Theory:Timeline - First Doctor

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This page lists appearances of the First 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, comic story and 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 information in Lance Parkin's AHistory which allow us to make observations on placement of stories, such as Doctor Who Reviews, Doc Oho's Book Reviews, The History of Doctor Who, The Discontinuity Guide, Clive Banks Databank, Whopix, the 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 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.

Complications

Arrival in 1963

Accounts differ as to when exactly the Doctor and Susan arrived in 76 Totter's Lane. In An Unearthly Child, Susan refers to "the happiest [five] months of her life" in late November, implying she's been in Shoreditch since around June. This was reaffirmed in Operation Proteus, where Raldonn claims to have noticed the Doctor's arrival in London four months prior to October, as Ground Zero confirms that Operation Proteus took place in October 1963. Hunters of Earth is also set in October 1963 and, on multiple occasions, indicates that they had been there for four months. Indeed, The Time Lord Letters contains Susan's application for admission, dated to 21 June 1963.

According to Time and Relative, however, Susan had already been in Shoreditch for five months by March, though she acknowledges that the Doctor's "tinkering" with the TARDIS had been throwing her timekeeping out. In The Rag & Bone Man's Story, the Doctor had allegedly been paying rent to the owner of the junkyard, Hawkins, for nine months prior to his departure in November.

Placement of The Five Doctors

There are at least two contradictory accounts of when The Five Doctors takes place in the First Doctor's personal time-stream.

The first account, the 1994 Brief Encounter Roses, establishes that the Doctor travels to a rose garden shortly after the events of The Daleks' Master Plan to recover from the loss of several friends in quick succession, while Steven Taylor rests in the TARDIS. This is when he is time-scooped by Borusa and involved in the events of The Five Doctors.

However, the 1998 Past Doctor Adventure The Witch Hunters establishes a period of time where the First Doctor is travelling alone with complete control of his TARDIS and tying up loose ends as the result of "a boon granted by Rassilon after the Death Zone affair", which he uses to deal with "unfinished business" before "he let his first life end". During the story, the Doctor signs his name as "Benjamin Jackson", heavily implying a placement after The War Machines.

TV Comics placement

The First Doctor's travels with John and Gillian are very difficult to place in the Doctor's timeline, as between The Experimenters and The Extortioner, the Doctor is inexplicably replaced by his second incarnation.

The stories Conundrum and The Land of Happy Endings hypothesise that these adventures are either stories created by the Master of the Land of Fiction or the Doctor's dreams.

"The coldest place in the world" conundrum

All adventures featuring the First Doctor, Ben and Polly were originally supposed to lead into each other, which created a problem for stories featuring them between The Smugglers and The Tenth Planet, as they depicted Ben and Polly's first and last adventure with the First Doctor respectively. At first, the solution was simple; writers merely ignored this fact, though PROSE: The Three Paths took advantage of the ambiguity of the statement "coldest place in the world" to reveal that they had many adventures set in mostly cold places. The Bonfires of the Vanities eventually gave an explanation as to how to insert more adventures into the same gap.

Timeline

Previous page: The Doctor's early life

Life on Gallifrey

The Doctor's early life is completely erased from their mind and they are forcibly regenerated into a young male body to live as an average Gallifreyan, (TV: The Timeless Children) with their DNA edited to match any Gallifreyan. (COMIC: Monstrous Beauty)

Childhood

The Doctor is "born from the Loom of the House of Lungbarrow" on Gallifrey.
(REFERENCE)
As a Time Tot, the Doctor plays hide and seek with the First Rani for forty-two years straight. (COMIC: Weapons of Past Destruction)
(REFERENCES)
The Doctor is told the story of Grandfather Paradox by his mother, (PROSE: The Gallifrey Chronicles) and sees flies swarm around the corpse of an elderly lady who had been covered in veils, giving him nightmares for years. (TV: Heaven Sent)
The Doctor hasn't joined the Academy yet. He is weeping in a barn located in the Drylands.
(REFERENCE)
Facing "the blackest day of his life," the Doctor visits the hermit on the side of the mountain from his family's house, who assists the Doctor with an epiphany by pointing at "the daisiest daisy". (TV: The Time Monster)
At the age of eight, the Doctor is taken from his caretakers for the selection process into the Academy. He reacts to the Untempered Schism by running away from it.

Education

(REFERENCES)
The Doctor attends the Time Lord Academy as a member of the Prydonian Chapter, (TV: The Deadly Assassin) befriending the likes of the Master and the Rani. (TV: The Sea Devils, The Mark of the Rani) He is personally taught by Borusa. (TV: The Deadly Assassin)
(REFERENCE)
The Doctor spends four days trapped in the Cloisters, where he talks to the Cloister Wraiths, who tell him of the prophecy of "the Hybrid" and show him a secret passage out. According to his twelfth incarnation, the experience drove him "completely mad," and he was "never right in the head again" afterwards. (TV: Hell Bent)
At the age of thirty, the Doctor asks K'anpo Rimpoche the name of the mountain on which he dwells. He is attending the Academy, and has made several friends.
(REFERENCES)
At the age of forty-five, the Doctor leaves the Gallifreyan equivalent of primary school. (PROSE: Shroud of Sorrow) At the age of fifty-eight, the Doctor ruins Valyes' summer project. (AUDIO: The Next Life) At the age of ninety, he visits the Medusa Cascade. (TV: The Stolen Earth)
The Doctor is scolded by Borusa for his lack of respect, but is also taught how to appear to respect the traditions he loathes.
(REFERENCE)
The Doctor conducts an experiment that creates a bacteria known as the Ablative, with the ensuing scandal nearly getting him expelled until it is covered up by the Academy. (AUDIO: Planet of the Rani)
(REFERENCE)
The Doctor skips his time-travel proficiency lesson and rejects an offer to retake the lesson, leaving him unqualified to operate a TARDIS. (PROSE: Festival of Death)
The Doctor has already failed his "driving test" at the Academy.
(LETTER)
In a letter responding to Borusa's Interim Report on his work at the Academy, the Doctor mentions an experiment involving a perigosto stick and a temporal feedback loop. Borusa is head of the Prydon Academy, but not yet a Cardinal. (PROSE: "Academic Progress")
(FLASHBACK)
Having been forced to kill their bully to protect the Master, the Doctor makes a deal with Death to have the memory transferred to the Master and then has the exchange erased from his own memories. (AUDIO: Master)
The Doctor and the Master travel into Gallifrey's past in search of Valdemar. The Master is drawn towards darkness, setting this after Master.
The Doctor and the Master work on the Consolidator together.
(REFERENCE)
The Doctor and the Rani both attend the Prydonian Academy. (TV: Time and the Rani)
While studying at the Prydonian Academy, the Doctor crosses wits with the Celestial Toymaker for the first time, but his friends Rallon and Millennia are apparently killed. The Doctor is expelled from the Academy as punishment.
(REFERENCES)
The Doctor attends "Time Lord University". (COMIC: The Friendly Place) He leaves education with the lowest possible pass mark on his second attempt. (TV: The Ribos Operation)

Career

(FLASHBACK)
The Doctor is disinherited from his ancestral House. (PROSE: Lungbarrow)
The Doctor is locked in the Tower with the Master for "a silly prank gone wrong". After they have an argument, the Doctor leaves the Master behind when he escapes.
(REFERENCES)
The Doctor works as a Scrutationary Archivist in the Bureau of Possible Events, (PROSE: Lungbarrow) and slowly rises high in the ranks of the Time Lords. (PROSE: The Eight Doctors) When he learns about the miniscopes, he successfully campaigns to have them banned from the galaxy. (TV: Carnival of Monsters)
The Doctor saves a glowing life form from being killed by an old friend, but ruins his friendship with him as a result. The Doctor still has superior ranking on Gallifrey.
(REFERENCE)
The Doctor fights in a war. (AUDIO: The Sontarans)

Family man

Travelling back in time, the Doctor rescues Patience and her granddaughter from a danger on Ancient Gallifrey. The Doctor later marries Patience and the two have thirteen children together.
The Doctor brings his granddaughter to watch him and a group of Prydonians perform a ritual in Arcadia.
The Doctor is living in a small house on a mountain with his "adopted granddaughter", who tells him tales of him "building" the TARDIS and leaving Gallifrey. When the High Council hear of her tales, and after "an incident" takes place outside the Capitol, they send armed guards after the Doctor.
The Seventh Corsair gives the Hand of Omega to the Doctor.

Leaving Gallifrey

Due to conflicting accounts, each telling of the Doctor and Susan's escape from Gallifrey have been, mostly, listed in order of release.
In a story told by the Tremas Master, the Doctor decides to leave Gallifrey in the midst of a civil war. He enters a TARDIS alone and finds a young lady inside, whom he adopts as his granddaughter.
In another account, the Doctor and Susan escape from an explosion on Gallifrey, determined to keep the Hand of Omega safe from those who would misuse its power, before departing in a TARDIS.
In a third account, a flashback shows a lone Doctor discarding his Prydonian robes as he is departing Gallifrey after a meeting with likewise-hooded elderly men.
(FLASHBACK)
After an argument with his cousin, Glospin, the Doctor leaves Gallifrey with the Hand of Omega and travels back to the Old Time, where he adopts Susan, the granddaughter of the Other. (PROSE: Lungbarrow)
A fifth account depicts the Doctor and Susan entering the TARDIS for the first time during their escape from Gallifrey. While the Doctor figures out the console controls, Susan explores the TARDIS interior.
In a sixth account, the Doctor and Susan are pursued by the Chancellery Guard whilst fleeing Gallifrey with a flying trunk containing the Hand of Omega. The Doctor sends Susan into a TARDIS, but does not follow. After speaking to someone outside, the Doctor quickly ushers Susan into a different TARDIS entirely. According to this account, the wanderers, already going by the names "the Doctor" and "Susan", arrive on Earth's moon immediately after leaving Gallifrey, and have their first encounter with humanity. They discover Quadrigger Stoyn in the TARDIS, who was repairing it when they took flight. The Doctor and Susan decide to pay a visit to planet Earth, but arrive on a mushroom planet instead.
Set during The Beginning: The First Flight, after Susan steps inside the first TARDIS, and before the Doctor takes her into the second one on the prompting of a mysterious girl.
A seventh account, told as poetry, shows the Doctor finding an ownerless TARDIS and leaving Gallifrey on his own.

