2010

Doctor Who Universe

March

• Gwen Cooper and Rhys Williams meet with Jack Harkness outside Cardiff, where Jack (still remoseful over the deaths of his grandson, Ianto, Owen, Tosh and Suzie) uses his recovered vortex manipulator to send a signal to a cold fusion freighter just outside the Sol system. He is beamed up into space. (TW: Children of Earth: Day Five)

April

• 24: Wedding of Bernice Summerfield and Jason Kane, in Cheldon Bonniface, England, Earth. Many guests from throughout time and space attend. (NA: Happy Endings)
• Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart is restored to youth and health by the Fortean Flicker. (NA: Happy Endings)

Unknown dates

• At some point after March, The Doctor visits Captain Jack Harkness, who is recovering from the events of TW: Children of Earth, and hints that he should start dating Alonso Frame before parting. (DW: The End of Time)

It's possible this encounter may occur later than 2010, but not likely too far in the future as neither Jack nor Frame is known to possess time travel capability at this time.

• In spring (i.e. either March, April or May), Donna Noble has her wedding to Shaun Temple. Among her guests are her mother Sylvia Noble, granddad Wilfred Mott, friend Nerys, and unbeknownst to her, the Doctor. The Doctor (by way of Sylvia and Wilf) gifts her a winning triple rollover lottery ticket. (DW: The End of Time)
• The alien Samarands invade Greece. (DWM: Hotel Historia)

Other timelines

• Mickey Smith, Jake Simmonds and Pete travel from a parallel world back to the Doctor's universe. They and Rose and Jackie Tyler are stuck in Pete's World after the tear through the Void closes. (DW: Doomsday)

Due to time differences between the two worlds, they appear in 2007 in the other world. See also Pete's World.

Real World

• The fifth series of Doctor Who is scheduled for broadcast on the BBC this year, consisting of 13 episodes with Steven Moffat taking over from Russell T Davies as executive producer, and Matt Smith taking over the role of the Doctor from David Tennant. Filming for the season began in July 2009, and is expected to carry over into 2010 per the precedent of previous seasons. Although precedent holds that the new season will likely air starting in the spring of 2010 (possibly March or April), until the BBC announces an actual date, this cannot be confirmed; as of 18th February 2010 all the BBC has confirmed is Spring 2010. There have also been media reports that the 2010 season may be split into two halves due to conflicts with coverage of the FIFA World Cup; as of December 2009, this too can only be seen as conjecture. It is also not yet known whether a Christmas special will be commissioned for 2010.
• Related to the above, international broadcasters such as BBC America in the US and Space in Canada are also expected to broadcast Series 5 in 2010, however scheduling is not possible until the BBC confirms its broadcast plans. The effect, if any, of a potential split season is as yet undetermined.
• Series 5 will introduce (among other expected changes) a new Doctor Who logo, which was unveiled in October 2009.
• Assuming it is renewed, production of Series 6 of Doctor Who will presumably begin in the second half of 2010, for broadcast in 2011. As of early January 2010 it has not been indicated whether a Christmas special will be commissioned for 2010.
• Series 4 of Torchwood is anticipated to go into production this year, based upon John Barrowman announcing in November 2009 that he had been signed to appear. Dependent on when production starts, broadcast of the season may occur in 2010 or 2011.
• The first season of the Australian-made spinoff series K-9 is expected to debut in the UK sometime in early 2010, following the broadcast of the pilot episode in late 2009. [1]
• A DVD box set entitled Revisitations is scheduled for UK release in 2010. The box set will include three stories previously released in bare-bones/"vanilla" DVD editions (early in the DVD line): DW: The Talons of Weng-Chiang, DW: The Caves of Androzani and the 1996 TV movie. A North American release of Revisitations is assumed, but it's not known if the TV movie will be included (due to complicated Region 1 rights issues).[2]

Early 2010

• Scheduled publication of Deborah Watling's autobiography, Daddy's Girl (delayed from the original November 2009 publication date).

