2008

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Revision as of 01:52, 9 November 2008 by 23skidoo (talk | contribs) (→‎November: removed reference to Canadian release of the S4 box as it does appear it may come out on the date after all)

Doctor Who Universe

January

February

April

May

Election Day is generally held on the first Thursday in May. In 2008, the first Thursday was 1st May.

July

December

Negated timelines

See Donna's World.

Dates Unknown

  • During an unchronicled adventure in London with Martha Jones, The Doctor meets Sally Sparrow, who provides him with the information he needs to escape when the Weeping Angels send him back to 1969. After this, Sally begins to open up to Larry Nightingale. (DW: Blink)
  • Following her encounter with the Doctor, Donna Noble attempts to improve her life by first travelling to Egypt. Afterwards, experiencing regret at turning down the Doctor's invitation to travel with him, Donna begins investigating unusual happenings, in hopes of encountering the Doctor doing the same. Her investigations lead to her learning about the disappearance of bees and unusual happenings at Adipose Industries, which eventually lead to her reuniting with the Doctor in 2009. (DW: Partners in Crime)
  • The Slitheen family kill overweight teachers and use them as a disguise to find a code to freeze the Sun, planning to burn up the Earth. The Slitheen plan is foiled by Sarah Jane Smith, although a child Slitheen escapes and the Earth briefly experiences a worldwide power outage coupled with a brief disruption in solar activity. Sarah Jane, utilizing her supercomputer Mr Smith, later orchestrates a cover-up that suggests 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)
  • A Gorgon, hidden by a group of nuns while trying to find a new host, is discovered by Sarah Jane Smith. Maria Jackson uses a mirror to turn the Gorgon into stone. (SJA:Eye of the Gorgon)
  • A number of teenagers go missing after playing laser tag - Luke Smith and Clyde Langer are among those who go missing. Sarah Jane Smith discovers that they are being teleported by an alien named Kudlak who has taken them to a war ship to fight in an alien war - a war which he is unaware is over.(SJA:Warriors of Kudlak)
  • On her way back to Earth, Sarah Jane Smith is handed a stone by a spaceship driver, with instructions to give it to someone she trusts. The next day she gives it to Maria Jackson. The Trickster retroactively wipes Sarah Jane out of existence, but reality is restored with help from Maria Jackson. (SJA: Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?)

Real World

  • Early in the year, the BBC announces that the 5th series of Doctor Who will not air until 2010. Instead, several specials will be produced for broadcast in 2009. This hiatus is in order to allow David Tennant to perform a season of Shakespeare alongside Patrick Stewart during the time when Doctor Who is normally in production. This announcement is followed by media reports of Stewart expressing interest in guest starring in a future episode.

January

February

March

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 Blink by Steven Moffat (making this his third consecutive Hugo nomination) and the Human Nature/The Family of Blood two-parter by Paul Cornell, and the Torchwood episode 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 The Doctor's Daughter), and also includes a clip from Turn Left from near the end of the season. The incorporation of a clip of Billie Piper as Rose Tyler makes official that the character is returning in the new season.

April

May

June

  • 3 - it is reported that Torchwood will return for a third series, with production scheduled for the fall of 2008 and broadcast in the spring of 2009, with the series moving to BBC One. John Barrowman is confirmed as returning. Initially, only a single five-episode serial, to be broadcast during one week, is confirmed; it is subsequently confirmed that this will constitute the complete third series.
  • 7 - DWForest of the Dead first broadcast.
  • 14 - DW:Midnight first broadcast. Includes the third and last surprise cameo by Billie Piper prior to her proper return to the series.
  • 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 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 talent contest series How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? for the CBC.
  • Mid-June - Holding out until the last possible moment, the BBC finally announces the title of Episode 12 of Series 4 will be The Stolen Earth.
  • 21 - DW:Turn Left first broadcast, marking the official return of Billie Piper as Rose Tyler after her previous cameo appearances.
  • 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.
  • Late June - 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 DW:The Stolen Earth a few weeks later. 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.
  • 28 - DW:The Stolen Earth 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.[1]

July

  • 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.[2]
  • 5 - DW:Journey's End 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; afterwards, the final Series 4 episode of Doctor Who Confidential is broadcast. 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 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.[3][4]. The episode concludes with a teaser for the 2008 Christmas special, at the time of broadcast untitled but later given the title The Next Doctor.
  • 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 The Stolen Earth, in hopes of hearing a special recorded message, but the number was in fact non-functional.[5]
  • 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.[6] Despite this, wildcat Internet rumours persist that Morrissey will replace Tennant as early as the 2008 Christmas special.
  • 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.
  • Mid-July - 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 Doctor Who Classics. This edition features the run from DWUS:The Iron Legion to DWUS:The Star Beast.
  • 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. 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!
  • 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 to be televised at a later date.

August

  • 1 - The American Sci-Fi Channel broadcasts DWJourney's End in a special 90-minute time slot, concluding its broadcasts of Series 4.
  • 8 - Canadian premiere of Torchwood Series 2 on the Space channel.
  • 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.
  • IDW Publishing launches a second Doctor Who comic book story arc, IDW:The Forgotten, which will feature appearances by all 10 Doctors.

September

  • Publication of TDA: Ghosts of India, TDA: Shining Darkness, and TDA: The Doctor Trap: the first full-length novels featuring Donna Noble as companion.
  • 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 included specially shot footage of one of the new characters from Series 2 addressing the audience.
  • 10 - The first Torchwood radio drama, 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.
  • 16 - Release of Torchwood series 2 on standard DVD in the United States (Canadian release is delayed until November 11).
  • 18 - BBC Audio releases the Torchwood radio play 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 Partners in Crime, omitting 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.
  • 23 - a BBC press release announces the title of the 2008 Christmas special: The Next Doctor, renewing fan speculation regarding David Tennant's future with the series into 2009.
  • 29 - SJA: The Last Sontaran Part 1 and Part 2 first broadcast.

October

This actually pre-dates the scheduled UK release of the series.

November

December

2007 21st century
2000s
2009