2008

Doctor Who Universe

January

• Owen Harper went undercover to prevent the Weevils from being abducted by humans. (TW: Combat)

Early February

• Jack Harkness and Toshiko Sato were transported back in time to The Ritz in 1941. Owen used the Rift Machine to bring them back, opening the Rift. By this point, Harold Saxon's campaign for election was underway as "Vote Saxon" signs were visible in Cardiff. (TW: Captain Jack Harkness)
• As the Cardiff rift opened, the Rift quickly pulled beings through it at a steadier pace. Visions started appearing to the Torchwood Three team, and Rhys Williams was murdered. As a result, the Rift was closed, undoing the damage, but Abaddon was unleashed, wiping out hundreds of people. Jack killed Abaddon with an overflow of life energy, which left Jack dead for days. (TW: End of Days) Jack heard the sound of the Doctor's TARDIS, and re-joins the Doctor as the TARDIS hurtled toward the year 100,000,000,000,000. (TW: End of Days, Utopia)
• Meanwhile, Jack was declared missing by his Torchwood teammates, and Gwen Cooper took charge of the group. Subsequently, Ianto Jones began taking a more active role in field assignments. (TW: Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang)

March

• The Eleventh Doctor met Amy Pond in Leadworth after twelve years of waiting. A Multi-form named Prisoner Zero, who had escaped through the crack in Amy's wall at that time, attacked. The Atraxi arrived, threatening the destruction of Earth if Prisoner Zero did not comply. The Doctor created a sentient computer virus for the Atraxi to track back to its source in Leadworth (spread by Jeff). The Doctor also transmitted Prisoner Zero's disguises to the Atraxi so it couldn't hide in the bodies it previously took over. It then took the form of Amy using her mind, and the Doctor made Amy think of Prisoner Zero's original form. Now in plain sight, Prisoner Zero was captured by the Atraxi and left. The Doctor took a test drive of his refurbished TARDIS, only to land two years later. (DW: The Eleventh Hour)

Spring or Summer

• Maria and Alan Jackson moved into 36 Bannerman Road, Ealing, the house opposite where Sarah Jane Smith lived. The Bane used a 'natural ingredient' hidden in their Bubble Shock! drinks to enslave humanity. Sarah Jane and Maria went to the Bubble Shock! factory, stealing their human archetype that was grown there. The archetype used a communication device from a Star Poet to destroy the Bane Mother, and freed the mind-controlled people. One Bane, Mrs Wormwood, escaped from the exploding factory. The archetype was adopted by Sarah Jane and named Luke. (SJA: Invasion of the Bane)
• The Slitheen family killed overweight teachers and created technology labs disguised as means for their energy draining machine to cool the Sun, selling off the destroyed Earth as profit. In the testing phases, the Earth briefly experienced a worldwide power outage. Luke unwittingly gave the code that would make the machine work properly to the Slitheen. Clyde Langer joined Luke, Maria and Sarah Jane in investigating the schools, fighting the Slitheen off with vinegar. When tried out on the Sun properly, the Slitheen's machine overloaded and was destroyed, with a lone survivor teleporting away. Sarah Jane, utilising her supercomputer Mr Smith, later orchestrated a cover-up that suggested the darkening of the sun and the power outage were caused by a sudden, but temporary, shift in Earth's magnetic field. (SJA: Revenge of the Slitheen)
• Royal Hope Hospital was teleported to the Moon, with the Tenth Doctor and Martha Jones inside, for the Judoon to search for a murderer. Being identified as non-human, the Doctor escaped the Judoon after he was mistaken for the murderer. The Doctor's blood was later sucked by Florence Finnegan (the actual suspect), with Martha reviving him. With the blood she drank non-human, the Judoon positively identified and executed Finnegan. Shortly afterwards, the Doctor stopped a supercharged MRI machine from wiping out Earth. The hospital was returned safely and Martha joined the Doctor in the TARDIS. Mr. Saxon continued his campaign for British Prime Minister. He was given high support after the hospital's disappearance, then reappearance. (DW: Smith and Jones; The Sound of Drums, et al, establishes this occurs only a few days before the election.)
• Richard Lazarus unveiled an age-reversing machine which initially de-aged him, then transformed him into a possible evolutionary branch of humanity, latent in his DNA, becoming a monster in doing so. The Tenth Doctor killed Lazarus. (DW: The Lazarus Experiment)
• Election Day began and Harold Saxon was voted British Prime Minister. A mysterious woman was holding surveillance on Francine Jones' phone, as she knew Francine's daughter Martha was in contact with Saxon's enemy, the Doctor. (DW: 42 / The Sound of Drums; Note: This is likely to replace whoever was appointed interim PM after the ouster of Harriet Jones per DW: The Stolen Earth)
  • At, or around this date, Saxon ordered Torchwood Three on a "wild goose chase" mission that took them away from Great Britain (DW: The Sound of Drums) to the Himalayas where they were told (apparently by 'the highest authority') that another Rift had been discovered halfway up K2. When they get there, however, they find out that it is a trap and they almost get killed in an avalanche while distracted by a 'Jack-in-a-box' (http://www.bbc.co.uk/torchwood/sites/arg/pages/episodes.shtml?folder=tw_case_ep01&tab=2)
• The Tenth Doctor, Jack and Martha, who had returned from 100,000,000,000,000, went on the run as fugitives declared by Harold Saxon, who was in fact the Master. The Master announced on television that humanity was to make first contact with the Toclafane. President Winters stepped in, allowing UNIT to take command of the contact. The Doctor, Martha and Jack snuck aboard the Valiant with Jack's vortex manipulator to witness this event and the Toclafane murdered President Winters. The Master, seeing through the Doctor and his companions' perception filters, heavily aged the Doctor and captured him and Jack. (DW: The Sound of Drums)
• The Year That Never Was began, during which the Master built a Time Lord Empire and Martha Jones travelled the world executing a plan of the Doctor's to defeat his enemy. Ultimately, the year was negated (with the Doctor's age restored) and the clock reset to just after the Master killed Winters. Following this, the Master was killed by his wife Lucy, the Master deliberately failing to regenerate. Martha Jones and Jack returned home and left the Doctor on his own. (DW: Last of the Time Lords) Lucy was subsequently arrested and imprisoned; unknown to her, a group of Saxon's followers retrieve a ring from Saxon's funeral pyre and begin preparations for eventually restoring the Master to life the following year. (DW: The End of Time, Part One)
• Captain Jack reunited with Torchwood Three, and met John Hart, who was sent on a wild goose chase to find an Arcadian diamond. In finding the apparent keys to its location, he was instead implanted with a bomb attached to his DNA. The Torchwood Three team disposed of the bomb and sent John through the Rift. In doing so, John told Jack that he found Gray. (TW: Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang)

