2006

History of the Doctor Who Universe

February

• Annual de-frosting of Tommy Brockless, a young soldier first cryogenically frozen in 1918. Toshiko Sato meets Brockless for the first time. (TW:To the Last Man.) (Date: WEB:torchwood.co.uk)

March

• 6 - The Doctor returns Rose Tyler to her home in London, but due to a miscalculation they arrive a year late, and Rose subsequently learns that she was believed murdered and that Mickey Smith was at one point considered a suspect. (DW: Aliens of London, World War Three)

• 6 - Big Ben is side-swiped by a UFO which crashes into the Thames. (DW: Aliens of London) Many people witness the crash, including Elton Pope (DW: Love & Monsters), however the crash is later covered up as a hoax (which, in some ways, it was). (WEB: whoisdoctorwho.co.uk)

• 6 - An "alien astronaut" from the UFO is taken to Albion Hospital where the Doctor and Toshiko Sato examine it. Most of the Earth's leading experts on aliens are killed, as is the Prime Minister of Great Britain. 10 Downing Street is destroyed by a Harpoon missile. The fortitude that backbencher MP Harriet Jones shows during this crisis contributes to Jones' ascent towards power and the post of Prime Minister. (DW: Aliens of London, World War Three) Sato is working undercover for Torchwood 3, covering for Owen Harper who is indisposed. (TW: Exit Wounds)

• Mickey Smith, who is now webmaster of the "Who is Doctor Who?" website, is asked by the Doctor to install a virus intended to wipe out all references to the Doctor on the Internet. (DW: World War Three) He does not do this, and instead renames his website Defending the Earth! and proceeds to chronicle unexplained happenings, usually involving the Doctor. (WEB: whoisdoctorwho.co.uk)

June

• The Doctor visits St. Nicholas Hospital, taking on the alias of a consultant. (Times Online: Deep and Dreamless Sleep)

July

• 20 - After reading an internet article about Jo Jones, Polly Wright emails Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart and they share stories of their adventures with The Doctor (The Three Companions)

September

• The Doctor along with Rose Tyler, Mickey Smith and Jack Harkness stops Blon Fel-Fotch Passameer-Day Slitheen's plot to blow up Cardiff. (DW: Boom Town) At this point in time there were no less than three versions of Harkness in Cardiff in different places within his timeline: the Jack travelling with the Doctor, an older Jack now operating Torchwood 3 while keeping himself and his team in the Hub during these events (TWN: The Twilight Streets), and a still older Jack in cryogenic freeze in the Torchwood vaults. (TW: Exit Wounds)

October

• Idris Hopper recognizes Jack Harkness and chases after him. Seeing past the perception filter, he witnesses the invisible lift in action. An attempt to erase Idris' memories with retcon in his dinner fails and Idris becomes angry with Jack because he thinks he's been poisoned. (TWN: The Twilight Streets)

• 31 - The British Rocket Group space probe Guinevere One launches from Earth for a scheduled rendezvous with Mars on Christmas Day. (Date: WEB: http://www.guinevere.org.uk/)

December

• 24 - The Doctor recovers from his regeneration at the Powell Estate. Sycorax intercept the Guinevere One and send a threatening message to Earth. Pilot fish land. Prime Minister Harriet Jones seeks help from UNIT. (DW: The Christmas Invasion)
  • Daniel Thompson, age 4, is struck by a vehicle and hospitalized at St. Nicholas Hospital in London. (Times Online: Deep and Dreamless Sleep)
  • On the same day, the Doctor, again in his tenth incarnation, only older, shares an adventure with Daniel, and spends time at the St. Nicholas Hospital waiting for Daniel to recover. (Times Online: Deep and Dreamless Sleep.

This means there were in fact briefly two versions of the Tenth Doctor in London at the same time.

• 25 - The Sycorax ship enters London airspace at around 0745 (DW: The Christmas Invasion, Love & Monsters) Elton Pope gazes up at the ship in awe. (DW: Love & Monsters) Sarah Jane Smith wonders if the ship has the Doctor onboard, taking care of the situation. (DW: School Reunion) Donna Noble, however, is oblivious to events due to a hangover. (DW: The Runaway Bride).

