1989

1989 in

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the DWU • production history • vital statistics • releases

In 1989, Amy Pond and Rory Williams were born. (TV: The Beast Below; COMIC: The Broken Man)

The Communist regimes in Poland and Hungary were overthrown. (COMIC: The Broken Man)

The Ninth Doctor suggested that he and Rose Tyler go to Marbella in this year to avoid the Daleks at the Battle of the Game Station in 200,100. (TV: The Parting of the Ways)

Dated events

Perivale. (TV: Survival)

In June, the Seventh Doctor and Ace visited Perivale. (TV: Survival, PROSE: Survival)

On 24 June, Stockbridge's local school burned down. Philip Withers, son of Harold and Alice Withers, died in the fire at age seven. (AUDIO: The Eternal Summer, Plague of the Daleks)

Between 24 July and 26 July, the Sixth Doctor met Melanie Bush for the first time. (PROSE: Business Unusual)

On 13 October, Raine Creevy met the Seventh Doctor for the first time. However, this was the not the Doctor's first encounter with Raine, as he had delivered her in Moscow on 7 November 1967. (AUDIO: Crime of the Century, Thin Ice)

On 9 November, the numerous revolutions against the rule of the Soviet Union in the Eastern Bloc countries led to the fall of the Berlin Wall in East Berlin, East Germany. (AUDIO: Protect and Survive; COMIC: The Broken Man) Prior to or during his tenth incarnation, the Doctor had witnessed the fall of the Berlin Wall on two occasions. The actor David Hasselhoff was also present and sang a song. (PROSE: Autonomy)

On 28 November, the country of Czechoslovakia overthrew its Communist government in what was known as the Velvet Revolution. The Eleventh Doctor, Amy Pond and Rory Williams were present for that event, and stopped an alien invasion by the Mavora, with the help of the Golem of Prague. Rory commented that his younger self was "in a cot in Leadworth" at the time. (COMIC: The Broken Man)

On 3 December, Ed Morgan was admitted to a mental asylum. He was diagnosed with severe depression and agoraphobia and was released on 17 January 1990. (TV: Ghost Machine)

Unknown dates

The Second Doctor on Velon. (COMIC: Car of the Century)

The Second Doctor, John and Gillian visited Velon. (COMIC: Car of the Century)

Bobby Prescott and a number of other people tried and failed to stop a mob from destroying a library during riots in New York City. (PROSE: Cat's Cradle: Warhead)

In Cardiff, Wales, the Ritz nightclub closed down after 57 years. (TV: Captain Jack Harkness)

The Soviet Union withdrew its forces from Afghanistan. (COMIC: The Broken Man)

There was an ebola outbreak in Tanganyika. (AUDIO: The Sentinels of the New Dawn)

In this year, the Usurians teamed up with the Master to undermine Earth's stock markets, but were defeated by the Sixth Doctor. (PROSE: Millennial Rites, Business Unusual)

Alternative timeline

In an alternative timeline created by the Elder Gods in the hope of destroying Earth, the militant hardliner Vladimir Kryuchkov became the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union following the death of Konstantin Chernenko in 1985 rather than the considerably more moderate Mikhail Gorbachev. Significant international tensions began following the democratic uprisings in the Eastern Bloc countries. Kryuchkov instructed the protestors to disperse and, when they refused to do so, he sent in the tanks.

The Red Army fired on the protesters, even the children, resulting in a massacre. Following the massacre, there were protests on the Berlin Wall, which resulted in the Soviet Union entering West Berlin on the pretext of restoring order. This meant that the American airbases fell into the possession of the Soviet Union. In response, the United States issued an ultimatum to the Soviets. The Western powers' satellites detected a Soviet army amassing on the border of West Germany, which was destroyed by an American tactical nuclear weapon on 6 November of this year.

Consequently, a nuclear war which came to be known as World War III broke out between the United States and its allies including the United Kingdom on the one hand and the Soviet Union on the other hand on 9 November of this year. Given that nuclear weapons were used by both sides, hundreds of millions of people were killed in the conflict. This timeline was ultimately negated by the Seventh Doctor. (AUDIO: Protect and Survive)

Behind the scenes

According to a sighting report sent to Whoisdoctorwho.co.uk by someone under the username of "rewboss", the Ninth Doctor was present for the fall of the Berlin Wall.