO: Davros was first released.
• NOTDWU: He Jests at Scars... was first released. This Doctor Who Unbound release featured Michael Jayston as the Valeyard.
• PROSE: Short Trips: The Muses was first published.
• AUDIO: Checkmate was first released.
• 1 September - AUDIO: Doctor Who at the BBC was first released by BBC Audio, the first in an ongoing series of compilations released under the Doctor Who at the BBC banner over at least the next six years.
• 3 September - BFBS: Life During Wartime was first published. This was the only book release in the Big Finish Bernice Summerfield series this year.
• 4 September - Actor Ben Aris died.
• 8 September - TV: The Two Doctors was released to DVD in the UK.
• PROSE: Emotional Chemistry was first published.
• AUDIO: Master was first released.
• NOTDWU: Deadline was first released. In this Doctor Who Unbound story, Derek Jacobi (later to portray two different versions of the Master) played the Doctor.
• NOTDWU: Exile was first released. Also a Doctor Who Unbound story, this featured Arabella Weir as a female incarnation of the Doctor. David Tennant played a Time Lord in this story.
• The second and final issue of the Faction Paradox comic book series was published by Image Comics. The series was cancelled after this issue, mid-story.
• 1 October - TV: Earthshock was released to DVD in Region 4.
• 6 October - TV: The Curse of Fenric was released to DVD in the UK.
• 7 October - TV: The Talons of Weng-Chiang and The Dalek Invasion of Earth were released to DVD in Region 1.
• PROSE: Deadly Reunion was first published.
• AUDIO: Zagreus was first released. Considered a milestone for Doctor Who audio dramas, this story was the first to feature not only the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Doctors, but thanks to the availability of some recorded dialogue from an unreleased fan film, Devious, the late Jon Pertwee was also featured. This was Big Finish Productions' fiftieth Doctor Who audio drama, and was also marketed as a fortieth anniversary story.
• AUDIO: The Wormery was first released. It was the first regular-series Doctor Who Big Finish story to feature Iris Wildthyme.
• AUDIO: Living Legend was first published; this was a single-episode story released exclusively with Doctor Who Magazine. The disc also included a documentary featurette on the making of AUDIO: Zagreus.
• PROSE: The Eye of the Tyger was first published.
• BBC Wales announced that it would produce a new series of Doctor Who for broadcast in 2005, returning the series to weekly television after a sixteen-year hiatus. Named executive producer was Russell T Davies, best known as the creator of the controversial Queer as Folk series, but who also was a longtime fan of the franchise; he wrote a novel for the Virgin New Adventures book series, PROSE: Damaged Goods. Julie Gardner was also named an executive producer on the series. Little was revealed about the proposed series at this point except that it would be a continuation of the 1963-89 series and not a remake. The immediate impact on Richard Grant's status as the recently unveiled "Ninth Doctor" was not known.
• 5 November - Actor Brian McDermott died.
• 12 November - TV: The Three Doctors was released to DVD in Region 4. This was the first time a Doctor Who story was released to DVD in Region 4 before being issued in the UK.
• 13 November - The BBC website launched a new webcast serial, WC: Scream of the Shalka, introducing Richard E. Grant as what would come to be known as the Shalka Doctor. At the time of its production and promotion, publicity held that Grant was the official Ninth Doctor, with future Doctor Who adventures expected in the webcast format. By the time the first episode was uploaded, however, the BBC had already announced the return of Doctor Who to television, with another actor in the lead role of the Ninth Doctor. Episode 1 featured the first appearance of Derek Jacobi as the Master (although a different incarnation than he would later play in TV: Utopia). Sophie Okonedo was introduced as Alison Cheney, who was intended to be an ongoing companion for Grant's Doctor. David Tennant, more than a year before his appointment as the Tenth Doctor, voiced a supporting character.
• 20 November - WC: Scream of the Shalka episode 2 was released.
• 20 - PROSE: The Winning Side was first published. This was the first in a series of novellas published by Telos Publishing in the Time Hunter series, a spin-off from from the Doctor Who novella, PROSE: The Cabinet of Light.
• 22 November - Doctor Who's fortieth anniversary was marked by a cover feature in the Radio Times. This was the last Radio Times cover produced before the series returned in 2005.
• 23 November - This was the fortieth anniversary of the first broadcast of Doctor Who.
• Writer Bill Strutton died.
• 24 November - TV: The Three Doctors was released to DVD in the UK.
• 26 November - Actor Gordon Reid died.
• 27 November - WC: Scream of the Shalka episode 3 was released.
• AUDIO: Scherzo was first released.
• AUDIO: Shada was first released. This was an audio version of the webcast WC: Shada.
• PROSE: Short Trips: Steel Skies was first published.
• PROSE: Companion Piece was first published. A new companion, Catherine Broome, was introduced.
• REF: Howe's Transcendental Toybox, 2nd edition, was first published.
• 4 December - WC: Scream of the Shalka episode 4 was released.
• 11 December - WC: Scream of the Shalka episode 5 was released.
• 11 December - Incidental music composer Malcolm Clarke died.
• 16 December - Actor Alfred Lynch died from cancer.
• 17 December - Actor Alan Tilvern died in London.
• 18 December - WC: Scream of the Shalka episode 6 was released; it was the final episode. This was the final appearance of Richard E. Grant as the "Shalka Doctor", and as of 2010 the final production of its kind by the BBC (although it later produced a series of made-for-Internet live-action video shorts entitled WC: Captain Jack's Monster Files).
• 25 December - Comic penciller Art Wetherell died.
• 29 December - Actor Dinsdale Landen died from mouth cancer.

Unknown dates

• An unofficial audio adaptation of Graham Williams' PROSE: The Nightmare Fair was produced for CD by Argolis. The release was a fund-raiser for the charity Sense, and included liner notes by Anthony Read.
• Actor John Bleasdale died.
• The Britney Spears song "Toxic" was recorded. It was later featured in The End of the World, though without specific date attribution.