Theory:Timeline - Ace

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This page lists appearances of the Dorothy "Ace" McShane in the order in which she 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 The Whoniverse, Doctor Who Reviews, The History of Doctor Who, The Discontinuity Guide, Clive Banks databanks, and The Divergent Universe forum. 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 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, but should not be viewed as the only placement for these novels.

Timeline

Joining the Doctor

On Iceworld, the Seventh Doctor finds Ace and offers for her to travel with him in the TARDIS, to which she accepts.
Ace has "only just come on board" the TARDIS, and is exploring her new surroundings.
The Doctor does not have much control over events, and his relationship with Ace is more trusting, so this has been placed in their early travels.
The Doctor and Ace go back in time to kill a dictator as a baby, but is unable to go through with it.
The Doctor is beginning to act more manipulative. He gives away his white coat, and begins thinking about changing it for a brown one.
The Doctor plays the spoons, with Master indicating he did this less as he matured, setting this early in his travels with Ace.
Ace is carrying around the baseball bat that was destroyed in Remembrance of the Daleks.
Ace feels the Doctor is showing off with his time travel shenanigans.
Ace is familiar with the TARDIS, but is surprised that the Doctor keeps secrets, so this has been placed early in their travels.
Ace encounters the Daleks for the first time. According to Head Games, this story was the first time she doubted the Doctor's motives.
Ace learns that the TARDIS is stuck with the police box exterior due to a broken chameleon circuit and begins questioning the Doctor's intentions and motivations.
The Doctor and Ace leave for Terra Alpha, setting this immediately before The Happiness Patrol.
Broadcasted out-of-production-order on John Nathan-Turner's orders, to accommodate real world timing into the broadcast schedule.
After The Happiness Patrol, Ace asks the Doctor how he operates, and believes they come to an understanding.
Set just before The Greatest Show in the Galaxy.
Ace acquires Flowerchild's earring.
Set after The Greatest Show in the Galaxy.
Ace encounters the Cybermen for the first time. She is wearing Flowerchild's earring. The Doctor spots a chess set in Lady Peinforte's home and realises that Fenric is orchestrating events in his favour.
The Doctor remains in the TARDIS while Ace visits Judith Winters in 1993, thirty years after Remembrance of the Daleks.
The Doctor is wearing his off-white jacket.
Set soon after The Time and Tide.
The Doctor is described as wearing a light jacket with a patterned sweater.
The Doctor recalls his movements in 1963 from Remembrance of the Daleks and an unknown second adventure. At the conclusion, the Doctor changes into his chocolate brown jacket for the first time.
The Doctor has not yet told Ace about regeneration, and she doesn't know who the Master is, setting this before Survival.
Ace has faced the Daleks and Cybermen. She knows the Doctor can regenerate, so this must be after The Light at the End.
The Doctor leaves Ace in the Cretaceous period.
The Doctor retrieves Ace from the Cretaceous period of Earth's pre-history, and the two resume travelling together.
Broadcast out-of-production-order on John Nathan-Turner's orders, to accommodate real world timing into the broadcast schedule. Ace meets the Brigadier for the first time in her life, while the Doctor meets him for the first time since his sixth regeneration.
Set after Battlefield.
Broadcast out-of-production-order on John Nathan-Turner's orders, to accommodate real world timing into the broadcast schedule.
Ace is under 18. She is familiar with UNIT and the Brigadier, so this is after Battlefield.
Broadcast out-of-production-order on John Nathan-Turner's orders. Fenric's master plan reaches its climax, but the Doctor is able to best his foe again. Ace is gifted an authentic cap insignia of the Red Army by Captain Sorin.
Back cover places this story between Fenric and Survival, while the Doctor has a "To Do List" reminding him to leave a settee in Perivale, implying this occurs after Survival, but the Sixth Doctor already left it for himself in Nemesis of the Daleks.
Broadcast out-of-production-order on John Nathan-Turner's orders. The novelisation details how the Doctor and Ace have returned to Earth for the first time since The Curse of Fenric, which was a week before. Ace encounters the Tremas Master for the first time on Cheetah World, and both become infected with the Cheetah virus, though Ace begins to recover by the serial's conclusion.
Set "not so long [after]" The Curse of Fenric.
Ace references Ghost Light.
While Ace is asleep, the Doctor travels back in time to apologise to baby Ace for the events of Ghost Light and The Curse of Fenric, and for the pain "yet to come".
Ace recognises the Master, so this is after Survival for her. After thwarting the Mater's scheme, Ace is kidnapped Adam Mitchell, leading directly into Endgame.
The Doctor rescues Ace from Adam and the Master.
This is Ace's first encounter with an Ice Warrior. The Doctor claims to have never delivered a baby before he delivers baby Raine Creevy. The Doctor tries to get Ace accepted into the Time Lord Academy, but she refuses and the Time Lords do not accept her.
Set almost immediately after Thin Ice. Raine Creevy joins the TARDIS crew.
Raine's first journey is to Margrave University in 2001, where she discovers that her father has died. Upset by the revelation, Raine decides to stay at Margrave for a short time.
Set "more than twenty months" before Timewyrm: Revelation.
It has been some time since the Doctor and Ace last saw Raine, who decides to return to the TARDIS.
Raine appears.
Ace is depicted with the same character traits she showed in Illegal Alien.
Ace is 17. The Valeyard uses the Dark Matrix to briefly reawaken the Cheetah virus within her, presumably amplifying her continued difficulties with the virus.
Set immediately after Matrix.
The Doctor and Ace meet Bev Tarrant.
Ace refers to the recent events of Storm Harvest and The Genocide Machine. The Doctor refers to his encounter with the Master in Stop the Pigeon. The Doctor discovers Ace's future dead body, and tries to keep her out of danger, leading into Heritage.
Ace hasn't yet worn her special sunglasses from the New Adventures era, placing this before Timewyrm: Genesys at most.
Sequel to Illegal Alien. Ace is killed by George Limb, but the Doctor manipulates events so that, when Limb's plans are thwarted by James Dean, the timeline recreates itself with Ace still alive, though slightly altered.
When the Doctor restores the Ace's memories, the first thing that she recalls is the events of Survival, and she still feels some of the after-effects of the Cheetah Virus. She knows about regeneration, and is aware that the Doctor has regenerated six times.
Set immediately after Timewyrm: Genesys.
The amnesiac Eighth Doctor observes the Seventh Doctor and Ace visiting the Festival of Britain during Timewyrm: Exodus.
Ace sees an animal in the TARDIS, foreshadowing Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible.
The Doctor and Ace have "only just left Kirith", placing this immediately after Timewyrm: Apocalypse.
Visiting Ethan Amberglass whilst in hospital, the Doctor mentions the recent events of Timewyrm: Revelation.
Placement established by Interweaving with the New Adventures.
Placement established by Interweaving with the New Adventures. The Doctor mentions that he's recently been unable to take the TARDIS away from Earth. He has also been redecorating the TARDIS and has discarded his question mark pullover.
Placement established by Interweaving with the New Adventures.
Placement established by Interweaving with the New Adventures. The Doctor finally reaches Maruthea, just as his predecessor is leaving.
Placement established by Interweaving with the New Adventures. The Doctor locates his old signet ring in the TARDIS control console and decides to resume wearing it.
Placement established by Interweaving with the New Adventures.
Placement established by Interweaving with the New Adventures. The TARDIS' chameleon circuit is inexplicably working, and has changed the TARDIS's form into a Cadillac.
Placement established by Interweaving with the New Adventures.
Placement established by Interweaving with the New Adventures.
The Doctor is wearing his dark brown jacket underneath his duffle-coat, and Ace looks older than her television counterpart.
Placement established by Interweaving with the New Adventures. When listing the worst creatures she can imagine, Ace mentions the Daleks, the Timewyrm and the Cybermen.
The Doctor hasn't been to Alaska, and Ace has learnt how to swear in eleven alien languages. The Doctor and Ace decide they should go their separate ways at the end.

