2000

2000 in

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the DWU • production history • vital statistics • releases

The year 2000 was, as evidenced by statements by American news outlets and world-renowned chronologist Professor Wagg — the start of the third millennium. (TV: Doctor Who) This view was shared by at least one incarnation of the Doctor. (PROSE: Doctor Who - The Novel of the Film) Despite the predilection of most humans to celebrate it as the beginning of the millennium, however, at least one other incarnation of the Doctor regarded it as the final year of the second millennium. (PROSE: Millennial Rites) This tug-of-war between the technical and common conceptions of the year was reflected in an argument between Anji Kapoor and her boyfriend Dave Young. He held fast to the view that 1 January 2001 was the beginning of the millennium, whereas she found this pedantry a reason to seriously consider leaving him. (PROSE: Escape Velocity)

January

• 1 - The Eighth Doctor departed San Francisco, California after preventing the Bruce Master from destroying the planet at the start of the year in San Fran's time zone (UTC/GMT-8h). Grace Holloway declined an invitation to travel with him. (TV: Doctor Who)

February

• 10 - Henry Louis Noone was born in St. Stephen's Hospital in London. (AUDIO: A Death in the Family)

Spring

• The Fourth Doctor and Romana visited Paris (COMIC: The Forgotten), much to Romana's chagrin as they had only just visited the city, albeit twenty-one years earlier. (TV: City of Death)

December

• 25 - 360 days prior to this date, the Eighth Doctor warned Chang Lee not to be in San Francisco for Christmas 2000, suggesting knowledge of an unknown incident that would take place in San Francisco at this time. The Doctor recommended Chang Lee to "take a vacation" on this date, but it's not known if Chang followed his advice. (TV: Doctor Who)

Unknown dates

• The Hourly Telepress published adventures of the Karkus. (TV: The Mind Robber, PROSE: The Wheel of Ice)
• Some time after the departure of the Eighth Doctor, Grace Holloway discovered residue left over from her encounter with the Bruce Master. Seeking to develop a human/Time Lord hybrid capable of regeneration, she began working for a genetics lab; later she learned she was actually working for a branch of MI6. (COMIC: The Glorious Dead)
• One account claimed that it was during the year 2000 that the First Doctor regenerated, rather than 1986. (PROSE: Doctor Who and the Tenth Planet)
• Chloe Webber was born to Trish Webber and an unnamed father. (TV: Fear Her)
• Sally Morgan was born. (AUDIO: Project: Nirvana)

Behind the scenes

References in the Doctor Who Universe tend to indicate the year 2000 was the start of the millennium, rather than 2001, the technical start of that millennium.

January

• AUDIO: The Land of the Dead was first released.
• 3 - PROSE: Parallel 59 was first published.
• 3 - PROSE: Last of the Gaderene was first published.
• 13 - Actor Eric Dodson died.

February

• AUDIO: The Fearmonger was first released. This was the first solo Seventh Doctor audio adventure.
• Punchline was first released. With Big Finish Productions having now signed Sylvester McCoy to play the official Seventh Doctor, BBV retired The Time Travellers series after this release, with McCoy playing "the Dominie" for the last time.
• 1 - Actor Reginald Jessup died.
• 7 - PROSE: The Shadows of Avalon was first published. This novel introduced the third incarnation of Romana.
• 7 - PROSE: Tomb of Valdemar was first published.

March

• Actor Charles Morgan died.
• AUDIO: The Marian Conspiracy was first released. This Sixth Doctor adventure featured the introduction of Evelyn Smythe, the first companion to be created exclusively for audio.
• 6 - PROSE: The Fall of Yquatine was first published.
• 6 - PROSE: Short Trips and Side Steps anthology was first published. This was the third and last Short Trips release by BBC Books; Big Finish Productions later continued the series.
• 6 - BBC Audio released an audio recording of TV: The Web of Fear.
• 29 - Actor John Baskcomb died.

April

• AUDIO: The Genocide Machine was first released. This was the first Daleks story produced by Big Finish.
• 3 - PROSE: Coldheart was first published.
• 3 - PROSE: Verdigris was first published.

May

• AUDIO: Red Dawn was first released.
• 1 - PROSE: The Space Age was first published.
• 1 - PROSE: Grave Matter was first published.
• 15 - Jon Pertwee: The Biography by Bernard Bale was published.
• 29 - Actor Aubrey Richards died.