July

• The Tenth Doctor may have in some way participated in preventing a Graske from causing mischief at a 2008 BBC Proms concert in London. (DW: Music of the Spheres)
• 31 - : NASA confirmed the existence of liquid water on Mars via its Phoenix probe. (DW: The Waters of Mars trailer [1])

October

• The alien Samarands invaded Greece. (DWM: Hotel Historia)

Autumn

• Members of the Stockbridge Preservation Society began to go missing. (DWM: The Stockbridge Child)

Spring/Summer - December

• A Gorgon, hidden by a group of nuns while trying to find a new host, was discovered by Sarah Jane Smith. Maria Jackson used a mirror to turn the Gorgon into stone, and the gateway to the race's galaxy was sealed. (SJA: Eye of the Gorgon)
• The Torchwood Three team discovered Cell 114 sleeper agents in Cardiff and stopped them from setting off nuclear warheads hidden under Cardiff. (TW: Sleeper)
• Annual de-frosting of Tommy Brockless, a young soldier first cryogenically frozen in 1918. Ultimately, this turned out to be the final defrosting. Tommy returned back in time to use a 'Rift key' and stop the two timelines in this year and 2008 from colliding with one another. (TW: To the Last Man)
• A number of teenagers went missing after playing Combat 3000 - Luke Smith and Clyde Langer were among those who went missing. Sarah Jane Smith discovered that they were being teleported by an alien named Kudlak who has taken them to a war ship to fight in an alien war. After Luke discovered that the war ended 10 years previously, Kudlak returned the children home, and searched for the children he had sent to distant worlds. (SJA: Warriors of Kudlak)
• Rhys Williams discovered the truth about Gwen Cooper's job when he was caught up in Torchwood Three's investigation of the imprisonment and exploitation of a Space Whale. Due to the sheer punishment it was receiving, Owen euthanised the whale. (TW: Meat)
• A being that used the name "Adam Smith" escaped from the Void and lived parasitically by altering and inserting himself into others' memories. Adam was drawn to the unique memories of Torchood Three and made them believe that he is a long-time member of their team and Toshiko Sato's lover. Ianto Jones and Captain Jack Harkness exposed Adam after Ianto found no reference to him in his written diaries, and the team banished him back to the Void by retconning themselves to forget the whole incident. (TW: Adam)
• Sarah Jane Smith was handed a puzzle box by a Verron soothsayer she and her team helped return to his own planet, with instructions to give it to someone she trusted. The next week she gave it to Maria Jackson. The Trickster retroactively wiped Sarah Jane out of existence, but reality was restored with help from Maria Jackson, Alan Jackson and Andrea Yates, the woman who had caused all this. Mr Smith pushed a meteorite headed for Earth out of the way. (SJA: Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?)
• A few days after the incident with the Trickster and 5 months after the thwarted Bane invasion, Mr Smith, with the help of the Slitheen, tried to uses Luke Smith's telekinetic abilities via a MITRE headset to collide the Moon with Earth, freeing his Xylok brothers. He was defeated by Sarah Jane, who infected him with the Armaggedon virus made by Alan Jackson. Mr Smith was rebooted, forgetting his purpose. (SJA: The Lost Boy)
• Dr. Martha Jones arrived in Cardiff on the trail of the the Pharm, who had been experimenting on humans with a drug called Reset. Martha was temporarily assigned to Torchwood Three.
• The Pharm was shut down, but Dr. Owen Harper was shot and killed by Aaron Copley. (TW: Reset)
• Before Martha Jones could conduct an autopsy on Owen Harper, Harper was revived by Jack Harkness using the second resurrection gauntlet. As a direct consequence, and for reasons unknown, Harper continued to live past the standard 2.5 minute revival time, but was briefly possessed by Duroc; the embodiment of Death. A number of deaths also occur at a Cardiff hospital as a result of Duroc's manifestation. Owen defeated Duroc, not having any life energy for Duroc to steal. (TW: Dead Man Walking)

December

• mid-December - The Aurelia Festival was held in Stockbridge. The Tenth Doctor and new companion Majenta Pryce arrived and found themselves involved in an adventure with Maxwell Edison. (DWM: The Stockbridge Child)
• 24-25 - The Tenth Doctor, after repairing a hole in space-time with the help of his fifth incarnation (DW: Time Crash), found himself aboard a space-faring replica of the Titanic in orbit around Earth. Some of the passengers (including the waitress Astrid Peth) briefly landed in the middle of London, before being prematurely returned. As the two previous Christmases had been disrupted by the arrival of alien spacecraft over London (DW: The Christmas Invasion and DW: The Runaway Bride), most residents of the city voluntarily evacuated for the season. Those choosing to remain in the city included Queen Elizabeth II and Wilfred Mott, grandfather of Donna Noble. A series of meteorites were deliberately allowed to collide with the deshielded Titanic, causing the ship and its nuclear storm drive to hurtle towards Earth. Most of the survivors of this collision were killed by the Heavenly Host. After the Doctor used the Host's security protocol to find the man in charge, Max Capricorn, Astrid followed, killing Capicorn, but taking her with him. The Doctor piloted the Titanic to safety, just missing Buckingham Palace. The only survivors were Midshipman Alonso Frame, Rickston Slade, the Doctor and Mr Copper, with Astrid being partially revived as starlight. Mr Copper, having realised that he has had money for the first time in his life, retired to Earth. (DW: Voyage of the Damned) Donna Noble would later dismiss the near-miss by the Titanic as a hoax. (DW: Partners in Crime)

Dates Unknown

• Following her encounter with the Tenth Doctor and the Empress of the Racnoss, Donna Noble attempted to improve her life by first travelling to Egypt. Afterwards, experiencing regret at turning down the Doctor's invitation to travel with him, Donna began investigating unusual events in hopes of encountering the Doctor doing the same. Her investigations led to her learning about the disappearance of bees and Adipose Industries, which eventually led to her reuniting with the Doctor in 2009. (DW: Partners in Crime)
• During an unchronicled adventure in London with Martha Jones, the Doctor met Sally Sparrow, who provided him with the information he would need to escape when the Weeping Angels sent him back to 1969. After this, Sally began to open up to Larry Nightingale. (DW: Blink)
• Ed Gold, who would later be part of the crew of Bowie Base One, was born in Australia. (DW: The Waters of Mars)

Negated Timelines

• Spring or Summer - The Judoon defeated Florence Finnegan, but all but one of the people inside Royal Hope Hospital, which was taken to the Moon, died of asphyxiation, including Sarah Jane Smith and Martha Jones. Luke Smith and Maria Jackson were also reported missing. (DW: Turn Left)
• 25th December - While Donna Noble, her mother and her grandfather holiday in the English countryside, the alien spaceship Titanic crashed into London, destroying the city and contaminating most of southern England with radioactivity. (DW: Turn Left)

See Donna's World.