Wanderers in the fourth dimension

According to this account, the wanderers have their first experience with humanity on Iwa and, controversially, take the names of "the Doctor" and "Susan" for the first time.
(REFERENCES)
When he and Susan arrive at a bazaar on their "third or fourth" stop since leaving Gallifrey, the Doctor realizes just how many stories there are in the galaxy when he hears a teller regale a crowd of people with the story of the pursuit of the Nightjar. (AUDIO: Pursuit of the Nightjar)
(REFERENCES)
Wanting to learn more of Earth and the human race, the Doctor and Susan visit the French Revolution in 1791. (PROSE: Christmas on a Rational Planet) Shortly after leaving the French Revolution, the Doctor meets another renegade time traveller named Iris Wildthyme. (PROSE: The Scarlet Empress)
During a visit to Tiaanamat, Susan buys a Five Hundred Year Diary and begins recording her adventures in the TARDIS.
(REFERENCE)
The Doctor and Susan visit India during the Indian Mutiny, where the Doctor becomes the guardian to David Warblington after having his life saved by David's father. (PROSE: The Duke's Folly)
The Doctor salutes the Brigadier with his other incarnations.
The Doctor and Susan visit Jabalhabad in 1843 and meet Siger Holmes.
Learning that a dictator would cause Earth's destruction, the Doctor and Susan go back in time to kill the dictator as a baby. However, the Doctor drops his weapon and is forced to flee before he even sees the baby.
Susan is still new to the TARDIS, but is familiar enough to begin calling it home.
The Doctor is relatively familiar and comfortable with humanity. This is the first time he and Susan have spent time away from each other and is the Doctor's first holiday since leaving Gallifrey. Susan's prior experience with humanity appears to be limited to eras where they "[chopped] off the heads of anyone posh", setting this before any of her visits to 20th century Earth or later.
After attempting to "fine tune" the operation of the TARDIS, the Doctor finds himself partially-materialising in various times throughout 19th century India.
The Doctor and Susan briefly stop at 76 Totter's Lane in 1963 and the TARDIS turns into a police box for the first time. The Doctor retains the shape as the TARDIS lands in 1955, due to a malfunction he has to fix. Susan wonders if the TARDIS will ever return to 1963, while the Doctor expresses disdain for the school systems of Earth.
(REFERENCE)
The Doctor and Susan saves a world from radiation poisoning and the Doctor takes the radiated fragment of a spaceship with him. (PROSE: Tragedy Day: Prologue 1)
The Doctor meets Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart properly for the first time and recalls visiting his funeral.
The Doctor and Susan are familiar enough with Earth to debate whether or not the Great Wall of China is visible from space.
Susan is briefly replaced by an imposter, setting this after Bide-a-Wee.
The Doctor is familiar enough with human pop culture to reference Harry Potter, Blake's 7 and Artemis Fowl. He is not easily able to pay for his replacement hand, setting this before The Price of Conviction.
The Doctor appears to be traveling alone, and meets the Cybermen for the first time during a Multi-Doctor Event, setting this at least before Dr. First.
Set during Legacy.
Follows directly on from Legacy.
The Doctor is targeted for punishment by the people of Refkeet Nine for meddling with time.
The Doctor and Susan land in London, much to the Doctor's chagrin. He recognises the Cybermen. The TARDIS takes on a police box exterior, setting this after Losing the Audience.
(LETTER)
After getting into an argument with Henry VIII, the Doctor and Susan are sent to the Tower of London, where their TARDIS is also located. (TV: "Strangers in Space") The Doctor writes a letter to Henry to apologise for his actions before he and Susan swiftly depart. (PROSE: "Taken to the Tower") They then visit Nostradamus and his wife in 1555, with Madame Nostradamus giving Susan an embroidered handkerchief and the Doctor a long scarf. (PROSE: "Unpredictable Tastes")
The Doctor and Susan attend the coronation of Elizabeth II.

Searching for a new home

The Doctor and Susan have been to Earth several times by now, and the Doctor is considering settling down somewhere for a period of time. He is currently using jewels from Aldebaran IV as a form of currency.
After leaving 2134 Urrozdinee, the Doctor says that he and Susan will "put down some roots" for a while and that he has a place in mind, implying that the next stop may be 1963.
According to the Fourth Doctor, Susan will be enrolled at an Earth school not long after the adventure in 16th century Prague.
The Doctor and Susan have already had many adventures in the 20th century, but have not seen much of the latter half of the century. The Doctor is looking for a place for him and Susan to settle down for a while. Telling the story during her adventures with Barbara and Ian, Susan recalls the Doctor's search for a suitable place to use a machine of his, implied to be the Hand of Omega, although, even in her narration, she is unaware of its name or purpose. She recalls the events of Quinnis as taking place during his search, setting this story shortly before or after Quinnis.
Set "4 or 5 journeys" before The Edge of Destruction. The Doctor believes Susan needs friends her own age, stability and teachers. Telling the story after she settled on 22nd century Earth, Susan believes it to be her last adventure before settling in 1963 London.
The Doctor takes a brief trip to 1997 to check if the United Kingdom will remain a safe place to stay in the times to come. The Fourth Doctor recalls this being the last time the TARDIS' chameleon circuit worked before breaking in 1963 London.

Arriving at Totter's Lane

Due to conflicting accounts, each telling of the Doctor and Susan's arrival in the junkyard have been listed in order of release.
According to one account, the Doctor and Susan are brought to I.M. Foreman's junkyard by the Father of Time. They briefly visit Skaro and encounter the Daleks, but learn the names of neither. Controversially, the TARDIS is depicted in the form of a police box before they arrive in London.
(SEGMENT)
According to another account, the Doctor uses the Blessing Star to pilot the TARDIS to the junkyard at 76 Totter's Lane, but the ship is damaged in the process. The Doctor takes up residence in the junkyard and Susan begins attending Coal Hill School. (PROSE: The Rag & Bone Man's Story)
According to yet another account, the Doctor and Susan arrived at I.M. Foreman's junkyard on Earth in 1963, based on the Doctor's instincts on the characters of Earth. He tells Susan that they will be staying long enough for her to enrol in school.

Settling down in London

(DIARY ENTRY)
In her second diary entry, Susan suspects that the Doctor does not know how to pilot the TARDIS and recalls visiting Earth, Venus, Esto, Quinnis and Dido. She is now living on Earth in 1963 and plans to enrol herself at a school. (PROSE: Susan's Diary)
Susan has only just started attending Coal Hill School.
The Doctor has only recently arrived in London and Susan is already in education.
Susan and the Doctor get lost in the streets of London on a "very cold" night, possibly setting this before Time and Relative.
Set from 27 March to 4 April 1963. The Doctor and Susan have been on Earth for five months, Susan is attending school and something breaks when the Doctor journeys in the TARDIS, forcing him to fix it using 20th century parts. The Doctor begins to take an interest in protecting the human race.

Relocating the Cold

(REFERENCE)
The Doctor successfully takes the Cold to Pluto in the far future on his fifth attempt. He then makes to return to Susan. (PROSE: Time and Relative)
The Crab Nebula is the farthest the TARDIS has travelled up to this point, making this one of the Doctor's earliest adventures. Susan is absent, and the TARDIS is in its police box form, setting this during Time and Relative.
The Doctor visits Vortis for the first time and does not recognise the Zarbi, setting this before The Web Planet. Susan is absent and the Doctor claims that he is from the planet Earth.
The Doctor does not recognize the Sensorites, setting this before The Sensorites. Susan is absent and the TARDIS is in its police box form, setting this during Time and Relative.
The Doctor is alone and unable to control the TARDIS's navigation systems. He also claims that he is from Earth.

Final months in Shoreditch

(SEGMENT)
The Doctor successfully arrives back in London on 2 April 1963, immediately after he had initially departed, though having taken "more than a dozen" journeys in the interim.[quote 1] (PROSE: Time and Relative)
(DIARY ENTRY)
In her third diary entry, Susan recounts her experiences at Coal Hill School. The Doctor is currently giving the TARDIS an overhaul. (PROSE: Susan's Diary)
As the Doctor walks through Shoreditch, he thinks of where to hide the Hand of Omega.
Set on 7 August 1963. The Doctor hides the Hand of Omega at a funeral parlour.
Set in the late summer of 1963. The Doctor uses the name "Dr. Foreman".
Set in October 1963, according to COMIC: Ground Zero. Raldonn claims to have noticed the Doctor arriving in Shoreditch four months ago.
Set in October 1963. Susan claims to have been in London for four months,[quote 2] although she has only been at the school a short amount of time, having joined at the start of the Autumn term.[quote 3]The Doctor has been collecting parts for the repair of his TARDIS since he arrived.
(CAMEO)
The Doctor is briefly visited at Totter's Lane by an alternate version of Ian Chesterton on 1 November 1963. (PROSE: The Time Travellers)
Set during the first week back at school after half-term. Susan has been at Coal Hill for "a few months". The Doctor is still collecting parts for his TARDIS and meets River Song for the first time.
After her adventure with the Doctor, Shivani Bajwa asks for a policeman to check 76 Totter's Lane, setting this shortly before An Unearthly Child.

Meeting Ian and Barbara

In an alternate timeline created by Rassilon and the Cybermen, the Doctor is captured by CyberMondans immediately before the events of An Unearthly Child.
(REFERENCE)
In November 1963, shortly after the Assassination of John F. Kennedy, a little boy called Gerry gets lost on Totters Lane right as Ian and Barbara enter I.M. Foreman's junkyard. At the same time, the Doctor is tinkering with the TARDIS telepathic circuits and accidentally connects to Gerry, causing him to dream about the Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan's departure from Shoreditch and all their subsequent adventures. (PROSE: Imaginary Friends)
On 22 November 1963, Susan's curious teachers, Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright, follow her home and force themselves into the TARDIS and the Doctor flies the ship in a panic, bringing the teachers with him and Susan to 100,000 BC, where they are held captive by the Tribe of Gum. After preventing the upstart Kal from usurping Za as leader of the tribe, the Doctor, Susan, Ian and Barbara are able to escape to the TARDIS and flee to a random destination, leading directly into The Daleks.
Set during An Unearthly Child: The Forest of Fear, just after Ian prevents the Doctor from stoning a wounded Za to death. He is talked out of trying it again by the Eighth Doctor in a time bubble.
Set during An Unearthly Child: The Firemaker, as the Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan prepare their final escape from the Cave of Skulls. Barbara tells the Doctor the story of Godfather Death.
The Doctor encounters the Daleks and the Thals for the first time when the TARDIS brings him and his companions to Skaro. He also explains to Ian and Barbara that he can neither properly fly the TARDIS or return them to 1963 Shoreditch.
In an alternate account to The Daleks that completely omits An Unearthly Child, Susan, going by "Susan English", receives private tutorship from Barbara instead of attending Coal Hill School, and they are struck by a lorry while driving to Barnes Common. Ian meets them for the first time at the crash site. After Ian becomes an unwilling passenger aboard the Doctor's TARDIS, the newly-formed TARDIS crew arrive directly on Skaro from 20th century Earth and experience events that are nearly identical to The Daleks.
Set immediately after The Daleks, with Ian referring to Skaro as having been the previous trip.[quote 4] The TARDIS' sentience is brought up for the first time. After realising that his paranoia got the best of him when the TARDIS tries to warn him about its imminent destruction, the Doctor makes amends to better himself in the future after he saves the TARDIS. He starts by reconciling with Barbara as the TARDIS lands at the Plain of Pamir, leading directly into Marco Polo.

