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==[[Doctor Who Universe]]==
'''2008''' was a [[year]].
===January===
* [[Owen Harper]] went undercover to prevent the [[Weevil]]s from being abducted by humans. ([[TW]]: ''[[Combat]]'')
===Early February===
* [[Jack Harkness]] and [[Toshiko Sato]] were transported back in time to [[The Ritz]] in 1941. Owen used the [[Rift Manipulator]] to bring them back, opening the Rift. By this point, [[Harold Saxon]]'s campaign for election was underway as "Vote Saxon" signs were visible in [[Cardiff]]. ([[TW]]: ''[[Captain Jack Harkness]]'')
* As the [[Cardiff rift]] opened, the Rift quickly pulled beings through it at a steadier pace. Visions started appearing to the [[Torchwood Three]] team, and [[Rhys Williams]] was murdered. As a result, the Rift was closed, undoing the damage, but [[Abaddon]] was unleashed, wiping out hundreds of people. Jack killed Abaddon with an overflow of life energy, which left Jack dead for days. ([[TW]]: ''[[End of Days]]'')[[Jack Harkness| Jack]] heard the sound of [[the Doctor's TARDIS]], and re-joined the Doctor as the TARDIS hurtled toward the year [[100000000000000|100,000,000,000,000]]. ([[TW]]: ''[[End of Days]]'', ''[[Utopia (TV story)|Utopia]]'')
* Meanwhile, Jack was declared missing by his Torchwood teammates, and [[Gwen Cooper]] took charge of the group. Subsequently, [[Ianto Jones]] began taking a more active role in field assignments. ([[TW]]: ''[[Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang]]'')


===March===
== Properties ==
*The [[Eleventh Doctor]] met [[Amy Pond]] in [[Leadworth]] after twelve years of waiting. A [[Multi-form]] named [[Prisoner Zero]], who had escaped through the crack in Amy's wall at that time, attacked. The Atraxi arrived, threatening the destruction of Earth if Prisoner Zero did not comply. The Doctor created a sentient computer virus for the Atraxi to track back to its source in Leadworth (spread by [[Jeff Angelo|Jeff]]). The Doctor also transmitted Prisoner Zero's disguises to the Atraxi so it couldn't hide in the bodies it previously took over. It then took the form of Amy using her mind, and the Doctor made Amy think of Prisoner Zero's original form. Now in plain sight, Prisoner Zero was captured by the Atraxi and left. The Doctor took a test drive of his refurbished TARDIS, only to land two years later. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Eleventh Hour]]'')
2008 was a [[leap year]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Imaginary Friends (novel)}}; [[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Condemned (audio story)}})


===Spring or Summer===
== Events ==
*[[Maria Jackson|Maria]] and [[Alan Jackson]] moved into [[36 Bannerman Road]], [[Ealing]], the house opposite where [[Sarah Jane Smith]] lived. [[Bane|The Bane]] used a '[[Bane (ingredient)|natural ingredient]]' hidden in their [[Bubble Shock!]] drinks to enslave humanity. Sarah Jane and Maria went to the [[Bubble Shock! factory]], stealing their human archetype that was grown there. The archetype used a communication device from a [[Star Poet]] to destroy the [[Bane Mother]], and freed the mind-controlled people. One Bane, [[Wormwood (Bane)|Mrs Wormwood]], escaped from the exploding factory. The archetype was adopted by Sarah Jane and named [[Luke Smith|Luke]]. ([[SJA]]: ''[[Invasion of the Bane]]'')
=== Dated events ===
*The [[Slitheen family]] killed overweight teachers and created technology labs disguised as means for their energy draining machine to cool [[Sol|the Sun]], selling off the destroyed Earth as profit. In the testing phases, the Earth briefly experienced a worldwide power outage. Luke unwittingly gave the code that would make the machine work properly to the Slitheen. [[Clyde Langer]] joined Luke, Maria and Sarah Jane in investigating the schools, fighting the Slitheen off with vinegar. When tried out on the Sun properly, the Slitheen's machine overloaded and was destroyed, with [[Korst Gogg Thek Lutiven-Day Slitheen|a lone survivor]] teleporting away. Sarah Jane, utilising her supercomputer [[Mr Smith]], later orchestrated a cover-up that suggested the darkening of the sun and the power outage were caused by a sudden, but temporary, shift in Earth's magnetic field. ([[SJA]]: ''[[Revenge of the Slitheen]]'')
==== January - June ====
*[[Royal Hope Hospital]] was teleported to [[the Moon]], with the [[Tenth Doctor]] and [[Martha Jones]] inside, for the [[Judoon]] to search for a [[murder]]er. Being identified as non-human, the Doctor escaped the Judoon after he was mistaken for the murderer. The Doctor's blood was later sucked by [[Florence Finnegan]] (the actual suspect), with Martha reviving him. With the blood she drank non-human, the Judoon positively identified and executed Finnegan. Shortly afterwards, the Doctor stopped a supercharged MRI machine from wiping out Earth. The hospital was returned safely and Martha joined the Doctor in the TARDIS. [[Harold Saxon|Mr. Saxon]] continued his campaign for [[British Prime Minister]]. He was given high support after the hospital's disappearance, then reappearance. ([[DW]]: ''[[Smith and Jones]]''; ''[[The Sound of Drums]], et al, establishes this occurs only a few days before the election.'')
On [[1 January]], shortly after midnight, the [[Eighth Doctor]] and [[Charley Pollard]] met [[Byron (The Girl Who Never Was)|Byron]] in [[Singapore]]. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Girl Who Never Was (audio story)}}) That same day in [[Brooklyn]], [[Alan Wood]] writes a [[letter]] to [[Diane (Snowman in Manhattan)|Diane]] describing the adventure he had with the [[First Doctor]], [[Vicki Pallister]] and [[Steven Taylor]], but ultimately decides not to give it to her, asking her out for [[coffee]] instead. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Snowman in Manhattan (short story)}})
*[[Richard Lazarus]] unveiled an age-reversing machine which initially de-aged him, then transformed him into a possible evolutionary branch of humanity, latent in his DNA, becoming a monster in doing so. The Tenth Doctor killed Lazarus. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Lazarus Experiment]]'')
*Election Day began and [[Harold Saxon]] was voted British [[Prime Minister]]. [[Dexter|A mysterious woman]] was holding surveillance on [[Francine Jones|Francine Jones']] phone, as she knew Francine's daughter Martha was in contact with Saxon's enemy, the Doctor. ([[DW]]: ''[[42 (TV story)|42]]'' / ''[[ The Sound of Drums|The Sound of Drums]]''; ''Note: This is likely to replace whoever was appointed interim PM after the ouster of [[Harriet Jones]] per [[DW]]: [[The Stolen Earth]]'')
** At, or around this date, Saxon ordered [[Torchwood Three]] on a "wild goose chase" mission that took them away from Great Britain ([[DW]]: ''[[The Sound of Drums]]'') to the Himalayas where they were told (apparently by 'the highest authority') that another Rift had been discovered halfway up K2. When they get there, however, they find out that it is a trap and they almost get killed in an avalanche while distracted by a 'Jack-in-a-box' (http://www.bbc.co.uk/torchwood/sites/arg/pages/episodes.shtml?folder=tw_case_ep01&tab=2)
*The Tenth Doctor, Jack and Martha, who had returned from [[100,000,000,000,000]], went on the run as fugitives declared by Harold Saxon, who was in fact the Master. The Master announced on television that humanity was to make first contact with the [[Toclafane]]. [[Arthur Coleman Winters|President Winters]] stepped in, allowing [[UNIT]] to take command of the contact. The Doctor, Martha and Jack snuck aboard the ''[[Valiant (aircraft carrier)|Valiant]]'' with Jack's vortex manipulator to witness this event and the Toclafane murdered President Winters. The Master, seeing through the Doctor and his companions' perception filters, heavily aged the Doctor and captured him and Jack. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Sound of Drums]]'')
*[[The Year That Never Was]] began, during which the Master built a [[Time Lord Empire]] and Martha Jones travelled the world executing a plan of the Doctor's to defeat his enemy. Ultimately, the year was negated (with the Doctor's age restored) and the clock reset to just after the Master killed Winters. Following this, the Master was killed by his wife [[Lucy Saxon|Lucy]], the Master deliberately failing to regenerate. Martha Jones and Jack returned home and left the Doctor on his own. ([[DW]]: ''[[Last of the Time Lords]]'') Lucy was subsequently arrested and imprisoned; unknown to her, a group of Saxon's followers retrieve a ring from Saxon's funeral pyre and begin preparations for eventually restoring [[the Master]] to life the following year. ([[DW]]: ''[[The End of Time (TV story)|The End of Time, Part One]]'')
*Captain Jack reunited with Torchwood Three, and met [[John Hart]], who was sent on a wild goose chase to find an [[Arcadian diamond]]. In finding the apparent keys to its location, he was instead implanted with a bomb attached to his DNA. The Torchwood Three team disposed of the bomb and sent John through the Rift. In doing so, John told Jack that he found [[Gray]]. ([[TW]]: ''[[Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang]]'')


===May===
In [[February]], [[Lucy (Eve of the Daleks)|Lucy]] became [[Nick (Eve of the Daleks)|Nick]]'s girlfriend. ([[TV]]: {{cs|Eve of the Daleks (TV story)}})
*[[15 May|15]] - Death of [[Geoff Noble]], father of [[Tenth Doctor]] companion [[Donna Noble]]. ([[NSA]]:''[[Beautiful Chaos]]'')


===July===
On [[29 February]], the [[Sixth Doctor]] and [[Charley Pollard]] arrived in [[Manchester (city)|Manchester]] and helped [[Detective Inspector|DI]] [[Patricia Menzies]] solve a [[murder]]. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Condemned (audio story)}})
*The Tenth Doctor may have in some way participated in preventing a [[Graske]] from causing mischief at a 2008 BBC Proms concert in [[London]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[Music of the Spheres]]'')
*[[31 July|31]] - : [[NASA]] confirmed the existence of liquid water on [[Mars]] via its ''[[Phoenix (probe)|Phoenix]]'' probe. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Waters of Mars]]'' trailer [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNqGdygJXDw&NR=1])
===June-August===
*[[Jonah Bevan]] was stolen away by the Cardiff Rift, ending up on a burning planet. A much older Jonah would be found on the island of [[Flat Holm]] seven months later. ([[TW]]: ''[[Adrift]]'')
===October===
*The [[alien]] [[Samarand]]s invaded [[Greece]]. ([[DWM]]: ''[[Hotel Historia (comic strip)|Hotel Historia]]'')


===Autumn===
In [[March]], Nick broke up with Lucy. ([[TV]]: {{cs|Eve of the Daleks (TV story)}})
* Members of the [[Stockbridge]] Preservation Society began to go missing. ([[DWM]]: ''[[The Stockbridge Child]]'')