• The Sycorax use blood control on one third of Earth's population. Harriet Jones appears on television to ask for the Doctor's help. The Doctor defeats the Sycorax though not before their leader cuts off the Doctor's hand (which grows back). The Torchwood Institute destroy the retreating Sycorax ship. The Doctor regards as murder and so engineers Harriet Jones' spiral in the polls. (DW: The Christmas Invasion)

Later, Jack Harkness finds and retrieves the Doctor's hand, which ends up at Torchwood 3. (TW: Everything Changes et al, DW: Utopia)

• Ursula Blake snaps a photo of the Doctor celebrating with Rose Tyler in London. Meanwhile, on the Internet, frantic speculation among conspiracy theorists begins as to what really happened during the Sycorax invasion. (DW: Love & Monsters)

Later, she posts the photo to her blog. (DW: Love & Monsters)

• Although the Earth has been visited (and even invaded) many times previously by alien races, the Doctor tells Rose that the Sycorax event marked the first occasion that life beyond Earth became common knowledge, and that Earth itself was now becoming noticed by other worlds. (DW: The Christmas Invasion) This sentiment is later echoed by Jack Harkness in his statement, "The 21st century is when it all changes." (DW: Last of the Time Lords and repeatedly in Torchwood)

Unknown dates

• The Doctor and Ruby Duvall stop the Cybermen's latest attempt to conquer Earth by preventing the magnetic field reversal that would have created worldwide chaos under which the Cybermen planned to invade (NA: Iceberg).

• The Zen Military, Kadiatu Lethbridge-Stewart's expose of the history of UNIT, is published following the expiration of the thirty year rule for official secrets (NA: Set Piece).

• Mickey helps Rose to get back to the Doctor. (DW: The Parting of the Ways)

• After March, but before December: Harriet Jones is elected Prime Minister (DW: The Christmas Invasion)

History of Doctor Who

Early 2006

• According to his book, The Writer's Tale, Russell T Davies, David Tennant and others involved in Doctor Who, following production of Doomsday, agree that after the fourth series the program would be rested for a year, except for the occasional special. This idea later evolves into the 2009 Specials season and dovetails with the eventual departures of Davies and Tennant from the series.

January

• Pier Pressure is first released.
• Parallel Lives First Published
• Something Changed First Published
• 2 - John Woodnutt, who had parts in Spearhead from Space, Frontier in Space, Terror of the Zygons and The Keeper of Traken dies from natural causes at Denville Hall, Northwood, England, UK.

February

• Night Thoughts is first released.
• The Goddess Quandary is first released.

March

• Time Works is first released.

April

• The Stone Rose, The Feast of the Drowned, and The Resurrection Casket are first published. These are the first original novels to feature the Tenth Doctor
• The Kingmaker is first released.
• The Albino's Dancer First Published
• Approximately one week prior to the broadcast of New Earth, the BBC releases the first Tardisode. These mini-episodes, available online or via mobile phone, featured specially shot scenes setting up elements of the episode to come.
• 05 - BBC Magazines launches Doctor Who Adventures, a weekly magazine promoting the Doctor Who franchise aimed at younger readers (no relation to Doctor Who Magazine). Unlike DWM, it is not distributed internationally.
• 15 - New Earth is first broadcast, launching the second season of the revived series and the first full season to feature David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor
• 22 - Tooth and Claw is first broadcast.
• 29 - School Reunion is first broadcast.

May

• I am a Dalek is first released, launching the BBC Quick Reads novella series.
• The Settling is first released.
• BBC Books marks its 10th year publishing Doctor Who fiction.
• 6 - The Girl in the Fireplace is first broadcast.
• 13 - Rise of the Cybermen is first broadcast.
• 14 - 10th anniversary of the broadcast of the 1996 Doctor Who TV movie)
• 19 - Producer Peter Bryant (from The Web of Fear to The Space Pirates) dies.
• 20 - The Age of Steel is first broadcast.
• 27 - The Idiot's Lantern is first broadcast.

June

• Something Inside is first released.
• Genius Loci First Published
• The Crystal of Cantus is first released
• 3 - The Impossible Planet is first broadcast.
• 10 - The Satan Pit is first broadcast.
• 17 - Love and Monsters is first broadcast.
• 24 - Fear Her is first broadcast.

July

• The Nowhere Place is first released.
• The Tartarus Gate is first released.
• 1 - Army of Ghosts is first broadcast.
• Approximately a week prior to the broadcast of Doomsday, the final Tardisode is released online and to mobile phones; the BBC decides not to continue them after this.
• 8 - Doomsday is first broadcast, concluding the second season of the revived series. Billie Piper, Noel Clarke and Camille Coduri leave the series with this episode. In a surprise cliffhanger (successfully kept secret from Internet spoilers and the press), popular comic actress Catherine Tate appears for the first time as Donna Noble. This episode is also historic for featuring the first on-screen interaction between Daleks and Cybermen. The broadcast is followed by the final episode of Doctor Who Confidential's second season.

