1989

Events

July

• 24 - 26 - The Sixth Doctor met Melanie Bush for the first time. (PROSE: Business Unusual)

October

• 13 - Raine Creevy met the Seventh Doctor for the first time. However, this was the not the Doctor's first encounter with Raine as he had delivered her in Moscow on 7 November 1967. (AUDIO: Crime of the Century, AUDIO: Thin Ice)

November

• 9 - The numerous revolutions against the rule of the Soviet Union in the Eastern Bloc countries led to the fall of the Berlin Wall in East Berlin, East Germany. (AUDIO: Protect and Survive)
• 28- The country of Czechoslovakia got rid of its Communist government in what was known as the Violet Rebellion. (COMIC:The Broken Man)

Unknown dates

• The Seventh Doctor and Ace returned to Perivale. (TV: Survival)
• Bobby Prescott and a number of other people tried and failed to stop a mob from destroying a library during riots in New York City. (PROSE: Cat's Cradle: Warhead)
• The Ninth Doctor suggested that he and Rose Tyler go to Marbella in this year to avoid the Daleks at the Battle of the Game Station in 200,100. (TV: The Parting of the Ways)
• Amy Pond and Rory Williams were born. (TV: The Beast Below, The Vampires of Venice)
• In Cardiff, Wales, the Ritz nightclub closed down after 57 years. (TV: Captain Jack Harkness)
• The Second Doctor, John and Gillian visited Velon. (COMIC: Car of the Century)

Alternative timeline

• November - In an alternative timeline created by the Elder Gods in the hope of destroying Earth, the militant hardliner Vladimir Khrushgov became the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union following the death of Konstantin Chernenko in 1985 rather than the considerably more moderate Mikhail Gorbachev. Significant international tensions began following the democratic uprisings in the Eastern Bloc countries. Khrushgov instructed the protestors to disperse and, when they refused to do so, he sent in the tanks. The Red Army fired on the protesters, even the children, resulting in a massacre. Following the massacre, there were protests on the Berlin Wall, which resulted in the Soviet Union entering West Berlin on the pretext of restoring order. This meant that the American airbases fell into the possession of the Soviet Union. In response, the United States issued an ultimatum to the Soviets. The Western powers' satellites detected a Soviet army amassing on the border of West Germany, which was destroyed by an American tactical nuclear weapon on 6 November of this year. Consequently, a nuclear war which came to be known as World War III broke out between the United States and its allies including the United Kingdom on the one hand and the Soviet Union on the other hand on 9 November of this year. Given that nuclear weapons were used by both sides, hundreds of millions of people were killed in the conflict. This timeline was ultimately negated by the Seventh Doctor. (AUDIO: Protect and Survive)

Behind the scenes

January

• 04 - TV: The Greatest Show in the Galaxy Part Four was first broadcast, concluding the twenty-fifth anniversary season.
• 19 - PROSE: Doctor Who - Delta and the Bannermen was first published.
• 19 - REF: The Doctor Who File was published in paperback.
• 28 - Lara Goodison (Caroline Lake in TV: The Next Doctor) was born.

February

• 5 - Emrys James (Aukon in TV: State of Decay) died.
• 8 - Cyril Luckham (the White Guardian in TV: The Ribos Operation and TV: Enlightenment) died.
• 16 - PROSE: Doctor Who - The War Machines was first published.
• 18 - John Bailey, who played the Commander in TV: The Sensorites, Edward Waterfield in TV: The Evil of the Daleks and Sezom in TV: The Horns of Nimon, died in London.

March

• John Wyse (Charles Percival in TV: The Time Monster) died.
• 1 - Geoffrey Morris (Sabor in TV: Planet of the Spiders) died.
• 2 - John Bryans (Torvin in TV: The Creature from the Pit) died.
• 13 - Harry Melling (Hervey in AUDIO: The Whispering Forest) was born.
• 16 - PROSE: Doctor Who - Dragonfire was first published.
• 16 - Two Doctor Who Classics reprint volumes were published: PROSE: The Dæmons/The Time Monster and PROSE: The Mind of Evil/The Claws of Axos.