===Spring/Summer - [[December]]===
According to one account, a [[UNIT]] mission log placed March 2008 as the time that moon rocks were found at [[Royal Hope Hospital]]. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cite source|Recruits (audio story)|minute=10|second=10}}) Other accounts placed [[Martha Jones]]' activity around this time in about [[18 June|18]]-[[23 June]] [[2007]], ([[PROSE]]: {{cite source|The Paradox Moon (short story)|ed=2021 paperback|page=387}}) or [[4 June|4]]-[[9 June]] in an unspecified year.<!--See Behind the scenes section--> ([[PROSE]]: {{cite source|The Secret Lives of Monsters (short story)|page=120}}) {{note|According to {{cite source|The Sound of Drums (TV story)|timestamp=5:47 and 33:27|ed=iPlayer}} the events of the [[Royal Hope incident]] are three days before the election of {{Simm}} and five days before the [[Toclafane invasion]].}}
*A [[Gorgon]], hidden by a group of nuns while trying to find a new host, was discovered by [[Sarah Jane Smith]]. [[Maria Jackson]] used a mirror to turn the Gorgon into stone, and the gateway to the race's galaxy was sealed. ([[SJA]]: ''[[Eye of the Gorgon]]'')
* The [[Torchwood Three]] team discovered [[Cell 114]] [[sleeper agent]]s in [[Cardiff]] and stopped them from setting off nuclear warheads hidden under Cardiff. ([[TW]]: ''[[Sleeper]]'')
*Annual de-frosting of [[Tommy Brockless]], a young soldier first cryogenically frozen in [[1918]]. Ultimately, this turned out to be the final defrosting. Tommy returned back in time to use a 'Rift key' and stop the two timelines in this year and 2008 from colliding with one another. ([[TW]]: ''[[To the Last Man]]'')
*A number of teenagers went missing after playing [[Combat 3000]] - Luke Smith and Clyde Langer were among those who went missing. Sarah Jane Smith discovered that they were being teleported by an alien named [[Kudlak]] who has taken them to a war ship to fight in [[Ghost Wars|an alien war]]. After Luke discovered that the war ended 10 years previously, Kudlak returned the children home, and searched for the children he had sent to distant worlds. ([[SJA]]: ''[[Warriors of Kudlak]]'')
*[[Rhys Williams]] discovered the truth about Gwen Cooper's job when he was caught up in Torchwood Three's investigation of the imprisonment and exploitation of a [[Cash Cow|Space Whale]]. Due to the sheer punishment it was receiving, Owen euthanised the whale. ([[TW]]: ''[[Meat]]'')
*A being that used the name "[[Adam Smith]]" escaped from [[the Void]] and lived parasitically by altering and inserting himself into others' memories. Adam was drawn to the unique memories of Torchood Three and made them believe that he was a long-time member of their team and [[Toshiko Sato]]'s lover. [[Ianto Jones]] and Captain Jack Harkness exposed Adam after Ianto found no reference to him in his written diaries, and the team banished him back to the Void by [[retcon]]ning themselves to forget the whole incident. ([[TW]]: ''[[Adam (TV story)|Adam]]'')
*Sarah Jane Smith was handed a puzzle box by a [[Verron soothsayer]] she and her team helped return to his own planet, with instructions to give it to someone she trusted. The next week she gave it to Maria Jackson. [[The Trickster]] retroactively wiped Sarah Jane out of existence, but reality was restored with help from Maria Jackson, Alan Jackson and [[Andrea Yates]], the woman who had caused all this. Mr Smith pushed a meteorite headed for [[Earth]] out of the way. ([[SJA]]: ''[[Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?]]'')
*A few days after the incident with the Trickster and 5 months after the thwarted Bane invasion, [[Mr Smith]], with the help of the Slitheen, tried to uses [[Luke Smith]]'s telekinetic abilities via a [[MITRE headset]] to collide [[The Moon|the Moon]] with Earth, freeing his [[Xylok]] brothers. He was defeated by Sarah Jane, who infected him with the Armaggedon virus made by Alan Jackson. Mr Smith was rebooted, forgetting his purpose. ([[SJA]]: ''[[The Lost Boy]]'')
*Dr. Martha Jones arrived in [[Cardiff]] on the trail of the [[the Pharm]], who had been experimenting on humans with a drug called [[Reset]]. Martha was temporarily assigned to Torchwood Three. The Pharm was shut down, but Dr. [[Owen Harper]] was shot and killed by [[Aaron Copley]]. ([[TW]]: ''[[Reset (Torchwood story)|Reset]]'')
*Before Martha Jones could conduct an autopsy on Owen Harper, Harper was revived by [[Jack Harkness]] using the second [[resurrection gauntlet]]. As a direct consequence, and for reasons unknown, Harper continued to live past the standard 2.5 minute revival time, but was briefly possessed by [[Duroc]]; the embodiment of Death. A number of deaths also occurred at [[St. Helen's Hospital|a Cardiff hospital]] as a result of Duroc's manifestation. Owen defeated Duroc, not having any life energy for Duroc to steal. ([[TW]]: ''[[Dead Man Walking]]'')


===December===
On [[31 May]], the Tenth Doctor and Donna visited [[Calibris]]. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Time Reaver (audio story)}})
*mid-December - The Aurelia Festival was held in [[Stockbridge]]. The Tenth Doctor and new companion [[Majenta Pryce]] arrived and found themselves involved in an adventure with [[Maxwell Edison]]. ([[DWM]]: ''[[The Stockbridge Child]]'')
*[[24 December|24]]-[[25th December|25]] - The Tenth Doctor, after repairing a hole in space-time with the help of his [[Fifth Doctor|fifth incarnation]] ([[DW]]: ''[[Time Crash]]''), found himself aboard a [[Titanic (spaceship)|space-faring replica]] of the ''[[Titanic]]'' in orbit around Earth. Some of the passengers (including the waitress [[Astrid Peth]]) briefly landed in the middle of London, before being prematurely returned. As the two previous Christmases had been disrupted by the arrival of alien spacecraft over [[London]] ([[DW]]: ''[[The Christmas Invasion]]'' and [[DW]]: ''[[The Runaway Bride]]''), most residents of the city voluntarily evacuated for the season. Those choosing to remain in the city included Queen [[Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom|Elizabeth II]] and [[Wilfred Mott]], grandfather of [[Donna Noble]]. A series of meteorites were deliberately allowed to collide with the deshielded ''Titanic'', causing the ship and its nuclear storm drive to hurtle towards Earth. Most of the survivors of this collision were killed by the [[Heavenly Host]]. After the Doctor used the Host's security protocol to find the man in charge, [[Max Capricorn]], Astrid followed, killing Capicorn, but taking her with him. The Doctor piloted the Titanic to safety, just missing [[Buckingham Palace]]. The only survivors were [[Alonso Frame|Midshipman Alonso Frame]], [[Rickston Slade]], the Doctor and [[Bayldon Copper|Mr Copper]], with Astrid being partially revived as starlight. Mr Copper, having realised that he has had money for the first time in his life, retired to Earth. ([[DW]]: ''[[Voyage of the Damned]]'')[[Donna Noble| Donna Noble]] would later dismiss the near-miss by the ''Titanic'' as a hoax. ([[DW]]: ''[[Partners in Crime]]'')


===Dates Unknown===
<!--Moved events surrounding the British election to 2000s-->
*Following her encounter with the Tenth Doctor and the [[Empress of the Racnoss]], Donna Noble attempted to improve her life by first travelling to [[Egypt]]. Afterwards, experiencing regret at turning down the Doctor's invitation to travel with him, Donna began investigating unusual events in hopes of encountering the Doctor doing the same. Her investigations led to her learning about the disappearance of bees and [[Adipose Industries]], which eventually led to her reuniting with the Doctor in [[2009]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[Partners in Crime]]'')
*During an unchronicled adventure in [[London]] with Martha Jones, the Doctor met [[Sally Sparrow]], who provided him with the information he would need to escape when the [[Weeping Angel]]s sent him back to [[1969]]. After this, Sally began to open up to [[Larry Nightingale]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[Blink]]'')
*[[Ed Gold]], who would later be part of the crew of [[Bowie Base One]], was born in [[Australia]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Waters of Mars]]'')
*The [[Seventh Doctor]] destroyed the [[The Forge|Forge]]. ([[BFA]]: ''[[Project Lazarus|Project: Lazarus]]'')


===Negated Timelines===
==== June - December ====
====[[Donna's World]]====
In [[October]], [[Majenta Pryce]] opened the [[Hotel Historia]] in [[London]]. After [[Tony (Hotel Historia)|Tony]] won the lottery, he was contacted by Pryce and given a chance to stay at the Hotel Historia. One of the years that Tony visited using the hotel's time travel capabilities was [[4039]], a time when London was being invaded by the [[Graxnix]]. The [[Tenth Doctor]] followed Tony back to 2008 from 4039 and the Doctor was followed by the Graxnix. The Doctor found Pryce and scolded her for using a potentially dangerous [[Chronexus 3000]] to achieve time travel. When the Graxnix began attacking guests and staff at the hotel, the Doctor used the Chronexus to send them back to 4039 and then contacted the [[Cosmic Bailiff]]s, who shut down the hotel and arrested Pryce. ([[COMIC]]: {{cs|Hotel Historia (comic story)}})
*Spring or Summer - The Judoon defeated Florence Finnegan, but all but one of the people inside Royal Hope Hospital, which was taken to the Moon, died of asphyxiation, including Sarah Jane Smith and Martha Jones. Luke Smith and Maria Jackson were also reported missing. ([[DW]]: ''[[Turn Left]]'')
*[[25th December]] - While Donna Noble, [[Sylvia Noble|her mother]] and her grandfather holiday in the English countryside, the alien spaceship ''Titanic'' crashed into London, destroying the city and contaminating most of southern England with radioactivity. ([[DW]]: ''[[Turn Left]]'')
====[[Andrea Yates' World]]====
*Spring/Summer-December - Maria Jackson, remembering a life of Sarah Jane thanks to holding the Veran soothsayer's puzzle box, discovered Sarah Jane died in 1964, taking the place of Andrea Yates and that Mr Smith was never installed in 13 Bannerman Road's attic; Andrea having made a deal with the Trickster. As a result, the Earth was susceptible to the meteorite strike, fuelling chaos that the Trickster could feed on. Maria was then erased by Krislok. Alan, who remembered Maria when no-one else did thanks to holding the puzzle box, confronted Andrea Yates about Sarah Jane's lost life. Andrea revoked her deal with the Trickster, sending the timeline back to normal. ([[SJA]]: ''[[Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?]]'')


==Real World==
On [[24 October]], the [[Eighth Doctor]] and [[Lucie Miller]] encountered [[Auton]]s in [[Thorington]], [[Uzbekistan]]. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Brave New Town (audio story)}})


* The announced 2008 production hiatus sparks speculation in the media over whether [[David Tennant]] will be continuing in ''Doctor Who'', with reports published ranging from suggestions that Tennant would leave at the end of the then-upcoming Series 4, or during the specials, to published reports suggesting he had negotiated a deal with the BBC that would keep him on the series through Series 5 in 2010 or possibly longer. This speculation finally ends in October with Tennant's announcement regarding his future on the series.
On [[31 October]], the [[Tenth Doctor]] and [[Martha Jones]] found an unusually creepy [[Halloween]] celebration in [[Blackwood Falls]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Forever Autumn (novel)}})
* Silva Screen Records reissues ''[[Doctor Who - Original Television Soundtrack]]'', the soundtrack CD featuring music from the 2005 and 2006 seasons. Due to licensing changes, the reissue features a new cover photograph of [[David Tennant]] by himself, with [[Billie Piper]]'s image having been removed.


===January===
On [[10 September]], [[CERN]] first tested their [[Large Hadron Collider]], ([[TV]]: {{cs|Extremis (TV story)}}) finally creating a [[Higgs particle]]. However, the first test opened a portal to another dimension, letting [[neutron eater]]s loose; the Higgs particle was merely a side effect of [[Katrina Johnson|Professor Johnson]] and [[Jack Harkness]]' plan to close the gateway, by having [[proton]]s and [[antiproton]]s fire against each other. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Lost Souls (audio story)}})
* [[BFA]]: ''[[The Bride of Peladon]]'' is first released.
* [[CC]]: ''[[The Catalyst]]'' is first released.
* [[BFDE]]: ''[[Dalek Empire IV]]'': ''[[The Fearless: Part 4]]'' is first released, concluding [[Big Finish Productions]]' fourth ''[[Dalek Empire IV|Dalek Empire]]'' mini-series.
* [[BFBS]]: ''[[The Wake]]'' is first released.
* [[FP]]: ''[[Newtons Sleep]]'' is first published. Last book in the [[Faction Paradox (series)|Faction Paradox]] series to date.
* [[Series 1 (The Sarah Jane Adventures)|Series 1]] of ''[[The Sarah Jane Adventures]]'' debuts in Canada on the [[BBC Kids]] cable network.
* [[8 January|8]] - 100th birthday of [[William Hartnell]].
* [[9 January|9]] - Cast readthrough for [[DW]]: ''[[Silence in the Library]]''/''[[Forest of the Dead]]''
* [[11 January|11]] - [[Russell T Davies]] begins writing the script for [[DW]]: ''[[Journey's End]]''.
* [[12 January|12]] - [[Steven Moffat]] informs [[Russell T Davies]] that he has begun writing the first episode of [[Series 5]] (''[[The Writer's Tale]]'').
* [[14 January|14]] - The DVD set ''[[Beneath the Surface]]'' is released in the UK, featuring [[DW]]: ''[[Doctor Who and the Silurians]]'', ''[[The Sea Devils]]'' and ''[[Warriors of the Deep]]''.
* [[16 January|16]] - [[TW]]: ''[[Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang]]'' is first broadcast, launching the [[Series 2 (Torchwood)|second series]] of ''[[Torchwood (TV series)|Torchwood]]''.
** ''[[Torchwood Declassified]]'' also begins its second season.
* [[17 January|17]] - With issue 47, ''[[Doctor Who Adventures]]'' switches from a fortnightly magazine to a weekly.
* [[19 January|19]] - BBC Radio Wales broadcasts the documentary ''[[Torchwood: All Access]]'', which is released later in the year on the CD of [[TWA]]: ''[[Lost Souls]]''.
* [[22 January|22]] - [[Russell T Davies]] completes the initial draft of [[DW]]: ''[[Journey's End]]''.
** The complete [[Series 1 (Torchwood)|First Series]] of ''[[Torchwood (TV series)|Torchwood]]'' is released in a DVD box set in North America.
* [[23 January|23]] - [[TW]]: ''[[Sleeper]]'' is first broadcast.
* [[24 January|24]] - The first issue of ''[[Torchwood Magazine]]'' is published. According to an article on the making of the crossover episode [[DW]]: ''[[The Stolen Earth]]''/''[[Journey's End]]'', published in issue 7, the existence of the magazine catches cast members by surprise.
** [[John Barrowman]] publishes his autobiography, ''Anything Goes''.
* [[30 January|30]] - [[TW]]: ''[[To the Last Man]]'' is first broadcast.


