2008

History of the Doctor Who Universe

January

• Owen goes undercover to prevent the Weevils being abducted by humans. (TW: Combat)
• 10 and 11 - Sarah Jane Smith teams up with Maria Jackson to face up against the scheming Mrs Wormwood and the Bane. (SJA: Invasion of the Bane)

February

• Jack Harkness and Toshiko Sato are transported back in time to the 1940s. Harold Saxon's campaign for election is underway as "Vote Saxon" signs are visible in Cardiff. (TW: Captain Jack Harkness)
• The Cardiff rift opens, are people see visions of loved ones. Captain Jack defeats Abaddon. (TW: End of Days)
• Jack hears the sound of the TARDIS, and re-joins the Doctor. Meanwhile, he is declared missing by his Torchwood teammates, and Gwen Cooper takes charge of the group. (TW: End of Days, DW: Utopia, TW: Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang)

April

• 28 - Mr. Saxon continues his campaign for Prime Minister. He was given high support after the Royal Hope Hospital's disappearance, then reappearance. (DW: Smith and Jones)
• 29 - Martha Jones joins the Doctor on his travels, after an adventure in which Royal Hope Hospital is transported to the Moon. (DW: Smith and Jones; The Sound of Drums, et al, establishes this occurs only a few days before the election.)
• 30 - Richard Lazarus unveils an age-reversing machine which transforms him into a possible evolutionary branch of humanity, latent in his DNA. He is killed by the Doctor. (DW: The Lazarus Experiment)

May

• 1 - Election Day begins and Harold Saxon is voted British Prime Minister (DW: 42/The Sound of Drums; Note: This is likely a by-election, perhaps to replace whoever was appointed interim PM after the ouster of Harriet Jones per DW: The Stolen Earth))
• 2 - U.S. President Winters is killed by the Toclafane. (DW: The Sound of Drums)
  • 3 - The Year That Never Was begins during which the Master builds a Time Lord Empire and Martha Jones travels the world executing a plan of the Doctor's to defeat his enemy. Ultimately, the year is negated and the clock reset to just after the Master kills Winters. (DW: The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords)
• 2 - Harold Saxon is killed by his wife Lucy. (DW: Last of the Time Lords)
  • Jack Harkness returns to Torchwood 3. In his absence, Gwen Cooper has taken charge of the team, and as Jack returns they are in pursuit of a cocaine-snorting, car stealing blowfish-like alien. Soon after, ex-time agent John Hart uses the Cardiff Rift to arrive on Earth, in pursuit of a valuable jewel. (TW: Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang)
  • Martha Jones returns home to her family and leaves the Doctor on his own (DW: Last of the Time Lords). Immediately after leaving her, the Tenth Doctor, due to a shield being down in the TARDIS (due to the events of The Year That Never Was) encounters the Fifth Doctor when their two TARDISes merge. (DW: Time Crash)
• Several violent incidents occur in the Cardiff area within the space of a few hours, including explosions that disrupt a major fuel line and telephone exchange, several grisly murders, and the massacre of a group of British soldiers guarding a nuclear weapon storage facility. (TW: Sleeper)

July

• 27 - According to an unconfirmed account The 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; the canonicity of this fourth wall-breaking mini-episode is uncertain)

December

• Near Christmas: Due to the previous two Christmases being disrupted by the arrival of alien spacecraft over London (DW: The Christmas Invasion) and DW: The Runaway Bride), most residents of the city voluntarily evacuate for the season. Those choosing to remain in the city include Queen Elizabeth II and Wilfred Mott, grandfather of Donna Noble. (DW: Voyage of the Damned)

• 25 - The Tenth Doctor, following a brief meeting with his fifth incarnation (DW: Time Crash), finds himself aboard a space-faring replica of the Titanic in orbit around earth. Events of Voyage of the Damned. Donna Noble would later dismiss the near-miss by the Titanic as a hoax. (DW: Partners in Crime)

References

• A missing poster on the Torchwood website states that Jack went missing in February.
  