April

• REF: Doctor Who: The Time-Travellers' Guide was published in paperback.
• 02 - Clare Thomas (Lucy Skinner in TV: The Last Sontaran) was born.
• 08 - Adam Kurakin (a Guard in TV: The Pirate Planet) died.
• 12 - Gerald Flood, who portrayed King John in TV: The King's Demons and provided the voice of Kamelion, died from a heart attack.
• 20 - PROSE: Doctor Who - Attack of the Cybermen was first published.
• 25 - George Coulouris, who played Arbitan in TV: "The Sea of Death", died in London from a heart attack after a long battle with Parkinson's Disease.

May

• 3 - William Squire (The Shadow in TV: The Armageddon Factor) died.
• 18 - PROSE: Doctor Who - The Nightmare Fair was first published. This was the first of a new spin-off line by Target Books dubbed "The Missing Episodes". These were novels based upon the cancelled Season 23, which was delayed a year due to the BBC-ordered hiatus and then replaced by what became TV: The Trial of a Time Lord. Although based upon a teleplay, the fact it was never produced makes this, in effect, the first original-to-print Doctor Who novel in which the Doctor himself was the lead character.
• 18 - Target Books published two final Doctor Who Classics reprint volumes before abandoning the venture: PROSE: The Face of Evil/The Sunmakers and PROSE: The Seeds of Doom/The Deadly Assassin.
• 20 - Judith Byfield (Angela Clifford in TV: Time-Flight) died.
• 20 - Anton Diffring (De Flores in TV: Silver Nemesis) died.
• 26 - Doctor Who: Voyager was published by Marvel Comics.

June

• 15 - PROSE: Doctor Who - Mindwarp was first published. This was the fourth and final novelisation based upon segments of TV: The Trial of a Time Lord. It was also the final Sixth Doctor story to be novelised; plans for a novelisation of TV: Revelation of the Daleks were made, but the book was never published and that story remains officially unnovelised.

July

• 20 - PROSE: Doctor Who - The Chase was first published. Written by John Peel, The Chase was the first of a series of Dalek story novelisations by Peel commissioned after Target Books reached an agreement with Terry Nation to allow his remaining Dalek stories to be adapted as novels (before this, TV: The Chase and other Nation-penned Dalek episodes were expected to remain in limbo, novelisation-wise). Around the time of this book's release, it was announced that a similar agreement had been reached with Eric Saward regarding his two Dalek serials, but ultimately these two stories were never adapted.

August

• 03 - The final studio recording session for the 1963-89 series of Doctor Who was undertaken as work was completed on TV: Ghost Light. Discounting a voiceover session conducted in November, this marked the end of BBC production on the series until work on the revival commenced in 2004.
• 04 - Maurice Colbourne (Lytton in TV: Resurrection of the Daleks and Attack of the Cybermen) died.
• 17 - PROSE: Doctor Who - The Ultimate Evil was first published. It was the second release in the "Missing Episodes" line.
• 25 - Keegan Joyce (Starkey in K9) was born.
• 29 - The second volume of Doctor Who: The Scripts was published: TV: The Tomb of the Cybermen.

September

• 06 - TV: Battlefield Part One was first broadcast, launching Season 26, the final season of the 1963-89 series. Nicholas Courtney returned for the first time since TV: The Five Doctors, and UNIT took an active role in a story for the first time since TV: The Android Invasion. Jean Marsh, who had played companion Sara Kingdom, returned in a different role.
• 13 - TV: Battlefield Part Two was first broadcast.
• 16 - Sylvester McCoy appeared as the Seventh Doctor in a skit on The Noel Edmunds Saturday Roadshow. David Banks also appeared as the Cyber-Leader in what was his final television appearance to date as a Cyberman.
• 20 - TV: Battlefield Part Three was first broadcast. It was the first appearance of Bessie since TV: The Five Doctors and since TV: Robot in a regular episode.
• 21 - PROSE: Doctor Who - Mission to the Unknown was first published. It was part one of a two-volume adaptation of TV: The Daleks' Master Plan, the only two-part novelisation ever issued by Target.
• 27 - TV: Battlefield Part Four was first broadcast. It was the final appearance of Nicholas Courtney in a Doctor Who story, though he later appeared in the independent spin-off Downtime, as well as TV: Enemy of the Bane. It was the final appearance of UNIT until TV: Aliens of London. It was also the final appearance of Bessie to date.

