1983

1983 in

the DWU • production history • vital statistics • releases

Timeline for 1983

20th century | 1980s

1977 • 1978 • 1979 • 1980 • 1981 • 1982 • 1984 • 1985 • 1986 • 1987 • 1988 • 1989

1983 was the year the Ice Warrior Skaldak was found frozen underneath the North Pole by a Soviet submarine. He awoke and threatened to launch a nuclear missile, allowing the superpowers to launch missiles at one another, ending humanity. He was stopped once an Ice Warrior ship rescued him. (TV: Cold War)

Events

Nyssa and Tegan Jovanka spent several days on holiday in Amsterdam (AUDIO: The Elite) while the Fifth Doctor dealt with the renegade Time Lord Omega in the Sector of Forgotten Souls (AUDIO: Omega, AUDIO: The Burning Prince).
9 June - In the United Kingdom general election, the ruling Conservative Party, led by the Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, won a landslide victory over the Labour Party. (AUDIO: Rat Trap)
19 August - Ianto Jones was born in Newport. (TV: Fragments)
10 December - The Seventh Doctor, Bernice Summerfield, Roz Forrester and Chris Cwej arrived in Little Caldwell, England. Bernice Summerfield was reunited with her father Isaac Summerfield. (PROSE: Return of the Living Dad)
24 December - Jason Kane was born. (PROSE: Return of the Living Dad)

Unknown dates

Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, now retired from UNIT and working at Brendon Public School, met the Fifth Doctor, but had no recollection of the Doctor at all. In the ensuing adventure, the Brigadier met his younger self from 1977, causing his younger self to lose all memory of the Doctor and experience a nervous breakdown, while his 1983 self regained his memory. Vislor Turlough joined the Doctor on his travels at this time. Unknown to the Doctor, he did so under the orders of the Black Guardian. According to the Brigadier, Harry Sullivan was doing "hush-hush" work on behalf of NATO at this time, and Benton was selling used cars. (TV: Mawdryn Undead)
After the Fifth Doctor departed, the Brigadier reactivated his relationship with UNIT (TV: The Five Doctors), eventually returning to active duty (TV: Battlefield).
The Second Doctor and the Brigadier were abducted by Borusa while attending a UNIT reunion. (TV: The Five Doctors)
Ace burnt down Gabriel Chase. (TV: Ghost Light)
Henry Spencer, the publisher of James Stevens and one of his closest friends, died of complications due to AIDS, one of the first British men to die from the disease. (PROSE: Who Killed Kennedy)
The race horse Shergar was stolen from Ireland by the Master and given to his ally Colonel Hugh Spindleton in Derbyshire in 1979 as a down payment on his services. Spindleton gave him the name "Pink Gin." (AUDIO: The Oseidon Adventure)
Craig Owens was born. (TV: The Lodger)
Joel Mintz was transported back in time from 1993 through a time rift created by Albinex. (PROSE: Return of the Living Dad)