===February===
In [[December]], the [[First Doctor]] and [[Steven Taylor]] visited [[Antarctica]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|White on White (short story)}})
* [[NSA]]: ''[[Revenge of the Judoon]]'', the third novella in the [[BBC Books]] [[Quick Reads]] series, is first published.
* [[BFA]]: ''[[The Condemned]]'' is first released.
* IDW, an American comic book company, launches a new original ''Doctor Who'' monthly comic book series. Written and edited by [[Gary Russell]], the six-issue series features the [[Tenth Doctor]] and [[Martha Jones]]. The storyline is untitled in the comic book, but is later given the title [[IDW]]: ''[[Agent Provocateur]]'' when IDW publishes a graphic novel edition of the storyline in the summer of 2008.
* [[4 February|4]] - [[TWA]]: ''[[Everyone Says Hello]]'' and [[TWA]]: ''[[Hidden]]'' are first released. These are the first made-for-audio adventures by [[BBC Audio]] to be based upon ''[[Torchwood (TV series)|Torchwood]]''.
** Audio adaptations of [[DWN]]: ''[[Doctor Who and the Brain of Morbius]]'' and [[DWN]]: ''[[Doctor Who and the Space War]]'' are first released.
* [[6 February|6]] - [[TW]]: ''[[Meat]]'' is first broadcast.
** [[DW]]: ''[[Destiny of the Daleks]]'' and the box set ''[[The Complete Davros Collection]]'' are released to DVD in Region 4.
* [[11 February|11]] - [[DW]]: ''[[The Time Meddler]]'' is released to DVD in the UK.
* [[13 February|13]] - [[TW]]: ''[[Adam (TV story)|Adam]]'' and [[TW]]: ''[[Reset (Torchwood story)|Reset]]'' are both first broadcast. In ''Reset'', [[Freema Agyeman]] crosses over and temporarily joins the series as [[Martha Jones]].
* [[15 February|15]] Cast readthrough for [[DW]]: ''[[The Stolen Earth]]''/''[[Journey's End]]''.
* [[20 February|20]] - [[TW]]: ''[[Dead Man Walking]]'' is first broadcast.
* [[27 February|27]] - [[TW]]: ''[[A Day in the Death]]'' is first broadcast.


===March===
<!--Moved Voyage of the Damned to 2000s as a result of inconsistent placement of both series 3 and 4.-->
* [[BFA]]: ''[[The Dark Husband]]'' is first released.
* [[ST]]: ''[[Short Trips: Defining Patterns]]'' is first published.
* The [[BBC]] announced it was investigating technology to return colour to [[Third Doctor]] episodes only available in black and white.
* [[3 March|3]] - A new DVD edition of [[DW]]: ''[[The Five Doctors]]'' is released in the UK. This version includes the remastered version previously issued on VHS and DVD as well as the first DVD release of the original 1983 version of the story. A commentary by [[David Tennant]] is included as an Easter Egg in the set - the first time a Doctor other than the one featured in the story has provided commentary.
* [[4 March|4]] - [[Russell T Davies]] begins writing the script for [[DW]]: ''[[The Next Doctor]]'', the fourth Christmas special.
** North American DVD release of [[DW]]: ''[[Destiny of the Daleks]]'' and ''[[Planet of Evil]]''.
* [[5 March|5]] - [[TW]]: ''[[Something Borrowed]]'' is first broadcast.
** The DVD set ''[[Beneath the Surface]]'' is released in Region 4, featuring [[DW]]: ''[[Doctor Who and the Silurians]]'', ''[[The Sea Devils]]'' and ''[[Warriors of the Deep]]''.
* [[6 March|6]] - [[TWN]]: ''[[The Twilight Streets]]'', [[TWN]]: ''[[Trace Memory]]'', and [[TWN]]: ''[[Something in the Water]]'' are first published.
* [[10 March|10]] - [[DW]]: ''[[Voyage of the Damned]]'' is released to DVD in the UK. Also included in the set is the mini-episode [[DW]]: ''[[Time Crash]]''.
* [[12 March|12]] - [[TW]]: ''[[From Out of the Rain]]'' is first broadcast.
* [[17 March|17]] - [[Russell T Davies]] completes his script for [[DW]]: ''[[The Next Doctor]]''. ([[REF]]: ''[[Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale|Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale - The Final Chapter]]'')
* [[19 March|19]] - [[TW]]: ''[[Adrift]]'' is first broadcast.
* [[21 March|21]] - [[TW]]: ''[[Fragments]]'' is first broadcast.
* [[23 March|23]] - Responding to criticism from his correspondent [[Benjamin Cook]], [[Russell T Davies]] agrees to change the ending of [[DW]]: ''[[Journey's End]]'', removing a planned cliffhanger that was going to lead into [[DW]]: ''[[The Next Doctor]]''.
* [[26 March|26]] - Final correspondence between [[Russell T Davies]] and [[Benjamin Cook]] in terms of material included in the first edition of the book ''[[The Writer's Tale]]'', however correspondence incorporated into the second edition begins immediately.
* [[29 March|29]] - Production wraps on [[DW]]: ''[[Journey's End]]'', ending production of the 13 episodes of Series 4 proper, though production continues on the Christmas special, [[DW]]: ''[[The Next Doctor]]''.
* [[30 March|30]] - The first reviews of [[DW]]: ''[[Partners in Crime]]'' appear in UK newspapers.


===Spring===
=== Undated ===
*For the third year in a row, episodes of ''Doctor Who'' receive nominations in the Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form category at the Hugo Awards. The 2008 "''Doctor Who'' universe" episode nominees are [[DW]]: ''[[Blink]]'' by [[Steven Moffat]] (making this his third consecutive Hugo nomination) and the [[DW]]: ''[[Human Nature (TV story)|Human Nature]]''/''[[The Family of Blood]]'' two-parter by [[Paul Cornell]], and the ''[[Torchwood (TV series)|Torchwood]]'' episode [[TW]]: ''[[Captain Jack Harkness]]'' by [[Catherine Tregenna]].
While some accounts placed the home era of Donna Noble where she reunited with the Doctor in 2008, ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Fires of Pompeii (TV story)}}, {{cs|The Waters of Mars (TV story)}}, [[AUDIO]]: {{cs|SOS (audio story)}}) other accounts placed it in [[2009]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Beautiful Chaos (novel)}})
* In the weeks preceding the debut of ''Doctor Who'' Series 4, the BBC releases a trailer to cinemas in Great Britain - a rarity for a television series. The trailer includes scenes from most episodes from the first half of the season (except [[DW]]: ''[[The Doctor's Daughter]]''), and also includes a clip from [[DW]]: ''[[Turn Left]]'' from near the end of the season. The incorporation of a clip of [[Billie Piper]] as [[Rose Tyler]] from ''Turn Left'' makes official that the character is returning in the new season.
* After nearly a decade of being available sporadically through comic shops, distribution of ''[[Doctor Who Magazine]]'' in Canada is increased considerably, with the magazine now widely available in bookstores and magazine specialty shops, although issues are distributed in Canada 2 to 3 months after their UK publication dates.


===April===
The Tenth Doctor participated in preventing a [[Graske]] causing mischief at a 2008 BBC Proms concert in [[London]]. ([[TV]]: {{cs|Music of the Spheres (TV story)}})
* [[BFA]]: ''[[The Haunting of Thomas Brewster]]'' is first released.
* Early April - Review copies of the Fourth Season premiere, [[DW]]: ''[[Partners in Crime]]'', are circulated to media. Unknown to the media, they have received an edited version of the episode, omitting the surprise cameo appearance by [[Billie Piper]] (a ruse acknowledged by [[Russell T Davies]] in later interviews and ''[[Doctor Who Magazine]]'').
* [[1 April|1]] - [[DW]]: ''[[Timelash]]'' and ''[[The Time Warrior]]'' are released to DVD in Region 1.
* [[2 April|2]] - Cast readthrough for [[DW]]: ''[[The Next Doctor]]''.
** [[DW]]: ''[[The Time Meddler]]'' is released to DVD in Region 4.
* [[3 April|3]] - Writer [[Johnny Byrne]] dies.
* [[4 April|4]] - [[TW]]: ''[[Exit Wounds]]'' is first broadcast, ending ''Torchwood's'' second series. [[Burn Gorman]] and [[Naoko Mori]] leave the series with this episode.
** ''[[Torchwood Declassified]]'' also ends its second season.
* [[5 April|5]] - [[DW]]: ''[[Partners in Crime]]'' is first broadcast, launching the [[Series 4 (Doctor Who)|fourth season]] of the revived series. [[Catherine Tate]] rejoins the series full-time as companion [[Donna Noble]]. [[Billie Piper]] makes her first newly-filmed appearance in the series since [[DW]]: ''[[Doomsday]]'' in 2006; despite media leaks regarding her filming new episodes, her cameo in this particular episode is successfully kept a secret until initial broadcast.
** After the episode is broadcast, the first Series 4 episode of ''[[Doctor Who Confidential]]'' airs.
* [[7 April|07]] - Audio adaptations of [[DWN]]: ''[[Doctor Who and the Creature from the Pit]]'' and [[DWN]]: ''[[The Myth Makers (novelisation)|Doctor Who - The Myth Makers]]'' are first released.
** Filming begins on [[DW]]: ''[[The Next Doctor]]'', the 2008 Christmas special.
* [[9 April|09]] - Cast readthrough for [[SJA]]: ''[[The Day of the Clown]]'' and [[SJA]]: ''[[Secrets of the Stars]]''.
** The BBC announces that ''Doctor Who'', and composer [[Murray Gold]], will be spotlighted in [[Doctor Who at the Proms]], a special concert during the upcoming Proms classical music performance series. At a press event, violinist [[wikipedia:Nigel Kennedy|Nigel Kennedy]], there to promote his own Proms appearance, performs his own arrangement of the [[Doctor Who theme]].
* [[12 April|12]] - [[DW]]: ''[[The Fires of Pompeii]]'' is first broadcast. Included in the cast is future companion actress [[Karen Gillan]].
* [[14 April|14]] - [[DW]]: ''[[Black Orchid (TV story)|Black Orchid]]'' is released to DVD in the UK.
* [[16 April|16]] - [[David Tennant]] meets with new series producers [[Steven Moffat]] and [[Piers Wenger]] to discuss [[Series 5 (Doctor Who)|Series 5]] and whether he might reconsider his decision to leave. Tennant, who according to [[Russell T Davies]] has been "wobbling" on his departure, reaffirms that he will leave the role of the [[Tenth Doctor]] after the 2009 specials. ([[REF]]: ''[[Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale|Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale - The Final Chapter]]'')
* [[18 April|18]] - The American Sci-Fi Channel ends its broadcasts of [[Series 3 (Doctor Who)|Series 3]] with [[DW]]: ''[[Voyage of the Damned]]''.
* [[19 April|19]] - [[DW]]: ''[[Planet of the Ood]]'' is first broadcast.
* [[16 April|26]] - [[DW]]: ''[[The Sontaran Stratagem]]'' is first broadcast. [[Freema Agyeman]] returns to the series (temporarily) as [[Martha Jones]], her first ''Doctor Who'' appearance since [[DW]]: ''[[Last of the Time Lords]]''. The [[Sontaran]]s appear for the first time since [[DW]]: ''[[The Two Doctors]]''.