• A calendar seen in the hospital (DW: Last of the Time Lords) shows the month as October
• Election day is generally held on the first Thursday in May. In 2008 Thursday is the 1st.

Unknown

• During an unchronicled adventure in London with Martha Jones, The Doctor meets Sally Sparrow, who provides him with the information he needs to escape when the Weeping Angels send him back to 1969. After this, Sally begins to open up to Larry Nightingale (DW: Blink. The episode was originally to have indicated that some months, possibly a year had passed since the defeat of the Weeping Angels and Sally's final encounter with the Doctor, but this was cut before broadcast.)
• Following her encounter with the Tenth Doctor, Donna Noble attempts to improve her life by first travelling to Egypt. Afterwards, experiencing regret at turning down the Doctor's invitation to travel with him, Donna begins investigating unusual happenings, in hopes of encountering the Doctor doing the same. Her investigations lead to her learning about the disappearance of bees and unusual happenings at Adipose Industries, which eventually lead to her reuniting with the Doctor in 2009. (DW: Partners in Crime)
• The Slitheen family kill overweight teachers and use them as a disguise to find a code to freeze the Sun, planning to fry the Earth. The Slitheen plan is foiled by Sarah Jane Smith, although a child Slitheen escapes.(SJA: Revenge of the Slitheen)
• A Gorgon, hidden by a group of nuns while trying to find a new host, is discovered by Sarah Jane Smith. Maria Jackson uses a mirror to turn the Gorgon into stone. (SJA: Eye of the Gorgon)
• A number of teenagers go missing after playing laser tag - Luke Smith and Clyde Langer are among those who go missing. Sarah Jane Smith discovers that they are being teleported by an alien named Kudlak who has taken them to a war ship to fight in an alien war - a war which he is unaware is over.(SJA: Warriors of Kudlak)
• On the way back to Earth Sarah Jane Smith is handed a stone by a space ship driver. The Next day she gives it to Maria Jackson. The Trickster arrives on Bannerman Road and wipes Sarah Jane out of existence. The Only person who remembers her is Mario Jackson. Maria finds Andrea Yates in Sarah Jane's house, A school friend of Sarah Jane's who had died on a trip to Brighton at age 13. Maria tells her dad Alan Jackson but he did not believe her so she handed him the stone and Maria was wiped out of existence to. Alan at Andreas house party destroyed the mirror and the Trixter vanished releasing Sarah Jane and Maria. (SJA: Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?)

History of Doctor Who

• Early in the year, the BBC announces that the 5th series of Doctor Who will not air until 2010. Instead, several specials will be produced for broadcast in 2009. This hiatus is in order to allow David Tennant to perform a season of Shakespeare alongside Patrick Stewart during the time when Doctor Who is normally in production. This announcement is followed by media reports of Stewart expressing interest in guest starring in a future episode.

January

• 08 - 100th birthday of William Hartnell.
• 16 - Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang is broadcast, launching series 2 of Torchwood.
• 23 - Sleeper is broadcast.
• 30 - To the Last Man is broadcast.

February

• Revenge of the Judoon, the third novella in the BBC Books Quick Reads series, is 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 Agent Provocateur when IDW publishes a graphic novel edition of the storyline in the summer of 2008.
• 4 - Everyone Says Hello and Hidden first released. These are the first made-for-audio adventures by BBC Audio based upon Torchwood.
• 6 - Meat is broadcast.
• 13 - Adam and Reset are both broadcast.
• 20 - Dead Man Walking is broadcast.
• 27 - A Day in the Death is broadcast.

March

• The BBC announced it was investigating technology to return colour to Third Doctor episodes only available in black and white.
• 5 - Something Borrowed is broadcast.
• 6 - The Twilight Streets, Trace Memory, and Something in the Water first published.
• 12 - From Out of the Rain is broadcast.
• 19 - Adrift is broadcast.
• 12 - Fragments is broadcast.

