Theory:Timeline - Third Doctor

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This page lists appearances of the Third Doctor in the order in which he experienced them. This timeline is based upon observations of the Doctor Who universe and the events that occur during each of these stories. From these observations we have attempted to build a concise timeline. It is assumed, much like its TV story counterparts that for each novel or audio series their published/numbered order is the order they occur in. This does not apply to short stories which are often ambiguous about their placement. There are also many gaps between stories.

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

Additionally there are statements on the back of Virgin Missing Adventures and many BBC Past Doctor Adventures novels that state between which TV stories the novel takes place between. These can be used to narrow the field, and should be viewed as the only placing for these novels.

Limiting factors

Any stories involving the Doctor travelling around several destinations in his TARDIS should take place following TV: The Three Doctors, prior to this he is limited to travels "on assignment" for the Time Lords. Any limited trip with Jo Grant must take place after TV: Colony in Space. Any story where he is not on assignment but travelling freely with Jo must take place after TV: The Three Doctors and before TV: The Green Death. Any story with Sarah Jane Smith must take place after TV: The Time Warrior and before TV: Planet of the Spiders.

Timeline

UNIT career begins

The Doctor has regenerated from his previous incarnation. Upon recovering, he assists UNIT in combating the Nestene Consciousness's Auton invasion and is asked by Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart to become UNIT's scientific advisor with Dr. Liz Shaw, and he accepts in return for a car.
Liz is examining the leftovers of the Auton invasion.
The Doctor has had Bessie for a relatively short period of time.
Before this point, the Doctor had not had an adventure without the Brigadier since his exile to Earth.
The Doctor encounters the Silurians for the first time, but, to his dismay, they are killed and their city destroyed on the Brigadier's orders.

After the Wenley Moor massacre

The outcome of Doctor Who and the Silurians is still fresh on the Doctor's mind.
Set a few weeks after Doctor Who and the Silurians.
The Doctor is still unhappy about the outcome of Doctor Who and the Silurians.
The Doctor has yet to forgive the Brigadier for the outcome of Doctor Who and the Silurians. Corporal Benton has only recently been promoted to Sergeant.
Liz has been working with UNIT for "a few months", and her complaints about her job here are similar to those that the Brigadier cites as her reason for leaving. The TARDIS console has also been removed from within the ship, as it was in The Ambassadors of Death.
This is the second time the Doctor has visited a zoo, setting this after The Arkwood Experiments.
The Brigadier finds it doubtful that the Doctor can get the TARDIS to work, setting this before Inferno.
Concludes shortly before Inferno.
Set immediately after Inferno.
It has been "months" since Spearhead from Space, and the Monk also mentions the events of Doctor Who and the Silurians. Liz has heard the Doctor's TARDIS materialise before, placing this after Inferno.
Mike Yates arrives at UNIT and sees inside the TARDIS for the first time, and the Doctor mentions visiting the parallel universe from Inferno.
One of the Doctor's attempts to repair the TARDIS sends Liz back in time to 1539.

Liz resigns

Liz decides to leave UNIT.
Liz announces her intentions to leave UNIT.
Liz officially leaves UNIT, Yates is promoted to Captain Rank, and the Doctor is in a new laboratory.
Liz has just recently left UNIT.
Set after Doctor Who and the Silurians.
With no travelling companion, the Doctor meets Horatio Nelson, whom he refers to as a good friend in The Sea Devils.
Liz is called back to UNIT, and has been absent long enough for the Doctor to admit missing her company.
The Master is at large, setting this after Prisoners of the Sun.
Liz has decided to tell the Doctor about her decision to officially leave UNIT, placing it after Prisoner of the Sun where the Doctor finds out from the Brigadier.

Battles with the Master

Jo Grant joins UNIT as the Doctor's new assistant, just in time for UNIT's first battle with the Master.
Months have passed for Liz since she left UNIT, and the Doctor now has a new assistant, placing this after Terror of the Autons.
Though the audio's blurb places it between The Dæmons and Day of the Daleks, Jo is still quite new to UNIT, and is unaware of the true nature of the TARDIS, setting it before The Claws of Axos.
The Master is also trapped on Earth, setting this before The Mind of Evil.
The Mega received advice from the Master, setting this after he got his TARDIS working in The Mind of Evil.
The Master has a working TARDIS, placing this after The Mind of Evil.
The Doctor is visibly chafing at his confinement to 20th century Earth.
The Doctor hasn't seen the Master since Deadly Reunion.
From a deal with the Master, the Doctor is able to restore his TARDIS back to working order, only to discover the Time Lords have programmed it to always return him to 20th century Earth.
The Doctor has just discovered that even if he can now depart with the TARDIS, he will be drawn back to Earth, setting this after The Claws of Axos.
The Doctor incorrectly believes that the Time Lords have lifted his exile.
Jo Grant's first visit to another planet.
After his failed escape attempt upon his defeat, the Master is arrested by UNIT.
Set immediately after The Dæmons.
Set after the Master's arrest in The Dæmons.
Set between The Dæmons and The Sea Devils, as the Master is still in prison.
Set between The Dæmons and Day of the Daleks.
Set sometime after The Dæmons, and no long before The Face of the Enemy.