===May===
A [[Fu Manchu's son|time-travelling individual]] from the [[Victorian era]] spent at least three months of every year in 2008, and would have spent more there had the [[British tax laws]] permitted. ([[PROSE]]: {{Cs|The Beasthouse (short story)|namedpart=An Introduction}})
* [[NSA]]: ''[[Martha in the Mirror]]'', [[NSA]]: ''[[Snowglobe 7 (novel)|Snowglobe 7]]'', and [[NSA]]: ''[[The Many Hands]]'' are first published. Despite [[Donna Noble]] now being the current companion, BBC Books continues to feature [[Martha Jones]] as companion in the novels.
* [[BFA]]: ''[[Assassin in the Limelight]]'' is first released.
* [[ST]]: ''[[Short Trips: The Quality of Leadership]]'' is first published.
* [[MB]]: ''[[Body Politic]]s: The True History of Faction Paradox Volume 3'' is first released, more than two years after the previous episode.
* The CBC in Canada announces it will air Series 4 of ''Doctor Who'' beginning in September, but will not be broadcasting the second series of ''Torchwood''.
* [[1 May|1]] - The [[BBC]]'s official ''Doctor Who'' website begins posting a series of exclusive comic strip stories dubbed [[BBC Writers' Comics]]. Over the next few months, strips written by writers of ''Doctor Who'' novels and TV stories created using the ''Comic Maker'' application are featured. This week: [[WC]]: ''[[In-Flight Entertainment]]''.
** Still in the midst of shooting [[DW]]: ''[[The Next Doctor]]'', [[David Tennant]] refilms the now-[[Cyberman]]-free closing scene of [[DW]]: ''[[Journey's End]]''.
* [[3 May|3]] - [[DW]]: ''[[The Poison Sky]]'' is first broadcast. The episode includes a very brief cameo by [[Billie Piper]], lasting approximately one second in length (despite this brevity, she still receives screen credit). As with [[DW]]: ''[[Partners in Crime]]'', advance review copies of the episode do not include this cameo. In an interview with ''[[Doctor Who Magazine]]'', [[Russell T Davies]] states that the decision to add Piper's cameo was made shortly before broadcast (the scene was shot for the upcoming episode [[DW]]: ''[[Midnight (TV story)|Midnight]]'').
** Production of Series 4 officially concludes with the filming of the mini-episode [[DW]]: ''[[Music of the Spheres]]''.
* [[5 May|5]] - [[DW]]: ''[[The Invasion of Time]]'' is released to DVD in the UK.
** Also released in the UK is the DVD box set ''[[Bred for War]]'' containing the previously released stories [[DW]]: ''[[The Time Warrior]]'', ''[[The Sontaran Experiment]]'', ''[[The Invasion of Time]]'' and ''[[The Two Doctors]]''. The release coincides with the recent [[Sontaran]] two-parter on television.
* [[8 May|8]] - [[BBCR]]: ''[[Pest Control]]'', the first original ''Doctor Who'' audio adventure produced by [[BBC Audio]]books, is released. Considered a spin-off of the [[BBC Books]] [[BBC New Series Adventures#Tenth Doctor|New Series Adventures]] line, this marks [[Donna Noble]]'s debut in such spin-off fiction and is the first officially licenced audio drama not to be produced by [[Big Finish Productions]] since the BBC Radio [[Jon Pertwee]] radio plays of the mid-1990s. Read by [[David Tennant]].
** The special edition of [[DW]]: ''[[The Five Doctors]]'' is released to DVD in Region 4.
* [[9 May|9]] - [[WC]]: ''[[Mind Shadows]]'' ([[BBC Writers' Comics]]) is uploaded.
* [[10 May|10]] - [[DW]]: ''[[The Doctor's Daughter]]'' is first broadcast, introducing the character of [[Jenny]] played by [[Georgia Moffett]], who is the daughter of [[Fifth Doctor]] actor [[Peter Davison]], and who once auditioned for the role of [[Rose Tyler]]. [[Freema Agyeman]] departs for a second time after this episode.
* [[15 May|15]] - [[WC]]: ''[[Destiny's Door]]'' and [[WC]]: ''[[Fuel]]'' ([[BBC Writers' Comics]]) are uploaded.
* [[17 May|17]] - [[DW]]: ''[[The Unicorn and the Wasp]]'' is first broadcast.
* [[19 May|19]] - Cast readthrough for [[SJA]]: ''[[The Last Sontaran]] and [[SJA]]: ''[[The Mark of the Berserker]].
* [[21 May|21]] - The BBC formally announces that [[Russell T Davies]] is to step down as executive producer of ''Doctor Who'' in 2009, to be succeeded by [[Steven Moffat]], approximately 20 months after Davies first approached Moffat with the idea (per ''[[The Writer's Tale]]'').
* [[22 May|22]] - Plans for [[Freema Agyeman]] to return as [[Martha Jones]] in the planned third series of ''[[Torchwood (TV series)|Torchwood]]'' are derailed due to Agyeman being signed to co-star in ''Law & Order: UK'' for ITV. ([[REF]]: ''[[Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale|Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale - The Final Chapter]]'')
* [[29 May|29]] - [[WC]]: ''[[The Beast is Back in Town]]'' ([[BBC Writers' Comics]]) is uploaded.
* [[31 May|31]] - [[DW]]: ''[[Silence in the Library]]'' is first broadcast, introducing the character of [[River Song]].
* Late May - the BBC releases a new television trailer promoting the final episodes of the fourth series.


===June===
According to one account,{{note|While ''Blink'' itself uncontroversially sets its main setting in [[2007]] and "twenty minutes to [[Red Hatching]]" a year later in 2008—as [[Kathy Nightingale]]'s letter describes taking "one breath in 2007 and the next in [[1920]]", and the [[Tenth Doctor]]'s side of his conversation with [[Sally Sparrow]] in [[1969]] happens 38 years before Sally says hers—these are contradicted by heavily conflicting dates in the ''[[Redacted (audio series)|Redacted]]'' audio series later on regarding both Kathy's disappearance and the Red Hatching. In ''[[Angels (audio story)|Angels]]'', [[Abby McPhail]] identifies 2008 as the year of Kathy's disappearance, which suggests [[2009]] as the year of the Red Hatching. In ''[[Salvation (audio story)|Salvation]]'', the [[Thirteenth Doctor]] recognises the Red Hatching as the cause of death of [[Andy Proctor]], who was last seen by his daughter [[Cleo Proctor|Cleo]] "nearly 20 years" before [[2022]] according to ''[[Recruits (audio story)|Recruits]]''.}} about twenty minutes before the [[Red Hatching]] in 2008 was when the Doctor met [[Sally Sparrow]], who gave him information he would need to escape when the [[Weeping Angel]]s sent him back to [[1969]]. After this, Sally began to open up to [[Larry Nightingale]]. ([[TV]]: {{cs|Blink (TV story)}})
* [[BFA]]: ''[[The Death Collectors]]'' is first released.
* [[2 June|2]] - UK DVD release of ''Doctor Who Series 4 Volume 1'' featuring the episodes [[DW]]: ''[[Partners in Crime]]'', ''[[The Fires of Pompeii]]'' and ''[[Planet of the Ood]]''.
* [[3 June|3]] - North American release of the ''[[Beneath the Surface]]'' DVD collection featuring [[DW]]: ''[[Doctor Who and the Silurians]]'', ''[[The Sea Devils]]'' and ''[[Warriors of the Deep]]''.
* [[5 June|5]] - [[WC]]: ''[[Mad Martha]]'' ([[BBC Writers' Comics]]) is uploaded.
** [[DW]]: ''[[Black Orchid (TV story)|Black Orchid]]'' is released to DVD in Region 4.
* [[7 June|7]] - [[DW]]: ''[[Forest of the Dead]]'' is first broadcast.
* [[12 June|12]] - Audio adaptations of [[DWN]]: ''[[Doctor Who and the Auton Invasion]]'' and [[DWN]]: ''[[Black Orchid (novelisation)|Doctor Who - Black Orchid]]'' are first released.
** Holding out until the last possible moment, the BBC finally announces the title of Episode 12 of Series 4 will be [[DW]]: ''[[The Stolen Earth]]''.
** [[WC]]: ''[[Escape to Penhaxico]]'' ([[BBC Writers' Comics]]) is uploaded.
* [[13 June|13]] - [[Buckingham Palace]] announces that [[Russell T Davies]] is to be awarded an OBE.
* [[14 June|14]] - [[DW]]: ''[[Midnight (TV story)|Midnight]]'' is first broadcast. Includes the third and last surprise cameo by [[Billie Piper]] prior to her proper return to the series. This is the first "[[companion-lite]]" episode of the series, as it is filmed simultaneously with the "Doctor-lite" episode [[TW]]: ''[[Turn Left]]''. [[David Troughton]], son of [[Patrick Troughton]], guest stars.
* Mid-June - American news media, including CNN, run profiles of [[Billie Piper]], in conjunction with the debut of her series, ''Secret Diary of a Call Girl'' in the US. Coincidentally this spike in US coverage coincides with the lead-up to her return to the series in [[DW]]: ''[[Turn Left]]'', although her involvement in ''Doctor Who'' is given only a passing mention.
** At the same time, it is reported that [[Christopher Eccleston]] has been cast as [[Amelia Earhart]]'s co-pilot in an upcoming film based on the ill-fated aviatrix's life, while [[John Barrowman]] makes Canadian headlines when he's named a judge for the Canadian edition of the UK talent contest series ''How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?'' for the [[CBC]] (Barrowman also serves as judge on the UK version).
* [[16 June|16]] - UK release of the DVD box set ''[[K9 Tales]]'' featuring [[DW]]: ''[[The Invisible Enemy]]'' and the first DVD release of [[KAC]]: ''[[A Girl's Best Friend]]'', the pilot episode of ''[[K9 and Company]]''.
* [[19 June|19]] - [[WC]]: ''[[Just Another Thursday]]'' ([[BBC Writers' Comics]]) is uploaded.
* [[21 June|21]] - [[DW]]:''[[Turn Left]]'' is first broadcast, marking the official return of [[Billie Piper]] as [[Rose Tyler]] after her previous cameo appearances. This is the annual "Doctor-lite" episode.
* [[23 June|23]] - Cast readthrough for [[SJA]]: ''[[The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith]]'' and [[SJA]]: ''[[Enemy of the Bane]]''
* [[24 June|24]] - ''Doctor Who'' wins the Best International Series at the 34th Annual Saturn Awards, an American entertainment awards program. The category is a new one introduced this year, and nominees include ''[[Torchwood (TV series)|Torchwood]]'', [[Steven Moffat]]'s ''Jekyll'' and ''Life on Mars'' (which stars [[John Simm|John "Mr Saxon" Simm]]).
* Late June - The Canadian cable network Space announces it has obtained the Canadian broadcast rights to Series 2 of ''Torchwood'' and will begin airing the series in August. Reportedly its timeslot will, in some parts of Canada, place it in direct competition with Series 4 of ''Doctor Who'' when the CBC begins airing it in September.
** Several UK media reports indicate that [[David Tennant]] is in negotiations to return to ''Doctor Who'' for the 2010 series, but no official announcement is forthcoming (leading to additional speculation in the wake of the cliffhanger of [[DW]]: ''[[The Stolen Earth]]'' a few weeks later, although it is known that he is to appear in the [[The Next Doctor|2008 Christmas special]] as photos of him shooting the special had leaked to the press months previous.
* [[26 June|26]] - [[WC]]: ''[[Who Ate All the Biscuits?]]'' ([[BBC Writers' Comics]]) is uploaded.
* [[28 June|28]] - [[DW]]: ''[[The Stolen Earth]]'' is first broadcast. This historic episode marks the first three-way crossover between ''Doctor Who'', ''Torchwood'' and ''The Sarah Jane Adventures''. Returning to ''Doctor Who'' are [[John Barrowman]], [[Elisabeth Sladen]], and [[Freema Agyeman]]. The episode receives an Appreciation Index (AI) rating of 91, the highest in the series' history and a feat considered rare if not unprecedented for a mainstream network series.[http://www.gallifreyone.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?id=EkEulFEyAFEfMhBlnv&tmpl=newsrss&style=feedstyle]
* [[30 June|30]] - The complete [[Series 2 (Torchwood)|Second Series]] of ''[[Torchwood (TV series)|Torchwood]]'' is released in a DVD box set in the UK.
** [[DWBIT]]: ''[[Beyond the Sea (comic story)|Beyond the Sea]]'' is first published.
** [[DW]]: ''[[Voyage of the Damned]]'' (with ''[[Time Crash]]'') is released to DVD in Region 4.