January

• CC: Bernice Summerfield and the Criminal Code is first released. While previous installments of The Companion Chronicles have featured former TV companions, this story will feature Benny Summerfield, a companion created for the Virgin New Adventures novels.
• In Toronto, Ontario, the Bad Dog Theatre company mounts an improvisational comedy production parodying Doctor Who entitled Doctor Whom, with Anand Rajaram as the Doctor.
• 01 - DW: The End of Time, Part Two is first broadcast, concluding the David Tennant era and marking the debut of Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor. This is expected to be the final on-screen use of the logo introduced in 2005 (and later modified slighly), as well as the arrangement of the Doctor Who theme introduced at the end of 2007. The final David Tennant edition of Doctor Who Confidential follows.
  • BBC One also rebroadcasts DW: The End of Time, Part One earlier in the day.
  • Rebroadcast of Doctor Who's Greatest Moments: The Doctor on BBC3.
  • Beginning at Midnight New Year's Eve/Day, BBC America begins airing a 46-hour marathon of the entire David Tennant era, beginning with DW: The Christmas Invasion.
  • TW: Children of Earth is rebroadcast in its entirety on the Canadian network Space.
  • A Dalek makes a cameo appearance in an episode of the American sitcom Better Off Ted.
  • Almost immediately after the broadcast of the finale, BBC Online's Doctor Who website begins phasing in a new look featuring the new logo and material related to the Eleventh Doctor. Little of this, however, is made available to Internet users outside the UK.
• 02 - US broadcast of DW: The End of Time, Part Two on BBC America, ending its 46-hour David Tennant marathon.
  • Space Channel in Canada airs both parts of DW: The End of Time for the first time as part of a daylong Doctor Who/Torchwood marathon that includes rebroadcasts of all the specials from DW: The Next Doctor to The Waters of Mars, and additional rebroadcasts of the complete TW: Children of Earth mini-series.
  • Rebroadcast of the final David Tennant edition of Doctor Who Confidential on BBC3.
  • Following its broadcast of DW: The End of Time, Part Two, the BBC receives more than 140 complaints from viewers alleging that the Eleventh Doctor's reference to not being ginger was a slight against redheaded people. See 6th January.
• 03 - DW: The End of Time is rebroadcast on Space in Canada.
• Week of 4th January - Production of Series 5 resumes in Cardiff after a Christmas break (and some international filming in late 2009).
• 05 - North American DVD release of DW: The Keys of Marinus and DW: The Twin Dilemma.
  • The arrival of Matt Smith as the new Doctor Who is the topic of a question on the internationally syndicated American game show Jeopardy.
• 06 - In response to complaints regarding widespread misinterpretation of the Eleventh Doctor's comment from the end of DW: The End of Time, Part Two about not being ginger, the BBC issues an official statement clarifying that the line references the Doctor's previously-stated desire to be ginger in DW: The Christmas Invasion, and also noting that both Donna Noble and Amy Pond are redheads.[3]
  • Filming for Series 5 takes place in Cardiff at Roald Dahl Plass which attracts media attention.[4]
• 07 - BBCR: The Last Voyage, an exclusive-to-audio adventure of the Tenth Doctor, is first released.
  • Audio adaptation of DWN: Doctor Who - The Three Doctors is first released.
  • Doctor Who Magazine debuts a new look incorporating the new Doctor Who logo.
  • DW: The Keys of Marinus is released to DVD in Region 4.
• Early January - production of David Tennant's American pilot, Rex is Not Your Lawyer, concludes in Hollywood. Soon after, US media reports that production of a full series by the NBC network may be fast-tracked due to the necessity of filling multiple timeslots left vacant as of March 2010 by the cancellation of the five-nights-a-week Jay Leno Show. It is later reported, however, that NBC has chosen not to follow through with a full series for now, though a fall 2010 broadcast is still a possibility. [5]
  • It is also announced that Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Tish Jones in Series 3) has been cast in a lead role in another American series, Undercovers, from J.J. Abrams.
• 08 - Australian debut of TW: Children of Earth on ABC2. The five chapters of the mini-series will be broadcast one per week.
  • The British Academy of Film and Television Arts posts The Regeneration of Doctor Who, a 25-minute discussion with Russell T Davies and Julie Gardner, to its YouTube channel.[6]
• 11 - UK DVD/Blu-Ray release of the 2009 Specials box set, including DW: The Next Doctor, Planet of the Dead, The Waters of Mars and The End of Time. DW: The Next Doctor, becomes the first Doctor Who episode to be "upconverted" from standard definition to high definition.[7] A three-disc Winter Specials set containing just Waters of Mars and End of Time, is also released.
• 12 - A box set compiling the 5-part BBC Audio story, BBCR: Hornets' Nest is first released.
• 14 - The second edition of The Writer's Tale by Russell T Davies and Benjamin Cook, titled The Writer's Tale: The Final Chapter, is first published in the UK. The new edition adds more than 300 pages of new material to the previous book.
  • Mark Jones (Keeler, DW: The Seeds of Doom), dies in Shrewsbury, Shropshire at the age of 70.
• Mid January - Canadian broadcasts of Series 2 of The Sarah Jane Adventures begins in some parts of Canada on BBC Kids (a major national cable provider dropped the network in 2009).
  • The BBC begins scouting for a new producer to take on Series 4 of The Sarah Jane Adventures.[8]
• 18 - UK release of The Peladon Tales DVD box set consisting of DW: The Curse of Peladon and DW: The Monster of Peladon.
• 19 - Reports surface in US media that BBC Worldwide, Russell T Davies, Julie Gardner and Jane Tranter are planning to mount a US version of Torchwood for the American Fox network. John Barrowman is a potential star, reprising Jack Harkness, but at this point it's not known if the show will be a standalone remake or part of the established Whoniverse. According to The Hollywood Reporter a US-based "reboot" of Doctor Who is a possibility as well.[9]
• 20 - For the fourth consecutive ceremony, Doctor Who wins the Drama category at the National Television Awards. David Tennant also received the NTA award for Best Drama Performance.