Missions in time

Set during Day of the Daleks: Episode 1.
The Doctor meets journalist James Stevens.
The Doctor and Jo leave for Peladon, setting this during The Curse of Peladon.
The Doctor visits Peladon for the first time.
The Doctor and Jo have the same outfits they wore in The Curse of Peladon.
The Doctor and Jo return to UNIT almost immediately after The Curse of Peladon.
Set shortly after The Curse of Peladon.
The Master changes the internal configuration of the Doctor's TARDIS, setting this after The Curse of Peladon, and before The Sea Devils, as the Master is sent to Fortress Island.
Aided by the Sea Devils, whom the Doctor encounters for the first time, the Master is able to escape his prison sentence on Fortress Island.
Set immediately after The Sea Devils.
Set after The Sea Devils, as the Doctor is making a device to track the Master and Jo has encountered the Daleks.
Jo fails to recognise the Fourth Doctor, setting this before The Touch of the Nurazh.
Set after The Mutants, as Jo hasn't been in the TARDIS very often, the Master is free and the Doctor is anticipating being freed from his exile soon.
Authorial intent places this between Day of the Daleks and The Time Monster.
The events of The Mutants are mentioned.
The Doctor lists his work for the Time Lords, with The Mutants being the last one he mentions. This is also where UNIT acquires the manor house seen in The Three Doctors.
Jo recalls the Daleks and Ogrons, which places this firmly after Day of the Daleks. Likewise, the Doctor confesses that sheep have never filled him with dread before, placing this before Verdigris.
A footnote states that this story takes place after The Time Monster.
Jo is able to improvise a jamming machine, as she had seen the Doctor do in The Time Monster.
The Doctor visits Professor Child's dig.
The Doctor investigates a mysterious infantryman's jacket.
Set shortly before Verdigris.
Ending leads directly into The Three Doctors.
The Doctor's knowledge of time travel is restored to him as a reward for defeating Omega. However, he doesn't leave immediately, as he needs to fix up the TARDIS further.
The Doctor's exile has just been rescinded.
With the TARDIS in his control again, the Doctor rescues Liz from 1539.
The Doctor is switched with his seventh incarnation by the Monk. Jo refers to the crisis of The Three Doctors, and, at the beginning, acts as if she hasn't traveled in the TARDIS yet, setting this shortly after that story.

Freedom

The Doctor goes on his first test flight into the past since his time travel knowledge was returned in The Three Doctors.
The Doctor's exile has been recently lifted, but he still feels uneasy when it is mentioned.
In the first artificial scenario, the Brigadier refers to the Doctor recently being released from his exile on Earth by the Time Lords.
The Doctor has had his ability to pilot the TARDIS returned to him recently.
Jo is still new to time travel, but the Doctor has complete control of the TARDIS, setting this after The Three Doctors.
The Doctor can control his TARDIS' flight, and Jo has apparently taken numerous lengthy trips in the TARDIS, setting this after The Three Doctors. This story also demonstrates her awakening social conscience, which leads into The Green Death.
This is Mike's first trip in the TARDIS, and the Doctor's exile has been rescinded by the Time Lords.
The Doctor's exile has been recently lifted.
The Doctor tries to recalibrate the TARDIS’ navigational system and Jo mentions having accidentally visited Inter Minor in Carnival of Monsters.
The Doctor and Jo have been travelling in the TARDIS for some time, but Jo is not familiar with the Doctor's trances, setting this before Frontier in Space.
Due to her memory trouble, Jo erroneously thinks this story happens immediately after The Doll of Death, but she later recalls the events of Day of the Daleks. As the TARDIS is free from Earth exile, this story must be set at least after The Three Doctors.
Set between Carnival of Monsters and Frontier in Space.
Set before Frontier in Space.
Set before Frontier in Space.
Set immediately after Frontier in Space. At the end of this story, the Doctor and Jo decide to return to Earth.
Continues immediately on from Planet of the Daleks.
The Doctor has recently been to Spiridon, setting this after Planet of the Daleks.
Jo is still musing on her romance with Latep from Planet of the Daleks, and begins to think about how her days with the Doctor might be coming to an end.
Set before Speed of Flight.
Jo has pale skin from spending lots of time inside the Doctor's lab.
Latep from Planet of the Daleks is mentioned, and Jo has been back on Earth for “a bit.”
The events of The Three Doctors are alluded to.
The Doctor seems able to control the TARDIS, and, although he speaks of Jo in the present tense, she is not traveling with him at the moment. Possibly set before Last of the Gaderene or Speed of Flight, where the Doctor is shown returning to UNIT after taking some solo trips.
Set before The Green Death. Possibly set before Last of the Gaderene or Speed of Flight, where the Doctor is shown returning to UNIT after taking some solo trips.
The Doctor is attempting to take Jo and Mike to Karfel, leading into the Third Doctor's part of Timelash.
Though he does not appear, the Doctor's trip to Karfel is mentioned throughout the episode, and evidence of him and Jo being there is also present.
Set immediately after the Third Doctor's part of Timelash.
Jo refers to when the Doctor went into a coma during Planet of the Daleks.
The Doctor and Jo briefly encounter an apparition of a Charley Pollard from an alternate timeline.
The Doctor and Jo visit Pakha. The Doctor notices for the first time that Jo has grown up a lot since their first meeting.
The Doctor notes that Jo is beginning to grow up.
Jo is familiar with the Doctor's trances that make his skin ice-cold, setting this after Planet of the Daleks.
The Doctor and Jo go back in time to kill a dictator as a baby. However, the Doctor sees his sixth incarnation doing the same, and leaves him to do it.
This adventure takes place between Planet of the Daleks and The Green Death.
Set during The Green Death: Episode 1, after the Doctor leaves Metebelis III and before he returns to UNIT.
Jo leaves UNIT, and the Doctor's company, to marry ecologist Professor Clifford Jones.

