Theory:Timeline - Fourth Doctor

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This page lists appearances of the Fourth Doctor in the order in which he experienced them. This timeline is based on observations of the Doctor Who universe and the events in each of these stories. From these observations we have attempted to build a concise timeline. It is assumed, much like their TV story counterparts, that each novel or audio series their published/numbered order is the order they occur in[statement unclear]. There are also many gaps between stories.

The layout of this timeline is based in part on the observations on Doctor Who Reference Guide and Doctor Who - The Complete Adventures, Lance Parkin's AHistory and other sources that allow us to make observations, such as DocOhoReviews, The History of the Doctor, The Discontinuity Guide, Clive Banks Databank, the Big Finish forums and The Divergent Universe forums. None of these sources should be used solely as a source or considered a "true" timeline for stories.

Limiting factors

Companions

Due to the nature of travel throughout season 12, any story featuring TARDIS travel with Harry Sullivan (other than TV: The Ark in Space) must take place after TV: Revenge of the Cybermen and before TV: Terror of the Zygons. Any story with Sarah Jane Smith must take place before TV: The Hand of Fear. Any story with Leela must take place after TV: The Face of Evil and before TV: The Invasion of Time. Any story with K9 Mark I must take place after TV: The Invisible Enemy and before TV: The Invasion of Time. Any story with K9 Mark II must take place after TV: The Invasion of Time and before TV: Warriors' Gate. Any story with Romana I must take place after TV: The Ribos Operation and before TV: Destiny of the Daleks. Any story with Romana II must take place after TV: Destiny of the Daleks and before TV: Warriors' Gate. Any story with Adric must be set after TV: Full Circle.

Costume

The Fourth Doctor has an advantage when dating his stories due to his costume. The Doctor started out with a small red coat, a rainbow scarf, and blue jeans. His coat soon grew to a larger deep brown coat. Eventually, his costume turned into the "red" version. This makes dating very simple when looking at how the Doctor is dressed.

Timeline

Early adventures

The Doctor regenerates from his previous incarnation.
The Doctor's regeneration stabalises. Sarah and Harry leave with him in the TARDIS.
The Doctor and Sarah both comment on the Doctor's new face.
The Doctor and Harry's cameo takes place immediately after The Last Broadcast.

The Nerva Beacon

The travellers arrive at the Nerva Beacon, and agree to beam down to Earth.
The travellers fix the faulty equipment on Earth and beam back to the Nerva Beacon.
The Time Lords intercept to transmat beam and give the Doctor a Time Ring and a mission on Skaro.
Immediately after departing from Skaro, the Doctor, Sarah and Harry are scattered across the Adelphine Cluster due to temporal disruption interfering with the Time Ring.
The Doctor, Sarah and Harry are still using the Time Ring.
Just as they retrieve the TARDIS, the crew receive a summons from the Brigadier.
The TARDIS still needs time to recover from the solar flare radiation.
The TARDIS has recovered and makes its way to Scotland.
The Doctor and his companions expect to find the Loch Ness at the start of the story, so this must take place while they were answering the Brigadier's summons.
The travellers make it to Scotland, and Harry decides to remain on Earth with UNIT.

Walking in eternity

The Doctor claims to have travelled over 30,000 years to get to the 17th century.
Sarah and the Doctor are still wearing the clothes they wore in Planet of Evil.
The Doctor is inspired to visit a Shakespearean-era theatre by his experiences in Managra.
Sarah observes that the Doctor has been moody as of late.
Sarah understands that it takes time for radio waves to travel between Mars and Earth.
Front matter references TV adventures up to Pyramids of Mars.
Sarah remembers being shot at by homicidal androids.
Sarah hasn’t seen Harry since The Android Invasion.
Harry has resumed traveling with the Doctor
Harry leaves the TARDIS again after this story.
The Doctor complains about the Time Lords "messing about with the TARDIS", setting this after the comic stories set between Return of the Daleks and Treasure Trail, where the Time Lord had been doing so.
Sarah refers to the planet Karn and her encounter with Morbius.
Sarah claims it is Christmas in her time period.
Sarah celebrates Christmas in her time period.
Sequel to Pyramids of Mars.
The Doctor begins using the secondary control room in the TARDIS.
Sarah recalls being prepared to be sacrificed, as she was in The Masque of Mandragora.
Sarah is wearing her Andy Pandy clothes.
Sarah decides she had had enough of the TARDIS and the Doctor receives a summons from Gallifrey, and has to leave Sarah behind.