Real World

• The announced 2008 production hiatus sparks speculation in the media over whether David Tennant will be continuing in Doctor Who, with reports published ranging from suggestions that Tennant would leave at the end of the then-upcoming Series 4, or during the specials, to published reports suggesting he had negotiated a deal with the BBC that would keep him on the series through Series 5 in 2010 or possibly longer. This speculation finally ends in October with Tennant's announcement regarding his future on the series.
• Silva Screen Records reissues Doctor Who - Original Television Soundtrack, the soundtrack CD featuring music from the 2005 and 2006 seasons. Due to licensing changes, the reissue features a new cover photograph of David Tennant by himself, with Billie Piper's image having been removed.

January

• BFA: The Bride of Peladon is first released.
• CC: The Catalyst is first released.
• BFDE: Dalek Empire IV: The Fearless: Part 4 is first released, concluding Big Finish Productions' fourth Dalek Empire mini-series.
• BFBS: The Wake is first released.
• FP: Newtons Sleep is first published. Last book in the Faction Paradox series to date.
• Series 1 of The Sarah Jane Adventures debuts in Canada on the BBC Kids cable network.
• 8 - 100th birthday of William Hartnell.
• 9 - Cast readthrough for DW: Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead
• 11 - Russell T Davies begins writing the script for DW: Journey's End.
• 12 - Steven Moffat informs Russell T Davies that he has begun writing the first episode of Series 5 (The Writer's Tale).
• 14 - The DVD set Beneath the Surface is released in the UK, featuring DW: Doctor Who and the Silurians, The Sea Devils and Warriors of the Deep.
• 16 - TW: Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang is first broadcast, launching the second series of Torchwood.
  • Torchwood Declassified also begins its second season.
• 17 - With issue 47, Doctor Who Adventures switches from a fortnightly magazine to a weekly.
• 19 - BBC Radio Wales broadcasts the documentary Torchwood: All Access, which is released later in the year on the CD of TWA: Lost Souls.
• 22 - Russell T Davies completes the initial draft of DW: Journey's End.
  • The complete First Series of Torchwood is released in a DVD box set in North America.
• 23 - TW: Sleeper is first broadcast.
• 24 - The first issue of Torchwood Magazine is published. According to an article on the making of the crossover episode DW: The Stolen Earth/Journey's End, published in issue 7, the existence of the magazine catches cast members by surprise.
  • John Barrowman publishes his autobiography, Anything Goes.
• 30 - TW: To the Last Man is first broadcast.

February

• NSA: Revenge of the Judoon, the third novella in the BBC Books Quick Reads series, is first published.
• BFA: The Condemned is first released.
• IDW, an American comic book company, launches a new original Doctor Who monthly comic book series. Written and edited by Gary Russell, the six-issue series features the Tenth Doctor and Martha Jones. The storyline is untitled in the comic book, but is later given the title IDW: Agent Provocateur when IDW publishes a graphic novel edition of the storyline in the summer of 2008.
• 4 - TWA: Everyone Says Hello and TWA: Hidden are first released. These are the first made-for-audio adventures by BBC Audio to be based upon Torchwood.
  • Audio adaptations of DWN: Doctor Who and the Brain of Morbius and DWN: Doctor Who and the Space War are first released.
• 6 - TW: Meat is first broadcast.
  • DW: Destiny of the Daleks and the box set The Complete Davros Collection are released to DVD in Region 4.
• 11 - DW: The Time Meddler is released to DVD in the UK.
• 13 - TW: Adam and TW: Reset are both first broadcast. In Reset, Freema Agyeman crosses over and temporarily joins the series as Martha Jones.
• 15 Cast readthrough for DW: The Stolen Earth/Journey's End.
• 20 - TW: Dead Man Walking is first broadcast.
• 27 - TW: A Day in the Death is first broadcast.

March

• BFA: The Dark Husband is first released.
• ST: Short Trips: Defining Patterns is first published.
• The BBC announced it was investigating technology to return colour to Third Doctor episodes only available in black and white.
• 3 - A new DVD edition of DW: The Five Doctors is released in the UK. This version includes the remastered version previously issued on VHS and DVD as well as the first DVD release of the original 1983 version of the story. A commentary by David Tennant is included as an Easter Egg in the set - the first time a Doctor other than the one featured in the story has provided commentary.
• 4 - Russell T Davies begins writing the script for DW: The Next Doctor, the fourth Christmas special.
  • North American DVD release of DW: Destiny of the Daleks and Planet of Evil.
• 5 - TW: Something Borrowed is first broadcast.
  • The DVD set Beneath the Surface is released in Region 4, featuring DW: Doctor Who and the Silurians, The Sea Devils and Warriors of the Deep.
• 6 - TWN: The Twilight Streets, TWN: Trace Memory, and TWN: Something in the Water are first published.
• 10 - DW: Voyage of the Damned is released to DVD in the UK. Also included in the set is the mini-episode DW: Time Crash.
• 12 - TW: From Out of the Rain is first broadcast.
• 17 - Russell T Davies completes his script for DW: The Next Doctor. (REF: Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale - The Final Chapter)
• 19 - TW: Adrift is first broadcast.
• 21 - TW: Fragments is first broadcast.
• 23 - Responding to criticism from his correspondent Benjamin Cook, Russell T Davies agrees to change the ending of DW: Journey's End, removing a planned cliffhanger that was going to lead into DW: The Next Doctor.
• 26 - Final correspondence between Russell T Davies and Benjamin Cook in terms of material included in the first edition of the book The Writer's Tale, however correspondence incorporated into the second edition begins immediately.
• 29 - Production wraps on DW: Journey's End, ending production of the 13 episodes of Series 4 proper, though production continues on the Christmas special, DW: The Next Doctor.
• 30 - The first reviews of DW: Partners in Crime appear in UK newspapers.

Spring

• For the third year in a row, episodes of Doctor Who receive nominations in the Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form category at the Hugo Awards. The 2008 "Doctor Who universe" episode nominees are DW: Blink by Steven Moffat (making this his third consecutive Hugo nomination) and the DW: Human Nature/The Family of Blood two-parter by Paul Cornell, and the Torchwood episode TW: Captain Jack Harkness by Catherine Tregenna.
• In the weeks preceding the debut of Doctor Who Series 4, the BBC releases a trailer to cinemas in Great Britain - a rarity for a television series. The trailer includes scenes from most episodes from the first half of the season (except DW: The Doctor's Daughter), and also includes a clip from DW: Turn Left from near the end of the season. The incorporation of a clip of Billie Piper as Rose Tyler from Turn Left makes official that the character is returning in the new season.
• After nearly a decade of being available sporadically through comic shops, distribution of Doctor Who Magazine in Canada is increased considerably, with the magazine now widely available in bookstores and magazine specialty shops, although issues are distributed in Canada 2 to 3 months after their UK publication dates.