Travelling alone

Set immediately after The Green Death.
Jo has just recently left the Doctor.
The Doctor still misses Jo after she left in The Green Death.
Benton refers to the events of The Green Death.
This story takes place between Zeron Invasion and Deadly Choice.

Adventuring with children

Alone again

Set between The Green Death and The Time Warrior.

Meeting his other incarnations

The Doctor and Joshua Douglas part ways after ten years of companionship.
Set before The Time Warrior.

Meeting Sarah Jane Smith

The Doctor meets Sarah Jane Smith, who becomes a reluctant stowaway aboard the TARDIS.
Set immediately after The Time Warrior, with the Doctor returning Sarah to her home after that adventure. She decides to officially join the Doctor's company.

Exploits with Sarah

Sarah Jane doesn't know much about the Doctor's origins.
The Doctor tells Sarah Jane about Gallifrey and Time Lords.
The Doctor is trying to get Sarah to Florana, as he promised in Invasion of the Dinosaurs.
Set shortly after Invasion of the Dinosaurs.
The Doctor and Sarah are traveling to Florana for a holiday, setting this almost immediately after Invasion of the Dinosaurs. Sarah Jane has her first encounter with the Daleks.
Set after Death to the Daleks.
Set between Death to the Daleks and The Monster of Peladon.
The Doctor is driving the "Whomobile", setting this after Invasion of the Dinosaurs. The Doctor and Sarah have been absent from UNIT long enough for it to have been infiltrated by the Remoraxians.
Sarah knows about the Daleks, setting this after Death to the Daleks.
Sarah Jane and the Doctor have just left Peladon, setting this after The Monster of Peladon.
Set immediately after Alien Bodies. Interference presents an alternate regeneration scene in which the Third Doctor regenerates in on Dust. The paradox of this is resolved in The Ancestor Cell.
Sarah is wearing the leather jacket seen in The Monster of Peladon.
Set after The Monster of Peladon.
Sequel to Neptune. The Doctor is traveling alone with Jeremy Fitzoliver, setting it after The Dead Man's Story.
Set after The Monster of Peladon.
Sarah recalls meeting the Aggedor on Peladon, setting this after The Monster of Peladon.
Set after The Monster of Peladon.
This adventure takes place between The Monster of Peladon and Planet of the Spiders.
Sarah has already been to a number of alien worlds.

Time alone

Though she is absent, the Doctor is currently traveling with Sarah.
Set immediately before The Five Doctors.
The Doctor recognises Sarah Jane when he encounters her future self in the Death Zone, setting this during Season 11.

Final exploits

Sarah mentions her vacation in Sicily, placing this after The Ghosts of N-Space.
Set shortly before Planet of the Spiders.
Confronting the Great One of the Eight Legs, the Doctor receives a lethal dose of radiation, but is able to escape in the TARDIS.

A slow demise

In Love and War, it is revealed that the Doctor was stuck wandering around the time vortex for ten years before regenerating.
Slowly dying from radiation sickness, the Doctor is trying to find his way back to UNIT HQ from Metebelis III.
The Doctor is dying after being exposed to radiation.
After the TARDIS finally lands back at UNIT HQ, the Doctor is able to regenerate into his next incarnation with assistance from K'anpo Rimpoche.
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