Reunited with the Doctor again

The Doctor and Ace reunite in Turkey.
Set during Cat's Cradle: Warhead, according to Interweaving with the New Adventures.
Ace can still feel the biological effects of being on the Cheetah planet. The TARDIS gets infected by demonic protoplasm.
Ace has already been traveling with the Doctor for several years.
Placement established by Interweaving with the New Adventures.
Placement established by Interweaving with the New Adventures.
The Doctor essentially kidnaps Ace when she tries to leave. This seems odd considering Love and War, where he lets her go (and is revealed to have wanted her to), but months do pass between them.
An opening annotation places this story directly after the consecutive events of Memorial and Nightshade, which is supported by Interweaving with the New Adventures.
Ace refers to her escape from the underwater spaceship in Battlefield, and meeting her grandmother during The Curse of Fenric. She is still under the legal drinking age. Miss Gallowglass gives a cryptic warning to the Doctor and Ace about the upcoming events of Independence Day.
The Doctor is making a cube in his lab that Ace must not know about, setting this shortly before Love and War.
Ace has more experienced and confident, and knows more about future technology than she used too, placing this shortly before Love and War.
The Doctor is acquainted with Abslom Daak, placing this after Nemesis of the Daleks. Ace claims that the events of Nightshade occurred some months ago.