The great spirit of adventure

With the TARDIS needing repairs after the events of The Edge of Destruction, the TARDIS crew are forced to spend several months travelling across 1289 Cathay with Marco Polo, both so that the Doctor can repair the TARDIS and due to Marco taking them prisoner for Kublai Khan. However, the Doctor is able to befriend Marco and the Great Khan, and the TARDIS crew are allowed to leave after they expose Tegana's treachery.
The TARDIS crew have left China "only two minutes ago", setting this immediately after Marco Polo. They spend over a week on Avalon in 2991, with Barbara and Susan getting changed out of their Chinese garb before leaving the TARDIS, while Ian remains in his Chinese gown for at least the first day on Avalon, with no further mention of his attire.
Ian is still wearing his Chinese gown, setting this shortly after Marco Polo. The TARDIS crew spend a few days in North America in 1002.
The TARDIS lands on Marinus and the crew encounter the Voord for the first time. Ian is still wearing his Chinese clothes from their adventure with Marco Polo, setting this shortly after Marco Polo. The Doctor, Susan, Ian and Barbara have become a tight knitted unit.
Barbara has yet to visit an Aztec temple, setting this before The Aztecs, and notes that they are finally visiting a time and place where she has an expertise in. The Doctor is constantly rude to Ian and Barbara, who are not particularly fond of him either. The Doctor has his cane, which, later in the story, the Tenth Doctor reveals was given to him by Kublai Khan during the events of Marco Polo.
Barbara thinks to herself on how reclusive the Doctor is when he doesn't want Joseph Rennigan to record the TARDIS crew in his journal, setting this early in their travels.
The Doctor believes that he and Susan should be more open with Ian and Barbara, setting this shortly after The Edge of Destruction. Ian and Barbara are given their first proper tour of the TARDIS, but it is a brief one. Though Ian and Barbara are still recent additions to the TARDIS crew, Susan claims they have "been through so much together" by this point.
The Doctor is still unfamiliar with the layout of the TARDIS interior and is still learning about most of the universe. Ian is still exploring the TARDIS, setting this after In-Between Times. The Doctor wields the walking stick he acquired from Kublai Khan, setting this after Marco Polo.
Ian and Barbara struggle to grasp the concept of hermaphroditic humanoids, setting this early in their travels.
Susan comments about being "on Earth again", suggesting that the TARDIS crew were not on Earth during their previous adventure.[quote 5] The Doctor warns Barbara about the consequences of altering the course of history when she tries to educate the Aztecs against using human sacrifices. He also has a brief affair with Cameca and is gifted with a brooch from her when he leaves. According to the novelisation, Ian is 28-years-old.
The Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan spend several weeks on the planet Fragrance. The Doctor is making repairs to the TARDIS in order to get Ian and Barbara home.
Although the Big Finish website places this between The Reign of Terror and Here There Be Monsters,[1] The Library of Alexandria is set shortly after The Reign of Terror and references Alexander as a close friend, meaning this must be set earlier. The crew spend over a month in 4th century BC Babylon. Barbara knows that history cannot be changed, though Ian isn't convinced, setting this after The Aztecs.
Set the day after Farewell, Great Macedon, with the events from The Fragile Yellow Arc of Fragrance being mentioned.
Ian recalls the events of The Daleks as a recent example of the Doctor's obsessiveness. Barbara has made 40-to-50 identical marks in her notebook which seem to be keeping track of the days on the TARDIS, without being entirely clear on their purpose. The Doctor is trying to make the TARDIS feel more comfortable for Ian and Barbara, having spent the past week searching for tea as part of his goal. He has also provided Ian with a new cardigan after his last one was destroyed by fire ants.
(EPILOGUE)
With the crew back in their usual clothing, the TARDIS materialises, but the Doctor informs his companions that the instruments say the TARDIS is still in motion. (TV: The Aztecs)
Set a long time after An Unearthly Child, with the TARDIS crew noting how much they and their dynamic have changed, with the Doctor attributing it to the "great spirit of adventure". Barbara has fully recovered from her ordeal from The Aztecs. Susan unlocks a deeper telepathic ability than the Doctor thought she had, and the two have their first argument since leaving Gallifrey.[quote 6] When Ian makes a snide comment about the Doctor's piloting, the enraged Doctor claims he will leave Ian at the next stop, leading into The Reign of Terror.
Set between The Sensorites and The Reign of Terror, with the Doctor preparing to throw Ian and Barbara out of the TARDIS. The Doctor and Ian spend several months on the Endeavour while Barbara and Susan are trapped in the TARDIS, though the Doctor still intends to exile Ian and Barbara when they leave in the TARDIS. Susan's enhanced telepathic abilities she gained from the Sensorites are still lingering.
Following on from The Sensorites, the Doctor is still determined to have Ian and Barbara leave the TARDIS. However, when he finds he has landed in France during the French Revolution instead of 1963 England, he changes his mind.
The Doctor takes Susan, Ian and Barbara to a planet to relax following the events from The Reign of Terror. Ian believes the Doctor is trying to convince him and Barbara to stay.
Ian recalls the Doctor telling them that their "destiny is in the stars" and notes that they have arrived on Earth again, suggesting a setting shortly after The Reign of Terror. The TARDIS crew spend several weeks in Alexandria. Ian refers to Alexander the Great as "an old friend", setting this after Farewell, Great Macedon. He and Barbara begin to think that the Doctor has been deceitful with them about changing history. Weeks after arriving in Alexandria, Ian recalls the events of The Transit of Venus as occurring weeks ago.
Susan believes that Ian and Barbara are still on "probation" with the Doctor following the events of The Reign of Terror. She starts to wonder if she will need to leave the TARDIS and make her own life, and thinks the Doctor could do with a holiday, setting this before The Mother Road.
Ian refers to the events of The Transit of Venus. He and Barbara aren't surprised when the Doctor thinks that history can be changed. Ian also mentions the watch he has retained since he left Coal Hill.

Focused on returning to 1963

Ian remarks that the TARDIS appears to be "still on Earth" when it lands, indicating that this takes place after an Earthbound adventure. The Doctor spends two years on Destination fixing the damage caused by the Master. Ending leads directly into The Great White Hurricane.
Ian visits New York City for the first time. Susan admits that she sees Ian and Barbara as family. After their adventure in New York City, the Doctor claims to have found a way to return Ian and Barbara home.
Following directly on from The Great White Hurricane, the Doctor fails to return the TARDIS to 1963. Barbara and Ian first learn of the concept of cloning. Ending leads directly into The Barbarians and the Samurai.
When telling Takagi Mamoru about his recent voyages, the Doctor mentions recently visiting Paris, setting this not long after the events of The Reign of Terror. The Doctor asks Ian about his swimming skills, and assures Barbara that the TARDIS is watertight, setting this before Domain of the Voord.
Follows directly on from The Barbarians and the Samurai. Barbara learns that the TARDIS has a library. According to Ian's watch, it should be around 23 March 1964 in his and Barbara's own time, meaning it has been four months since they left Shoreditch. Ian sells his watch, setting this after The Flames of Cadiz.
Follows directly on from The Phoenicians. Susan mentions that she is a little bit telepathic and the Doctor realises that he needs to give Susan more independence.
Still experimenting with ways to take Ian and Barbara home, the Doctor attempts to use the fast return switch for a second time, but it brings the TARDIS back to Skaro fifty years after their previous visit in The Daleks.
Set during Return to Skaro, just as the TARDIS materialises on Skaro.
The TARDIS has just left Skaro, setting this immediately after Return to Skaro. Susan believes that history can be changed, but Barbara disagrees. The Doctor is beginning to wonder if he has a duty to intervene in events, despite what he was taught on Gallifrey. The TARDIS stops working, leading directly into For the Glory of Urth.
The Doctor manages to reboot the TARDIS, but the ship lands on Urth and the crew are forced to disembark while the TARDIS repairs itself. Susan believes that she has discovered the cause of the TARDIS's troubles, leading directly into The Hollow Crown.
Susan removes a Goliathan spiny-back beetle from the TARDIS console and believes she has resolved their issues getting to 1963 Shoreditch, only for the TARDIS to arrive in 1603 Shoreditch instead. The Doctor meets William Shakespeare for the first time.

