1981

Events

History of the Doctor Who Universe

Date Unknown

• Anne Travers becomes the cabinet's scientific advisor. (MA: Downtime)

February

• 28 - The Doctor and Adric land the TARDIS by the side of a motorway to gain measurements of a police box. Events of Logopolis. Air hostess Tegan Jovanka stumbles aboard the TARDIS on her way to work at London's Heathrow Airport.
• 28 - The Doctor tries to return Tegan Jovanka to her own time, but is interrupted by the events of Four to Doomsday.

March

• 1 - Following a lethal fall from the Pharos Project's dish, the Fourth Doctor regenerates into the Fifth. (DW:Logopolis)

June

• Peter Tracey is given a suspended sentence for breaking and entering. (K-9 & Company: A Girl's Best Friend)

July

• 7 - British musical group Soft Cell release their single, Tainted Love, which would go on to become recognized as a classic of early-1980s pop music. It is destined to be preserved until at the year 5,000,000,000 when it is revered as a piece of classical music from old Earth. (DW: The End of the World

September

• A hailstorm srikes Moreton Harwood. It lasts only thirteen seconds, but destroys Commander Pollock's crops. (K-9 & Company: A Girl's Best Friend)

December

• (1 - 14) - Sarah Jane Smith is out of the country working for Reuters. (K-9 & Company: A Girl's Best Friend)

• 6 - Lavinia Smith leaves Moreton Harwood for a lecture tour in America. Before departing, she arranges for a mysterious crate addressed to her niece, Sarah Jane Smith to be left at Moreton Harwood. (K-9 & Company: A Girl's Best Friend)

• 10 - Lavinia Smith phones Brendan Richards to tell him he will be spending Christmas with Sarah Jane. Brendan waits for Sarah to pick him up at school, unaware that she is out of the country. (K-9 & Company: A Girl's Best Friend)

• 18 - 22) - . (K-9 & Company: A Girl's Best Friend) - Sarah Jane Smith opens the crate left by Lavinia and activates K-9 Mark III, who has been waiting for her since 1978.

• 29 - Members of the witch's coven at Moreton Harwood are tried for attempted murder. (K-9 & Company: A Girl's Best Friend)

History of Doctor Who

January

• 02 - Victor Carin, who played Virgil Earp in "The Gunfighters," dies from cancer in Edinburgh, Scotland.

• 03 - Warriors' Gate Episode 1 First Broadcast

• 05 - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy debuts on BBC Television. A mini-series adaptation of Douglas Adams' novel, the series would include a pre-Doctor cameo appearance by Peter Davison as "The Dish of the Day".

• 10 - Warriors' Gate Episode 2 First Broadcast

• 15 - Doctor Who and the Creature from the Pit First Published. Beginning with this release and continuing until 1991, Target Books will begin commissioning the original teleplay authors to adapt their own scripts, whenever possible.

• 17 - Warriors' Gate Episode 3 First Broadcast

• 24 - Warriors' Gate Episode 4 First Broadcast

• 31 - The Keeper of Traken Episode 1 First Broadcast

February

• 07 - The Keeper of Traken Episode 2 First Broadcast

• 14 - The Keeper of Traken Episode 3 First Broadcast

• 21 - The Keeper of Traken Episode 4 First Broadcast

• 21 - Ron Grainer dies

• 28 - Logopolis Episode 1 First Broadcast

March

• 07 - Logopolis Episode 2 First Broadcast

• 14 - Logopolis Episode 3 First Broadcast

• 21 - Logopolis Episode 4 First Broadcast, ending in Tom Baker's regeneration into Peter Davison. For the last time until 2005, the lead actor of the series is credited on screen as "Doctor Who" (beginning with the next season, the credit becomes "The Doctor").

• 28 - Gareth David-Lloyd, who plays Ianto Jones in Torchwood, The Stolen Earth and Journeys End is born in Newport, Wales.

April

• 17 - Doctor Who and the Enemy of the World First Published. Written by series actor Ian Marter, the book is controversial at the time of release for its use of adult language in a line of books officially considered children's literature. This is the final release in the Target Books line to use the old series logo from 1973-80 (the logo would next appear on a Target novelization in the early 1990s).

October

• 15 - Doctor Who and An Unearthly Child, an adaptation of the very first Doctor Who serial, is first published. Its publication promotes the upcoming rebroadcast of the serial by BBC Two. The Target Books line switches to the then-current "neon tubing" series logo with this release.

November

• 02 - Third television Broadcast of An Unearthly Child in the UK on BBC Two

• 03 - Second television Broadcast of The Cave of Skulls in the UK on BBC Two

• 04 - Second television Broadcast of The Forest of Fear in the UK on BBC Two

• 05 - Second television Broadcast of The Firemaker in the UK on BBC Two

December

• 28 - K9 and Company - A Girl's Best Friend First Broadcast. This is an attempt at launching a spin-off series, but is not successful.

Unknown date

• Steven Scott, who played Kebble in "The Power of the Daleks," dies.

1980

20th century 1980s

1982