June

• AUDIO: The Spectre of Lanyon Moor was first released.
• REF: The Pocket Essential Doctor Who was first published.
• 5 - PROSE: The Banquo Legacy was first published.
• 5 - PROSE: Heart of TARDIS was first published.
• 5 - BBC Audio released an audio recording of TV: Galaxy 4.
• 18 - Actor Derek Sydney died from a heart attack in San Marcos, California.
• 18 - Actor John Caesar died.
• 28 - Actor David Neal died from natural causes.
• 29 - Actor John Abineri died from motor neurone disease.

July

• AUDIO: Winter for the Adept was first released.
• 3 - PROSE: The Ancestor Cell was first published. It featured the return of Romana III and the final appearance of Compassion as a companion.
• 3 - PROSE: Prime Time was first published.
• 11 - Actor Roy Purcell died as a result of complications from an operation.

August

• AUDIO: The Apocalypse Element was first released. Lalla Ward returned as Romana II and made many more Big Finish audio dramas in the years ahead.
• BBC Audio released an audio recording of TV: The Highlanders and a new edition of the 1993 release TV: The Macra Terror.
• 7 - PROSE: The Burning was first published, launching a six-book story arc entitled the Earth Arc. For the next four books, the Doctor had no companions (although this book contains a reference to Compassion).
• 9 - PROSE: Imperial Moon was first published.
• 11 - Actor Eddie Powell died.

September

• AUDIO: The Fires of Vulcan was first released. Muriel Frost appeared, becoming the first character from the Doctor Who Magazine comic strip to appear in a Big Finish Productions audio drama.
• PROSE: Professor Bernice Summerfield and the Dead Men Diaries was first published, returning Bernice Summerfield to the literary arena and launching the Big Finish Bernice Summerfield series of books. This was the first of numerous Summerfield short story collections.
• Enlightenment, the magazine published by the Canadian fan club, the Doctor Who Information Network, published its hundredth issue.
• 4 - PROSE: Casualties of War was first published.
• 4 - PROSE: Festival of Death was first published.
• 4 - UK released a remastered and unedited version of TV: An Unearthly Child on home video.
• 10 - TV: The Five Doctors was released to DVD in Region 4, becoming the first non-UK DVD release from the series.
• 12 - Actor Stephen Flynn died.
• 20 - Director Mary Ridge died.

October

• AUDIO: The Shadow of the Scourge was first released.
• 02 - Future Doctor Who co-star Billie Piper released her second and final album, Walk of Life. After the release of this album, Piper decided to concentrate on her acting career.
• 12 - PROSE: The Turing Test was first published.
• 12 - PROSE: Independence Day was first published.
• 14 - Actor Lawrence Davidson died.
• 21 - Actor Alan Rowe died.
• 25 - REF: Doctor Who: Regeneration was first published.
• The dance group Dizzy released a dance track called "Dr. Who" on Doubledown Recordings.
• Who was Dr. Who, a compilation CD produced by Mark Ayres, was released on the Cherry Red/RPM label. The CD compiled assorted singles and other recordings based on or inspired by Doctor Who dating back to the 1960s. Included was a previously unissued Frazer Hines recording, "Time Traveller".

November

• AUDIO: The Holy Terror was first released. Frobisher appeared, becoming the first companion from the Doctor Who Magazine comic strip to appear in a Big Finish Productions audio drama.
• PROSE: Professor Bernice Summerfield and the Doomsday Manuscript was first published, the first full-length novel in the Big Finish Bernice Summerfield series of books.
• AUDIO: The Rani Reaps the Whirlwind was first released.
• Actor Victor Lucas died.
• 5 - Director Morris Barry died.
• 6 - PROSE: Endgame was first published.
• 6 - PROSE: The King of Terror was first published.
• 13 - TV: The Robots of Death became the second Doctor Who story (and the first solo Fourth Doctor story) to be released to DVD in the UK (a year after the previous release).
• 23 - REF: Howe's Transcendental Toybox was first published.

December

• AUDIO: The Mutant Phase was first released.
• 17 - Actor Maurice Quick died.
• 21 - Actor John Lee died in Melbourne, Australia.

Unknown dates

• Actress Caitlin Blackwood was born.