Special effects technician Ian Scoones dies in Bulgaria.

• 21 - BBCR: Doctor Who at the BBC: A Legend Reborn is first released (delayed from original release date of November 2009). However it is immediately recalled due to issues regarding clearance of some material on the disc and a new February release date announced. A few copies of the unedited version, however, enter circulation.[10]
  • REF: The Writer's Tale: The Final Chapter was scheduled to be published in North America, although availability through retailers such as Amazon is apparently delayed until March. Some smaller retailers might still have received the book.
  • Doctor Who Adventures publishes its 150th issue. To celebrate the magazine comes packaged with a package of "Mars Slime".
• 22 - The audio adaptation of DWN: Doctor Who and the Ice Warriors is first released.
• Late January - Launch of Vworp Vworp!, a fanzine dedicated to the history of Doctor Who Magazine and the Doctor Who comic strip.[11]
• 29 - WC: Doctor Who and the Silver Spiral, an unofficial web-exclusive short story, is published by astronomer Dr. Megan Argo to commemorate a major discovery involving a supernova. The story receives press coverage in Scientific American. Argo also records and uploads an audio version of the story, read by her.[12][13]
• 30 - David Tennant and Catherine Tate once again guest-host the Jonathan Ross show on BBC Radio. Guests include Anthony Head and Ricky Gervais.
• 31 - BFA: Leviathan (The Lost Stories) is first released.
  • BFA: A Thousand Tiny Wings is first released. This audio will reintroduce Elizabeth Klein, a character who last appeared in the 2001 release BFA: Colditz, as a new companion for the Seventh Doctor.
• Look Who's Talking, a collection of columns written by Colin Baker for Bucks Free Press between 1995 and 2009, is first published.
• Shooty Dog Thing, a collection of fanzine articles, is first published.