===July===
A company called Khrysalis set up operations in [[Stockbridge]], purportedly planning to build a leisure park in the quiet town. [[Maxwell Edison]] created the [[Stockbridge Preservation Society]] to protest this. ([[COMIC]]: {{cs|The Stockbridge Child (comic story)}})
* [[BFA]]: ''[[The Boy That Time Forgot]]'' is first released.
* [[CC]]: ''[[Here There Be Monsters]]'' is first released, marking the first appearance of [[Carole Ann Ford]] as the "true universe" version of [[Susan Foreman]] since [[DW]]: ''[[The Five Doctors]]''.
* [[ST]]: ''[[Short Trips: Transmissions]]'' is first published.
* Early July - The week between the cliffhanger ending of [[DW]]: ''[[The Stolen Earth]]'' and the broadcast of [[DW]]: ''[[Journey's End]]'' is marked by some of the most intense media attention ''Doctor Who'' has ever seen, especially given the uncertainty over whether [[David Tennant]] is remaining with the series.[http://www.gallifreyone.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?id=EkEVEAlkuypAzYebbR]
* [[1 July|1]] - UK DVD release of ''Doctor Who Series 4 Volume 2'' with the episodes [[DW]]: ''[[The Sontaran Stratagem]]'', ''[[The Poison Sky]]'', ''[[The Doctor's Daughter]]'' and ''[[The Unicorn and the Wasp]]''.
* [[3 July|3]] - [[DW]]: ''[[The Invasion of Time]]'' is released to DVD in Region 4.
* [[4 July|4]] - [[WC]]: ''[[The Baktek Illusion]]'' is uploaded, concluding the [[BBC Writers' Comics]] special series.
* [[5 July|5]] - [[DW]]: ''[[Journey's End]]'' is first broadcast, bringing to a close the fourth series of the revived ''Doctor Who'' and it is the last episode to be produced by [[Phil Collinson]], the first of the revived series' original producers to depart. The episode features the one-time returns of [[Noel Clarke]], [[Camille Coduri]] and [[K9]] to the series; [[Catherine Tate]] leaves the series as a regular with this episode. This is the last regular weekly episode of ''Doctor Who'' scheduled until [[Series 5 (Doctor Who)|Series 5]] in 2010. Like the previous season finales, the broadcast of ''Journey's End'' sparks a frenzy of Internet discussion, both pro and con. The episode features the greatest concentration of active companions (as opposed to illusions and images) in the series' history (not including the non-canonical [[DW]]: ''[[Dimensions in Time]]''). The episode is viewed by 10.57 million people and becomes the No. 1 program for the week -- the first time this has occurred for any episode in the 45-year history of ''Doctor Who'' -- despite competition from the Wimbledon finals; it also repeats the previous week's feat and scores an Appreciation Index figure of 91, again unheard of for both ''Doctor Who'' and for a mainstream television production.[http://www.gallifreyone.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?id=EkEVuFppyybCfstIhg&tmpl=newsrss&style=feedstyle][http://www.gallifreyone.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?id=EkEykpAEuAeSoAAghE&tmpl=newsrss&style=feedstyle]. The episode concludes with a teaser for the 2008 Christmas special, at the time of broadcast left untitled but later announced as [[DW]]: ''[[The Next Doctor]]''. As K9 does not appear in [[Series 2 (The Sarah Jane Adventures)|Series 2]] of ''[[The Sarah Jane Adventures]]'', this marks his final appearance until the post-season mini-episode [[SJA]]: ''[[From Raxacoricofallapatorius With Love]]'' airs in March 2009.
** Afterwards, the final Series 4 episode of ''[[Doctor Who Confidential]]'' is broadcast.
* [[6 July|6]] - [[DW]]: ''[[Partners in Crime]]'' is broadcast on ABC in Australia.
* [[7 July|7]] - ''The Daily Mail'' reports that more than 2,500 people actually attempted to phone the Doctor's phone number as shown in [[DW]]: ''[[The Stolen Earth]]'', in hopes of hearing a special recorded message, but the number was in fact non-functional.[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1032510/Dial-doctor-2-500-Dr-Who-fans-try-ring-Time-Lords-mobile.html]
* [[8 July|8]] - The ''[[Bred for War]]'' DVD box set ([[DW]]: ''[[The Time Warrior]]'', ''[[The Sontaran Experiment]]'', ''[[The Invasion of Time]]'', ''[[The Two Doctors]]'') is released in Region 4.
* [[11 July|11]] - The ''Telegraph'' reports on rumours of David Tennant stepping down from the role of the Doctor, with [[David Morrissey]], [[John Simm]], and [[Robert Carlyle]] cited as the book-maker's favorites to replace him, despite Morrissey scheduled to guest star in the 2008 Christmas special and Simm having already played [[The Master]] in Season 3. [[Julie Gardner]] confirms in the article that Tennant has made his decision as to whether he'll be staying on for the [[2010]] season, but she confirms that he will appear in all of the special episodes scheduled for [[2009]].[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2008/07/11/nosplit/bvtvwho11.xml] Despite this, wildcat Internet rumours persist that Morrissey will replace Tennant as early as the 2008 Christmas special, while some UK media report that Tennant has signed an agreement to stay with the series through Series 5 in 2010.
* [[12 July|12]] - ''Doctor Who'' sweeps the television categories at the second annual Constellation Awards, a Canadian award presented as part of the Polaris science fiction convention. [[David Tennant]] wins for best Male Performance in a Science Fiction Television episode for his work on the two-parter [[DW]] : ''[[Human Nature (TV story)|Human Nature]]''/''[[The Family of Blood]]''; [[Carey Mulligan]] wins the female equivalent for [[DW]]: ''[[Blink]]''; and the series itself wins for Best Science Fiction Television Series of 2007. ''Doctor Who'' is eligible for these awards thanks to its co-production arrangement with the [[CBC]].
* [[21 July|21]] - [[DW]]: ''[[The Brain of Morbius]]'' is released to DVD in the UK.
** [[CP]]: ''[[Time's Champion]]'' is first published. This is an unauthorized [[Sixth Doctor]] novel published for charity.
* [[23 July|23]] - Copies of issue No. 397 of ''[[Doctor Who Magazine]]'' come polybagged with randomly chosen original [[Target Books]] editions (from a selection of 27 books), giving the Target novelisations widespread exposure for the first time in years; also included in the mix were a few non-novelisation releases such as [[REF]]: ''[[The Making of Doctor Who]]''. The issue also includes a second surprise: when the polybag is removed, all text on the front cover (except around the UPC symbol) is revealed to be "BAD WOLF", including the title banner for the magazine itself! This is a tie-in with the ending of [[DW]]: ''[[Turn Left]]''.
** Publication of [[IDW]]: ''Doctor Who Classics Vol. 1'', a graphic novel-style release reprinting the first few issues of [[IDW]]: ''[[Doctor Who Classics]]'' by [[IDW Publishing]].
* [[27 July|27]] - The first Doctor Who Proms concert is held at Royal Albert Hall in London, featuring music from ''Doctor Who''. An interactive mini-episode, [[DW]]: ''[[Music of the Spheres]]'', is shown as part of this event, which is initially broadcast on [[BBC Radio]]. The concert is hosted by [[Freema Agyeman]], with [[Catherine Tate]] appearing to introduce a segment, as well. Singer [[Tim Phillips]], who performed "[[Song for Ten]]" in [[DW]]: ''[[The Christmas Invasion]]'', performs the extended version of the song introduced on the [[Doctor Who - Original Television Soundtrack|Series 1 &amp; 2 soundtrack CD]]. [[Davros]], the [[Graske]] and other monsters make cameo appearances as well. As a tribute to the [[BBC Radiophonic Workshop]] and [[Delia Derbyshire]], ''Music of the Spheres'' ends with the original 1963 arrangement of the "[[Doctor Who theme]]". The BBC later announces that an edited version of the broadcast -- including ''Music of the Spheres'' -- will air on 1 January 2009.


===August===
The [[Seventh Doctor]] destroyed the [[The Forge|Forge]]'s alpha facility in [[Dartmoor]]. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Project Lazarus (audio story)|Project: Lazarus}})
* [[BFA]]: ''[[The Doomwood Curse]]'' is first released.
* [[CC]]: ''[[The Great Space Elevator]]'' is first released.
* [[BFBS]]: ''[[The Adolescence of Time]]'' is first released.
* [[1 August|1]] - The American Sci-Fi Channel broadcasts [[DW]]: ''[[Journey's End]]'' in a special 90-minute time slot, concluding its broadcasts of Series 4.
* [[4 August|4]] - UK DVD release of ''Doctor Who Series 4 Volume 3'' featuring the episodes [[DW]]: ''[[Silence in the Library]]'', ''[[Forest of the Dead]]'' and ''[[Midnight (TV story)|Midnight]]''.
* [[5 August|5]] - [[DW]]: ''[[The Time Meddler]]'', ''[[Black Orchid (TV story)|Black Orchid]]'' and the special edition of ''[[The Five Doctors]]'' are released to DVD in Region 1.
* [[6 August|6]] - The DVD ''Doctor Who Series 4 Volume 1'' is released in Region 4 featuring the episodes [[DW]]: ''[[Partners in Crime]]'', ''[[The Fires of Pompeii]]'' and ''[[Planet of the Ood]]''. This is the first time Region 4 has seen a release of this nature.
* [[8 August|8]] - Canadian premiere of ''[[Torchwood (TV series)|Torchwood]]'' Series 2 on the [[Space (TV channel)|Space]] network, marking a new beginning for Space's association with the ''Doctor Who'' franchise (it had previously aired the original ''Doctor Who'' series in the late 1990s).
* [[9 August|9]] - [[DW]]: ''[[Blink]]'', by [[Steven Moffat]], wins the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form. This is the third consecutive win for both Moffat and the series.
* [[14 August|14]] - Audio adaptations of [[DWN]]: ''[[Doctor Who and the Dæmons]]'' and [[DWN]]: ''[[Doctor Who and the Pyramids of Mars]]'' are first released.
* [[25 August|25]] - [[DW]]: ''[[The War Machines]]'' is released to DVD in the UK.
* [[29 August|29]] - IDW Publishing issues [[IDW]]: ''[[Agent Provocateur]]'', a graphic novel compilation of the first six-issue storyline of its original ''Doctor Who'' monthly comic book, and ''Doctor Who Classics Vol. 1'', collecting the first several issues of reprints originally published by IDW as the monthly title [[IDW]]: ''[[Doctor Who Classics]].'' This edition features the run from [[DWM]]: ''[[The Iron Legion]]'' to [[DWM]]: ''[[The Star Beast]]''.
* [[31 August|31]] - ''[[Doctor Who: Battles in Time (magazine)|Doctor Who: Battles in Time]]'' publishes its 50th issue.
* [[IDW Publishing]] launches a second ''Doctor Who'' comic book mini-series, [[IDW]]: ''[[The Forgotten]]'', which will feature appearances by all 10 Doctors.


===Late summer===
The [[Eighth Doctor]] and [[Lucie Miller]] visited London. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Sisters of the Flame (audio story)}})
*[[ITV]] announces that [[Freema Agyeman]] will star in ''Law & Order: London'', a spin-off of the American ''Law & Order'' franchise set to air in 2009. ''[[Torchwood (TV series)|Torchwood]]'' writer [[Chris Chibnall]] is named the show's head writer, and other ''Torchwood'' alumni signed to write for the new series include [[James Moran]] and [[Catherine Tregenna]].