April

• BFA: The Haunting of Thomas Brewster is first released.
• Early April - Review copies of the Fourth Season premiere, DW: Partners in Crime, are circulated to media. Unknown to the media, they have received an edited version of the episode, omitting the surprise cameo appearance by Billie Piper (a ruse acknowledged by Russell T Davies in later interviews and Doctor Who Magazine).
• 1 - DW: Timelash and The Time Warrior are released to DVD in Region 1.
• 2 - Cast readthrough for DW: The Next Doctor.
  • DW: The Time Meddler is released to DVD in Region 4.
• 3 - Writer Johnny Byrne dies.
• 4 - TW: Exit Wounds is first broadcast, ending Torchwood's second series. Burn Gorman and Naoko Mori leave the series with this episode.
  • Torchwood Declassified also ends its second season.
• 5 - DW: Partners in Crime is first broadcast, launching the fourth season of the revived series. Catherine Tate rejoins the series full-time as companion Donna Noble. Billie Piper makes her first newly-filmed appearance in the series since DW: Doomsday in 2006; despite media leaks regarding her filming new episodes, her cameo in this particular episode is successfully kept a secret until initial broadcast.
  • After the episode is broadcast, the first Series 4 episode of Doctor Who Confidential airs.
• 07 - Audio adaptations of DWN: Doctor Who and the Creature from the Pit and DWN: Doctor Who - The Myth Makers are first released.
  • Filming begins on DW: The Next Doctor, the 2008 Christmas special.
• 09 - Cast readthrough for SJA: The Day of the Clown and SJA: Secrets of the Stars.
  • The BBC announces that Doctor Who, and composer Murray Gold, will be spotlighted in Doctor Who at the Proms, a special concert during the upcoming Proms classical music performance series. At a press event, violinist Nigel Kennedy, there to promote his own Proms appearance, performs his own arrangement of the Doctor Who theme.
• 12 - DW: The Fires of Pompeii is first broadcast. Included in the cast is future companion actress Karen Gillan.
• 14 - DW: Black Orchid is released to DVD in the UK.
• 16 - David Tennant meets with new series producers Steven Moffat and Piers Wenger to discuss Series 5 and whether he might reconsider his decision to leave. Tennant, who according to Russell T Davies has been "wobbling" on his departure, reaffirms that he will leave the role of the Tenth Doctor after the 2009 specials. (REF: Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale - The Final Chapter)
• 18 - The American Sci-Fi Channel ends its broadcasts of Series 3 with DW: Voyage of the Damned.
• 19 - DW: Planet of the Ood is first broadcast.
• 26 - DW: The Sontaran Stratagem is first broadcast. Freema Agyeman returns to the series (temporarily) as Martha Jones, her first Doctor Who appearance since DW: Last of the Time Lords. The Sontarans appear for the first time since DW: The Two Doctors.

May

• NSA: Martha in the Mirror, NSA: Snowglobe 7, and NSA: The Many Hands are first published. Despite Donna Noble now being the current companion, BBC Books continues to feature Martha Jones as companion in the novels.
• BFA: Assassin in the Limelight is first released.
• ST: Short Trips: The Quality of Leadership is first published.
• MB: Body Politics: The True History of Faction Paradox Volume 3 is first released, more than two years after the previous episode.
• The CBC in Canada announces it will air Series 4 of Doctor Who beginning in September, but will not be broadcasting the second series of Torchwood.
• 1 - The BBC's official Doctor Who website begins posting a series of exclusive comic strip stories dubbed BBC Writers' Comics. Over the next few months, strips written by writers of Doctor Who novels and TV stories created using the Comic Maker application are featured. This week: WC: In-Flight Entertainment.
  • Still in the midst of shooting DW: The Next Doctor, David Tennant refilms the now-Cyberman-free closing scene of DW: Journey's End.
• 3 - DW: The Poison Sky is first broadcast. The episode includes a very brief cameo by Billie Piper, lasting approximately one second in length (despite this brevity, she still receives screen credit). As with DW: Partners in Crime, advance review copies of the episode do not include this cameo. In an interview with Doctor Who Magazine, Russell T Davies states that the decision to add Piper's cameo was made shortly before broadcast (the scene was shot for the upcoming episode DW: Midnight).
  • Production of Series 4 officially concludes with the filming of the mini-episode DW: Music of the Spheres.
• 5 - DW: The Invasion of Time is released to DVD in the UK.
  • Also released in the UK is the DVD box set Bred for War containing the previously released stories DW: The Time Warrior, The Sontaran Experiment, The Invasion of Time and The Two Doctors. The release coincides with the recent Sontaran two-parter on television.
• 8 - BBCR: Pest Control, the first original Doctor Who audio adventure produced by BBC Audiobooks, is released. Considered a spin-off of the BBC Books New Series Adventures line, this marks Donna Noble's debut in such spin-off fiction and is the first officially licenced audio drama not to be produced by Big Finish Productions since the BBC Radio Jon Pertwee radio plays of the mid-1990s. Read by David Tennant.
  • The special edition of DW: The Five Doctors is released to DVD in Region 4.
• 9 - WC: Mind Shadows (BBC Writers' Comics) is uploaded.
• 10 - DW: The Doctor's Daughter is first broadcast, introducing the character of Jenny played by Georgia Moffett, who is the daughter of Fifth Doctor actor Peter Davison, and who once auditioned for the role of Rose Tyler. Freema Agyeman departs for a second time after this episode.
• 15 - WC: Destiny's Door and WC: Fuel (BBC Writers' Comics) are uploaded.
• 17 - DW: The Unicorn and the Wasp is first broadcast.
• 19 - Cast readthrough for SJA: The Last Sontaran and SJA: The Mark of the Berserker.
• 21 - The BBC formally announces that Russell T Davies is to step down as executive producer of Doctor Who in 2009, to be succeeded by Steven Moffat, approximately 20 months after Davies first approached Moffat with the idea (per The Writer's Tale).
• 22 - Plans for Freema Agyeman to return as Martha Jones in the planned third series of Torchwood are derailed due to Agyeman being signed to co-star in Law & Order: UK for ITV. (REF: Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale - The Final Chapter)
• 29 - WC: The Beast is Back in Town (BBC Writers' Comics) is uploaded.
• 31 - DW: Silence in the Library is first broadcast, introducing the character of River Song.
• Late May - the BBC releases a new television trailer promoting the final episodes of the fourth series.