Spring

• 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 episode nominees are Blink by Steven Moffat (making this his third consecutive Hugo nomination) and the Human Nature/The Family of Blood two-parter by Paul Cornell, along with the Torchwood episode Captain Jack Harkness by Catherine Tregenna. Also nominated is Razor, a spinoff telefilm based upon Battlestar Galactica and "World Enough and Time", a fan-film based upon Star Trek. The winner is scheduled to be announced in August.

April

• 4 - Exit Wounds is broadcast, ending Torchwood's second series.
• 5 - Partners in Crime is first broadcast, launching the fourth season of the revived series. Catherine Tate rejoins the series full-time as Donna Noble. Although the news that Billie Piper would return in Series 4 as Rose Tyler had been broken the previous fall by British media, and later confirmed by the BBC both in print and in a trailer shown in British cinemas in which Rose appeared, a cameo appearance by Rose in this episode remains a surprise. This is later attributed to the decision not to include the scene in preview copies sent to media and other parties. Not counting flashbacks, this marks Piper's first appearance in Doctor Who since Doomsday. After the episode is broadcast, the first Series 4 episode of Doctor Who Confidential airs.
• 12 - The Fires of Pompeii broadcast.
• 18 - The American Sci-Fi Channel launches its broadcasts of Series 4 with Voyage of the Damned.
• 19 - Planet of the Ood broadcast.
• 26 - The Sontaran Strategem broadcast. Freema Agyeman returns to the series (temporarily) as Martha Jones, her first Doctor Who appearance since Last of the Time Lords.

May

• The BBC announces that Russell T. Davies is to step down as executive producer of Doctor Who in 2009, to be succeeded by Steven Moffat. Soon after this announcement, media reports surface that noted comic book writer and author Neil Gaiman may have been approached to write a future episode.
• The CBC in Canada announces it will air Serie 4 of Doctor Who beginning in September, but will not be broadcasting the second series of Torchwood.
• 3 - The Poison Sky is broadcast. A second cameo by Billie Piper as Rose Tyler occurs; she receives screen credit for her appearance even though she is on screen for less than a second. Russell T. Davies tells Doctor Who Magazine that the decision to include the cameo was a last-minute decision made following the positive response to her cameo in Partners in Crime. To achieve the cameo (and the one later seen in Midnight), unbroadcast footage from an earlier episode (likely Season 2's The Idiot's Lantern) is used. As with Partners in Crime, advance preview copies of this episode omit the scene.
• 3 - Production of Series 4 officially concludes with the filming of the mini-episode Music of the Spheres.
• 8 - Pest Control, the first original audio adventure by BBC Audio, is released. Considered a spin-off of the BBC Books Tenth Doctor 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 since the BBC Radio Jon Pertwee radio plays of the mid-1990s.
• 10 - The Doctor's Daughter is 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. Soon after the episode is broadcast, media reports of a romantic relationship between David Tennant and Moffett emerge.
• 17 - The Unicorn and the Wasp is broadcast.
• 31 - Silence in the Library is broadcast, introducing Alex Kingston as River Song.
• Late May - the BBC releases a new television trailer promoting the final episodes of the fourth series.
• Martha in the Mirror, Snowglobe 7, The Many Hands first published. Although the character is no longer a regular on the series, Martha Jones remains the companion in these novels.

June

• 3 - it is reported that Torchwood will return for a third series, with production scheduled for the fall of 2008 and broadcast in the spring of 2009, with the series moving to BBC One. John Barrowman is confirmed as returning. Initially, only a single five-episode serial, to be broadcast during one week, is initially confirmed.
• 7 - Forest of the Dead is broadcast.
• 14 - Midnight is broadcast, including another brief cameo by Billie Piper as Rose Tyler.
• 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 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 talent contest series How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? for the CBC.
• Mid-June - Holding out until the last possible moment, the BBC finally announces the title of Episode 12 of Series 4 will be The Stolen Earth.
• 21 - Turn Left is broadcast, marking the official return of Billie Piper as Rose Tyler after her previous cameo appearances.

In the associated episode of Doctor Who Confidential, Billie Piper reveals that the plan for Rose to return was in fact hatched before her departure from the series in 2006 and that she had been sworn to secrecy ever since.