Companionless

The Doctor crosses wits with the Master on Gallifrey.
The Doctor broods over the lives lost on Gallifrey.
The Doctor says a proper farewell to Sarah Jane Smith.
The Doctor is travelling alone, and still feels melancholy because "she" is no longer with him.
The Doctor is in his bohemian attire and is on his own. Images of Davros, Morbius, and the decaying Master are in his mind.

Old friends

Milena and Ms. Young

New acquaintances

A noble savage

Leela joins the Doctor in his travels.
The events of The Robots of Death are still fresh in Leela’s mind.
Leela still shows particularly violent tendencies, setting this early in her travels.
Sequel to The Robots of Death.
Leela's first visit to Earth, although she won't remember it.
Leela has never seen a horse before.
Leela is still learning basic reading. She does not know of regeneration.
Leela has only been traveling with the Doctor for a few weeks, but has seen spaceships before.
The first scene of Talons, seen from H. G. Well's perspective.
The Doctor and Leela have just parted ways with Jago and Litefoot.
Leela has recently encountered horses.
Leela recalls the Victorian theatre.
Leela refers to her visit to London in 1889, and how she fired a revolver at a dragon.
The Doctor and the Master meet for the first time since The Deadly Assassin.
Leela has a limited ability to read English.
Leela is still wearing Victorian clothing from their visit to London in The Ghosts of Gralstead.
Leela is unfamiliar with the concept of money. The TARDIS' secondary console room is destroyed in a fire.
Charley runs into the console room on entering the TARDIS, so it is set after the secondary console room was destroyed.
Leela views jeans as ridiculous.
The Doctor teaches Leela about money for the first time.
Leela is able to read on her own.
Leela's reading level has advanced to the point where the Doctor is having her read him the works of Shakespeare. She also knows about policemen.
Leela's eye colour changes from brown to blue. She also wears jeans for the first time.
Leela is still in jeans.

Adopting K9

K9 Mark I is adopted by the Doctor.
K9 takes damage from the drain on his batteries, as well as water damage from the canals, which gives him "corroded circuitry".
K-9 is suffering from "corroded circuitry".
The Doctor is hunting a second Fendahl skull.
Leela recalls being temporarily blinded at Fang Rock.
The Doctor and K9 begin playing chess.
Leela remembers seeing the steel hives of the Sun Makers.
The Doctor begins to go without his cravat.
Leela and K9 are kidnapped Adam Mitchell, leading directly into Endgame.
The Doctor joins with his other incarnations to rescue Leela and K9 from Adam and the Tremas Master, and assists the other Doctors in saving their companions as well.
Leela has changed into a new set of clothes.
The Doctor begins work on K9 Mark II.
Leela and K9 MK I leave the Doctor, who decides to begin work on K9 MK II.
Traveling alone, the Doctor notes that his previous companion has just departed for "greener pastures."

Nest Cottage

The Doctor mentions fighting giant rats, killer robots, and a skull from the dawn of time before arriving at Nest Cottage.
The Doctor leaves Nest Cottage for a year.

A return to wandering

In The Drosten's Curse, the Doctor compares a stopping-and-starting golf cart to "a dog [he] knew", most likely K9.
A photograph depicts the Doctor in his "post-Underworld" appearance. No mention is made by Tiger of him travelling with another companion.

Seeking the serpent's egg

The Doctor returns to Nest Cottage.
The Doctor departs from Nest Cottage.

Travels with K9

K9 MK II has been completed.

Quest for the Key to Time

The Doctor is given a quest by the White Guardian and is assigned Romana as an assistant.
This is Romana's first time on Earth.
Romana refers to Vivian Fay, and recalls using a gun on Zanak.
The Doctor is taking a break from his quest.
The Doctor is forced to resume his quest.
The Doctor and Romana investigated a mysterious painting.
The Doctor and Romana are looking for the sixth segment.
The Doctor and Romana complete their quest. The Doctor installs a randomiser into the TARDIS.