New Ace

Three years after leaving the Doctor on Heaven, Ace decides to return to the TARDIS, but no longer trusts the Doctor. The TARDIS is cured of the protoplasm infection from Cat's Cradle: Witch Mark.
Ace more curt and aggressive, setting this not long after her return in Deceit.
Placement established by Interweaving with the New Adventures.
The Doctor and an Old One are in an antagonistic relationship, setting this before their truce in Signs and Wonders. The Doctor begins wearing a cream linen suit and fedora.
Ace still keeps track of her age. The Doctor decides he needs a holiday, leading into Birthright and Iceberg.
The Doctor gives Bernice the keys to the TARDIS, and leaves her in control, having arranged for it to crash in Victorian London, leading directly into Iceberg.
This novel takes place at the same time as Birthright, with the events of both novels occurring concurrently for the Doctor, Ace and Benny.
This novel runs parallel with the events of Iceberg, with the Doctor being absent for the majority of Birthright. The Doctor's deceptions cost him Benny's trust.
The Doctor watches Sonia Bannen being killed in a food riot.
Placement established by Interweaving with the New Adventures.
Placement established by Interweaving with the New Adventures.

Alternate universe cycle

A few months have passed since Deceit, but the events of Birthright are recent. The TARDIS falls through a puncture in the Time Vortex, and the Doctor later realises that someone is toying with time. The Doctor acquires a new sonic screwdriver from the possessions of his deceased alternate third incarnation, and also takes that Doctor's TARDIS after his is lost in a tar pit.
Ace still does not trust the Doctor, nor does the TARDIS from the alternate world. The Doctor discovers that the one who created the Silurian Earth has successfully altered the flow of time in the real universe.
The Doctor fixes the chameleon circuit in his new TARDIS.
Benny decides to stay with the Doctor after struggling with her inability to trust him. The Doctor learns history is going to change again, and he sets out to find the cause, leading into No Future.
The Doctor discovers that the Monk has been corrupting the timeline as a revenge stunt, but is able to defeat his enemy and regain Ace's trust. He also smashes the chameleon circuit of his TARDIS with a hammer, destroying it. The Doctor thinks he killed the Master in Survival, despite having spoken of him in the present tense during Deceit.

Amicable travels

The Doctor has had experience with delivering babies.
Ace refers to the TARDIS team's recent encounter with the Monk in No Future.
Placement established by Interweaving with the New Adventures.
The TARDIS has been to Olleril recently, setting this shortly after Tragedy Day. As far as Ace knows, this is the first time she has seen an Ice Warrior, though she did encounter them in Thin Ice. Benny, who has never been on Mars before this point in her life, takes a temporary leave of absence from the TARDIS.
Though the book's blurb would place this immediately after Survival, the Doctor is wearing his cream linen suit from White Darkness, and Ace is depicted with the confidence and general demeanour she had in the Virgin New Adventures. With Benny absent, this must take place during her brief leave-of-absence.
Benny returns to the TARDIS after her temporary leave of absence that started in Legacy.
The Big Finish website places this audio between All-Consuming Fire and Blood Harvest.
The Doctor is wearing his white suit from White Darkness, though the TARDIS console room is the one from before Final Genesis.
The Big Finish website places this audio after The Shadow of the Scourge.
The Doctor sends Ace and Benny on a mission to Antarctica.
The Doctor, Benny and Ace end up in E-space, where they find Romana and return her to Gallifrey, where she opts to remain.
Some time has passed since Blood Harvest, with Ace getting trigger-happy due to the lack of dangerous adventures.
The Doctor and Ace encounter the Tremas Master for the first time since Survival. Ace fatally shoots the Master, but he is able to regenerate into Template:Frontier. Ace considers leaving the TARDIS.
Ace has her head shaved clean.
Ace's hair is till re-growing.
It has been at least a full year since No Future. Ace is still thinking about when she'll leave the Doctor.
The Doctor, Ace and Benny have been at Smithwood Manor for almost a year.
Ace is 26-years-old. After an ordeal with the Robot Ants, Ace leaves the TARDIS crew to become Time's Vigilante.