June

• BFA: The Death Collectors is first released.
• 2 - UK DVD release of Doctor Who Series 4 Volume 1 featuring the episodes DW: Partners in Crime, The Fires of Pompeii and Planet of the Ood.
• 3 - North American release of the Beneath the Surface DVD collection featuring DW: Doctor Who and the Silurians, The Sea Devils and Warriors of the Deep.
• 5 - WC: Mad Martha (BBC Writers' Comics) is uploaded.
  • DW: Black Orchid is released to DVD in Region 4.
• 7 - DW: Forest of the Dead is first broadcast.
• 12 - Audio adaptations of DWN: Doctor Who and the Auton Invasion and DWN: Doctor Who - Black Orchid are first released.
  • Holding out until the last possible moment, the BBC finally announces the title of Episode 12 of Series 4 will be DW: The Stolen Earth.
  • WC: Escape to Penhaxico (BBC Writers' Comics) is uploaded.
• 13 - Buckingham Palace announces that Russell T Davies is to be awarded an OBE.
• 14 - DW: Midnight is first broadcast. Includes the third and last surprise cameo by Billie Piper prior to her proper return to the series. This is the first "companion-lite" episode of the series, as it is filmed simultaneously with the "Doctor-lite" episode TW: Turn Left. David Troughton, son of Patrick Troughton, guest stars.
• Mid-June - American news media, including CNN, run profiles of Billie Piper, in conjunction with the debut of her series, Secret Diary of a Call Girl in the US. Coincidentally this spike in US coverage coincides with the lead-up to her return to the series in DW: Turn Left, although her involvement in Doctor Who is given only a passing mention.
  • At the same time, it is reported that Christopher Eccleston has been cast as Amelia Earhart's co-pilot in an upcoming film based on the ill-fated aviatrix's life, while John Barrowman makes Canadian headlines when he's named a judge for the Canadian edition of the UK talent contest series How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? for the CBC (Barrowman also serves as judge on the UK version).
• 16 - UK release of the DVD box set K9 Tales featuring DW: The Invisible Enemy and the first DVD release of KAC: A Girl's Best Friend, the pilot episode of K9 and Company.
• 19 - WC: Just Another Thursday (BBC Writers' Comics) is uploaded.
• 21 - DW:Turn Left is first broadcast, marking the official return of Billie Piper as Rose Tyler after her previous cameo appearances. This is the annual "Doctor-lite" episode.
• 23 - Cast readthrough for SJA: The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith and SJA: Enemy of the Bane
• 24 - Doctor Who wins the Best International Series at the 34th Annual Saturn Awards, an American entertainment awards program. The category is a new one introduced this year, and nominees include Torchwood, Steven Moffat's Jekyll and Life on Mars (which stars John "Mr Saxon" Simm).
• Late June - The Canadian cable network Space announces it has obtained the Canadian broadcast rights to Series 2 of Torchwood and will begin airing the series in August. Reportedly its timeslot will, in some parts of Canada, place it in direct competition with Series 4 of Doctor Who when the CBC begins airing it in September.
  • Several UK media reports indicate that David Tennant is in negotiations to return to Doctor Who for the 2010 series, but no official announcement is forthcoming (leading to additional speculation in the wake of the cliffhanger of DW: The Stolen Earth a few weeks later, although it is known that he is to appear in the 2008 Christmas special as photos of him shooting the special had leaked to the press months previous.
• 26 - WC: Who Ate All the Biscuits? (BBC Writers' Comics) is uploaded.
• 28 - DW: The Stolen Earth is first broadcast. This historic episode marks the first three-way crossover between Doctor Who, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures. Returning to Doctor Who are John Barrowman, Elisabeth Sladen, and Freema Agyeman. The episode receives an Appreciation Index (AI) rating of 91, the highest in the series' history and a feat considered rare if not unprecedented for a mainstream network series.[2]
• 30 - The complete Second Series of Torchwood is released in a DVD box set in the UK.
  • DWBIT: Beyond the Sea is first published.
  • DW: Voyage of the Damned (with Time Crash) is released to DVD in Region 4.