Destiny in the stars

The TARDIS crew spend weeks in Judaea during the Siege of Masada. While he knows that the Doctor thinks changing history to be impossible, Ian isn't convinced and tries to help the Jews defeat the Roman Empire in the siege, despite Barbara's insistence that history shouldn't be interfered with, in reference to the events of The Aztecs.
The TARDIS crew arrive on a planet with three suns, where Barbara is attacked by a mind parasite that induces a fever dream of an absurdly distorted version of the weeks leading up to An Unearthly Child. She claims she would never kiss Ian, unless he wanted her to.[quote 7]
The TARDIS crew spend three months in 19th century Afghanistan[quote 8]. Ian begins to realise his love for Barbara.
The TARDIS crew spend months in 19th century Earth, with Ian and Susan crossing the United States of America together while the Doctor and Barbara remain in England. Barbara refers to the Doctor's warning about interfering with history from The Aztecs[quote 9], although the Doctor hints that history may not be as set in stone as he first implied[quote 10]
Susan knows of Barbara's familiarity with Cortez and the Mexican civilisations,[quote 11] setting this after The Aztecs. Ian and Barbara witness the Doctor drive for the first time[quote 12] and seems unfamiliar with the use of 21st century computers and the internet. He tricks the crew into taking a recreational road trip across the United States.[quote 13]
The Doctor visits 30th century Prague with Ian while Barbara and Susan stay behind in the TARDIS.
The Doctor considers Ian and Barbara as part of his family.
Barbara believes that history cannot be changed, setting this after The Aztecs.
Ian and Barbara are aware of the concept of cloning, setting this after The Invention of Death. The Doctor saves the Metraxi by taking them from their crashing spaceship to their destined world via his TARDIS, with Ian and Barbara apparently unsurprised by this feat.
Ian remembers the Doctor saying that the crew's "destiny is in the stars", which he said in The Reign of Terror. Barbara and Ian still believe that history can't be changed. The Doctor manages to use the TARDIS take Grigori Rasputin to St Petersburg using Dahensa technology, but it breaks down after the single use.
The Doctor is currently travelling with Susan, Ian and Barbara. (DWM 475) He leads his other incarnations in the saving of Gallifrey on the last day of the Last Great Time War, and has a tea party with them in the Under Gallery during the novelisation.
Sequel to The Keys of Marinus. The TARDIS crew spend months on the planet Hydra evading the Voord.
After he escapes from the authorities on a planet with some help from a gang of robots, the Doctor sets off to free Susan, Barbara and Ian, who are elsewhere on the planet.
The Doctor recalls an encounter with the Pied Piper. Barbara is unsurprised when Susan mentions he has two hearts.
Set after The Sensorites, with Susan's telepathy accentuated by the conditions of Malkus.
Barbara unintentionally contacts Joan Wright in a dream via the telepathic circuits. For Joan, it is 23 November 1964, perhaps suggesting that a year has passed for Barbara also, which, if true, would set this story two months before Venusian Lullaby.
The Doctor warns Doom against assassinating her target at Duke Derek Gamma's Masked Ball on New Venice, but she ignores him.
The Doctor has been trapped on New Venice since Hour One, and mentions that he is currently travelling with Susan, Ian and Barbara. Doom's target is revealed to have been her younger self.

Final adventures with Susan

Susan alludes to the human-colonised planet from The Sorcerer's Apprentice. The Doctor removes a "portion of folded space" from the TARDIS to help an additional one-hundred-and-fifty people escape to Mirath, hoping that its "unorthodox removal doesn't interfere with the TARDIS' dimensional stability", suggesting a setting this shortly before Planet of Giants.
Despite the events of Return to Skaro, Susan claims the fast return switch hasn't been used since the events of The Edge of Destruction and that it was only recently fixed. Barbara claims to be "on familiar ground for the first time in so long" when visiting Bristol in 1954. Susan is still troubled with the telepathic powers she demonstrated in The Sensorites. The Doctor continues to doubt the Time Lord ideals of non-interference, but still takes great pains to avoid changing history. After travelling from Salem Village 1692 to 1742, the Doctor notices that the TARDIS has been working a lot more efficiently lately and makes plans to travel to the 1960s, suggesting a setting shortly before Planet of Giants.
Told through the fictional documentation of a "lost" TV story, including plot synopses, Target novelisation extracts and Doctor Who Magazine articles. Ends with the fault detector warning of a build-up of "space pressure" outside and refers to a cliff-hanger leading into Planet of Giants.
Set during The Thief of Sherwood.
The TARDIS has just left the late 18th century, with the Doctor attempting to travel forward to the mid-20th century when the TARDIS shrinks due to a malfunction that destroys the TARDIS scanner. The Doctor is more apologetic towards his rudeness at Ian and Barbara than he was previously, and, according to the novelisation, has never visited Africa or Australasia before.
Set immediately after Planet of Giants. Barbara and Ian claim to have never visited 2006 before, and learn that the Doctor hasn't been entirely truthful regarding their ability to change time. The Doctor adopts a more lax approach to interfering with time.
Set between Planet of Giants and The Dalek Invasion of Earth, according to authorial intent, with the part of the TARDIS the Doctor is shown tinkering with intended to be the scanner.[source needed] Ian and Barbara are unsure of how long they've been travelling with the Doctor, but suspect it has been months at the earliest and "years" at the latest.
The Doctor has only just repaired the TARDIS scanner. The TARDIS crew encounters the Daleks off of Skaro for the first time. Susan falls in love with David Campbell, a rebel of the 22nd century Dalek invasion, and the Doctor decides to leave her behind so she can grow into her own person after the crew help defeat the Daleks on Earth.
Set during The Dalek Invasion of Earth: The End of Tomorrow, shortly after David and Susan defuse a bomb and before they leave the Doctor to search for a route out of London. Just after Susan leaves get help, the First Doctor encounters a time fly. The Twelfth Doctor and Clara Oswald use the defused bomb to destroy the time fly, as well as a group of Daleks.

Lone exploits with Ian and Barbara

The TARDIS crew visit circa 3 billion BC Venus minutes after leaving 22nd century Earth,[quote 14] and the Doctor has a "unknown sonic device" on his person.[quote 15]. Based on his calendar, Ian surmises that it should be "past" Christmas 1964 for him and Barbara,[quote 16] or more specifically January 1965.[quote 17] Using Trikhobu's calculations, the Doctor makes plans to visit Aristea of Alexandria to acquire gold for a wedding ring for Susan, leading into The Book of Shadows.
Arriving in Alexandria in 322 BC, the Doctor and Barbara discover the TARDIS has landed in an alternate timeline, which is negated when Barbara reads from The Worshipful and Ancient Law of Gallifrey, along with the events of the story. Despite the events of Farewell, Great Macedon and The Library of Alexandria, Barbara does not appear familiar with Ptolemy Lagus or the city of Alexandria.
The TARDIS crew spend four months living in the Scottish village of Kilmartin in 1950-1951, with the Doctor wanting to have a holiday, which Barbara suspects is to help him get over the Susan's departure. Despite the events of Home Again, Home Again, Barbara claims that 1950 is the closest the Doctor has ever brought them to their own time.
Arriving in the Orkney Islands in 1956, Ian and Barbara step out of the TARDIS, only for the Doctor to continue travelling for some years into the past, implied to be hundreds of years.[quote 18] Ian claims that 1956 is the closest the Doctor has ever brought them to their own time, setting this after Set in Stone. Susan's departure from the TARDIS is still a recent event.
The Doctor explains how the TARDIS is bigger on the inside to Ian and Barbara.
The TARDIS crew meet Jane Grey in 1553, where they spend two months tracking down the Vrij.
Claiming to have received a message from an old friend, the Doctor partakes in a demonic ritual with Edgar Allan Poe alongside Ian and Barbara, while tracking down an evil entity.
The Doctor joins a call with his thirteen successors through the TARDIS food machine. Though they do not appear, the Doctor is currently travelling with Ian and Barbara.

Joined by Vicki

The Doctor is still adjusting to Susan's absences, absentmindedly calling out to her when the TARDIS arrives on Dido, where he rescues a young girl named Vicki from the clutches of Koquillion. In agreement with Ian and Barbara, the Doctor invites Vicki to join them aboard the TARDIS. After leaving Dido, the TARDIS materialises on a cliff and topples over the edge.
Set immediately after The Rescue, with the TARDIS crew recovering from the fall and realising they have arrived in Italy in 64 AD. They agree to look after the villa of Flavius Giscard after its caretaker, Lucius, is killed by a lion, setting the scene for The Romans.
In an alternative account also set directly after The Rescue, which implies that the events of Romans Cutaway were a dream of Ian's, the TARDIS instead materialises in Thrace, near the city of Byzantium on 14 March 64. The Doctor left Gallifrey sixty years ago,[quote 19] while Barbara and Ian have been travelling with the Doctor for "a year or more".[quote 20] Vicki is fourteen-years-old.[quote 21] After the TARDIS crew are separated for over two weeks, they discover that the TARDIS has been taken to Rome by Germanicus Vinicius and set off to retrieve it, again setting the scene for The Romans.
Having stayed at the villa for nearly a month, the TARDIS crew eventually find themselves in the city of Rome, before returning to the villa and departing in the TARDIS. The Doctor accidentally inspires Nero to burn down Rome.
The Doctor is trying to make the shortest journey possible away from Rome, setting this directly after dematerialising at the end of The Romans.[quote 22] They instead arrive in Guangzhou in 1865. The TARDIS crew change into casual gear,[quote 23] despite the epilogue of The Romans showing them still wearing their Roman regalia immediately before the events of The Web Planet. Ian and Barbara have been traveling in the TARDIS for two years,[quote 24] and Barbara proposes that she and Ian should marry each other if they ever return home.[quote 25]
In an alternative account, also set immediately after leaving Rome, Vicki is about to tell Barbara about her experiences in Rome when they land in London in the early 20th century,[quote 26] They then visit an unnamed planet in the distant past, not getting out of their Roman clothing throughout the adventure.
(EPILOGUE)
Vicki recounts her experiences in Rome to Ian and Barbara, who decide to change out of their Roman clothes. Meanwhile, the TARDIS is pulled towards a planet by an unknown force. (TV: The Romans)
Following directly on from the last scene of The Romans, the TARDIS is forced to land on Vortis by the Animus. The Doctor is aware of Vortis, but his comments leave it vague as to whether or not he has visited the planet before. He has at least heard of the Menoptera,[quote 27] and claims to have little to no understanding of the Zarbi to Ian.[quote 28]
Set during The Web Planet: The Centre.

The new TARDIS crew

Set between The Web Planet and The Crusade, according to the production codes. Looking at the scanner shortly after arriving on Noumeia, Barbara notes that they've arrived on "another desert", suggesting a setting directly after The Web Planet.
Ian is still getting used to Vicki, such as not understanding her name isn't short for "Victoria", setting this fairly shortly after The Rescue. The TARDIS finally arrives in London on 23 November 1963, but the crew find time to be frozen, which the Doctor discovers is because of a fault with the TARDIS, which is only fixed upon their departure.
The TARDIS crew encounter Jospa, who in inserts himself into the memories of their past trips; Barbara recalls him being with them at Vortis, Rome, and "everywhere",[quote 29] while Ian also remembers him being in Byzantium and China.[quote 30] The fact that they don't mention any adventures after Vortis suggests a setting shortly after The Web Planet.
The Doctor is travelling with companions, but they remain sleeping in the TARDIS. He meets Professor Chronotis at Cambridge University for the first time, setting this before Entanglement, and also sees The Worshipful and Ancient Law of Gallifrey, though doesn't appear to recognise it.
The TARDIS lands in Natal in 1877, but the Doctor contracts a fever. While he recovers, Barbara and Ian journey to Pretoria for a few days.
Set between The Web Planet and The Crusade, according to a continuity note on the Big Finish website.[2]
Sequel story to The Web Planet. After helping Thomas Huxley fight off the Animus and the Zarbi, Ian, Barbara and Vicki are kidnapped by Adam Mitchell, leading directly into Endgame.
The Doctor joins with his other incarnations to rescue Ian, Barbara and Vicki from Adam and the Tremas Master, and assists the other Doctors in saving their companions as well.