October

• The Ultimate Interview: Colin Baker Talks with David Banks was first released on cassette by Silver Fist Productions.
• 04 - TV: Ghost Light Part One was first broadcast.
• 11 - TV: Ghost Light Part Two was first broadcast.
• 17 - This date was the tenth anniversary of Doctor Who Magazine.
• 18 - TV: Ghost Light Part Three was first broadcast.
• 19 - PROSE: Doctor Who - The Mutation of Time was first published, concluding the adaptation of TV: The Daleks' Master Plan.
• 25 - TV: The Curse of Fenric Part One was first broadcast.

November

• 1 - TV: The Curse of Fenric Part Two was first broadcast.
• 1 - Peter Childs (Jack Ward in TV: The Mark of the Rani) died.
• 8 - TV: The Curse of Fenric Part Three was first broadcast.
• 10 - Clyde Pollitt (a Time Lord in TV: The War Games and the Lord Chancellor in TV: The Three Doctors) died.
• 15 - TV: The Curse of Fenric Part Four was first broadcast.
  • Edward Underdown (Zastor in TV: Meglos) died.
• 16 - PROSE: Doctor Who - Silver Nemesis was first published.
• 22 - TV: Survival Part One was first broadcast.
• 23 - Sylvester McCoy recorded the monologue that ended episode 3 of TV: Survival and, ultimately, the original 1963-89 Doctor Who series. This was a late addition to the serial by John Nathan-Turner, who expected it to be the final episode. Ironically this was also the anniversary of the debut of Doctor Who in 1963. It was also one of the few times since the 1960s that a major element of a televised serial was produced while the serial in question had already begun airing.
• 29 - TV: Survival Part Two was first broadcast.
• The Doctor Who: The Scripts release of TV: The Talons of Weng-Chiang was first published.

December

• James Hall died.
• 06 - TV: Survival Part Three was first broadcast. The twenty-sixth season finale ultimately proved to be the final episode of the original series, and the last weekly episode to be broadcast until 2005. It was the final use of the Keff McCulloch theme music arrangement, while the current series logo continued to be used for merchandise and books until 1996 and it and a version of the 1987 opening credits sequence were used again in the 1993 special NOTDWU: Dimensions in Time. It was the final twenty-five-minute episode produced (although The Sarah Jane Adventures revived the format in 2007). Although producer John Nathan-Turner later said he was aware the series was going off the air, and Sophie Aldred, in the documentary Thirty Years in the TARDIS said she was told it was cancelled, the BBC did not make any cancellation announcement, and it was widely assumed, and hoped, by fans that a twenty-seventh season would air in 1990. It was the final regular-series appearance of Sophie Aldred and Anthony Ainley (though both reprised their characters in later productions).
• 12 - Howard Lang, who played Horg in TV: An Unearthly Child, died.
• 15 - Edward Underdown (Zastor in TV: Meglos) died.
• 21 - TV: Doctor Who - The Greatest Show in the Galaxy was first published. The title of this release ended up being ironic, as it became the first Target Books novelisation to be published after the de facto end of the original 1963-89 series.
  • Edmund Warwick, who played Darrius in TV: The Keys of Marinus and twice stood in for William Hartnell, died.
• 23 - COMIC: Nineveh was released.
• 23 - REF: The Doctor Who Programme Guide, first published in two volumes in 1981, was reissued in a single-volume, expanded and revised edition. Author Jean-Marc Lofficier followed this release with several more reference volumes over the next decade.
• 23 - Peter Bennett (a guard in TV: The Enemy of the World) died.
• 24 - Clive Cazes (the Captain of the Guard in the Doctor Who story The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve) died.
• The Doctor Who: The Scripts release of TV: The Daleks was first published. The next release in this series did not occur until 1992.
• 27 - Benjamin Smith (Luke in TV: School Reunion) was born.

Unknown dates

• Pioneer Books published the second edition of The Doctor and the Enterprise by Jean Airey. An unauthorised crossover between Doctor Who, Star Trek, and The Wizard of Oz, the book had previously been published in a small-press edition in 1982; this new version edited out most overt references to Star Trek character names.
• Daniel Kaluuya was born.
• Aaron Hanley was born.
• The first edition of the four-track EP, Doctor Who: Variations on a Theme, was released in twelve-inch vinyl, standard CD, and as an unusual square-shaped CD. This release featured unique rearrangements of the Doctor Who theme by Mark Ayres, Dominic Glynn, and Keff McCulloch that had been created for various Doctor Who Appreciation Society conventions in the 1980s. One of these, the "Latin Version", was later adopted by BBC Video as the theme for its "Years" series of video retrospectives.