July

• BFA: The Boy That Time Forgot is first released.
• CC: Here There Be Monsters is first released, marking the first appearance of Carole Ann Ford as the "true universe" version of Susan Foreman since DW: The Five Doctors.
• ST: Short Trips: Transmissions is first published.
• Early July - The week between the cliffhanger ending of DW: The Stolen Earth and the broadcast of DW: Journey's End is marked by some of the most intense media attention Doctor Who has ever seen, especially given the uncertainty over whether David Tennant is remaining with the series.[3]
• 1 - UK DVD release of Doctor Who Series 4 Volume 2 with the episodes DW: The Sontaran Stratagem, The Poison Sky, The Doctor's Daughter and The Unicorn and the Wasp.
• 3 - DW: The Invasion of Time is released to DVD in Region 4.
• 4 - WC: The Baktek Illusion is uploaded, concluding the BBC Writers' Comics special series.
• 5 - DW: Journey's End is first broadcast, bringing to a close the fourth series of the revived Doctor Who and it is the last episode to be produced by Phil Collinson, the first of the revived series' original producers to depart. The episode features the one-time returns of Noel Clarke, Camille Coduri and K9 to the series; Catherine Tate leaves the series as a regular with this episode. This is the last regular weekly episode of Doctor Who scheduled until Series 5 in 2010. Like the previous season finales, the broadcast of Journey's End sparks a frenzy of Internet discussion, both pro and con. The episode features the greatest concentration of active companions (as opposed to illusions and images) in the series' history (not including the non-canonical DW: Dimensions in Time). The episode is viewed by 10.57 million people and becomes the No. 1 program for the week -- the first time this has occurred for any episode in the 45-year history of Doctor Who -- despite competition from the Wimbledon finals; it also repeats the previous week's feat and scores an Appreciation Index figure of 91, again unheard of for both Doctor Who and for a mainstream television production.[4][5]. The episode concludes with a teaser for the 2008 Christmas special, at the time of broadcast left untitled but later announced as DW: The Next Doctor. As K9 does not appear in Series 2 of The Sarah Jane Adventures, this marks his final appearance until the post-season mini-episode SJA: From Raxacoricofallapatorius With Love airs in March 2009.
  • Afterwards, the final Series 4 episode of Doctor Who Confidential is broadcast.
• 6 - DW: Partners in Crime is broadcast on ABC in Australia.
• 7 - The Daily Mail reports that more than 2,500 people actually attempted to phone the Doctor's phone number as shown in DW: The Stolen Earth, in hopes of hearing a special recorded message, but the number was in fact non-functional.[6]
• 8 - The Bred for War DVD box set (DW: The Time Warrior, The Sontaran Experiment, The Invasion of Time, The Two Doctors) is released in Region 4.
• 11 - The Telegraph reports on rumours of David Tennant stepping down from the role of the Doctor, with David Morrissey, John Simm, and Robert Carlyle cited as the book-maker's favorites to replace him, despite Morrissey scheduled to guest star in the 2008 Christmas special and Simm having already played The Master in Season 3. Julie Gardner confirms in the article that Tennant has made his decision as to whether he'll be staying on for the 2010 season, but she confirms that he will appear in all of the special episodes scheduled for 2009.[7] Despite this, wildcat Internet rumours persist that Morrissey will replace Tennant as early as the 2008 Christmas special, while some UK media report that Tennant has signed an agreement to stay with the series through Series 5 in 2010.
• 12 - Doctor Who sweeps the television categories at the second annual Constellation Awards, a Canadian award presented as part of the Polaris science fiction convention. David Tennant wins for best Male Performance in a Science Fiction Television episode for his work on the two-parter DW : Human Nature/The Family of Blood; Carey Mulligan wins the female equivalent for DW: Blink; and the series itself wins for Best Science Fiction Television Series of 2007. Doctor Who is eligible for these awards thanks to its co-production arrangement with the CBC.
• 21 - DW: The Brain of Morbius is released to DVD in the UK.
  • CP: Time's Champion is first published. This is an unauthorized Sixth Doctor novel published for charity.
• 23 - Copies of issue No. 397 of Doctor Who Magazine come polybagged with randomly chosen original Target Books editions (from a selection of 27 books), giving the Target novelisations widespread exposure for the first time in years; also included in the mix were a few non-novelisation releases such as REF: The Making of Doctor Who. The issue also includes a second surprise: when the polybag is removed, all text on the front cover (except around the UPC symbol) is revealed to be "BAD WOLF", including the title banner for the magazine itself! This is a tie-in with the ending of DW: Turn Left.
  • Publication of IDW: Doctor Who Classics Vol. 1, a graphic novel-style release reprinting the first few issues of IDW: Doctor Who Classics by IDW Publishing.
• 27 - The first Doctor Who Proms concert is held at Royal Albert Hall in London, featuring music from Doctor Who. An interactive mini-episode, DW: Music of the Spheres, is shown as part of this event, which is initially broadcast on BBC Radio. The concert is hosted by Freema Agyeman, with Catherine Tate appearing to introduce a segment, as well. Singer Tim Phillips, who performed "Song for Ten" in DW: The Christmas Invasion, performs the extended version of the song introduced on the Series 1 & 2 soundtrack CD. Davros, the Graske and other monsters make cameo appearances as well. As a tribute to the BBC Radiophonic Workshop and Delia Derbyshire, Music of the Spheres ends with the original 1963 arrangement of the "Doctor Who theme". The BBC later announces that an edited version of the broadcast -- including Music of the Spheres -- will air on 1 January 2009.

August

• BFA: The Doomwood Curse is first released.
• CC: The Great Space Elevator is first released.
• BFBS: The Adolescence of Time is first released.
• 1 - The American Sci-Fi Channel broadcasts DW: Journey's End in a special 90-minute time slot, concluding its broadcasts of Series 4.
• 4 - UK DVD release of Doctor Who Series 4 Volume 3 featuring the episodes DW: Silence in the Library, Forest of the Dead and Midnight.
• 5 - DW: The Time Meddler, Black Orchid and the special edition of The Five Doctors are released to DVD in Region 1.
• 6 - The DVD Doctor Who Series 4 Volume 1 is released in Region 4 featuring the episodes DW: Partners in Crime, The Fires of Pompeii and Planet of the Ood. This is the first time Region 4 has seen a release of this nature.
• 8 - Canadian premiere of Torchwood Series 2 on the Space network, marking a new beginning for Space's association with the Doctor Who franchise (it had previously aired the original Doctor Who series in the late 1990s).
• 9 - DW: Blink, by Steven Moffat, wins the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form. This is the third consecutive win for both Moffat and the series.
• 14 - Audio adaptations of DWN: Doctor Who and the Dæmons and DWN: Doctor Who and the Pyramids of Mars are first released.
• 25 - DW: The War Machines is released to DVD in the UK.
• 29 - IDW Publishing issues IDW: Agent Provocateur, a graphic novel compilation of the first six-issue storyline of its original Doctor Who monthly comic book, and Doctor Who Classics Vol. 1, collecting the first several issues of reprints originally published by IDW as the monthly title IDW: Doctor Who Classics. This edition features the run from DWM: The Iron Legion to DWM: The Star Beast.
• 31 - Doctor Who: Battles in Time publishes its 50th issue.
• IDW Publishing launches a second Doctor Who comic book mini-series, IDW: The Forgotten, which will feature appearances by all 10 Doctors.

Late summer

• ITV announces that Freema Agyeman will star in Law & Order: London, a spin-off of the American Law & Order franchise set to air in 2009. Torchwood writer Chris Chibnall is named the show's head writer, and other Torchwood alumni signed to write for the new series include James Moran and Catherine Tregenna.

