2008

Doctor Who Universe

January

• unknown - 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

• unknown - Jack Harkness and Toshiko Sato are transported back in time to the 1940s. (TW: Captain Jack Harkness)
• unknown - Harold Saxon's campaign for election is underway as "Vote Saxon" signs are visible in Cardiff. (TW: Captain Jack Harkness)
• unknown - The Cardiff rift opens; people see visions of loved ones. Captain Jack defeats Abaddon. (TW: End of Days)
• unknown - 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. Subsequently, Ianto Jones begins taking a more active role in field assignments. (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))

Election Day is generally held on the first Thursday in May. In 2008, the first Thursday was 1st May.

• 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)
• after 2nd May - Martha Jones returns home to her family and leaves the Doctor on his own (DW: Last of the Time Lords).

July

• 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)

December

• December 24/December 25 - 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 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 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)

Negated timelines

• December 25 - While Donna Noble, her mother and her grandfather holiday in the English countryside, the alien spaceship Titanic crashes into London, destroying the city and contaminating most of southern England with radioactivity.

See Donna's World.

Dates 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)
• Following her encounter with the 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 burn up the Earth. The Slitheen plan is foiled by Sarah Jane Smith, although a child Slitheen escapes and the Earth briefly experiences a worldwide power outage coupled with a brief disruption in solar activity. Sarah Jane, utilizing her supercomputer Mr Smith, later orchestrates a cover-up that suggests 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)
• 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 her way back to Earth, Sarah Jane Smith is handed a stone by a spaceship driver, with instructions to give it to someone she trusts. The next day she gives it to Maria Jackson. The Trickster retroactively wipes Sarah Jane out of existence, but reality is restored with help from Maria Jackson. (SJA: Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?)

Real World

• 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

• 8 - 100th birthday of William Hartnell.
• 16 - TW:Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang first broadcast, launching the second series of Torchwood. Torchwood Declassified also begins its second season.
• 19 - BBC Radio Wales broadcasts the documentary Torchwood: All Access, which is released later in the year on the CD of Lost Souls.
• 23 - TW:Sleeper first broadcast.
• 24 - The first issue of Torchwood Magazine is published. According to an article on the making of the crossover episode The Stolen Earth/Journey's End, published in issue 7, the existence of the magazine catches cast members by surprise.
• 30 - TW:To the Last Man first 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 IDW:Agent Provocateur when IDW publishes a graphic novel edition of the storyline in the summer of 2008.
• 4 - BBCR:Everyone Says Hello and BBCR:Hidden first released. These are the first made-for-audio adventures by BBC Audio based upon Torchwood.
• 6 - TW:Meat first broadcast.
• 13 - TW:Adam and TW:Reset are both first broadcast.
• 20 - TW:Dead Man Walking first broadcast.
• 27 - TW:A Day in the Death first broadcast.

March

• The BBC announced it was investigating technology to return colour to Third Doctor episodes only available in black and white.
• 5 - TW: Something Borrowed first broadcast.
• 6 - TWN: The Twilight Streets, TWN: Trace Memory, and TWN: Something in the Water first published.
• 12 - TW: From Out of the Rain first broadcast.
• 19 - TW: Adrift first broadcast.
• 21 - TW: Fragments first 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 universe" 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, and the Torchwood episode Captain Jack Harkness by Catherine Tregenna.
• 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 The Doctor's Daughter), and also includes a clip from Turn Left from near the end of the season. The incorporation of a clip of Billie Piper as Rose Tyler makes official that the character is returning in the new season.

April

• 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).
• 4 - TW:Exit Wounds is broadcast, ending Torchwood's second series. Torchwood Declassified also ends its second season.
• 5 - DW:Partners in Crime is first broadcast, launching the 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 Doomsday in 2006; her cameo is successfully kept a secret until initial broadcast. After the episode is broadcast, the first Series 4 episode of Doctor Who Confidential airs.
• 12 - DW:The Fires of Pompeii first broadcast.
• 18 - The American Sci-Fi Channel launches its broadcasts of Series 4 with DW:Voyage of the Damned.
• 19 - DW:Planet of the Ood first broadcast.
• 26 - DW:The Sontaran Strategem first broadcast. Freema Agyeman returns to the series (temporarily) as Martha Jones, her first Doctor Who appearance since DW: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.
• 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 - DW: The Poison Sky 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 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 created using leftover footage from an earlier episode).
• 3 - Production of Series 4 officially concludes with the filming of the mini-episode Music of the Spheres.
• 8 - BBCR: 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 - DW: The Doctor's Daughter 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.
• 17 - DW: The Unicorn and the Wasp first broadcast.
• 31 - DW: Silence in the Library first broadcast.
• Late May - the BBC releases a new television trailer promoting the final episodes of the fourth series.
• TDA: Martha in the Mirror, TDA: Snowglobe 7, and TDA: The Many Hands first published.