Further adventures with Romana

The Doctor and Romana explain they are hiding from the Black Guardian in 1929.
The Doctor and Romana are relaxing in 1929 without K9.
K9 is damaged after being affected by the time slippage.
K9 is fully repaired from the damage caused by the time spillage.
Romana elects to continue travelling in the TARDIS instead of returning to Gallifrey.
The Doctor arrived in Prague due to the randomizer.

The new Romana

Romana regenerates.
Romana is still wearing her outfit from Destiny of the Daleks.
Romana is still wearing her outfit from Destiny of the Daleks.
Romana's regeneration is referenced.
The Doctor plans to take Romana to Paris.
The Doctor and Romana fight the Jagaroth in Paris.
Takes place during Nightmare of Eden.
The Doctor mentions recovering from the experiences with the Mandrels and the CET Machine.
Romana does not yet have a sonic screwdriver
The Doctor acquires a chrono-historical stress gauge.
The Doctor is still using the chrono-historical stress gauge.
The Doctor's the chrono-historical stress gauge book is mentioned.
Romana reveals she has her own sonic screwdriver.
Romana notes that she and the Doctor have been to Paris before.
The Doctor knows about Romana's sonic screwdriver.
The Doctor and Romana are still worried about the Black Guardian's revenge, and Romana posses a sonic screwdriver.
The events of Shada are overwritten by The Five Doctors, and later experienced by the Eighth Doctor. Upon returning to the TARDIS, the Doctor decides to go to Brighton.
The Doctor and Romana have just encountered the "mind-wiping sphere" from Shada.
The Doctor is trying to get to Brighton.
Menlove Stokes remembers the Doctor from the Rock of Judgement.

Looking for K9

During the early Doctor Who Magazine issues, the Doctor is traveling with K9 Mark II without Romana, while wearing his bohemian clothing and having the randomiser activated. In Timeslip he expresses a desire to contact Romana, suggesting that they got separated after the cliffhanger of The Well-Mannered War.
K9 is kidnapped, and the Doctor travels alone trying to find him.

K9 found

The Doctor finds K9.

K9 and Sharon

Sharon joins the TARDIS.
Sharon leaves the TARDIS.

More adventures with K9

The Doctor has changed his clothes to a burgundy design, and the randomiser is still in effect.

Final voyages with Romana

The Doctor has reunited with Romana, who is surprised that he is wearing a burgundy coat.
The Doctor says that he has visited an alternate future in which the Roman Empire never fell, referring to Doctor Who and the Iron Legion.
The Doctor decides to go to Brighton.
The Doctor completely removes the randomiser after his holiday in Brighton.
The Doctor is “dressed entirely in red” and there is no sign of K9.
The Time Lords order Romana back to Gallifrey.

Trapped in E-Space

En route to Gallifrey, the TARDIS gets sucked into E-Space, where Adric stows away on the TARDIS.
Takes place directly after the Doctor, Romana, and Adric leave the Vampire Planet.
Adric has dealt with Marshmen and Great Vampires.
Adric mentions the imprisonments he endured during The Invasion of E-Space and O, Darkness. The Doctor and Romana die, but, after some years, Adric is able to change time so that the Doctor and Romana live.
Romana leaves the TARDIS and the Doctor gives her K9 MK II. The Doctor escapes E-Space with Adric.

Return to N-Space

Saddened by Romana's departure, the Doctor cleans the TARDIS.
The Doctor and Adric have recently returned to N-Space.
K9 MK III has been assembled.

Final adventures

The Doctor drops K9 MK III off with Sarah Jane, (A Girl's Best Friend) which saddens Adric. (A Boy's Tale)
The Doctor is traveling alone.
Sequel to Junkyard Demon
The Season 18 theme is used, and the Doctor is alone.
The Doctor has reunited with Adric.
Critically injured in his battle with the Tremas Master, the Doctor regenerates into his next incarnation with the assistance of the Watcher.
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