February

• CC: The Suffering is first released.
• The online service SeeSaw begins offering classic-series Doctor Who episodes for online viewing.
• 01 - The animated story DW: Dreamland is first released on DVD in the UK. The documentary series Doctor Who's Greatest Moments is included in the release.
• 02 - North American DVD/Blu-Ray release of DW: The Waters of Mars and The End of Time, and the 5-disc 2009 Specials box set including DW: The Next Doctor, which has been upconverted to high definition for the Blu-Ray edition.
• 04 - Region 4 DVD/Blu-Ray release of DW: The Waters of Mars and the Dalek War DVD box set featuring DW: Frontier in Space and Planet of the Daleks.
  • The audio adaptation of DWN: Doctor Who - Logopolis is first released.
• 06 - Noted fantasy writer Neil Gaiman announces via his blog that he will be writing an episode of Doctor Who for the 2011 season.[14] This is also the first indication that the series is expected to continue beyond 2010.
• 07 - New Zealand broadcast of DW: The End of Time, Part One.
• 08 - UK DVD release of DW: The Masque of Mandragora.
• 11 - Reissue date for BBCR: Doctor Who at the BBC: A Legend Reborn, following two previous delays. [15]
• 14 - Australian broadcast of DW: The End of Time, Part One on ABC1
  • New Zealand broadcast of DW: The End of Time, Part Two.
  • The Sunday Times runs an article "Doctor in War with Planet Maggie" that alleges that episodes of the fading original series in the late 1980s were crafted with an anti-Margaret Thatcher political agenda, a view apparently supported by Sylvester McCoy and his era's script editor, Andrew Cartmel. DW: The Happiness Patrol and Paradise Towers and even the obscure novel TC: Turlough and the Earthlink Dilemma are cited as specific examples.
• 15 - The 20-years-warmed-over controversy as to whether late-period Doctor Who had an anti-Thatcher agenda is picked up by other media, and is the topic of a discussion with Andrew Cartmel, Terrance Dicks and others on BBC Two's Newsnight.
  • George Waring (Arden, DW: The Ice Warriors) dies.
• 17 - The BBC, in advance of issuing a new trailer, releases a new Eleventh Doctor promotional image featuring the the Doctor, Amy Pond, a Dalek, a Weeping Angel, and the first glimpse of a new character, the Smiler.
  • Matt Smith chooses the winner in a "design a TARDIS console" contest conducted on Blue Peter. The console design is scheduled to be incorporated into an upcoming Series 5 episode in some way.[16]
  • Around this same time, Broadcast magazine reports that a 40-second 3-D trailer has been produced for cinemas.
• 19 - Doctor Who and Torchwood receive several nominations for the 2010 Saturn Awards (scheduled to be awarded 24th June). DW: The End of Time and TW: Children of Earth is nominated for Best Television Presentation (competition includes the new versions of The Prisoner and V along, with, strangely, The Tudors; David Tennant is nominated for Best Actor in Television; Bernard Cribbins is nominated for Best Guest Starring Role in Television (his competition includes John Lithgow and Leonard Nimoy); and in the Best DVD Television Release category, the DVD of DW: Planet of the Dead and TW: Children of Earth were nominated against full-season sets of Lost, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, the US version of Life on Mars, and another BBC series, Primeval.
• 20 - A 3-D trailer for the new series, featuring specially-shot footage, debuts on UK cinemas.
• 21 - Australian broadcast of DW: The End of Time, Part Two on ABC1.
• 23 - Multiple Doctor Who-related audios are released in North America, including BBCR: The Last Voyage, and the audio adaptations of DWN: Doctor Who and the Dalek Invasion of Earth, DWN: Doctor Who and the Ice Warriors, DWN: Doctor Who and the Planet of the Spiders and NSA: Beautiful Chaos.
  • Australian broadcasts of Series 3 of The Sarah Jane Adventures begin on Nickelodeon.
• 24 - A major auction of props from Doctor Who takes place at Bonhams auction house[17].
• 28 - BFA: The Hollows of Time (The Lost Stories) is first released.
  • BFA: Survival of the Fittest is first released. This release includes the 12th and final chapter of the serialized story CC: The Three Companions.