September

• NSA: Ghosts of India, NSA: Shining Darkness, and NSA: The Doctor Trap are first published. These are the first full-length novels featuring Donna Noble as companion.
• BFA: Kingdom of Silver is first released.
• BFA: Time Reef is first released.
• CC: The Doll of Death is first released.
• ST: Short Trips: How the Doctor Changed My Life is first published.
• BFBS: The Adventure of the Diogenes Damsel is first released.
• Trailers for the second season of The Sarah Jane Adventures begin appearing in cinemas in the UK, following on from the introduction of cinema trailers for the parent series. The trailer includes specially shot footage of one of the characters addressing the audience.
• GE Fabbri begins test marketing a new multimedia publication called Doctor Who DVD Files in the northeast UK, in preparation for a British Isles roll-out of the publication beginning in January 2009.
• 10th anniversary of the release of the first Doctor Who-related audio drama by Big Finish Productions, an adaptation of the Bernice Summerfield novel, BFBS: Oh No it Isn't!.
• 01 - UK DVD release of Doctor Who Series 4 Volume 4 featuring the episodes DW: Turn Left, The Stolen Earth and Journey's End.
• 02 - DW: The Invasion of Time and the K9 Tales box set featuring DW: The Invisible Enemy and KAC: A Girl's Best Friend are released to DVD in Region 1.
• 04 - The K9 Tales DVD box set featuring DW: The Invisible Enemy and KAC: A Girl's Best Friend is released in Region 4.
  • Region 4 also sees the release of Doctor Who Series 4 Volume 2 with the episodes DW: The Sontaran Stratagem, The Poison Sky, The Doctor's Daughter and The Unicorn and the Wasp.
• 08 - David Tennant: A Life in Time and Space, a biography of the actor, is first published.
• 10 - The first Torchwood radio drama, TWA: Lost Souls, is broadcast on BBC Radio 4. Although there have been exclusive-to-audio books released previously, this is the first full-cast audio drama based upon the series. The story is based upon the activation of the Large Hadron Collider, which was a real-life event that took place around the time of the broadcast. The current cast of the series reprises their TV roles, along with Freema Agyeman returning as Martha Jones.
• 11 - Audio adaptation of DWN: Doctor Who and the Green Death is first released.
• 15 - DW: Four to Doomsday released to DVD in the UK.
• 16 - Release of Torchwood series 2 on standard DVD in the United States (Canadian release is delayed until November 11).
  • The Times begins serializing excerpts from REF: Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale, including Russell T Davies' comment that Russell Tovey was his favourite to play the Eleventh Doctor; other media subsequently report this.
• 17 - Russell T Davies and Benjamin Cook are interviewed on BBC Breakfast to promote REF: Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale.
• 18 - BBC Audio releases the Torchwood radio play TWA: Lost Souls on CD and for download. The CD version includes a documentary featurette, Torchwood: All Access.
• 19 - Belated broadcast of Series 4 begins on the CBC in Canada. The CBC begins the season with DW: Partners in Crime, omitting DW: Voyage of the Damned and, as a result, leaving the Series 3 cliffhanger unresolved for Canadian viewers. In some parts of Canada the broadcasts overlap that of Torchwood on Space Channel.
• 20 - Merlin debuts on BBC One. The popular series shares numerous behind-the-scenes personnel with Doctor Who as it is also a BBC Wales production. The Mill, which provides special effects for Doctor Who and Torchwood, also provides SFX for the series. Colin Morgan, who guest-starred in DW: Midnight, plays the lead role, with DW: School Reunion guest star and frequent voiceover contributor Anthony Stewart Head as King Uther. Eve Myles (Gwen Cooper on Torchwood) plays a villain in this first episode, while Michelle Ryan (DW: Planet of the Dead) has a recurring role as another villain.
• 23 - a BBC press release announces the title of the 2008 Christmas special: DW: The Next Doctor, renewing fan speculation regarding David Tennant's future with the series into 2009.
• 25 - publication of the first edition of Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale, a collection of e-mails between Russell T Davies and Benjamin Cook between February 2007 and March 2008 discussing the production of Series 4.
• 29 - SJA: The Last Sontaran parts 1 and 2 are first broadcast, launching Series 2 of The Sarah Jane Adventures. The story is a follow-up to DW: The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky.
  • DW: The Trial of a Time Lord - the complete Season 23 - is released to DVD in the UK as a single set.
• 30 - BFA: Doctor Who: the Stageplays - The Ultimate Adventure is first released. This is the first in a series of Big Finish Productions' audio productions adapting Doctor Who-based stage plays, in this case the Colin Baker version of SP: The Ultimate Adventure.

October

• BFA: Brotherhood of the Daleks is first released.
• CC: Empathy Games is first released.
• Doctor Who Magazine publishes its 400th issue, cover-dated 15 October but available in stores as early as 1 October. This issue features the start of the comic strip, DWM: Thinktwice which introduces Majenta Pryce as the Doctor's new comic-strip companion; this is the first time since the departure of Destrii in 2005's DWM: The Flood that the DWM strip has introduced an original companion.
• IDW Publishing launches its fourth Doctor Who comic book title, the two-issue IDW: Grant Morrison's Doctor Who, reprinting 1980s-era Doctor Who Magazine strips by Grant Morrison.
• In multiple interviews conducted in March and April of 2010, Matt Smith indicated that he had been chosen to play the Eleventh Doctor "three months" before the official announcement was made in early January 2009. This means the decision to cast him may have been made during October 2008 - possibly before David Tennant announced his departure.
• 1 - Ian Collier dies.
• 2 - DW: The Brain of Morbius is released to DVD in Region 4.
  • Also released in Region 4 is Doctor Who Series 4 Volume 3 featuring the episodes DW: Silence in the Library, Forest of the Dead and Midnight.
• 6 - SJA: The Day of the Clown part 1 is first broadcast.
• 7 - Release of Series 1 of The Sarah Jane Adventures to DVD in North America. This predates the UK release of the series by a full month.
  • Also released to DVD in North America: DW: The Brain of Morbius and the The Trial of a Time Lord box set.
• 9 - BBCR:The Forever Trap, the second exclusive-to-audio Doctor Who story by BBC Audio/BBC Books is first released. Read by Catherine Tate.
• 13 - SJA: The Day of the Clown part 2 is first broadcast.
• 14 - Russell T Davies receives an e-mail proposing an idea for Torchwood: The Musical with members of ABBA doing the music. (REF: Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale - the Final Chapter).
• 20 - SJA: Secrets of the Stars part 1 is first broadcast.
• 24 - Torchwood Series 2 concludes in Canada.
• 27 - SJA: Secrets of the Stars part 2 is first broadcast.
  • TWN: Almost Perfect, TWN: Pack Animals, and TWN: SkyPoint are first published. Pack Animals and SkyPoint are the last novels to feature Owen Harper and Toshiko Sato as the series moves into post-Series 2 continuity with Almost Perfect.
• 29 - David Tennant and the BBC announce that Tennant will be leaving Doctor Who following production of the "gap season" specials in 2009. Tennant makes the announcement on live TV when he accepts the National Television Award for Outstanding Drama Performance. The series also wins Most Popular Drama. Tennant's announcement is made hours after The Guardian breaks the news first on its website. As the winner of the NTA was not previously known, it was uncertain whether Tennant would be able to deliver his announcement on the air. The announcement was timed to occur during an intermission in his performance of Hamlet, and Tennannt pre-recorded a version of it in the event the live transmission broke down. Earlier in the day, Russell T Davies and Benjamin Cook appear on a TV broadcast discussing their book, REF: Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale, and manage to avoid discussing the yet-to-be-made announcement. (REF: Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale - The Final Chapter)
  • Tennant's announcement sparks a period of intense fan and media speculation as to who will be chosen to portray the Eleventh Doctor. Speculated names range from well-known to obscure actors, and also includes both caucasian and black candidates, as well as a revival of speculation about a female actor being cast, an idea that dates back to the 1970s.
• 30 - BFA: Doctor Who: the Stageplays - Seven Keys to Doomsday is first released, adapting SP: Doctor Who and the Daleks in The Seven Keys to Doomsday and returning Trevor Martin to the role of the Doctor.
• 31 - BFBS: The Diet of Worms is first released.