Final exploits with Ian and Barbara

The TARDIS crew visit the Holy Land in the 1190s, where Ian is knighted as "Sir Ian of Jaffa" by King Richard I of England. Barbara recalls the recent events of The Dalek Invasion of Earth, The Romans and The Web Planet.[quote 31] The Doctor has Vicki pretend to be a boy named "Victor". As they slip away from Jaffa, the TARDIS stops working, leading directly into The Space Museum.
After the TARDIS crew escape a time track and help the Xerons to defeat the Moroks on Xeros, the Doctor acquires a Time-Space Visualiser from the Space Museum. Vicki has not yet encountered a Dalek, but knows of them from history books. Unbeknownst to the Doctor, the TARDIS is observed departing Xeros by Pursuer-Daleks, who make plans to begin chasing them, setting up the events of The Chase.[quote 32]
The Doctor and Ian visit the planet Seetar while Barbara and Vicki are sleeping in the TARDIS. Ian recalls the events of The Crusade,[quote 33] and the Doctor is still wondering if leaving Susan behind was the right thing to do. Upon their return to the TARDIS, they are greeted by Barbara, though Vicki is still asleep.
The Doctor, Ian and Barbara return to Vortis, setting his after The Web Planet. Vicki is absent, implying a setting immediately after A Religious Experience. As they the TARDIS, they are greeted by the Menopteras, but then attacked by the Zarbi, leading directly into The Zarbi Are Destroyed.
The TARDIS crew become embroiled in the Gunpowder Plot of 1605. Vicki is once again dressed up as a boy by the Doctor, setting this after The Crusade.[quote 34]
Ian recalls the events of The Crusade.
The TARDIS crew spend three months in a human colony. Barbara hides between "archival building stacks" Q and R, which were the production codes of The Space Museum and The Chase, respectively, suggesting an in-joke to the placement of this story.
Barbara and Ian recall the events of The Romans, and wonder if they will find their way home soon, suggesting an intended setting shortly before The Chase by the author.[quote 35]
Despite the events of Room for Improvement, the Doctor claims that their visit to 23rd century Unitaria is the furthest Ian and Barbara have visited Earth in the future. Vicki recalls the events of The Space Museum.
The TARDIS crew spend several weeks in 1400 England. After returning to the TARDIS, the Doctor decides to begin working on the Time-Space Visualiser, setting this shortly before Every Day.[quote 36]
The Doctor has been working on the Time-Space Visualiser for hours, setting this between The The Doctor's Tale and The Chase.[quote 37][quote 38]

Pursued by the Daleks

The Doctor is able to get the Time-Space Visualiser working. The TARDIS crew visits Aridius, only to find that they are being chased by the Daleks in their time machine as revenge for their past defeats. Whilst evading the Daleks, the TARDIS crew visits the Empire State Building in 1966, the Mary Celeste in 1872 and the Festival of Ghana, where Vicki is accidentally left behind.
Set during The Chase: Journey into Terror, just as the Doctor, Ian and Barbara realise they have left Vicki at the Festival of Ghana. Leads directly back into the next scene featuring the Doctor, Ian and Barbara in Journey into Terror.
  • TV: The Chase (Journey into Terror–The Planet of Decision)
The Doctor, Ian and Barbara prepare to seize the Dalek time machine on Mechanus so they can use it to return to Vicki, only to find that she stowed away on it and they all reunite on Mechanus, only to then have to escape from the Mechanoids, and also rescue spaceship pilot Steven Taylor. After the Daleks are defeated by the Mechanoids, Ian and Barbara use the Dalek time machine to finally return to 1960s, after two years of travel with the Doctor.[quote 39]

Early travels with Steven

Set immediately after The Chase, with the Doctor and Vicki finding Steven in the TARDIS shortly after saying goodbye to Ian and Barbara. The Doctor invites Steven to remain onboard, and battles with the First Monk for the first time in 1066 Northumbria.
The Doctor is instructing his new companion on what to do if they encounter the Pyromeths, if they so choose to "keep traveling through space and time with [him]". The companion is not seen, and the only companion introduced to the Doctor with a narrative gap in their stories possible to receive the warning would be Steven, which would set this shortly after The Time Meddler.
Steven mutters that his last meal was in 1066,[quote 40] and is still getting used to time travel etiquette, setting this shortly after The Time Meddler, though he is already used to the Doctor's secretive behaviour.[quote 41]
Steven recalls the events of The Suffering, and implies that he has not been to London since then.[quote 42]
The crew visits London during the 1814 frost fair. Vicki mentions that Steven has only recently joined the TARDIS crew.[quote 43]
(REFERENCE)
The TARDIS crew spends a few days in 15th century Spain.[quote 44] (PROSE: The Empire of Glass)
The Doctor is summoned by the Time Lords to assist his second and third incarnations in their battle with Omega, but he becomes trapped in a time eddy and can only serve an advisory role in the crisis. Once the situation is resolved, the Doctor is returned to his own time stream.
Set immediately after The Three Doctors, with the Doctor materialising back in the console room hours after being Time Scooped holding an invitation to Venice in 1609,[quote 45][quote 46] where he meets Irving Braxiatel, whom the Doctor discovers delivered the message to him shortly before the Time Lords erased his memory of the Omega Crisis.[quote 47] The Doctor, Steven and Vicki help Braxiatel rescue his Armageddon Convention, which involves a brief visit to Hampton Court Palace, before departing once again. Steven is still a relatively new addition to the crew,[quote 48] although he has already done a significant amount of travelling.[quote 49] Upon their arrival in Venice, neither Steven nor Vicki have a TARDIS key, due to a lack of trustworthiness on Steven's part,[quote 50] but as they depart, he resolves to give Steven a key soon.[quote 51]

Continued travels with Vicki and Steven

Steven is well-aware of faults in the TARDIS and the Doctor alludes to the events of Frostfire, telling him that not everywhere the TARDIS arrives can be a fun fair.[quote 52]
(SEGMENT)
The Doctor, Steven and Vicki briefly encounter an apparition of a Charley Pollard from an alternate timeline. (AUDIO: The Light at the End)
The TARDIS lands on Ceres in a time before both Steven's and Vicki's time. The Doctor uses the the component he stole from the Monk's TARDIS in The Time Meddler to expand the inside of the TARDIS beyond the small number of rooms that had been accessible prior to this point.
(REFERENCE)
After helping a group of colonists escape the Antoim, the Doctor is switched with his fifth incarnation by the Monk. Neither Vicki nor Steven have TARDIS keys.[quote 53] After the Fifth Doctor defeats the Monk, the First Doctor is returned to Vicki and Steven as they arrive in Ravenna in 540. (AUDIO: The Secret History)
Time briefly becomes distorted.
Time briefly becomes distorted.

Final adventures with Vicki

The Doctor and Vicki complain that Steven never checks the scanner and wish he would follow their example, suggesting he is a relatively recent addition to the crew. After defeating the Daleks, the TARDIS materialises on the planet T19, leading directly into An Ideal World.
The TARDIS begins to crash as it is drawn to a new destination, leading directly into Entanglement.
Both the Doctor and Vicki independently suggest that Steven has been travelling with them for some considerable time, setting this later in their travels together. The Doctor mentions having a friend at one of the younger Cambridge colleges, setting this after Cambridge Previsited. The TARDIS malfunctions, causing Vicki to be separated from the Doctor and Steven, leading directly into The Crash of the UK-201.
Vicki finds herself transported back to the UK-201 before it crashed and manages to change her own history by stopping the ship from crashing, but she is forced to set events back on their original course after being pursued by Paradox eaters. However, she ultimately decides to retain the memories of her alternate life and learns a valuable lesson about changing history.
Vicki doesn't consider herself a child anymore, suggesting a setting after The Crash of the UK-201.
After the Doctor prevents the Drahvins from destroying the Rills and their Chumblies, Vicki injures her ankle.
The Doctor tells a brain-creature that Vicki and Steven have faced Daleks, Vikings and Chumblies, setting this after Galaxy 4. The TARDIS crew agree to never speak of their encounter with the Bunnoids.
Vicki is still nursing an ankle injury, setting this shortly after Galaxy 4. She leaves the TARDIS to stay in Ancient Greece with Troilus, and the Doctor and Steven are joined by Katarina. Steven is injured in the sacking of Troy, resulting in blood poisoning, and the Doctor and Katarina take him off to get proper medical aid.

Brief travels with Katarina

Set directly between The Myth Makers and The Daleks Master Plan. The Doctor can feel his first regeneration coming for the first time.
Set during The Daleks' Master Plan: The Nightmare Begins, just before the TARDIS lands on Kembel. The Doctor's TARDIS collides with that of his second incarnation, setting them off-course. They arrive on Urbinia and spend three months there while the TARDIS is repaired. Steven still hasn't got a TARDIS key, and the Doctor gives his to Katarina. The Second Doctor averts this timeline by preventing the two TARDISes from colliding, leading back into The Daleks' Master Plan.