Old friends reunited

The Doctor catches up with an older Ace following the defeat of the Voltranons.
The Doctor finds Benny. He has left Ace on Gallifrey (in the Academy) in his future, at a point after Romana opens the Academy to aliens. Ace's life on Gallifrey can be blamed for the anomalies in her aging or sterility, like with Leela and Chris Cwej. The Doctor is wearing his cream linen suit on the cover, but dialogue describes him in his question mark pullover.
Ace had a TARDIS driving lesson on Gallifrey.
Ace eventually returns to Gallifrey and becomes part of the CIA, as seen in AUDIO: Enemy Lines.
Ace refers to Happy Endings, but she is travelling with the Doctor without Benny. She loses her memory, which the Doctor does his best to restore.
The Doctor has a sonic screwdriver.

The Doctor receives a message from Group Captain Gilmore, setting this story after Remembrance of the Daleks. Ace is wearing her Ace jacket. A yellow TARDIS control room makes its first appearance, appearing to be a blend between the grey control room of the later TV seasons and the Victorian Parlour control room first seen in Doctor Who.

The Doctor and Ace reunite with Intrusion Counter-Measures Group following The Armageddon Gambit.

Ace obtains a CD Walkman from Paul Tanner. Authorial intent is that this is set between Nightshade and Love and War.
The Doctor and Ace bump into Bev Tarrant again, after meeting her in The Genocide Machine, and she leaves with them in the TARDIS after they defeat the Master.
Bev travels with the Doctor and Ace for some time, before eventually being left in the 26th century. (AUDIO: The Judas Gift)
At Colditz Castle the Doctor and Ace meet the Nazi version of Elizabeth Klein. Ace decides to be called "McShane" from this story on.
Set after Colditz.
McShane references the recent events of Colditz and Dust Breeding.

Hex joins

McShane tells Hex that she has been travelling with the Doctor "for a surprisingly long time." The Doctor has a sonic screwdriver, and is convinced by McShane to let Hex join them in the TARDIS.
Hex has only just joined the TARDIS crew, and visits his first alien world.
Set during These Things Take Time for the Seventh Doctor.
Hex sees aliens and spaceships for the first time.
The Doctor battles the Cragvar.
Set before LIVE 34, as Ace is still going by her surname.
McShane decides that "Ace" is her true name, and resumes using it. Reporter Ryan Wareing estimates Ace's age to be in her mid-to-late twenties. Ace refers to her brother from The Rapture.
This is Hex's first visit to Earth's past. The TARDIS interior has been redecorated to as it will be in Doctor Who.
Ace and Hex mention the recent events of The Settling.
Set a few months after The Harvest. Hex mentions killing a man during The Settling.

Battling the Elder Gods

The Doctor sees a chess set in the sanatorium, and realises Fenric is preparing his return.
Ace has significant military and tactical knowledge, implying a post-Deceit setting. This is Hex's first encounter with the Daleks.
Hex is still reeling from the events that he witnessed on Bliss with the Daleks. The exterior shell of the TARDIS is shattered after the HADS are activated, and its colouration is stuck as white.
Follows directly on from The Angel of Scutari. Hex leaves the TARDIS crew after discovering that the Doctor had previously been witness to his mother's death.
Ace is incapable of flying the TARDIS. Hex rejoins the TARDIS at Evelyn Smythe's prompting, before Evelyn passes away.
The Doctor goes to Alaska, so this is after Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible.
The TARDIS is restored to its prime condition, and the Black TARDIS is destroyed.
Hex enters the Time Vortex to defeat Fenric, apparently killing himself in the process.
Ace no longer knows her age, so this is after Set Piece, where she knew for a fact she was 26. Sally and Lysandra leave.
The Doctor had decided to take Ace and Hector to Greece to relax after the events of Revenge of the Swarm. After their vacation, Hector asks the Doctor to return him home, leading into Signs and Wonders.
Hector leaves the TARDIS and settles down with Sally to raise a family. Ace's glimpses herself wearing a high collar, riding a motorbike in Paris in the 19th century, and being surrounded by the Lobri in her future. The TARDIS control room is temporarily changed to a white configuration after To'Koth uses it to return to the home dimension of the Elder Gods.

After Hex

The Doctor begins teaching Ace how to fly the TARDIS, as he promised to do in Signs and Wonders, also placing this after Deceit.
Ace refers to Hex having left.
The TARDIS finds who it's been looking for; Mel, who rejoins the TARDIS crew.
The TARDIS interior has its Victorian parlour design.

At some point the Doctor returns Ace to Gallifrey

Gallifrey

Ace is abandoned on Earth.

Death

The Doctor is wearing his Doctor Who outfit, and traveling with Ace, who wears her TV outfit. The TARDIS has its white interior, so presumably reverted at some point. Ace is killed and the TARDIS is damaged, implying that it is about to change to the Doctor is using the Victorian parlour interior seen in Doctor Who.
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