March

• CC: The Emperor of Eternity is scheduled for release.
• According to the Doctor Who News Page, production of Series 4 of The Sarah Jane Adventures is scheduled to go into production this month.[18]
• The Canadian cable network Space is scheduled to take over the Canadian broadcast licence for Doctor Who seasons 1-4 and related Christmas Specials (save DW: Voyage of the Damned which does not become available until April) from the CBC.
• 01 - UK DVD release of DW: The Space Museum and The Chase as a single set.
• 02 - Scheduled North American DVD release of the Dalek War box set featuring DW: Frontier in Space and Planet of the Daleks.
  • Scheduled North American DVD release of DW: Remembrance of the Daleks, more than two years after it was first announced.
• 04 - Scheduled publication of NSA: Code of the Krillitanes, the fifth Quick Reads novella. This book will feature the Tenth Doctor, despite it being published several months after DW: The End of Time. It is the final Tenth Doctor original novel under the BBC New Series Adventures line. (Although announced for 4th March, online retailers were shipping the book as early as mid-February.)
  • Scheduled release of the audio adaptation of DWN: Doctor Who - Castrovalva.
  • Scheduled Region 4 release of The Peladon Tales DVD box set consisting of DW: The Curse of Peladon and DW: The Monster of Peladon. Also scheduled for DVD/Blu-Ray released in Region 4: DW: The End of Time.
• 07 - Scheduled release of BBCR: Dead Air, the final exclusive-to-audio story featuring the Tenth Doctor.
• 15 - Scheduled publication of REF: Chicks Dig Time Lords: A Celebration of Doctor Who by the Women Who Love It, an essay collection by Mad Norwegian Press. Contributors include Lisa Bowerman, Kate Orman, India Fisher, Sophie Aldred and Carole E. Barrowman (sister of John Barrowman and co-author of his autobiography).
• 24 - Rescheduled release date for REF: The Writer's Tale: The Final Chapter for North American retailers such as Amazon (originally announced for 21 January).
• 26 - Fifth anniversary of the return of Doctor Who to television.
• 29 - Scheduled UK release of the DVD box set Myths and Legends, including DW: The Time Monster, Underworld and The Horns of Nimon.
  • Doctor Who Classics Vol. 5, a graphic novel collecting more issues of the IDW series Doctor Who Classics is scheduled for release in North America.
  • Fugitive, a graphic novel reprinting the first story arcs from IDW: Doctor Who Ongoing, is scheduled for release both in North America and in the UK, which will make it one of the first occasions of original IDW comic stories being released in Britain.
• 31 - BFA: Paradise 5 (The Lost Stories) is scheduled for release.
  • BFA: The Architects of History is scheduled for release.

April

• The Canadian cable network Space is scheduled to take over the Canadian broadcast licence for the 2007 Christmas special DW: Voyage of the Damned from the CBC, officially ending the CBC's association with the Doctor Who franchise. According to a January 2009 posting by the Doctor Who Information Network, Space is expected to broadcast the episode soon after.[19]
• BFA: City of Spires is scheduled for release. This is the first of three dramas pairing the Sixth Doctor with Jamie McCrimmon.
• CC: Shadow of the Past is scheduled for release.
• Scheduled UK DVD release of DW: Time and the Rani.
• 01 - DW: The Masque of Mandragora is scheduled for DVD release in Region 4.
• Easter (either 3rd or 4th April) - Broadcasts of Series 5/Series 31 of Doctor Who are scheduled to begin, launching the Eleventh Doctor era.[20] Based on previous announcements, the first episode is expected to be DW: The Eleventh Hour and also introduce Karen Gillan as new companion Amy Pond.
• 08 - BBCR: The Hounds of Artemis, the first original audio story featuring the Eleventh Doctor, is scheduled for release.
  • Scheduled release of the audio adaptation of DWN: Doctor Who - The Three Doctors.
• 17 - Scheduled start of Series 5, DW: The Eleventh Hour on BBC America.[21]
• 22 - Scheduled publication of NSA: Apollo 13, NSA: Night of the Humans and NSA: The Forgotten Army, the first original novels featuring the Eleventh Doctor.
• 29 - The Decide Your Destiny line continues with the scheduled release of Claws of the Macra and The Coldest War.
  • Scheduled UK publication of the Doctor Who Classics Omnibus from IDW Publishing.
  • Scheduled publication of the children's books Eleventh Doctor Regeneration Sticker Guide and Companion Activity Book.
• 30 - BFA: Point of Entry (The Lost Stories) is scheduled for release.