Protecting the taranium

Following on from The Myth Makers, the TARDIS arrives on Kembel, where the Doctor meets Bret Vyon while looking for medicine for Steven. Bret forces his way into the TARDIS and aids in Steven's recovery. The Doctor learns of the Daleks' plan to dominate the galaxy with a Time Destructor, so steals the taranium that powers it, but is forced to leave his TARDIS behind. During a stop on Desperus to repair damage to the ship Bret stole for them, Katarina loses her life in a hostage situation. Making it to Central City, Bret is killed by Sara Kingdom when she is tricked against him by the Daleks' ally, Mavic Chen. When an accident launches them to Mira, Steven and the Doctor convince Sara of Chen's treachery and she joins them in stealing a Dalek ship back to Kembel to retrieve the TARDIS.
The TARDIS collides with another time-ship in the vortex while the Doctor, Steven and Sara celebrate Christmas in the console room, setting this directly after The Feast of Steven. The trio have been on the run for a few days now and Sara claims that she and Steven "barely know each other". The Doctor hasn't told Sara about the importance of non-interference with history, setting this before The Little Drummer Boy. Steven has romantic feelings for Sara, however she does not reciprocate them and only considers him a friend. The trio escape a shared dream caused by their collision with the other time-ship, making it unclear exactly how much time passes over the duration of this story.
Set one hour after The Feast of Steven, with Steven and Sara are recovering in the TARDIS. Steven has changed into a new set of clothes and offers Sara the opportunity to do the same, however she decides to continue wearing her SSS uniform. Sara has picked out a bedroom in the TARDIS and is still adjusting to the TARDIS. The Doctor plans to make intentionally random landings to keep the Daleks off their trail. The Doctor and Steven make note of the fact that they are still on Earth and have only travelled a few decades out from their last destination, despite briefly landing on the Cobalt Moon in The Anachronauts. Sara discovers that the Doctor can't control the exact destination of the TARDIS, despite learning this in The Anachronauts.
After Katarina's death, the Doctor is summoned by Persephone to help Katrina in the afterlife.
Sara recalls Robert dying in her arms during The Little Drummer Boy.
Upon visiting the House in Ely, Sara leaves a copy of her mind as the House's conscience and then continues on her travels, setting this after The Drowned World, The Guardian of the Solar System and The Little Drummer Boy, as the House recalls these adventures.
Sara sees a car for the first time, likely setting this before An Ordinary Life.
According to Sara, she has been on the run with the Doctor and Steven for "so long". After the Doctor and the TARDIS are abducted by anemone changelings, Steven and Sara are forced to spend a few weeks living an ordinary life in 1950s London.
The Doctor battles the Sontarans for the first time and learns about their war with the Rutans. The events of An Ordinary Life are described as occurring "a lifetime ago". Another time machine begins pursuing the TARDIS, leading directly into The Daleks' Master Plan: Volcano.
Set some months after The Feast of Steven, at least according to the novelisation. To escape a pursuing time ship, the TARDIS lands on Tigus, where the Doctor confronts the Monk for the first time since The Time Meddler. When the Monk joins forces with the Daleks in Egypt, the Doctor is forced to return the taranium to Mavic Chen. However, the Doctor is able to steal the directional unit from the Monk's TARDIS to take his TARDIS back to Kembal to destroy the Time Destructor, though Sara dies in the final battle.

Brief travels with Oliver

Set immediately after The Daleks' Master Plan: Destruction of Time, with the Doctor and Steven having just left Kembel. The TARDIS returns to I.M. Foreman's junkyard for the first time since departing in An Unearthly Child. The Doctor and Steven are joined in the TARDIS by Oliver Harper after he helps them defeat the Fulgurites.
Oliver takes his first trip in the TARDIS, setting this immediately after The Perpetual Bond. The Doctor decides to take Steven and Oliver to Grace Alone, leading directly into The First Wave.
The Doctor, Steven and Oliver successfully arrive on Grace Alone. Oliver sacrifices his life to save the Doctor and Steven from the Vardans.

The Game of Rassilon

The Doctor and Steven are taking a break after the events of The Daleks' Master Plan. Ending leads directly into The Five Doctors.
The Doctor is kidnapped from a garden by Borusa to play the Game of Rassilon in the Death Zone with his second, third and fifth incarnations. He is briefly reunited with Susan on Gallifrey. After Rassilon deals with Borusa at the First Doctor's urging, the Doctors are permitted to leave.
Set during The Five Doctors, when the Doctor is maneuvering through the Tomb of Rassilon.

Controlled travels

(EPILOGUE)
The Doctor begins travelling on his own with the ability to pilot the TARDIS effectively as a favour granted to him by Rassilon for his role in defeating Borusa, allowing him to tie up some loose ends before his first regeneration, starting with a return trip to Salem Village, where he strangely signs a registration as "Benjamin Jackson". (PROSE: The Witch Hunters)
(FRAMING DEVICE)
The Doctor visits Homer many years after the Fall of Troy to check in on how Vicki is doing, and is told that she is middle aged and still happily in love with Troilus. (PROSE: The Myth Makers)
The Doctor mentions his visit to Troy from The Myth Makers.
The events of The Myth Makers were "not so long ago".
The Doctor is able to pilot the TARDIS to Vortis, setting this after The Five Doctors.
The Doctor mentions the Daleks, setting this at least after The Daleks.
Sequel story to The Keys of Marinus.
The Doctor uses his signet ring to open the lock on the epitomiser cubicle, as he had done to the TARDIS lock in The Web Planet.
Follows directly on from The Sons of Grekk. The Doctor is able to pilot the TARDIS to Tiro, setting this after The Five Doctors.
Follows directly on from The Devil Birds of Corbo. The Doctor is able to pilot the TARDIS to Rhoos, setting this after The Five Doctors.
The Doctor has deliberately come to the end of the universe to meet his eighth incarnation, setting this after The Five Doctors.
The Doctor is learning about a disturbance in the timeline. As he would need a deliberate effort to do this, this most likely takes place after The Five Doctors.
The Doctor is deliberately involved in this situation, setting this after The Five Doctors.
The Doctor is able to pilot and control the TARDIS within the Void, setting this after The Five Doctors.
The Doctor has Christmas dinner with his other incarnations.

Adventures with John and Gillian

(NOTE)
Arriving in 1964 England, (COMIC: Nostalgia Corner) the Doctor bases himself in another junkyard and makes arrangements to meet his other grandchildren, John and Gillian Who. (COMIC: The Klepton Parasites) Accounts vary on whether his adventures with them occur in N-Space, (PROSE: The Man Who (Nearly) Killed Christmas) the Land of Fiction (PROSE: Conundrum) or a place the Doctor could access via his dreams. (COMIC: The Land of Happy Endings)
John and Gillian find the Doctor's address, enter the TARDIS and join him in his travels when the TARDIS takes off with them after John messes with the controls, leading them to arrive on the planet of the Thains and the Kleptons. The Doctor is more proactive in stopping the Kleptons from enslaving the Thains, implying a setting after The Dalek Invasion of Earth, where the Doctor was first seen to "dare to stop" tyranny.
The Doctor recalls a previous visit to Vortis, during which he "defeat[ed] the Zarbi" after "their brain was killed", a description which aligns with the events of The Web Planet. He is familiar with the Menoptera, and orchestrates a peace between them and the Zarbi.
The Doctor fights with a police officer who will not allow him entrance into a police box. Whether or not the box is actually his TARDIS is left unclear.
The Doctor meets Santa Claus for the first time.
The Doctor almost walks into a police box, but is stopped by a police officer.
The Doctor battles the Trods for the first time.
(CONJECTURE)
It is unclear what circumstances caused the Doctor to leave John and Gillian, but they later began traveling with his second incarnation, whom they addressed as "Dr. Who" instead of "Grandfather". (COMIC: The Extortioner)

Continued solo exploits

The Doctor visits the BBC Television Centre to have tea with a Black Dalek and a Silver Dalek, and is briefly joined by Barbara.
When he arrives on the Black Pig, the Doctor is inexplicably accompanied by a Zarbi and a Dalek.
(REFERENCE)
The Doctor is at a television studio when the TARDIS is taken by a group of young fans of his adventures. (COMIC: TV Terrors)
The Doctor is captured in the First Rani's time loop.
The Doctor regrets not visiting Susan for Christmas.
(REFERENCE)
The Doctor visits Draconia, where he helps the Red Emperor of the Draconians by advising him to close his planet off during a space plague. (AUDIO: Paper Cuts)
The Doctor is "dressed for the cold" in a cloak and an astrakhan hat and traveling alone when he meets Winston Churchill for the first time.
The First Doctor is collected by the Tenth Doctor to assist in the defeat of the Sirens of Time, suggesting that this does not take place during a time he has control over his TARDIS. He doesn't mention being with any companions.
The Doctor is imprisoned at the maximum security facility with his other incarnations.

Resumed travels with Steven

(CONJECTURE)
After some time alone, the Doctor returns to Steven and the two continue to travel together again.
(FRAMING DEVICE)
When Steven admits he has had trouble sleeping since leaving Kembel, due to still recovering from Sara and Katarina's deaths, the Doctor tells him a story from his time hiding in 1963 Shoreditch. (PROSE: Ash)
(REFERENCE)
The Doctor and Steven stop an alien invader on a nearby beach with the help of Greenaway, who loses his legs and part of his skull and ends up in a coma. (PROSE: Greenaway)
Steven mentions encountering the Omwanadar and posing as military personnel in the past few weeks, setting this after Making History. The Doctor and Steven have an argument over interfering with history, but the Doctor decides to indulge Steven, to no avail.
Although he doesn't appear, the Doctor mentions that he is travelling with Steven, who is helping him from behind the scenes.
The Doctor and Steven spend a few weeks stranded in one place, whilst trying to fix the TARDIS. Steven thinks of Sara, as well as Ian and Barbara.[quote 54] The subject of interference is an old argument between the Doctor and Steven, setting this after Waiting for Jeremy.
Steven has met the Vardans before, setting this after The First Wave.

Joined by Dodo

The Doctor and Steven arrive in 1572 Paris, and the Doctor goes to see Charles Preslin, leaving Steven to sight-see. Realising that the St Bartholomew's Day massacre is about to start, the Doctor hurries Steven into the TARDIS, and makes a servant girl he had befriended, Anne Chaplet, return to her home, despite her being one of the Huguenot people targeted in the riots. After storming out of the TARDIS due to disagreeing with the Doctor on Anne's fate, Steven returns immediately after Dodo Chaplet walks into the TARDIS, joining the two in their travels.
Dodo takes her first trip in the TARDIS, setting this immediately after The Massacre.
Dodo takes her first trip into the future, and has very clearly just joined the TARDIS crew, setting this shortly after The Massacre.[quote 55] After they save the Ark from Dodo's common cold in the 57th Segment of Time, the TARDIS crew immediately return seven-hundred years afterwards to save them from a Monoid uprising. As they depart the Ark, the TARDIS comes under attack, leading directly into The Celestial Toymaker.
The TARDIS crew are forced into the Celestial Toyroom, where the Toymaker challenges the Doctor to the trilogic game while Steven and Dodo complete against the Toymaker's pawns in in the Toyroom. Upon their escape from the Toyroom, they celebrate with a bag of sweets, and the Doctor breaks his tooth.
Following on from The Celestial Toymaker, the Doctor goes to get his toothache seen to by Doc Holliday when the TARDIS arrives at Tombstone, Arizona. The TARDIS crew witness the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.
Only a few days have passed since The Celestial Toymaker, and the events of The Gunfighters are referenced.

