Theory:Timeline - Liz Shaw
If this thread's title doesn't specify it's spoilery, don't bring any up.
This page lists appearances of Liz Shaw in the order in which she 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 DocOhoReviews, The History of Doctor Who, The Discontinuity Guide, Clive Banks Databank, Big Finish forums, The Whoniverse and The Divergent Universe forums. None of these sources should be used solely as a source or considered a "true" timeline for stories.
Additionally there are statements on the back of Virgin Missing Adventures and many BBC Past Doctor Adventures novels that state between which TV stories the novel takes place between. These can be used to narrow the field, and should be viewed as the only placing for these novels.
Timeline
UNIT career begins
- Dr. Liz Shaw joins UNIT as assistant to the Third Doctor.
- Liz is examining the leftovers of the Auton invasion, setting this shortly after Spearhead from Space.
- The Doctor has not yet had an adventure on Earth without the Brigadier since his exile began.
- (REFERENCE)
- The Doctor and Liz go to Stegmoor to investigate reports of a crashed Voord spaceship, but find nothing. (AUDIO: Beachhead)
- The Doctor finishes tinkering with Bessie and takes the car for its first test drive. He then encounters the Silurians for the first time, but, to his dismay, they are killed and their city destroyed on the Brigadier's orders.
After the Wenley Moor massacre
- Set between The Silurians and Ambassadors of Death. [1] The Doctor is still unhappy about the outcome of Doctor Who and the Silurians. Liz mentions Captain Yates, setting this after Vengeance of the Stones.
- Set a few weeks after Doctor Who and the Silurians.
- The Doctor has yet to forgive the Brigadier for the outcome of Doctor Who and the Silurians. Corporal John Benton has only recently been promoted to Sergeant.
- The Doctor drives Bessie, setting this after Doctor Who and the Silurians.
- The events of The Ambassadors of Death are referred to.
- The Doctor and Liz recall the recent events of Doctor Who and the Silurians, which the Doctor is still resentful towards the Brigadier for. Sergeant Nicola Attah is seconded into UNIT to replace the recently promoted Sergeant Benton. The Doctor moves the TARDIS console from the lab to the garage, setting this between The Ambassadors of Death and Inferno.
- Liz has been working with UNIT for "a few months", and her complaints about her job here are similar to those that the Brigadier cites in Terror of the Autons as her reason for leaving. The TARDIS console has also been removed from within the ship, as it was in The Ambassadors of Death.
- Set on Christmas Day.
- This is the second time the Doctor has visited a zoo, setting this after The Arkwood Experiments.
- Concludes shortly before Inferno.
- In an attempt to get his TARDIS working, the Doctor is transported to a different dimension, where the Earth is destroyed as a result of the Inferno Project. Returning to his own dimension before the destruction, the Doctor is able to prevent the Inferno Project from destroying his Earth.
- Set immediately after Inferno.
- The outcome of Doctor Who and the Silurians is still fresh on the Doctor's mind. He has been working with UNIT for "months" and the Brigadier has warned Liz about her tone before, suggesting a setting after Inferno. The TARDIS console is still disconnected from the control room.
- It has been "months" since Spearhead from Space, and the Monk also mentions the events of Doctor Who and the Silurians. Liz has heard the Doctor's TARDIS materialise before, setting this after Inferno.
- Six months have passed since Spearhead from Space.
- It is summer.
- Sergeant Mike Yates sees inside the TARDIS for the first time, and the Doctor mentions visiting the parallel universe from Inferno. The TARDIS console is still disconnected, setting this before Rivers of Light.
- The Doctor manages to reinstall the TARDIS console into the control room, however after fighting off an alien invasion with his previous incarnation, the timeline is reset and the Doctor is unsuccessful in reinstalling the console, setting this before Rivers of Light.
- The Doctor returns to UNIT after hunting for Sensorites across Europe for several months. River Song has been acting as UNIT's scientific advisor in the meantime and has reinstalled the TARDIS console, setting this between Inferno and Terror of the Autons.
- Set between Inferno and Terror of the Autons, according to the back cover. Liz volunteers for a mission to Cambridge for a few days, as an opportunity to catch up with old friends. She claims that she is "always on the verge of leaving UNIT".
- An older Liz recalls that the experience with the Cybermen was one of many factors that lead to her decision to leave UNIT.
- Liz openly states her intention to eventually leave UNIT.
Liz resigns
- Liz officially leaves UNIT, Yates is promoted to from sergeant to captain, and the Doctor is in a new laboratory.
- According to this account, Liz is offered a position working at CERN and decides to tell the Doctor about the opportunity. However, after he reacts badly to the news, she decides that she must put her career first, and immediately leaves UNIT without saying goodbye to him.
- The Master hypnotises Liz into wanting to leave UNIT and return to Cambridge University.
- Set one month after the events of Inferno and immediately after Liz's farewell party. The Doctor is aware that Liz is leaving UNIT, which she believes he found out from the Brigadier. The Time Lords send the Doctor on a mission to stop Liz from becoming a dictator in the future, and then decide to release the Master from Shada in order to keep the Doctor busy.
- One of the Doctor's attempts to repair the TARDIS sends Liz back in time to 1539. She is rescued and returned by the Doctor's future self, but is forced to return to Cambridge a day earlier than planned and avoid saying goodbye to the Doctor in order to fulfil the destiny trap.
Post-UNIT
- Months have passed for Liz since she left UNIT, and the Doctor now has a new assistant, setting this shortly after Terror of the Autons.
- Jo recalls the events of The Sea Devils. Jo and Liz meet for the first time, and the Doctor and Liz last saw each other in The Sentinels of the New Dawn.
- The Doctor and Liz spend some time together and reference her departure from UNIT, setting this after Primord. Supposedly set in January 1971.
- The Doctor goes on his first test flight into the past since his time travel knowledge was returned in The Three Doctors, taking Liz and Jo with him.
- Jo knows the Ice Warriors, setting this after The Curse of Peledon. Liz is in the same area as the UNIT HQ, and is acquainted with Jo, setting this after The Wages of Sin.
- The Doctor is driving the "Whomobile", setting this after Invasion of the Dinosaurs. The Doctor and Sarah have been absent from UNIT long enough for it to have been infiltrated by the Remoraxians. Liz, Sarah Jane and the Brigadier are kidnapped Adam Mitchell, leading directly into Endgame.
- Liz doesn't know about regeneration.
- The Fourth Doctor tracks down Liz to give her a proper goodbye.
- Liz meets the Eighth Doctor.
Working for P.R.O.B.E
- Liz is working for P.R.O.B.E during the 90's.
- According to this account, Liz dies in 2003 while working for UNIT on the Moon.
- Thirty years after she worked for UNIT, Liz returns to a UNIT Base to help deal with the consequences of an old mission. She mentions her "preternatural research".
- In 2010, Liz can't attend the Doctor's funeral because she's stranded on a UNIT Moonbase and can't get back until afterwards. (TV: Death of the Doctor)
- Liz is still working for P.R.O.B.E. in 2015.
- Liz attends the funeral of Sarah Jane Smith.