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 confirmed; it is subsequently confirmed that this will constitute the complete third series.
• 7 - DWForest of the Dead first broadcast.
• 14 - DW:Midnight first broadcast. Includes the third and last surprise cameo by Billie Piper prior to her proper return to the series.
• 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 - DW:Turn Left first broadcast, marking the official return of Billie Piper as Rose Tyler after her previous cameo appearances.
• 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 Life on Mars (which stars 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.
• 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 DW: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 - DW:The Stolen Earth 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.[1]

July

• 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.[2]
• 5 - DW:Journey's End 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; 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]. The episode concludes with a teaser for the 2008 Christmas special, at the time of broadcast untitled but later given the title The Next Doctor.
• 6 - DW:Partners in Crime is broadcast on ABC in Australia
• 7 - 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.
• 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/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.
• Mid-July - 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 Doctor Who Classics. This edition features the run from DWUS:The Iron Legion to DWUS: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, DW: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

• 1 - The American Sci-Fi Channel broadcasts DWJourney's End in a special 90-minute time slot, concluding its broadcasts of Series 4.
• 8 - Canadian premiere of Torchwood Series 2 on the Space channel.
• 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.
• IDW Publishing launches a second Doctor Who comic book story arc, IDW:The Forgotten, which will feature appearances by all 10 Doctors.

September

• Publication of TDA: Ghosts of India, TDA: Shining Darkness, and TDA: The Doctor Trap: the first full-length novels featuring Donna Noble as companion.
• 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 included specially shot footage of one of the characters addressing the audience.
• 10 - The first Torchwood radio drama, 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.
• 16 - Release of Torchwood series 2 on standard DVD in the United States (Canadian release is delayed until November 11).
• 18 - BBC Audio releases the Torchwood radio play Lost Souls on CD and for download. The CD version includes a documentary featurette, Torchwood: All Access.
• 19 - Belated broadcast of Series 4 begins on the CBC in Canada. The CBC begins the season with Partners in Crime, omitting 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 Channel.
• 23 - a BBC press release announces the title of the 2008 Christmas special: The Next Doctor, renewing fan speculation regarding David Tennant's future with the series into 2009.
• 29 - SJA: The Last Sontaran Part 1 and Part 2 first broadcast.

October

• Doctor Who Magazine publishes its 400th issue, cover-dated 15 October but available in stores as early as 1 October.
• IDW Publishing launches its fourth Dpctor Who comic book title, Grant Morrison's Doctor Who, reprinting 1980s-era DWM strips by Grant Morrison
• 6 - SJA: The Day of the Clown Part 1 first broadcast.
• 7 - Release of Series 1 of The Sarah Jane Adventures to DVD in North America.

This actually pre-dates the scheduled UK release of the series.

• 9 - Release of BBCR:The Forever Trap, the second exclusive-to-audio Doctor Who story by BBC Audio/BBC Books.
• 13 - SJA: The Day of the Clown Part 2 first broadcast.
• 20 - SJA: Secrets of the Stars Part 1 first broadcast.
• 24 - Torchwood Series 2 concludes in Canada.
• 27
  • SJA: Secrets of the Stars Part 2 first broadcast.
  • Publication of TWN: Almost Perfect, TWN: Pack Animals, and TWN: SkyPoint.
• 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 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.

November

• 3
  • SJA:The Mark of the Berserker Part 1 first broadcast.
  • The Sarah Jane Adventures novelisations SJAN:The Lost Boy and SJAN:Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane? first published.
• 10 - SJA:The Mark of the Berserker Part 2 first broadcast.
• 11 - Release of Torchwood Season 1 on high-definition Blu-Ray in North America, the first Doctor Who-related release in this format.
• 13 - The made-for-audio Sarah Jane Adventures stories BBCR:Shatter Point and BBCR:The Time Capsule are released by BBC Audio.
• 14 - The opening pre-credits sequence of the upcoming Christmas special 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 "The Other Doctor" and Velile Tshabalala as Rosita, as well as a possible new form of Cyberman.
• 17 - SJA:The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith Part 1 first broadcast. (Scheduled)
• 18
  • North American 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). (Scheduled)
• 23 - 45th anniversary of the first broadcast of Doctor Who.
• 24 - SJA:The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith Part 2 first broadcast. (Scheduled)

December

• Scheduled publication of TDA: Beautiful Chaos, TDA: The Eyeless and TDA: 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.
• 1 - SJA:Enemy of the Bane Part 1 first broadcast. (Scheduled)
• 8 - SJA:Enemy of the Bane Part 2 first broadcast, concluding the second season of The Sarah Jane Adventures. (Scheduled)
• The Doctor Who Christmas special, The Next Doctor, 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