3 January - TV: Arc of Infinity Part 1 was first broadcast, launching Doctor Who's 20th season. Future Sixth Doctor Colin Baker made his first appearance on the series, but as a different character.
5 January - TV: Arc of Infinity Part 2 was first broadcast.
11 January - TV: Arc of Infinity Part 3 was first broadcast.
12 January - TV: Arc of Infinity Part 4 was first broadcast.
18 January - TV: Snakedance Part 1 was first broadcast.
19 January - TV: Snakedance Part 2 was first broadcast.
25 January - TV: Snakedance Part 3 was first broadcast.
26 January - TV: Snakedance Part 4 was first broadcast.
1 February - TV: Mawdryn Undead Part 1 was first broadcast. Mark Strickson joined as new companion Vislor Turlough, while Nicholas Courtney made his first appearance as Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart since Terror of the Zygons. This serial was the first to definitively establish that the current incarnation of the Doctor was the fifth.
2 February - TV: Mawdryn Undead Part 2 was first broadcast.
8 February - TV: Mawdryn Undead Part 3 was first broadcast.
9 February - TV: Mawdryn Undead Part 4 was first broadcast.
15 February - TV: Terminus Part 1 was first broadcast.
16 February - TV: Terminus Part 2 was first broadcast.
20 February - Actor Peter Glaze died in Dartford, England.
22 February - TV: Terminus Part 3 was first broadcast.
23 February - TV: Terminus Part 4 was first broadcast. Sarah Sutton left the series with this part.
Filming and studio recording for TV: The Five Doctors took place this month.
REF: The Doctor Who Technical Manual was first published.
1 March - TV: Enlightenment Part 1 was first broadcast.
01 - Actor Lionel Sansby died.
2 March - TV: Enlightenment Part 2 was first broadcast.
8 March - TV: Enlightenment Part 3 was first broadcast.
9 March - TV: Enlightenment Part 4 was first broadcast.
15 March - TV: The King's Demons Part 1 was first broadcast. This was the introduction of the android companion Kamelion.
16 March - TV: The King's Demons Part 2 was first broadcast, technically concluding Season 20, although the later special TV: The Five Doctors was also considered part of Season 20.
21 March - Actor Bruno Langley was born in Devon, England.
31 March - Actor Anthony Lewis was born.
14 April - Actress Josie Taylor was born.
15 April - PROSE: Doctor Who - Time-Flight was first published.
15 - Actress Siobhân Hewlett was born.
2 May - This was the tenth anniversary of the launch of Target Books' line of Doctor Who novelisations.
5 May - PROSE: Doctor Who - Meglos was first published. This was the final televised Fourth Doctor story to be novelised. Due to licensing issues, no novelisations were officially published for TV: The Pirate Planet or TV: City of Death. Target Books published one more Fourth Doctor novelisation, PROSE: The Pescatons, based upon an audio drama, in 1991. A novelisation of the unfinished/unbroadcast HOMEVID: Shada was published by BBC Books in 2012.
31 May - Actor Reggie Yates was born.
6 June - Actress Gemma Bissix was born.
16 June - PROSE: Doctor Who - Castrovalva was first published.
22 June - Actress Daphne Heard died.
23 June - Doctor Who: Daleks Omnibus was first published. It was a hardcover Target Books collection reprinting the Terrance Dicks novelisations PROSE: Doctor Who and the Dalek Invasion of Earth, PROSE: Doctor Who and the Day of the Daleks and PROSE: Doctor Who and the Planet of the Daleks.
20 July - Actor Rory Jennings was born.
21 July - PROSE: Doctor Who - Four to Doomsday was first published.
The BBC announced that Colin Baker - no relation to Tom Baker - had been cast as the Sixth Doctor.
The Doctor Who Annual 1984 was published.
18 August - PROSE: Doctor Who - Earthshock was first published.
13 September - REF: Doctor Who: A Celebration was first published.
15 September - PROSE: Doctor Who - Terminus was first published.
REF: Doctor Who: The Making of a Television Series was published in paperback.
14 October-19 October Filming for TV: Planet of Fire took place in Lanzarote, Canary Islands, marking the first time Doctor Who was filmed outside the European continent.
20 October - PROSE: Doctor Who - Arc of Infinity was first published.
28 October - Actor Joe Thomas was born.
REF: Doctor Who: The Unfolding Text, one of the first widely published scholarly works on the franchise, was first published in both the UK and US.
2 November - Actor Michael Spice died.
17 November - Actor Harry Lloyd was born.
19 November - For the first time in nearly ten years, Doctor Who made the cover of the Radio Times. It was another decade before this happened again, making this the last Radio Times cover to be published during the original series' run.
23 November - This was the twentieth anniversary of the first broadcast of Doctor Who.
23 - TV: The Five Doctors was broadcast for the first time. However, PBS affiliates in the United States (which are also received on cable television in Canada) broadcast it before the BBC, the first time America saw a Doctor Who story before the UK. This version was slightly truncated from the version shown two days later in the UK. This was the first "feature-length" regular part of Doctor Who produced. The special featured the return of Patrick Troughton and Jon Pertwee (with Tom Baker represented by footage from the unbroadcast HOMEVID: Shada). Richard Hurndall made his first and only appearance as the First Doctor. Numerous companions from all eras of the series appeared. Although broadcast closer to the start of Season 21, it was considered part of the anniversary Season 20 and, thus, its belated finale.
24 November - PROSE: Doctor Who - The Five Doctors was first published. This was the first time a Target Books novelisation was published before the UK broadcast premiere of an episode. According to the 2008 DVD release of TV: The Five Doctors, this was widely believed to have been an error.
25 November - TV: The Five Doctors was first broadcast in the UK, as part of that year's Children in Need fund-raising drive.
4 December - Actor Maurice Browning died.

Unknown date

Magnet Books, a subsidiary of Methuen Children's Books, published Doctor Who Quiz Book of Science, Doctor Who Quiz Book of Space and Doctor Who Quiz Book of Magic, all by Michael Holt, the remainder of the Doctor Who Quiz Book line. These illustrated paperback books (published in the same format as Target Books novelisations) contained original short stories featuring the Fifth Doctor, Nyssa and Tegan Jovanka that set up short quizzes related to the subject matter of the book. The first book in the series had been published in 1982.