Celestial retirement

It has been "eons" since the Doctor traveled with Ian, Barbara and Susan, and "centuries" since he last spoke French. He is spending time in "celestial retirement" in the rose garden from The Five Doctors, with his issues with the Time Lords "more or less resolved", suggesting a setting after The Three Doctors. The Doctor recounts the events of The Massacre to the Time Lords.
The Doctor travels to Auberge du Pont Romain in France to meet John Lucarotti, and suggests that they next meet up in Samarkand. The Doctor speaks French, setting this after the novelisation of The Massacre, with Lucarotti also recalling that the Time Lords retired the Doctor "ages go". The Doctor indicates that he snuck away from the garden seen in The Massacre novelisation to meet up with Lucarotti.
The Doctor intervenes in the Battle for the Great Power. The TARDIS is absent, and it is implied the Doctor is working in an ambassadorial role.

Final travels with Steven

Steven voices his surprise that the Doctor wants another holiday after having "just had one in Tombstone", setting this shortly after The Gunfighters. The TARDIS crew spend several months in Russia.
The TARDIS has just left Russia, setting this immediately after Mother Russia. Steven discusses potentially leaving the TARDIS with the Doctor.
Steven mentions Tombstone, setting this after The Gunfighters.
The Doctor, Steven and Dodo become stranded in 1240 Kiev for several weeks.
Steven and Dodo insist that the Doctor take them for a holiday, implying that sometime has passed since The Gunfighters.
(SEGMENT)
The Doctor, Steven and Dodo investigate a crashed spaceship during the Boer Wars. (AUDIO: Tales from the Vault)
The Doctor is travelling with Steven and Dodo, but becomes separated from them while on Vortis.
The Doctor helps the monks of the Det-Sen Monastery fight off a bandit attack and is entrusted with the monks' ghanta by the High Lama, Padmasambhava. He is surprised by how little Dodo knows about him after "all [their] time together", setting this a long time after The Massacre.
After thinking about leaving the TARDIS since Return of the Rocket Men, Steven decides that the next place the TARDIS lands is where he wants to make a lasting impression, setting this immediately prior to The Savages.
Steven leaves the TARDIS to mediate a peace between the Elders and the Savages.

Lone exploits with Dodo

Set a few months after The Celestial Toymaker. The Doctor is aware he will regenerate soon, and he and Dodo talk about Steven for the first time since his recent departure, setting this before The Horror at Bletchington Station.
While Dodo hasn't been travelling with the Doctor for long, his dismissive attitude to casual violence begins to worry her.
Dodo is more wounded and mistrustful of the Doctor, setting this after The Man in the Velvet Mask.
(REFERENCE)
The Doctor and Dodo visit Scrabster Harbor in 1947, where they help a weapon convoy get to Scapa Flow. (AUDIO: Masters of Earth)
Steven's departure is a recent event, but the Doctor and Dodo have had several adventures since he left.
(REFERENCE)
The Doctor and Dodo meet Henry and John Fielding. (AUDIO: The Avenues of Possibility)
While authorial intent places this as the Doctor and Dodo's first adventure together after The Savages,[source needed] they discuses Steven's departure as if it was a while ago.
The Doctor and Dodo visit 2020s Camden. Dodo learns about smart phones for the first time.
After resolving the singular case of the Incherton incident, the Doctor disappears from the TARDIS, leaving Dodo alone.
Following directly in from The Incherton Incident, the Doctor finds himself suffering temporal amnesia and being side-tracked in time and space in a "pellucid capsule" and dimensionally displaced, only able to exist within the confines of a time machine. He is unsure whether he was displaced on the way to or on the way back from a location, but believes that the Time Lords are the only people with the power to remove him from his own timestream. The Doctor is reunited with Vicki for the first time since The Myth Makers, which was only a matter of months ago according to him, setting this before Tales of the TARDIS. Dodo claims that she has not been travelling with the Doctor for "that long" and encounters the Daleks for the first time, but she forgets meeting them due to also being affected by the Doctor's temporal amnesia. The Doctor returns Vicki to her home in Carthage while he still has control of the TARDIS in his time displaced state, but believes that he will soon be pulled out of time once again.
The Doctor is summoned to the remembered TARDIS by Steven and Vicki, suggesting a setting at least after The Savages.

Adventures with Ben and Polly

The Doctor and Dodo battle WOTAN and the War Machines with Ben Jackson and Polly Wright in 1966 London. The Doctor's battle with WOTAN causes Dodo to have a breakdown after she is hypnotised by WOTAN, and Sir Charles Summer lets her stay at his country house to recuperate.
Set during The War Machines: Episode 4, after the Doctor has defeated WOTAN. He decides to tie up a loose end from his time travelling alone with Susan before he collects Dodo, who he suspects will want to stay in 1966.
As he returns to the TARDIS following the events of The Rag & Bone Man's Story, the Doctor is met by Ben and Polly, who inform him of Dodo's decision to stay behind on Earth. Ben and Polly then board the TARDIS while attempting to return Dodo's key, and it dematerialises with them inside.
Set immediately after The War Machines, with the Doctor realising too late that Ben and Polly are in the TARDIS. He explains that he cannot return them to their homes before they arrive in 17th century Cornwall. After saving a village from pirate Captain Samuel Pike, the TARDIS crew leave and then arrive at "the coldest place in the world", leading directly into The Tenth Planet.
As time briefly becomes distorted, the TARDIS is taken from the South Pole to Lewes, delaying the events of The Tenth Planet, and setting this immediately after The Smugglers in its place.
While Ben and Polly visit some friends, the Doctor meets up with several of his future incarnations. He feels he will regenerate soon. The Doctor is able to control the TARDIS and finds himself able to make precise short hops.
According to Ben, he and Polly have shared a few adventures with the Doctor since leaving London in The War Machines. The Doctor comments that he shall soon "feel a whole new person", referring to his upcoming regeneration.
Ben and Polly have been travelling with the Doctor for some time now, and the Doctor has been making comments about his body "wearing thin" often. The Doctor agrees to take Allie Kay with him in the TARDIS until they can find him a suitable home.

Final adventures

The time distortions are revealed to be caused by the Daleks trying to invade the First Doctor's timeline and prevent his regeneration at the South Pole. According to Polly, the events of The Smugglers were "a while back". The Doctor has been putting off his death for "years" now. The Player is able to prevent the Daleks' victory, setting things up for The Tenth Planet.
While Ben and Polly sleep in the TARDIS, the Doctor is pulled back to Gallifrey and is aware that his next adventure will result in his regeneration.
Ben and Polly are woken up in the night by a nightmare. An older Polly recalls how this was her last trip in the TARDIS before The Tenth Planet.

Last stand at Snowcap base

The TARDIS lands at the South Pole during the 1986 Cyberman invasion of Earth, and the Doctor suddenly collapses as the planet Mondas approaches closer to Earth. He recovers long enough to stop General Cutler, but is taken prisoner by Regos Krang until Mondas is destroyed and he and Polly are rescued by Ben. However, with much of his life force having been absorbed by Mondas, the Doctor leaves for the TARDIS as he begins to regenerate.
Set during The Tenth Planet: Episode 3, when the Doctor is bedridden.
(EPILOGUE)
Walking in the snow back to his TARDIS to regenerate, the Doctor catches a glimpse of Oliver Harper's ghost. (AUDIO: The First Wave)
Before entering the TARDIS during The Tenth Planet: Episode 4, the Doctor meets the Twelfth Doctor while both are trying to fight off their regenerations.
Set immediately after The Doctor Falls, with the First Doctor being convinced to endure his regeneration after a Glass avatar of Bill Potts tells him of his importance to the safety of the universe and after he sees his twelfth incarnation save Archibald Hamish Lethbridge-Stewart from his fated death in World War I.
The First Doctor unites with his other incarnations to help a group of people seal the Time Fracture. He is aware that it is he who helps keep the balance of the universe, implying that this takes place towards the end of Twice Upon a Time.
(EPILOGUE)
The Doctor regenerates into his next incarnation in the TARDIS with Ben and Polly by his side. (TV: The Tenth Planet)
Next page: Second Doctor

Currently unplaced

These entries are placed here due to being part of ongoing storylines that have yet to offer sufficient enough evidence to be placed in a specific part of this Doctor's timeline, unless further evidence arises in the stories to come.
While reflecting on his life, the Doctor recalls travelling with Vicki and Steven. He is aware that he has fifteen succeeding incarnations and decides to address the latest one.

Awaiting placement

These entries are placed here until a suitable position in the timeline can be determined based on the available evidence.
The Doctor is traveling with Vicki, with the absence of Ian, Barbara and Steven left unexplained. Vicki is inexplicably depicted as looking older and more sexualised, with brown hair, which implies this is set after her departure and that she has rejoined the Doctor to help find the Key to Time, which would set this after Fugitive of the Daleks.