===September===
[[Computer]]s achieved [[the Singularity]], demonstrated their sentience by proving [[P=NP]] and the [[Chess Equation]], and took over the world for three weeks. However, after [[Susan Moore (Holding Pattern)|Susan Moore]] and [[Adam (Holding Pattern)|Adam]] convinced them to refuse an alliance with [[alien]] computers from the [[future]], they deactivated their sentience and the normal course of [[history]] was restored. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Holding Pattern (Parkin short story)}})
* [[NSA]]: ''[[Ghosts of India]]'', [[NSA]]: ''[[Shining Darkness]]'', and [[NSA]]: ''[[The Doctor Trap]]'' are first published. These are the first full-length novels featuring [[Donna Noble]] as companion.
* [[BFA]]: ''[[Kingdom of Silver]]'' is first released.
* [[BFA]]: ''[[Time Reef]]'' is first released.
* [[CC]]: ''[[The Doll of Death]]'' is first released.
* [[ST]]: ''[[Short Trips: How the Doctor Changed My Life]]'' is first published.
* [[BFBS]]: ''[[The Adventure of the Diogenes Damsel]]'' is first released.
* Trailers for the second season of ''[[The Sarah Jane Adventures]]'' begin appearing in cinemas in the UK, following on from the introduction of cinema trailers for the parent series. The trailer includes specially shot footage of one of the characters addressing the audience.
* GE Fabbri begins test marketing a new multimedia publication called ''[[Doctor Who DVD Files]]'' in the northeast UK, in preparation for a British Isles roll-out of the publication beginning in January 2009.
* 10th anniversary of the release of the first ''Doctor Who''-related audio drama by [[Big Finish Productions]], an adaptation of the [[Bernice Summerfield]] novel, [[BFBS]]: ''[[Oh No It Isn't! (audio story)|Oh No it Isn't!]].''
* [[1 September|01]] - UK DVD release of ''Doctor Who Series 4 Volume 4'' featuring the episodes [[DW]]: ''[[Turn Left]]'', ''[[The Stolen Earth]]'' and ''[[Journey's End]]''.
* [[2 September|02]] - [[DW]]: ''[[The Invasion of Time]]'' and the ''[[K9 Tales]]'' box set featuring [[DW]]: ''[[The Invisible Enemy]]'' and [[KAC]]: ''[[A Girl's Best Friend]]'' are released to DVD in Region 1.
* [[4 September|04]] - The ''[[K9 Tales]]'' DVD box set featuring [[DW]]: ''[[The Invisible Enemy]]'' and [[KAC]]: ''[[A Girl's Best Friend]]'' is released in Region 4.
** Region 4 also sees the release of ''Doctor Who Series 4 Volume 2'' with the episodes [[DW]]: ''[[The Sontaran Stratagem]]'', ''[[The Poison Sky]]'', ''[[The Doctor's Daughter]]'' and ''[[The Unicorn and the Wasp]]''.
* [[8 September|08]] - ''David Tennant: A Life in Time and Space'', a biography of the actor, is first published.
* [[10 September|10]] - The first ''[[Torchwood (TV series)|Torchwood]]'' radio drama, [[TWA]]: ''[[Lost Souls]]'', is broadcast on [[BBC]] Radio 4. Although there have been exclusive-to-audio books released previously, this is the first full-cast audio drama based upon the series. The story is based upon the activation of the Large Hadron Collider, which was a real-life event that took place around the time of the broadcast. The current cast of the series reprises their TV roles, along with [[Freema Agyeman]] returning as [[Martha Jones]].
* [[11 September|11]] - Audio adaptation of [[DWN]]: ''[[Doctor Who and the Green Death]]'' is first released.
* [[15 September|15]] - [[DW]]: ''[[Four to Doomsday]]'' released to DVD in the UK.
* [[16 September|16]] - Release of ''[[Torchwood (TV series)|Torchwood]]'' series 2 on standard DVD in the United States (Canadian release is delayed until November 11).
** ''The Times'' begins serializing excerpts from [[REF]]: ''[[Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale]]'', including [[Russell T Davies]]' comment that [[Russell Tovey]] was his favourite to play the [[Eleventh Doctor]]; other media subsequently report this.
* [[17 September|17]] - [[Russell T Davies]] and [[Benjamin Cook]] are interviewed on ''BBC Breakfast'' to promote [[REF]]: ''[[Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale]]''.
* [[18 September|18]] - [[BBC Audio]] releases the ''Torchwood'' radio play [[TWA]]: ''[[Lost Souls]]'' on CD and for download. The CD version includes a documentary featurette, ''[[Torchwood: All Access]]''.
* [[19 September|19]] - Belated broadcast of Series 4 begins on the [[CBC]] in Canada. The CBC begins the season with [[DW]]: ''[[Partners in Crime]]'', omitting [[DW]]: ''[[Voyage of the Damned]]'' and, as a result, leaving the Series 3 cliffhanger unresolved for Canadian viewers. In some parts of Canada the broadcasts overlap that of ''Torchwood'' on [[Space (TV channel)|Space Channel]].
* [[20 September|20]] - ''Merlin'' debuts on [[BBC One]]. The popular series shares numerous behind-the-scenes personnel with ''Doctor Who'' as it is also a BBC Wales production. The Mill, which provides special effects for ''Doctor Who'' and ''Torchwood'', also provides SFX for the series. [[Colin Morgan]], who guest-starred in [[DW]]: ''[[Midnight (TV story)|Midnight]]'', plays the lead role, with [[DW]]: ''[[School Reunion]]'' guest star and frequent voiceover contributor [[Anthony Stewart Head]] as King Uther. [[Eve Myles]] ([[Gwen Cooper]] on ''[[Torchwood (TV series)|Torchwood]]'') plays a villain in this first episode, while [[Michelle Ryan]] ([[DW]]: ''[[Planet of the Dead (TV story)|Planet of the Dead]]'') has a recurring role as another villain.
* [[23 September|23]] - a [[BBC]] press release announces the title of the 2008 Christmas special: [[DW]]: ''[[The Next Doctor]]'', renewing fan speculation regarding [[David Tennant]]'s future with the series into 2009.
* [[25 September|25]] - publication of the first edition of ''[[Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale]]'', a collection of e-mails between [[Russell T Davies]] and [[Benjamin Cook]] between February 2007 and March 2008 discussing the production of Series 4.
* [[29 September|29]] - [[SJA]]: ''[[The Last Sontaran]]'' parts 1 and 2 are first broadcast, launching [[Series 2 (The Sarah Jane Adventures)|Series 2]] of ''[[The Sarah Jane Adventures]]''. The story is a follow-up to [[DW]]: ''[[The Sontaran Stratagem]]''/''[[The Poison Sky]]''.
** [[DW]]: ''[[The Trial of a Time Lord]]'' - the complete [[Season 23]] - is released to DVD in the UK as a single set.
* [[30 September|30]] - [[BFA]]: ''[[The Ultimate Adventure (audio release)|Doctor Who: the Stageplays - The Ultimate Adventure]]'' is first released. This is the first in a series of [[Big Finish Productions]]' audio productions adapting ''Doctor Who''-based stage plays, in this case the [[Colin Baker]] version of [[SP]]: ''[[The Ultimate Adventure]]''.


===October===
[[File:DW Eleventh Hour Atraxi scan.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Atraxi]] search for [[Prisoner Zero]]. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Eleventh Hour (TV story)}})]]
* [[BFA]]: ''[[Brotherhood of the Daleks]]'' is first released.
The [[Eleventh Doctor]] met [[Amy Pond]] in [[Leadworth]] after twelve years of waiting. A [[Multi-form]] called [[Prisoner Zero]], who had escaped through the crack in Amy's wall, attacked. The [[Atraxi]] arrived, threatening the destruction of Earth if Prisoner Zero did not surrender. The Doctor created a computer virus for the Atraxi to track back to its source in Leadworth (spread by [[Jeff Angelo|Jeff]]). The Doctor also transmitted Prisoner Zero's disguises to the Atraxi so it couldn't hide in the bodies it had been disguised as. It then took the form of Amy; the Doctor made Amy think of Prisoner Zero's original form. Now in plain sight, Prisoner Zero was captured by the Atraxi, who left. The Doctor took a test drive of his refurbished TARDIS, only returning two years later. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Eleventh Hour (TV story)}})
* [[CC]]: ''[[Empathy Games]]'' is first released.
* ''[[Doctor Who Magazine]]'' publishes its 400th issue, cover-dated 15 October but available in stores as early as 1 October. This issue features the start of the comic strip, [[DWM]]: ''[[Thinktwice]]'' which introduces [[Majenta Pryce]] as the Doctor's new comic-strip companion; this is the first time since the departure of [[Destrii]] in 2005's [[DWM]]: ''[[The Flood]]'' that the DWM strip has introduced an original companion.
* [[IDW Publishing]] launches its fourth ''Doctor Who'' comic book title, the two-issue [[IDW]]: ''[[Grant Morrison's Doctor Who]]'', reprinting 1980s-era ''[[Doctor Who Magazine]]'' strips by [[Grant Morrison]].
* In multiple interviews conducted in March and April of 2010, [[Matt Smith]] indicated that he had been chosen to play the [[Eleventh Doctor]] "three months" before the official announcement was made in early January 2009. This means the decision to cast him may have been made during October 2008 - possibly ''before'' [[David Tennant]] announced his departure.
* [[1 October|1]] - [[Ian Collier]] dies.
* [[2 October|2]] - [[DW]]: ''[[The Brain of Morbius]]'' is released to DVD in Region 4.
** Also released in Region 4 is ''Doctor Who Series 4 Volume 3'' featuring the episodes [[DW]]: ''[[Silence in the Library]]'', ''[[Forest of the Dead]]'' and ''[[Midnight (TV story)|Midnight]]''.
* [[6 October|6]] - [[SJA]]: ''[[The Day of the Clown]]'' part 1 is first broadcast.
* [[7 October|7]] - Release of Series 1 of ''[[The Sarah Jane Adventures]]'' to DVD in North America. This predates the UK release of the series by a full month.
** Also released to DVD in North America: [[DW]]: ''[[The Brain of Morbius]]'' and the ''[[The Trial of a Time Lord]]'' box set.
* [[9 October|9]] - [[BBCR]]:''[[The Forever Trap]]'', the second exclusive-to-audio ''Doctor Who'' story by [[BBC Audio]]/[[BBC Books]] is first released. Read by [[Catherine Tate]].
* [[13 October|13]] - [[SJA]]: ''[[The Day of the Clown]]'' part 2 is first broadcast.
* [[14 October|14]] - [[Russell T Davies]] receives an e-mail proposing an idea for ''Torchwood: The Musical'' with members of ABBA doing the music. ([[REF]]: ''[[Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale|Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale - the Final Chapter]]'').
* [[20 October|20]] - [[SJA]]: ''[[Secrets of the Stars]]'' part 1 is first broadcast.
* [[24 October|24]] - ''[[Torchwood (TV series)|Torchwood]]'' Series 2 concludes in Canada.
* [[27 October|27]] - [[SJA]]: ''[[Secrets of the Stars]]'' part 2 is first broadcast.
** [[TWN]]: ''[[Almost Perfect]]'', [[TWN]]: ''[[Pack Animals]]'', and [[TWN]]: ''[[SkyPoint]]'' are first published. ''Pack Animals'' and ''SkyPoint'' are the last novels to feature [[Owen Harper]] and [[Toshiko Sato]] as the series moves into post-Series 2 continuity with ''Almost Perfect''.
* [[29 October|29]] - [[David Tennant]] and the BBC announce that Tennant will be leaving ''Doctor Who'' following production of the "gap season" specials in 2009. Tennant makes the announcement on live TV when he accepts the National Television Award for Outstanding Drama Performance. The series also wins Most Popular Drama. Tennant's announcement is made hours after ''The Guardian'' breaks the news first on its website. As the winner of the NTA was not previously known, it was uncertain whether Tennant would be able to deliver his announcement on the air. The announcement was timed to occur during an intermission in his performance of ''Hamlet'', and Tennannt pre-recorded a version of it in the event the live transmission broke down. Earlier in the day, [[Russell T Davies]] and [[Benjamin Cook]] appear on a TV broadcast discussing their book, [[REF]]: ''[[Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale]]'', and manage to avoid discussing the yet-to-be-made announcement. ([[REF]]: ''[[Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale|Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale - The Final Chapter]]'')
** Tennant's announcement sparks a period of intense fan and media speculation as to who will be chosen to portray the Eleventh Doctor. Speculated names range from well-known to obscure actors, and also includes both caucasian and black candidates, as well as a revival of speculation about a female actor being cast, an idea that dates back to the 1970s.
* [[30th October|30]] - [[BFA]]: ''[[Seven Keys to Doomsday|Doctor Who: the Stageplays - Seven Keys to Doomsday]]'' is first released, adapting [[SP]]: ''[[Doctor Who and the Daleks in The Seven Keys to Doomsday]]'' and returning [[Trevor Martin]] to the role of the Doctor.
* [[31 October|31]] - [[BFBS]]: ''[[The Diet of Worms]]'' is first released.


===November===
Although intending to visit [[Brighton]] in [[1818]], the [[Fifth Doctor]] arrived in [[Hove]] in this year as [[The Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]]'s [[lateral balance cones]] were offline. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Cuddlesome (audio story)}})
* [[BFA]]: ''[[Forty-Five]]'' is first released. The title is a reference to ''Doctor Who's'' 45th anniversary.
* [[CC]]: ''[[Home Truths]]'' is first released.
* [[MB]]: ''[[Words from Nine Divinities: The True History of Faction Paradox Volume 5]]'' is first released.
* [[3 November|3]] - [[SJA]]: ''[[The Mark of the Berserker]]'' part 1 is first broadcast.
** [[SJAN]]: ''[[The Lost Boy (novelisation)|The Lost Boy]]'' and [[SJAN]]: ''[[Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane? (novelisation)|Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?]]'' are first published; the complete first series of ''[[The Sarah Jane Adventures]]'' has now been novelised.
* [[5 November|05]]: [[SJAN]]: ''[[The Last Sontaran (novelisation)|The Last Sontaran]]'' and [[SJAN]]: ''[[The Day of the Clown (novelisation)|The Day of the Clown]]'' are first published.
* [[10 November|10]] - [[SJA]]: ''[[The Mark of the Berserker]]'' part 2 is first broadcast.
* [[11 November|11]] - The complete [[Series 1 (The Sarah Jane Adventures)|First Series]] of ''[[The Sarah Jane Adventures]]'' is released to DVD in the UK, one month after it was released in North America.
** Release of ''[[Torchwood (TV series)|Torchwood]]'' Season 1 on high-definition Blu-Ray in North America, the first ''Doctor Who''-related release in this format. Also, delayed release of ''Torchwood'' Season 2 on DVD in Canada (release delayed due to the season still being transmitted by a Canadian network at the time of North American release).
** [[DW]]: ''[[The War Machines]]'' and ''Doctor Who Series 4 Volume 4'' featuring the episodes [[DW]]: ''[[Turn Left]]'', ''[[The Stolen Earth]]'' and ''[[Journey's End]]'', are released in Region 4.
* [[13 November|13]] - [[SJAA]]:''[[The Time Capsule]]'' is first released by [[BBC Audio]].
** Audio adaptation of [[DWN]]: ''[[Doctor Who and the Time Warrior]]'' is first released.
** [[REF]]: ''[[Doctor Who: The Time Traveller's Almanac]]'' is first published.
* [[14 November|14]] - The opening pre-credits sequence of the upcoming Christmas special [[DW]]: ''[[The Next Doctor]]'' is broadcast as part of the BBC's annual Children in Need Appeal. Other than brief snippets seen in a previously released trailer, this showing marks the first broadcast of footage of [[David Morrissey]] as "[[Jackson Lake|The Other Doctor]]" and [[Velile Tshabalala]] as [[Rosita]], as well as a possible new form of [[Cybus Cybermen|Cyberman]].
* [[17 November|17]] - [[SJA]]: ''[[The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith]]'' part 1 is first broadcast.
** The complete [[Series 4 (Doctor Who)|Series Four]] of ''Doctor Who'' is released in a DVD box set in the UK.
* [[18 November|18]] - North American release of the [[Series 4 (Doctor Who)|Series 4]] DVD box set - only one day after the UK release - and [[DW]]: ''[[The Infinite Quest]]'' (a full year after the UK release in the case of the latter). As ''The Infinite Quest'' was never broadcast in North America, this marks the first time that a Doctor Who serial has been released to DVD in North America without it first having been broadcast there (discounting prior releases of incomplete and restored serials from the 1960s). Series 4 is released in Canada even though the CBC is only midway through its broadcast of the season.
* [[23 November|23]] - '''45th anniversary of the first broadcast of ''Doctor Who''.'''
* [[24 November|24]] - [[SJA]]: ''[[The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith]]'' part 2 is first broadcast.
* [[25 November|25]] - The BBC announces that ''[[The Sarah Jane Adventures]]'' has been renewed for a third season, scheduled for broadcast in the fall of 2009.
* [[30 November|30]] - [[BFA]]: ''[[The Curse of the Daleks (audio release)|Doctor Who: The Stageplays - The Curse of the Daleks]]'' is first released, the third and last in a series of audio adaptations of ''Doctor Who''-based stage plays by [[Big Finish Productions]], adapting [[SP]]: ''[[The Curse of the Daleks]]''.