Peter Hawkins, one of the original voices for the Daleks and the Cybermen, dies.

• 18 - David Maloney, who directed many serials between The Mind Robber and The Talons of Weng-Chiang dies from cancer.
• 19 - Stuntman Tim Condren, who portrayed a guerrilla in Day of the Daleks dies.

August

• Red is first released.
• Timeless Passages is first released.
• The Sideways Door First Published. Last release to date of the Telos Publishing Time Hunter spin-off series.
• Doctor Who wins the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form, the first time the Doctor Who franchise has won an international award of this magnitude. The award is presented for the Steven Moffat two-parter The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances. Two other episodes from the 2005 series are also nominated in this category: Father's Day and Dalek. The competition in the category also included "Pegasus", an episode of Battlestar Galactica; Jack-Jack Attack, an animated short spun-off from the film The Incredibles; Lucas Back in Anger, a short film; and, controversially, the opening segment of the previous year's Prix Victor Hugo Awards Ceremony.
• 24 - The International Astronomical Union approves an official definition of the term "planet" which results in Pluto and several newly discovered Pluto-like worlds being disqualified from planetary status. The decision is immediately controversial and is expected to be challenged when the IAU meets again in 2009.

September

• The Reaping and The Gathering are first released.
• The Worst Thing in the World is first released.
• The Nightmare of Black Island, The Art of Destruction, and The Price of Paradise are first published.
• Collected Works First Published
• GE Fabbri Ltd. launches Battles in Time, a card game/magazine publication released fortnightly in the UK. International distribution does not begin until February 2009 when its content is included on the website for a later Fabbri publication, Doctor Who DVD Files.
• 14 - Peter Ling, who wrote The Mind Robber dies from a heart attack.
• 23 - Patrick Tull, one of the voices of the Krotons in The Krotons dies.

October

• Memory Lane is first released.
• Summer of Love is first released.
• 21 - Peter Barkworth, who played Leader Clent in The Ice Warriors dies as a result of broncho-pneumonia following a stroke
• 22 - The Doctor Who spin-off series Torchwood debuts with the broadcast of Everything Changes and Day One. Also debuting: the behind-the-scenes program Torchwood Declassified.

Richard Mayes (Chief Baxter in Fury from the Deep) dies.

• 29 - Ghost Machine is first broadcast.

November

• No Man's Land is first released.
• Old Friends First Published
• The Oracle of Delphi is first released.
• 5 - Cyberwoman is first broadcast.

Giant actor R.J. Bell, who appeared as The Garm in Terminus dies in England.

• 10 - Chubby Oates, who had a small role as a policeman in Planet of the Spiders dies from a stroke after giving a performance at a showbusiness luncheon.
• 12 - Small Worlds is first broadcast.
• 19 - Countrycide is first broadcast.
• 26 - Greeks Bearing Gifts is first broadcast.

December

• Year of the Pig is first released.
• The Empire State is first released.
• 3 - They Keep Killing Suzie is first broadcast.
• 10 - Random Shoes is first broadcast.
• 17 - Out of Time is first broadcast.
• 24 - Combat is first broadcast.
• 25 - The Runaway Bride is first broadcast.
• 28 - 25th anniversary of the broadcast of A Girl's Best Friend, the pilot for K-9 and Company, only a few days before the debut of The Sarah Jane Adventures featuring the same character.

Unknown dates

• Following the well-received return appearance of Elisabeth Sladen's Sarah Jane Smith in School Reunion, the BBC announces that a spin-off series entitled The Sarah Jane Adventures would be produced featuring her. Around the same time, a non-BBC production company obtains the rights to produce an animated series featuring K-9 (which as of 2008 has yet to be broadcast).
• After the departure of Billie Piper in Doomsday, the BBC authorizes a budget for a proposed spin-off special entitled Rose Tyler: Earth Defence, an idea ultimately abandoned by Russell T Davies.
• Christopher Eccleston earns a recurring role in the NBC series Heroes. While Eccleston isn't the first to get roles on American TV after his tenure as the Doctor (he was preceded by Tom Baker, Peter Davison and Colin Baker in this regard), he is the first to gain a recurring role in an American series. His role as Claude, the Invisible Man, includes a reference to The Doctor in that he utters the catchphrase "Fantastic!". He also shares several scenes with Eric Roberts, who played The Master in Doctor Who: The TV Movie.

2005

21st century 2000s

2007