Quotes

  1. ↑ The Box shifted. It dematerialised then materialised again, seeming to waver but not disappear. In between, Grandfather went to Pluto in the Far Future. He claimed an uneventful trip, but I later checked the log and saw he needed five goes to get there, hopping around the solar system and the centuries, and more than a dozen shots to get back to Foreman's Yard an instant after departure.
  2. ↑ ROSA: "I don't know what's come over the kids around here, ever since they started making mischief. When was it... about four months ago?"
    SUSAN: "How funny, that's when Grandfather and I first came here."
  3. ↑ "How long have you been a pupil at coal Hill school, Miss Foreman?", he asked. She'd arrived at the start of the autumn term, she replied.
  4. ↑ IAN: "But, Doctor, where are we? When we left the planet Skaro, where did you ask the machine to take us to?"
  5. ↑ SUSAN: "Well, the Aztecs were Mexicans. We must be on Earth again."
  6. ↑ DOCTOR: "In all the years my granddaughter and I have been travelling, we have never had an argument. And now you have caused one."
  7. ↑ She sneaked through Ian's door, careful not to wake him. She found him stretched out on his pallet. There was a book folded on his chest, not a sword, though he was proud and noble as a knight, a carved effigy on a tombstone, Sir Lancelot himself. She touched his hand. She would never kiss him, of course, unless he wanted.
  8. ↑ It felt like heaven. He hadn't been in a bed for months, not since before the retreat from Kabul. What was more important was that he was in the TARDIS, for the first time in at least three months.
  9. ↑ She stood up and went closer to him. "But you once told me that you could never rewrite history — not one line. Do you remember?"
  10. ↑ He looked up at her, his face kindly and wise and sad, an expression on it that Barbara would always remember. "But sometimes, Barbara, sometimes you can make history fight its hardest to have things its own way. And every now and again, you must."
  11. ↑ "Rather be back in Coal Hill School, would you, teaching Cortez and the Mexicans to spotty tearaways who couldn't care less?"
  12. ↑ Ian had been cross with Barbara for having had a couple of drinks at the hotel, which initially doomed him to be designated driver, but he had of course really been cross with the Doctor and Susan for not knowing something so basic as how to drive. He suspected that the Doctor in fact knew perfectly well and was just being lazy; Ian confidently expected him to take the wheel at any moment.
  13. ↑ "And how long have you known that the TARDIS never left Chicago, Doctor?" The old man hooted nervously, his chin raised high in the air. "Haven’t you ever wanted to drive Route 66, eh? You must admit we all needed a holiday, and it was quite a lot of fun... Anyway..."
  14. ↑ "Well, Doctor – now what?" Ian's voice made Barbara jump. She forced herself to look away from the scanner, where a blank greyness had replaced the picture of Susan's bewildered face.
  15. ↑ Inside, Pown(ow)ri had no cameras. But the shuttle's on-board computer reported that the Doctor cracked the code for the launch sequence in record time, using an "unknown sonic device".
  16. ↑ "It would be past Christmas by now," he said at last. She remembered the calendar on the wall in his room, the days crossed off in neat school ink. Nodded. "The second Christmas," Ian went on. "A whole year gone from our lives. If we ever get back – even to the same time – we'll still be that year older."
  17. ↑ "Oh, I don't think we'll have many more adventures. You see Trikhobu's developed this formula for moving the TARDIS to someone's position at any time, based on a known–" As he spoke, Barbara jumped down through the doorway of the chamber. She stopped to wipe at the tears on her face, then waved a piece of paper at the Doctor. "Trikhobu says that this ought to find my mother in January 1965–"
  18. ↑ JEANNIE: "This ship was inside a barrow then?"
    IAN: "One of those little domed hill things, yes."
    JEANNIE: "You know, that's where they said the Wissfornjarl lived? Under a hill in a barrow."
    IAN: "Who did?"
    JEANNIE: "The Vikings! Wissfornjarl's a Norse word. It means "wise old chieftain". Perhaps the Vikings built the barrow around his ship like Sutton Hoo?"
    IAN: "What? Hundreds of years before we arrived?"
    JEANNIE: "Why not? Time moves strangely on Orkney, Ian."
  19. ↑ Memories flooded back to the Doctor. In the 60 years since he had hurriedly abandoned his home and fled in terror into the universe, he had stared death in the face on numerous occasions.
  20. ↑ The Barbara Wright who had taught at Coal Hill School would have cowered under her bedclothes rather than face whatever potentially embarrassing situation she was about to walk into, but Barbara had already changed in the year or more that she and Ian had travelled with the Doctor.
  21. ↑ "She's got a chip on her shoulder the size of Big Ben," continued Barbara. "I told her to act her age and she asked how she was supposed to 'act fourteen'."
  22. ↑ "Well, I didn't tell you, because I didn't want to disappoint you if it didn't work, but as we left Rome I tried to make the shortest increment - that is to say, the shortest journey - that I could."
  23. ↑ Ian Chesterton stood in the TARDIS doorway and looked out at the pre-dawn tint of the eastern sky. He had managed to rest well, before dressing in casual slacks, rollneck and jacket. Barbara had found herself sensible shoes to go with a plain trouser suit and Vicki wore baggy trousers and an oversized sweater.'
  24. ↑ They'd been travelling together in the Ship for two years now, and knew each other pretty well, but moments like this still kept her surprising and fresh.
  25. ↑ Barbara leant against Ian, and said, "I wanted to ask you something." "Anything." He realised that the word probably sounded more soulful than he had intended it to, and thought about correcting this. "You know you could ask anything of me," he said, finally. "What did you have in mind?" "Oh, nothing much. I was just wondering if you'd marry me, if ever we get home." What made Ian feel most comfortable, however, and most complete, was the peace that had come with saying "Yes".
  26. ↑ STELLA: "Listen to me! You return to the TARDIS leaving Rome burning behind you. You were just about to tell Barbara about the things that happened to you there, about the trick the Doctor played on Nero, but the TARDIS was gripped by some unexplained force, and you landed again only moments after takeoff. Barbara and Ian saw London on the scanner and thought they were home. You found out that it was decades before their time, but decided to spend a little time in the city anyway."
  27. ↑ DOCTOR: "Menoptera. Yes, does that word mean anything to you, hmm?"
    IAN: "No, nothing. You mean you've been here before?"
    DOCTOR: "No, no, my boy. No, but it's this rock formation and now this creature, this object, it suggests the planet Vortis."
  28. ↑ DOCTOR: "Apart from rubbing our back legs together like some sort of grasshopper? I doubt if we could get on speaking terms with them. Stand still! Obey! These creatures on this planet are completely unknown to me. Just stand still and obey."
  29. ↑ BARBARA: "What are you talking about? He's real. I remember him on Vortis handing me the isop-tope, I remember him in Rome, I remember him everywhere."
  30. ↑ IAN: "All the things we've done with Jospa - Vortis, Rome, Byzantium, China... He wasn't there? Not for any of it?"
  31. ↑ BARBARA: "Well, I could say that I'm from another world, a world ruled by insects. And before that we were in Rome at the time of Nero. Before that we were in England, far, far into the future."
  32. ↑ DALEK #1: "Our greatest enemies have left the planet Xeros. They are once again in time and space."
    DALEK #2:     "They cannot escape! Our time machine will soon follow them."
  33. ↑ IAN: "It's not the life and death battles with Daleks or Saracens I'll remember of our times together but quiet moments like this, on some uncharted alien paradise."
  34. ↑ Having made certain the door of his craft was secure he came across to examine her. "Yes, yes, suits you very well." "Do I have to be a boy again?"
  35. ↑ "The sixpence that brings luck to the one who finds it. Maybe it's a sign that we will soon be home after all." Barbara smiled. "Yes, perhaps we will."
  36. ↑ DOCTOR: Now, where was I? Vicki? What did you do with that instruction manual for my Time-Space Visualiser?
  37. ↑ Their pilot was probably still busy on his latest gizmo inside the Ship. He'd been immersed in it for hours; trying to tune it in, he'd told Barbara, to see a particular year.
  38. ↑ He made his way to the Time and Space Visualiser once more, swinging open the door of its access panel. "And hope, and pray, that one day, somehow, despite the odds, they make their way back to you. Now then, let's see if we can get this thing," he muttered, "to summon up 2164..." And that was the last thing he said for several hours.
  39. ↑ DOCTOR: "I've tried for two years to get you both home!"
  40. ↑ THOMAS: "Oh, that would hardly be proper. Even under these circumstances, and it's getting late. When did you last eat?"
    STEVEN (sotto): "1066."
  41. ↑ STEVEN: "I was used to the Doctor keeping his own council, but perhaps I did want the tiniest bit of revenge for the constant feeling of being left in the dark".
  42. ↑ STEVEN: "I'd been to London before, in 1912. But 150 years before that, the only landmark I recognised was the great dome of the cathedral."
  43. ↑ VICKI: "Steven was still a bit bemused by how the TARDIS shifted between times and other worlds. He'd only joined us recently, when we rescued him from a horrible jungley planet where he'd been locked up by a group of over-bureaucratic service robots... and then there was that trouble with the Monk."
  44. ↑ The few days that the TARDIS had spent in Spain during the time of Torquemada would haunt Steven for some time to come, and he wasn't keen to come that close to any hot irons again.
  45. ↑ "I'm a qualified space pilot, aren't I? These switches and levers may look complicated, but I'm sure I can figure them out. And the Doctor's been gone for hours. He may never come back."
  46. ↑ "My dear child," he said, "of course you were worried, and I have no right to scold you, hmm? If you must know, I've been..." He frowned. "Well, that's most extraordinary. I can't remember where I've been. The memory has gone. All I can remember is a dandy and a clown. A dandy and a clown."
  47. ↑ The Doctor raised an eyebrow at Braxiatel. "If you had told me that you were behind all this," he said waspishly, "then I wouldn't have had to involve anybody local at all." Braxiatel sighed. "I did tell you, Doctor," he replied with the air of a man who has rehearsed the matter in his mind for some time, "but our people wiped your memory. You were on a mission for them."
  48. ↑ Steven hadn't been with the Doctor long, but he knew that his mysterious companion was very rarely silent. Whatever he did was accompanied by a constant stream of "hmm?"s, "hah!"s and subvocalized murmurs. The Doctor seemed incapable of doing anything in silence.
  49. ↑ The first new thing he had smelt since childhood had been the burning forests during the Dalek attack, and since then he had been plunged from new world to new world, each one of which didn't smell like anything he had ever smelt before.
  50. ↑ Steven felt that he should have his own key, just in case anything ever happened to the Doctor. The Doctor dismissed the idea, claiming that Steven was just scaremongering. The truth was, of course, that he didn't trust Steven an inch. The one thing they were both agreed on was that Vicki shouldn't have one.
  51. ↑ "Show off," the Doctor grumbled, and pulled the piece of ribbon that the TARDIS key was attached to from his pocket. As he fumbled it into the lock, he turned and gazed at Steven. There was sympathy in his eyes, and wisdom, and understanding. "Perhaps we should get you a key as well, my boy," he murmured, too soft for Vicki to hear. "Thanks," Steven said, surprised at the offer. "But... but why now?" "Because you've grown up."
  52. ↑ STEVEN: "Look, don't mean to be rude, Doctor, but I reckon that museum-dodging old ship of yours has let you down again. Let's get back in the TARDIS and have another go."
    DOCTOR: "Another go?"
    VICKI (narrating): "Oh, the Doctor didn't like that. His TARDIS was not a roulette wheel, he reminded Steven. One did not keep spinning it in the hope of getting a winner, chiding me and steven for our lack or curiosity. He couldn't be expected to materialise the ship at a fun fair every single time surely."
  53. ↑ VICKI: "Steven isn’t here."
    DOCTOR: "Maybe he went inside the TARDIS to wait."
    VICKI: "You're the only one with a key."
    DOCTOR: "Oh. Yes. You two should really have keys... Down!"
  54. ↑ CORA: "Do your people not bond when they wish to have families?"
    NARRATOR: "Steven felt himself lost in his thoughts. He remembered Sara Kingdom, his life before the TARDIS. He wondered if there might be a time where he might no longer travel with the Doctor, like Ian and Barbara had chosen."
  55. ↑ DODO: "I think I'm beginning to enjoy this space travel or whatever it is."


Footnotes

  1. ↑ https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/doctor-who-the-lost-stories-the-first-doctor-429
  2. ↑ https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/doctor-who-the-companion-chronicles-the-rocket-men-502
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