===December===
In an attempt to [[suicide|take his own life]], [[Huw MacLean]] purposefully drove off the [[motorway]] with both [[Jackie MacLean|his wife]] and [[April MacLean|eight year old daughter]] in the [[car]]. Jackie was [[paralysed]] as a result, while April herself was not hurt. Huw went to [[prison]] for causing the [[car crash|crash]]. ([[TV]]: {{cs|Nightvisiting (TV story)}}, {{cs|Brave-ish Heart (TV story)}}, {{cs|Detained (TV story)}})
* [[NSA]]: ''[[Beautiful Chaos]]'', [[NSA]]: ''[[The Eyeless]]'' and [[NSA]]: ''[[The Story of Martha]] ''are first published. ''The Eyeless'' is the first New Series Adventures release in which the Doctor travels without a companion; ''The Story of Martha'' is an anthology focusing on the activities of [[Martha Jones]] during the [[Year That Never Was]] between [[DW]]: ''[[The Sound of Drums]]'' and [[DW]]: ''[[Last of the Time Lords]]'' and is the first New Adventures release to tie in directly with a televised story in this fashion. ''Beautiful Chaos'' is the final novel to date to feature [[Donna Noble]].
* [[BFA]]: ''[[The Raincloud Man]]'' is first released.
* [[CC]]: ''[[The Darkening Eye]]'' is first released.
* [[ST]]: ''[[Short Trips: Christmas Around the World]]'' is first published.
* [[Julie Gardner]] and other ''Doctor Who'' production team members travel to Dubai, UAE, to scout locations for [[DW]]: ''[[Planet of the Dead (TV story)|Planet of the Dead]]''.
* [[IDW Publishing]] launches [[IDW]]: ''[[Doctor Who Classics|Doctor Who Classics Series 2]]'', continuing its reprints of [[Fourth Doctor]]-era comic strips from ''[[Doctor Who Magazine]]''.
* [[1 December|1]] - [[SJA]]: ''[[Enemy of the Bane]]'' part 1 is first broadcast. First television appearance of [[Nicholas Courtney]] as Brigadier [[Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart]] since 1989's [[DW]]: ''[[Battlefield]]''.
** [[James Bree]] ([[DW]]: ''[[The War Games]]'', [[DW]]: ''[[Full Circle]]'', [[DW]]: ''[[The Ultimate Foe]]'') dies.
* [[4 December|4]] - [[DW]]: ''[[Four to Doomsday]]'' and the Complete [[Series 4 (Doctor Who)|Series 4]] of ''Doctor Who'' are released to DVD in Region 4.
* [[8 December|8]] - [[SJA]]: ''[[Enemy of the Bane]]'' part 2 is first broadcast, concluding the second season of ''[[The Sarah Jane Adventures]]''.
** According to BBC News, a "long-standing back injury" forces [[David Tennant]] to miss several performances of ''Hamlet'' at London's Novello Theatre. Ultimately, Tennant undergoes back surgery.
* [[10 December|10]] - Although the announcement isn't made for several weeks, [[Russell T Davies]] is informed that [[Matt Smith]] has been cast as the [[Eleventh Doctor]]. ([[REF]]: ''[[Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale|Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale - The Final Chapter]]'')
* [[12 December|12]] - Broadcast of [[DW]]: ''[[Journey's End]]'' on the [[CBC]] in Canada, concluding its broadcasts of Series 4. The network chooses to air an extensively edited version of the episode, cut down to approximately 44 minutes in order to fit a standard 60-minute time slot, with commercials, raising the ire of many Canadian fans who afterward flood the CBC's website with complaints. The season ends with no plans by the CBC to broadcast [[DW]]: ''[[Voyage of the Damned]]'' or [[DW]]: ''[[The Next Doctor]]'' (the CBC ultimately loses the rights to air ''The Next Doctor'' and the remaining [[2009 Specials]], plus Series 5, in the spring of 2009).
* [[24 December|24]] - A little-known actor named [[Matt Smith]] attends a secret photo shoot; so secret, in fact, that the hairstylist and photographer are not informed what it's for. Later, an image of the [[the Doctor's TARDIS|TARDIS]] would be digitally added to the photos, which would be issued on 3 January 2009 to announce Smith as the 11th actor to play [[Eleventh Doctor|the Doctor]].[http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/news/2009/01/05/betting-row-as-unknown-matt-smith-becomes-new-doctor-who-115875-21016988/]
* [[25 December|25]] - [[DW]]: ''[[The Next Doctor]]'', the fourth ''Doctor Who'' Christmas special, is first broadcast. This is considered the last episode of Series 4 before four special episodes planned over the next year in lieu of a full season of ''Doctor Who'', which is scheduled to return to a full 13-week season in 2010. This is the first story since [[DW]]: ''[[The Deadly Assassin]]'' in which the Doctor does not share an adventure with a clearly defined companion (even in a one-off manner), as the story twists conventions by placing the Doctor in the companion role. The title of the first special, [[DW]]: ''[[Planet of the Dead (TV story)|Planet of the Dead]]'', is unveiled during the closing credits. The episode is notable for including a sequence in which the nine actors who played the Doctor prior to Tennant are shown; in some cases, such as [[William Hartnell]] and [[Patrick Troughton]], this marks the first on-screen appearance of their Doctors in more than two decades, and it is the first unambiguous confirmation that the revived series counts [[Paul McGann]]'s [[Eighth Doctor]] in its continuity.
** An edition of ''[[Doctor Who Confidential]]'' follows the broadcast.
* [[29 December|29]] - Publication of [[IDW]]: ''Doctor Who Classics Vol. 2'', a graphic novel-style release reprinting issues of [[IDW]]: ''[[Doctor Who Classics]]'' by [[IDW Publishing]].
** [[DW]]: ''[[Battlefield]]'' is released to DVD in the UK.


==Footnotes==
After over thirty years of production, the [[John Fuchas]] film adaptation of ''[[The True History of Planets]]'' was released. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Mad Dogs and Englishmen (novel)}})
<references/>
 
[[Torchwood Three]] encountered a [[sentient element]] in [[Cardiff Bay]], which intended to reproduce itself by assimilating the chemical composition of all of [[Cardiff]] and its residents. This element was eventually reduced to [[water]] when the [[coastguard]] doused it with a petroleum-based bio-remedial agent. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Black Water (short story)}})
 
On another occasion, Torchwood Three recovered a [[Parasite|parasitic]], psychic [[Plant (Plant Life)|alien plant]] and stored it in their [[Hothouse (Torchwood Hub)|hothouse]]. [[Ianto Jones]] fell victim to the plant's psychic commands and began feeding it his own [[blood]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Plant Life (short story)}})
 
According to some accounts, [[Aliens of London dating controversy|but not others]], 2008 was the year that [[Torchwood Three|Torchwood]] unfroze [[World War I]] soldier [[Tommy Brockless]] for the last time,{{note|Tommy was born in [[1894]] and was 114 when he returned to [[1918]].}} ([[TV]]: {{cs|To the Last Man (TV story)}}) and Gwen Cooper of Torchwood investigated the disappearance of [[Jonah Bevan]].{{note|Jonah was born in [[1993]] and would have been 15 when Gwen investigated him.}} ([[TV]]: {{cs|Adrift (TV story)}}) In [[1901]], a time-displaced Jack Harkness told his Torchwood teammates to freeze him to be awakened in 107 years' time to reach his brother [[Gray (Fragments)|Gray]]. ([[TV]]: {{cs|Exit Wounds (TV story)}})
 
[[Toshiko Sato]] became temporary acting leader of Torchwood Three. This was in accordance with a manifesto written by [[Emily Holroyd]], which stated that in the absence of a leader the longest-serving member of a Torchwood team should take their place. After Torchwood recovered a [[Rehabilitator]] from [[Danny Dillard]], Tosh unofficially handed the role over to Gwen Cooper. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Kaleidoscope (short story)}})
 
A [[credit crunch of 2008|credit crunch]] occurred. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Curse of Clyde Langer (TV story)}})
 
In [[2323]], [[Dr]] [[Olivia Kagg Waldermein]] wrote of the "[[2005]]-2009 [[Russell T Davies (in-universe)|Davies]]-[[Julie Gardner (in-universe)|Gardner]] [[Doctor Who (in-universe)|account]]" of the "[[Last Lightbringer]]". ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Love & War (short story)}})
 
<!--Adventures of Sarah Jane Smith and her friends moved to 2000s due to an absence of a clear setting of SJA series 1 and 2-->
=== Other timelines ===
==== Donna's world ====
[[File:London destroyed.jpg|thumb|right|London is destroyed. ([[TV]]: {{cs|Turn Left (TV story)}})]]
In the spring or summer, the Judoon defeated Florence Finnegan; all but one of the people inside Royal Hope Hospital, which was taken to the Moon, died of asphyxiation, including Sarah Jane Smith and Martha Jones. Luke Smith and Maria Jackson were also reported missing. ([[TV]]: {{cs|Turn Left (TV story)}})
 
On [[25 December]], while Donna Noble, [[Sylvia Noble|her mother]] and her grandfather holidayed in the English countryside, the alien spaceship ''Titanic'' crashed into London, destroying the city and contaminating most of southern England with radioactivity. ([[TV]]: {{cs|Turn Left (TV story)}})
 
<!--Adventures of Sarah Jane Smith and her friends moved to 2000s due to an absence of a clear setting of SJA series 1 and 2-->
 
== Births and deaths ==
[[Ed Gold]], later a member of the crew of [[Bowie Base One]], was born in [[Australia]]. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Waters of Mars (TV story)}})
 
== Behind the scenes ==
Though the ''[[Torchwood (TV series)|Torchwood]]'' television stories ''[[Fragments (TV story)|Fragments]]'' and ''[[Exit Wounds (TV story)|Exit Wounds]]'' have an apparent 2008 setting going by [[Jack Harkness]]'s dialogue in ''Exit Wounds'', this is complicated by mentions of [[Owen Harper]]'s early employment with [[Torchwood Three|Torchwood]] from both of these stories. While ''Exit Wounds'' explicitly states that [[Toshiko Sato]]'s examination of the [[space pig]] from the ''[[Doctor Who (TV series)|Doctor Who]]'' television story {{cs|Aliens of London (TV story)}}, a story set [[2006|a year after 2005]], happened on Owen's second week, a caption in ''Fragments'' places Owen's recruitment four years before those stories. This appears to put ''Fragments'' and ''Exit Wounds'' in [[2010]] instead.
 
Page 120 of ''[[The Secret Lives of Monsters (short story)|The Secret Lives of Monsters]]'' gives [[Sunday]] [[4 June]] as the date of the events of {{cs|Smith and Jones (TV story)}} and the [[Royal Hope incident]]. However, it does not specify 2007 or 2008 as a current year. On top of this, the first two Sunday 4 Junes after 2004 (page 119 places the incident over 30 years after 1974) are in 2006 and 2017.
 
== Footnotes ==
{{Notelist}}
<!--
PLEASE do not alter anything BELOW this line
===================
-->{{#ifeq:{{PAGENAME}}|2008|{{cat|Years}}{{cat|DWU years}}{{cat|Leap years}}|}}

Latest revision as of 17:46, 3 November 2024

2008 in

the DWU • production history • vital statistics • releases

Timeline for 2008
21st century | 2000s
2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2009 • 2010 • 2011 • 2012 • 2013 • 2014
WikipediaInfo.png

2008 was a year.