May

• BFA: The Wreck of the Titan is scheduled for release.
• CC: The Time Vampire and CC: Night's Black Agents are scheduled for release.
• 01 - REF: Doctor Who Funfax (2nd edition) is scheduled for publication.
  • REF: Time, Unincorporated 2 is scheduled for publication.
  • REF: Timeless Adventures: How Doctor Who Conquered TV is scheduled for publication.
• 04 - The Crimson Hand, the final omnibus of Tenth Doctor Doctor Who Magazine comic strips, is scheduled for publication.
  • Scheduled North American DVD release of DW: The Curse of Peladon and DW: The Monster of Peladon (released separately instead of as a box set as in the UK), as well as DW: The Masque of Mandragora.
  • Scheduled North American DVD release of DW: Dreamland which will also include the Doctor Who's Greatest Moments documentary.
• 06 - Scheduled release of the audio adaptation of DWN: Doctor Who - Mission to the Unknown.
• 27 - REF: The Tardis Handbook is scheduled for publication.
• 28 - REF: The Science of Doctor Who is scheduled for publication.
• 29 - Scheduled North American publication of the Doctor Who Classics Omnibus from IDW Publishing.
• 31 - BFA: The Macros (The Lost Stories) is scheduled for release.

June

• BFA: Legend of the Cybermen is scheduled for release.
• CC: Solitaire is scheduled for release.
• 03 - BBCR: The Runaway Train is scheduled for release.
  • Scheduled release of the audio adaptation of DWN: Doctor Who - The Mutation of Time.
  • REF: Doctor Who: Intergalactic Survival Guide is scheduled for publication.
  • The children's books Doctor Who: Battle Badges Activity Book, Doctor Who: Top Secret Stories, Activities and Stickers! and Doctor Who: 3-D Mask Activity Book are scheduled for publication
• 07 - Scheduled UK release of the Kamelion DVD box set featuring DW: The King's Demons and Planet of Fire.
• 24 - REF: Doctor Who: The Episode Guide from Pocket Essentials is scheduled for publication.
• 30 - BFA: The Song of Megaptera (The Lost Stories) is scheduled for release.

July

• CC: Yet-to-be-titled First Doctor story is scheduled for release.
• BFA: Cobwebs is scheduled for release; this is the first of several audio dramas reuniting the 1983 cast of Peter Davison, Sarah Sutton, Janet Fielding and Mark Strickson.
• 22 - Scheduled publication of NSA: Adorable Illusion, NSA: Nuclear Time and NSA: The King's Dragon.

August

• CC: Yet-to-be-titled Second Doctor story is scheduled for release.
• BFA: The Whispering Forest is scheduled for release.

September

• CC: Yet-to-be-titled Third Doctor story is scheduled for release.
• BFA: The Cradle of the Snake is scheduled for release.
• 06 - DW: Time and the Rani is scheduled for DVD release in the UK.

October

• CC: Yet-to-be-titled Fourth Doctor story is scheduled for release.
• 18 - Scheduled UK DVD release of the Third Series of The Sarah Jane Adventures.
• 31 - REF: The Doctor's Monsters: Meanings of the Monstrous in Doctor Who is scheduled for publication.

Fall

• Anticipated broadcast window for Series 4 of The Sarah Jane Adventures (subject to change).

November

• CC: Yet-to-be-titled Sixth Doctor story is scheduled for release.
• Per an announcement made in February 2009, IDW: Doctor Who Ongoing is scheduled to publish its final issue featuring the adventures of the Tenth Doctor, before moving on to the Eleventh Doctor. It has been 11 months since David Tennant's final on-screen appearance, and this is likely to be the Tenth Doctor's final media appearance for the time being.

Late 2010

• An as-yet untitled Doctor Who novel by Michael Moorcock is scheduled for publication before Christmas.[22]

December

• CC: Yet-to-be-titled First Doctor story is scheduled for release.
• BFA: The Four Doctors, a multi-Doctor adventure issued as an exclusive for Big Finish subscribers, is scheduled for release.
• According to an announcement made by IDW Publishing at the New York Comic Con in February 2009, the comic book series IDW: Doctor Who Ongoing is scheduled to begin publishing original adventures featuring the Eleventh Doctor as of its 18th issue, scheduled for publication this month.
• 09 - Coronation Street, long Doctor Who's biggest competitor, marks its 50th anniversary of broadcast. Since September it has been the longest-running English language drama series in the world.

2009

21st century 2010s

2011