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This page lists appearances of the Eighth Doctor 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, much like its TV story counterparts that for each novel or audio series their published/numbered order is the order they occur in. This does not apply to short stories which are often ambiguous about their placement. There are also many gaps between stories.
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, Doc Oho's Book Reviews, The History of Doctor Who, The Discontinuity Guide, Clive Banks databanks, Whopix, two Big Finish forums and the Divergent Universe forum. None of these sources should be used solely as a source or considered a "true" timeline for stories.
Limiting factors
Any story with the Doctor’s silver Sonic Screwdriver must take place either between Doctor Who and The Flood, where it is destroyed, or (if the story takes place during the Last Great Time War) after Natural Regression and before The Night of the Doctor. Between The Flood and Natural Regression, the Doctor uses a wooden sonic.
Any story featuring Romana II must take place either before her regeneration in The Shadows of Avalon or after her regeneration is undone in Enemy Lines.
Complications
Split continuities
Following the release of Doctor Who, both Doctor Who Magazine and BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures took to continuing the Eighth Doctor's adventures in 1997; they were joined by Big Finish Productions in 2001. For the most part, each of these storylines should not be interrupted or intertwined: in other words, there are few gaps in each series' storyline where the Doctor could feasibly take a break from one set of companions and to travel with a different set of companions from another series. Both the BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures books and Doctor Who Magazine comics advertised themselves as continuing directly from the TV Movie, but only the novels actually portrayed an newly-regenerated Eighth Doctor, with Doctor Who Magazine instead depicting an Eighth Doctor that was comfortable with his body and personality. For this reason, the most commonly accepted framework is that, after the telemovie, BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures happened, followed by Doctor Who Magazine, and then continued with Big Finish Productions, who show the development of the Doctor that leads to The Night of the Doctor.
There are very few exceptions to this general rule:
- In the BBC Books novel Vampire Science, companion Sam Jones mentions that the Doctor once dropped her off at a Greenpeace rally and had (what he told her was) a year's worth of adventures before picking her up again. Radio Times's comic mini-series with the Eighth Doctor takes place in at least part of this gap, as the events are referenced in Placebo Effect a few books later.
- A gap of unknown size takes place between the Eighth Doctor's travels with Charlotte Pollard in Big Finish's Main Range and his adventures with Lucie Miller in the Eighth Doctor Adventures.
- A gap of unknown size takes place between the "What Happened on Earth" and "Foreman’s World" narratives of the novel Interference.
Gallifrey
During the War in Heaven, multiple duplicate Gallifreys were created, each believing themselves to be the original. One of these, Romana III's Gallifrey, was destroyed in The Ancestor Cell; anything involving Romana III must therefore take place before The Ancestor Cell or the reversal of Romana II's regeneration in Enemy Lines.
Alternatively, anything involving Gallifrey could take place either on a different duplicate Gallifrey or sometime after a hypothetical recreation of Romana III's Gallifrey following The Gallifrey Chronicles. However, such a restoration is never mentioned in the comics or audios.
Timeline
New adventures
- The Doctor regenerates from his previous incarnation, but suffers complete amnesia. Seeking aid from Dr. Grace Holloway, the Doctor is able to recover his memory during a final fight with the Bruce Master, who is absorbed into the TARDIS through the Eye of Harmony. After parting ways with Grace, the Doctor settles down to read The Time Machine.
- Continues directly on from Doctor Who, with the Doctor completing his reading of The Time Machine. After a second bout with amnesia, the Doctor rescues a 16-year-old girl named Sam Jones from being attacked by drug dealers, and welcomes her company in his travels.
- Sam takes her first trip in the TARDIS.