If this thread's title doesn't specify it's spoilery, don't bring any up.
This page lists appearances of William Shakespeare 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 that for each novel, comic or television series, their published, broadcast or numbered order is the order they occur in.
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 Big Finish forums. None of these sources should be used solely as a source or considered a "true" timeline for stories.
Timeline
- As a child, Shakespeare is displaced to the 21st century, where he meets the Eighth Doctor and Charley Pollard.
- The Doctor is trying to return the young. Shakespeare to his own time.
- Ultimately, he succeeds. (AUDIO: Foreshadowing)
- Shakespeare meets the Ninth Doctor and Rose Tyler.
- Shakespeare meets the Tenth Doctor and Martha Jones. He has not yet written Hamlet.
- After sharing a drink with the Fifth Doctor, Shakespeare stows away in the TARDIS, which ultimately leads to him being killed in King Richard III of England's place at the Battle of Bosworth on 22 August 1485, while Richard returns to 1597 to take Shakespeare's identity and place in history.
- Shakespeare meets Amy Pond and Rory Williams at a performance of Romeo and Juliet.
- Shakespeare meets Elizabeth I and Francis Bacon, the latter of whom gives him the idea to write Hamlet.
- The Fourth Doctor assists Shakespeare in drafting Hamlet.
- Shakespeare meets the First Doctor.
Christopher Marlowe
- An alternate account has the Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane help fake Christopher Marlowe's death, so Marlowe can "become" Shakespeare, by assuming Shakespeare's identity.