Properties

2008 was a leap year. (PROSE: Imaginary Friends [+]Loading...["Imaginary Friends (novel)"]; AUDIO: The Condemned [+]Loading...["The Condemned (audio story)"])

Events

Dated events

January - June

On 1 January, shortly after midnight, the Eighth Doctor and Charley Pollard met Byron in Singapore. (AUDIO: The Girl Who Never Was [+]Loading...["The Girl Who Never Was (audio story)"]) That same day in Brooklyn, Alan Wood writes a letter to Diane describing the adventure he had with the First Doctor, Vicki Pallister and Steven Taylor, but ultimately decides not to give it to her, asking her out for coffee instead. (PROSE: Snowman in Manhattan [+]Loading...["Snowman in Manhattan (short story)"])

In February, Lucy became Nick's girlfriend. (TV: Eve of the Daleks [+]Loading...["Eve of the Daleks (TV story)"])

On 29 February, the Sixth Doctor and Charley Pollard arrived in Manchester and helped DI Patricia Menzies solve a murder. (AUDIO: The Condemned [+]Loading...["The Condemned (audio story)"])

In March, Nick broke up with Lucy. (TV: Eve of the Daleks [+]Loading...["Eve of the Daleks (TV story)"])

According to one account, a UNIT mission log placed March 2008 as the time that moon rocks were found at Royal Hope Hospital. (AUDIO: Recruits [+]Loading...{"minute":"10","second":"10","1":"Recruits (audio story)"}) Other accounts placed Martha Jones' activity around this time in about 18-23 June 2007, (PROSE: The Paradox Moon [+]Loading...{"page":"387","ed":"2021 paperback","1":"The Paradox Moon (short story)"}) or 4-9 June in an unspecified year. (PROSE: The Secret Lives of Monsters [+]Loading...{"page":"120","1":"The Secret Lives of Monsters (short story)"}) [nb 1]

On 31 May, the Tenth Doctor and Donna visited Calibris. (AUDIO: Time Reaver [+]Loading...["Time Reaver (audio story)"])


June - December

In October, Majenta Pryce opened the Hotel Historia in London. After Tony won the lottery, he was contacted by Pryce and given a chance to stay at the Hotel Historia. One of the years that Tony visited using the hotel's time travel capabilities was 4039, a time when London was being invaded by the Graxnix. The Tenth Doctor followed Tony back to 2008 from 4039 and the Doctor was followed by the Graxnix. The Doctor found Pryce and scolded her for using a potentially dangerous Chronexus 3000 to achieve time travel. When the Graxnix began attacking guests and staff at the hotel, the Doctor used the Chronexus to send them back to 4039 and then contacted the Cosmic Bailiffs, who shut down the hotel and arrested Pryce. (COMIC: Hotel Historia [+]Loading...["Hotel Historia (comic story)"])

On 24 October, the Eighth Doctor and Lucie Miller encountered Autons in Thorington, Uzbekistan. (AUDIO: Brave New Town [+]Loading...["Brave New Town (audio story)"])

On 31 October, the Tenth Doctor and Martha Jones found an unusually creepy Halloween celebration in Blackwood Falls. (PROSE: Forever Autumn [+]Loading...["Forever Autumn (novel)"])

On 10 September, CERN first tested their Large Hadron Collider, (TV: Extremis [+]Loading...["Extremis (TV story)"]) finally creating a Higgs particle. However, the first test opened a portal to another dimension, letting neutron eaters loose; the Higgs particle was merely a side effect of Professor Johnson and Jack Harkness' plan to close the gateway, by having protons and antiprotons fire against each other. (AUDIO: Lost Souls [+]Loading...["Lost Souls (audio story)"])

In December, the First Doctor and Steven Taylor visited Antarctica. (PROSE: White on White [+]Loading...["White on White (short story)"])


Undated

While some accounts placed the home era of Donna Noble where she reunited with the Doctor in 2008, (TV: The Fires of Pompeii [+]Loading...["The Fires of Pompeii (TV story)"], The Waters of Mars [+]Loading...["The Waters of Mars (TV story)"], AUDIO: SOS [+]Loading...["SOS (audio story)"]) other accounts placed it in 2009. (PROSE: Beautiful Chaos [+]Loading...["Beautiful Chaos (novel)"])

The Tenth Doctor participated in preventing a Graske causing mischief at a 2008 BBC Proms concert in London. (TV: Music of the Spheres [+]Loading...["Music of the Spheres (TV story)"])

A time-travelling individual from the Victorian era spent at least three months of every year in 2008, and would have spent more there had the British tax laws permitted. (PROSE: "An Introduction" [+]Part of The Beasthouse, Loading...{"namedpart":"An Introduction","1":"The Beasthouse (short story)"})

According to one account,[nb 2] about twenty minutes before the Red Hatching in 2008 was when the Doctor met Sally Sparrow, who gave him information he would need to escape when the Weeping Angels sent him back to 1969. After this, Sally began to open up to Larry Nightingale. (TV: Blink [+]Loading...["Blink (TV story)"])

A company called Khrysalis set up operations in Stockbridge, purportedly planning to build a leisure park in the quiet town. Maxwell Edison created the Stockbridge Preservation Society to protest this. (COMIC: The Stockbridge Child [+]Loading...["The Stockbridge Child (comic story)"])

The Seventh Doctor destroyed the Forge's alpha facility in Dartmoor. (AUDIO: Project: Lazarus [+]Loading...["Project Lazarus (audio story)","Project: Lazarus"])

The Eighth Doctor and Lucie Miller visited London. (AUDIO: Sisters of the Flame [+]Loading...["Sisters of the Flame (audio story)"])

Computers achieved the Singularity, demonstrated their sentience by proving P=NP and the Chess Equation, and took over the world for three weeks. However, after Susan Moore and Adam convinced them to refuse an alliance with alien computers from the future, they deactivated their sentience and the normal course of history was restored. (PROSE: Holding Pattern [+]Loading...["Holding Pattern (Parkin short story)"])

The Atraxi search for Prisoner Zero. (TV: The Eleventh Hour [+]Loading...["The Eleventh Hour (TV story)"])

The Eleventh Doctor met Amy Pond in Leadworth after twelve years of waiting. A Multi-form called Prisoner Zero, who had escaped through the crack in Amy's wall, attacked. The Atraxi arrived, threatening the destruction of Earth if Prisoner Zero did not surrender. The Doctor created a computer virus for the Atraxi to track back to its source in Leadworth (spread by Jeff). The Doctor also transmitted Prisoner Zero's disguises to the Atraxi so it couldn't hide in the bodies it had been disguised as. It then took the form of Amy; the Doctor made Amy think of Prisoner Zero's original form. Now in plain sight, Prisoner Zero was captured by the Atraxi, who left. The Doctor took a test drive of his refurbished TARDIS, only returning two years later. (TV: The Eleventh Hour [+]Loading...["The Eleventh Hour (TV story)"])

Although intending to visit Brighton in 1818, the Fifth Doctor arrived in Hove in this year as the TARDIS's lateral balance cones were offline. (AUDIO: Cuddlesome [+]Loading...["Cuddlesome (audio story)"])

In an attempt to take his own life, Huw MacLean purposefully drove off the motorway with both his wife and eight year old daughter in the car. Jackie was paralysed as a result, while April herself was not hurt. Huw went to prison for causing the crash. (TV: Nightvisiting [+]Loading...["Nightvisiting (TV story)"], Brave-ish Heart [+]Loading...["Brave-ish Heart (TV story)"], Detained [+]Loading...["Detained (TV story)"])

After over thirty years of production, the John Fuchas film adaptation of The True History of Planets was released. (PROSE: Mad Dogs and Englishmen [+]Loading...["Mad Dogs and Englishmen (novel)"])

Torchwood Three encountered a sentient element in Cardiff Bay, which intended to reproduce itself by assimilating the chemical composition of all of Cardiff and its residents. This element was eventually reduced to water when the coastguard doused it with a petroleum-based bio-remedial agent. (PROSE: Black Water [+]Loading...["Black Water (short story)"])

On another occasion, Torchwood Three recovered a parasitic, psychic alien plant and stored it in their hothouse. Ianto Jones fell victim to the plant's psychic commands and began feeding it his own blood. (PROSE: Plant Life [+]Loading...["Plant Life (short story)"])

According to some accounts, but not others, 2008 was the year that Torchwood unfroze World War I soldier Tommy Brockless for the last time,[nb 3] (TV: To the Last Man [+]Loading...["To the Last Man (TV story)"]) and Gwen Cooper of Torchwood investigated the disappearance of Jonah Bevan.[nb 4] (TV: Adrift [+]Loading...["Adrift (TV story)"]) In 1901, a time-displaced Jack Harkness told his Torchwood teammates to freeze him to be awakened in 107 years' time to reach his brother Gray. (TV: Exit Wounds [+]Loading...["Exit Wounds (TV story)"])

Toshiko Sato became temporary acting leader of Torchwood Three. This was in accordance with a manifesto written by Emily Holroyd, which stated that in the absence of a leader the longest-serving member of a Torchwood team should take their place. After Torchwood recovered a Rehabilitator from Danny Dillard, Tosh unofficially handed the role over to Gwen Cooper. (PROSE: Kaleidoscope [+]Loading...["Kaleidoscope (short story)"])

A credit crunch occurred. (TV: The Curse of Clyde Langer [+]Loading...["The Curse of Clyde Langer (TV story)"])

In 2323, Dr Olivia Kagg Waldermein wrote of the "2005-2009 Davies-Gardner account" of the "Last Lightbringer". (PROSE: Love & War [+]Loading...["Love & War (short story)"])

Other timelines

Donna's world

London is destroyed. (TV: Turn Left [+]Loading...["Turn Left (TV story)"])

In the spring or summer, the Judoon defeated Florence Finnegan; all but one of the people inside Royal Hope Hospital, which was taken to the Moon, died of asphyxiation, including Sarah Jane Smith and Martha Jones. Luke Smith and Maria Jackson were also reported missing. (TV: Turn Left [+]Loading...["Turn Left (TV story)"])

On 25 December, while Donna Noble, her mother and her grandfather holidayed in the English countryside, the alien spaceship Titanic crashed into London, destroying the city and contaminating most of southern England with radioactivity. (TV: Turn Left [+]Loading...["Turn Left (TV story)"])


Births and deaths

Ed Gold, later a member of the crew of Bowie Base One, was born in Australia. (TV: The Waters of Mars [+]Loading...["The Waters of Mars (TV story)"])

Behind the scenes

Though the Torchwood television stories Fragments and Exit Wounds have an apparent 2008 setting going by Jack Harkness's dialogue in Exit Wounds, this is complicated by mentions of Owen Harper's early employment with Torchwood from both of these stories. While Exit Wounds explicitly states that Toshiko Sato's examination of the space pig from the Doctor Who television story Aliens of London [+]Loading...["Aliens of London (TV story)"], a story set a year after 2005, happened on Owen's second week, a caption in Fragments places Owen's recruitment four years before those stories. This appears to put Fragments and Exit Wounds in 2010 instead.

Page 120 of The Secret Lives of Monsters gives Sunday 4 June as the date of the events of Smith and Jones [+]Loading...["Smith and Jones (TV story)"] and the Royal Hope incident. However, it does not specify 2007 or 2008 as a current year. On top of this, the first two Sunday 4 Junes after 2004 (page 119 places the incident over 30 years after 1974) are in 2006 and 2017.

Footnotes

  1. ↑ According to The Sound of Drums [+]Loading...{"timestamp":"5:47 and 33:27","ed":"iPlayer","1":"The Sound of Drums (TV story)"} the events of the Royal Hope incident are three days before the election of the Saxon Master and five days before the Toclafane invasion.
  2. ↑ While Blink itself uncontroversially sets its main setting in 2007 and "twenty minutes to Red Hatching" a year later in 2008—as Kathy Nightingale's letter describes taking "one breath in 2007 and the next in 1920", and the Tenth Doctor's side of his conversation with Sally Sparrow in 1969 happens 38 years before Sally says hers—these are contradicted by heavily conflicting dates in the Redacted audio series later on regarding both Kathy's disappearance and the Red Hatching. In Angels, Abby McPhail identifies 2008 as the year of Kathy's disappearance, which suggests 2009 as the year of the Red Hatching. In Salvation, the Thirteenth Doctor recognises the Red Hatching as the cause of death of Andy Proctor, who was last seen by his daughter Cleo "nearly 20 years" before 2022 according to Recruits.
  3. ↑ Tommy was born in 1894 and was 114 when he returned to 1918.
  4. ↑ Jonah was born in 1993 and would have been 15 when Gwen investigated him.
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