The Infinity Doctors universe

In one parallel universe, a version of the Doctor — unlike any particular incarnation known in the mainstream universe — spent decades or centuries living on that universe's Gallifrey. There, he organised a peace conference between the Sontaran Empire and the Rutan Host living in that universe. (PROSE: The Infinity Doctors)

The Eighth Doctor often encountered and interacted with consequences, fallout, and individuals from this universe. (PROSE: Seeing I, Unnatural History, The Taking of Planet 5, Father Time, The Gallifrey Chronicles)

Behind the scenes

• Writer Lance Parkin has been consistently ambiguous about the setting of The Infinity Doctors. On his website he categorises the novel as both a First Doctor and Eighth Doctor novel. Many readers considered the story either as a tale of the First Doctor before he left Gallifrey, or of the Eighth Doctor having returned to Gallifrey (presumably after its restoration before the Last Great Time War). However, the truth may be more complicated than either of these possibilities. Parkin told an interviewer that the Doctor in the novel is "clearly not the eighth Doctor of mainstream continuity. He does look like Paul McGann."
• In 2004, Parkin told the BBC's Doctor Who website that the novel was originally intended to be part of a two-novel series, with the other half written by Kate Orman and Jonathan Blum. However, Orman and Blum were unable to write their novel (they later used elements of it in Unnatural History), and The Infinity Doctors was published alone. Said Parkin, "I realised this was a unique chance to do a story that could be outside the normal 'continuity' — about continuity. Which I found quite a fun idea. And I also realised that most of the readers would be expecting the bit where the universe goes all wobbly and turns back into the 'real' Doctor Who universe, and once I decided not to do that, it was very liberating." In light of this, this wiki has decided to treat The Infinity Doctors as a universe parallel to the "main" Doctor Who universe, akin to Pete's World. Some details of this universe may also be found in the "main" universe, but it's not possible to determine which ones. A full discussion of the topic may be found here.
• In the novel itself, Omega seems to address the nonconformity to standard continuity, claiming that reality is so riddled with paradox that multiple timelines and contradicting versions of the Doctor and Gallifrey are occupying the same universe and are constantly interacting with each other. Preceding events, aftermath, and references to The Infinity Doctors were seen throughout novels in BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures novels, suggesting a degree of narrative and temporal melding.

• This version of the Doctor knows Bernice Summerfield, but he imagines her notably pregnant. Lance Parkin claimed that a pregnancy was a lasting effect of PROSE: The Dying Days for Benny (while also claiming he was joking, but continuing to play with the idea facetiously).[1] Parkin would later speculate that PROSE: The Infinity Doctors occurs in a universe where Virgin continued publishing Doctor Who stories after PROSE: The Dying Days, implying a different life for both the Doctor and Bernice.[2] In Parkin's "Iris Explains," submitted to the charity publication Missing Pieces, Iris seems to mix Benny with Patience and claims that the Doctor and Bernice had "thirteen children," before asking the Doctor's daughter Miranda if her "mother's name was Benny." In Parkin's "Fishy Business," published in the charity publication Perfect Timing 2, "contact" creates an alternate timeline in which Benny and the Doctor travelled together as a married couple for ten years after PROSE: The Dying Days, and where their romance was public knowledge (though Benny very notably implies being childless).