November

• BFA: Forty-Five is first released. The title is a reference to Doctor Who's 45th anniversary.
• CC: Home Truths is first released.
• MB: Words from Nine Divinities: The True History of Faction Paradox Volume 5 is first released.
• 3 - SJA: The Mark of the Berserker part 1 is first broadcast.
  • SJAN: The Lost Boy and SJAN: Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane? are first published; the complete first series of The Sarah Jane Adventures has now been novelised.
• 05: SJAN: The Last Sontaran and SJAN: The Day of the Clown are first published.
• 10 - SJA: The Mark of the Berserker part 2 is first broadcast.
• 11 - The complete First Series of The Sarah Jane Adventures is released to DVD in the UK, one month after it was released in North America.
  • Release of Torchwood Season 1 on high-definition Blu-Ray in North America, the first Doctor Who-related release in this format. Also, delayed release of Torchwood Season 2 on DVD in Canada (release delayed due to the season still being transmitted by a Canadian network at the time of North American release).
  • DW: The War Machines and Doctor Who Series 4 Volume 4 featuring the episodes DW: Turn Left, The Stolen Earth and Journey's End, are released in Region 4.
• 13 - SJAA:The Time Capsule is first released by BBC Audio.
  • Audio adaptation of DWN: Doctor Who and the Time Warrior is first released.
  • REF: Doctor Who: The Time Traveller's Almanac is first published.
• 14 - The opening pre-credits sequence of the upcoming Christmas special DW: The Next Doctor is broadcast as part of the BBC's annual Children in Need Appeal. Other than brief snippets seen in a previously released trailer, this showing marks the first broadcast of footage of David Morrissey as "The Other Doctor" and Velile Tshabalala as Rosita, as well as a possible new form of Cyberman.
• 17 - SJA: The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith part 1 is first broadcast.
  • The complete Series Four of Doctor Who is released in a DVD box set in the UK.
• 18 - North American release of the Series 4 DVD box set - only one day after the UK release - and DW: The Infinite Quest (a full year after the UK release in the case of the latter). As The Infinite Quest was never broadcast in North America, this marks the first time that a Doctor Who serial has been released to DVD in North America without it first having been broadcast there (discounting prior releases of incomplete and restored serials from the 1960s). Series 4 is released in Canada even though the CBC is only midway through its broadcast of the season.
• 23 - 45th anniversary of the first broadcast of Doctor Who.
• 24 - SJA: The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith part 2 is first broadcast.
• 25 - The BBC announces that The Sarah Jane Adventures has been renewed for a third season, scheduled for broadcast in the fall of 2009.
• 30 - BFA: Doctor Who: The Stageplays - The Curse of the Daleks is first released, the third and last in a series of audio adaptations of Doctor Who-based stage plays by Big Finish Productions, adapting SP: The Curse of the Daleks.

December

• NSA: Beautiful Chaos, NSA: The Eyeless and NSA: The Story of Martha are first published. The Eyeless is the first New Series Adventures release in which the Doctor travels without a companion; The Story of Martha is an anthology focusing on the activities of Martha Jones during the Year That Never Was between DW: The Sound of Drums and DW: Last of the Time Lords and is the first New Adventures release to tie in directly with a televised story in this fashion. Beautiful Chaos is the final novel to date to feature Donna Noble.
• BFA: The Raincloud Man is first released.
• CC: The Darkening Eye is first released.
• ST: Short Trips: Christmas Around the World is first published.
• Julie Gardner and other Doctor Who production team members travel to Dubai, UAE, to scout locations for DW: Planet of the Dead.
• IDW Publishing launches IDW: Doctor Who Classics Series 2, continuing its reprints of Fourth Doctor-era comic strips from Doctor Who Magazine.
• 1 - SJA: Enemy of the Bane part 1 is first broadcast. First television appearance of Nicholas Courtney as Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart since 1989's DW: Battlefield.
  • James Bree (DW: The War Games, DW: Full Circle, DW: The Ultimate Foe) dies.
• 4 - DW: Four to Doomsday and the Complete Series 4 of Doctor Who are released to DVD in Region 4.
• 8 - SJA: Enemy of the Bane part 2 is first broadcast, concluding the second season of The Sarah Jane Adventures.
  • According to BBC News, a "long-standing back injury" forces David Tennant to miss several performances of Hamlet at London's Novello Theatre. Ultimately, Tennant undergoes back surgery.
• 10 - Although the announcement isn't made for several weeks, Russell T Davies is informed that Matt Smith has been cast as the Eleventh Doctor. (REF: Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale - The Final Chapter)
• 12 - Broadcast of DW: Journey's End on the CBC in Canada, concluding its broadcasts of Series 4. The network chooses to air an extensively edited version of the episode, cut down to approximately 44 minutes in order to fit a standard 60-minute time slot, with commercials, raising the ire of many Canadian fans who afterward flood the CBC's website with complaints. The season ends with no plans by the CBC to broadcast DW: Voyage of the Damned or DW: The Next Doctor (the CBC ultimately loses the rights to air The Next Doctor and the remaining 2009 Specials, plus Series 5, in the spring of 2009).
• 24 - A little-known actor named Matt Smith attends a secret photo shoot; so secret, in fact, that the hairstylist and photographer are not informed what it's for. Later, an image of the TARDIS would be digitally added to the photos, which would be issued on 3 January 2009 to announce Smith as the 11th actor to play the Doctor.[8]
• 25 - DW: The Next Doctor, the fourth Doctor Who Christmas special, is first broadcast. This is considered the last episode of Series 4 before four special episodes planned over the next year in lieu of a full season of Doctor Who, which is scheduled to return to a full 13-week season in 2010. This is the first story since DW: The Deadly Assassin in which the Doctor does not share an adventure with a clearly defined companion (even in a one-off manner), as the story twists conventions by placing the Doctor in the companion role. The title of the first special, DW: Planet of the Dead, is unveiled during the closing credits. The episode is notable for including a sequence in which the nine actors who played the Doctor prior to Tennant are shown; in some cases, such as William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton, this marks the first on-screen appearance of their Doctors in more than two decades, and it is the first unambiguous confirmation that the revived series counts Paul McGann's Eighth Doctor in its continuity.
  • An edition of Doctor Who Confidential follows the broadcast.
• 29 - Publication of IDW: Doctor Who Classics Vol. 2, a graphic novel-style release reprinting issues of IDW: Doctor Who Classics by IDW Publishing.
  • DW: Battlefield is released to DVD in the UK.