• 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, Steven Moffat's Jekyll and John Simm's Life on Mars. Due to an error, the category is left off the official press release of the winners, but is reinstated a few days later.
• 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.
• Late June - 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 Stolen Earth a few weeks later. It is known that he is to appear in the 2008 Christmas special as photos of him shooting the special had leaked to the press months previous.
• 28 - The Stolen Earth is 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.[1]

July

• Early July - The week between the cliffhanger ending of The Stolen Earth and the broadcast of Journey's End is marked by some of the most intense media attention Doctor Who has ever seen.[2]
• 05 - Journey's End is 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; afterwards, the final Series 4 episode of Doctor Who Confidential is broadcast. 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 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.[3][4]
• 06 - Partners in Crime is broadcasted on ABC in Australia
• 07 - The Daily Mail reports that more than 2,500 people actually attempted to phone the Doctor's phone number as shown in The Stolen Earth, in hopes of hearing a special recorded message, but the number was in fact non-functional.[5]
• 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.[6] Despite this, wildcat Internet rumours persist that Morrissey will replace Tennant as early as the 2008 Christmas special.
• Mid-July - IDW Publishing issues 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 Doctor Who Classics. This edition features the run from The Iron Legion to The Star Beast.
• 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. 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!
• 27 - The first Doctor Who Proms concert is held at Royal Albert Hall in London, featuring music from Doctor Who. An interactive mini-episode, Music of the Spheres, is shown as part of this event, which is initially broadcast on BBC Radio. The concert is to be televised at a later date.

August

• 01 - The American Sci-Fi Channel broadcasts Journey's End in a special 90-minute time slot, concluding its broadcasts of Series 4.
• 08 - Canadian premiere of Torchwood Series 2 on the Space channel.
• 09 - 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. Also nominated in the category were Human Nature/The Family of Blood by Paul Cornell, the Torchwood episode Captain Jack Harkness by Catherine Tregenna, the Battlestar Galactica TV-movie Razor, and the Star Trek fan-film World Enough and Time.
• IDW Publishing in the US is scheduled to launch a second Doctor Who comic book story arc, The Forgotten, which will feature appearances by all 10 Doctors.

September

• Scheduled publication of Ghosts of India, Shining Darkness, The Doctor Trap, the first full-length novels featuring Donna Noble as companion.
• 11 - Scheduled release of the made-for-audio Torchwood story, Lost Souls.
• 16 - Scheduled release of Torchwood season 2 on standard DVD in North America.
• 19 - Belated broadcast of Series 4 scheduled to begin on the CBC in Canada.

October

• 07 - Scheduled release of Series 1 of The Sarah Jane Adventures to DVD in North America. This actually predates the scheduled UK release of the series.
• Scheduled publication of Almost Perfect, Pack Animals and SkyPoint.

November

• 03 - Scheduled publication date for the Sarah Jane Adventures novelisations The Lost Boy and Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?.
• 11 - Scheduled release of Torchwood Season 1 on high-definition Blu-Ray in North America, the first Doctor Who-related release in this format.
• 13 - Scheduled release date for the made-for-audio Sarah Jane Adventures stories Shatter Point and The Time Capsule by BBC Audio.
• 18 - Scheduled US release date of the Series 4 DVD box set; scheduled North American release date for The Infinite Quest (a full year after the UK release).
• 23 - 45th anniversary of the first broadcast of Doctor Who.

December

• Scheduled publication of Beautiful Chaos, The Eyeless and The Story of Martha. The Eyeless is the first New Series Adventures release in which the Doctor travels without a companion; The Story of Martha will focus on the activities of Martha Jones during the Year That Never Was between The Sound of Drums and Last of the Time Lords. Beautiful Chaos is expected to be the final novel to feature Donna Noble, though this has yet to be confirmed.
• The as-yet untitled Doctor Who Christmas special is scheduled to be broadcast, presumably on or near Christmas Day. This will be the first of five 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.

2007

21st century 2000s

2009