Theory:Timeline - Third Doctor

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This page lists appearances of the Third Doctor in the order in which he experienced them. This timeline is based upon observations of the Doctor Who universe and the events that occur during each of these stories. From these observations we have attempted to build a concise timeline. It is assumed, much like its TV story counterparts that for each novel or audio series their published/numbered order is the order they occur in. This does not apply to short stories which are often ambiguous about their placement. There are also many gaps between stories.

The layout of this timeline is in part based on the observations on Doctor Who Reference Guide and Doctor Who - The Complete Adventures, as well as Lance Parkin's AHistory and other sources that allow us to make observations, such as DocOhoReviews, Doc Oho's Book Reviews, The History of Doctor Who, The Discontinuity Guide, Clive Banks Databank, Whopix, Big Finish forums, The Whoniverse and The Divergent Universe forums. None of these sources should be used solely as a source or considered a "true" timeline for stories.

Additionally there are statements on the back of Virgin Missing Adventures and many BBC Past Doctor Adventures novels that state between which TV stories the novel takes place between. These can be used to narrow the field, and should be viewed as the only placing for these novels.

Limiting factors[[edit source]]

Any stories involving the Doctor travelling around several destinations in his TARDIS should take place following TV: The Three Doctors, prior to this he is limited to travels "on assignment" for the Time Lords. Any limited trip with Jo Grant must take place after TV: Colony in Space.

Any story where he is not on assignment but travelling freely with Jo must take place after TV: The Three Doctors and before TV: The Green Death. Any story with Sarah Jane Smith must take place after TV: The Time Warrior and before TV: Planet of the Spiders.

Timeline[[edit source]]

Previous page: Second Doctor

A new body[[edit source]]

(NOTE)
The Second Doctor is captured by the Time Lords and put on trial, where he is sentenced to an exile on Earth in the 20th century and an forced regeneration. (TV: The War Games) According to some accounts, he is able to stay the execution for a time, (PROSE: World Game) and manages to be exiled without regenerating. (COMIC: Action in Exile)
The Time Lords are able to find and trap the Second Doctor, executing him with animated scarecrows that also set his TARDIS to dematerialise somewhere in the 20th century, as the Doctor's regeneration begins to conclude.
In this account, the Second Doctor's trial ends with him being transported from the courtroom to the TARDIS, where he completes his regeneration with no apparent interruptions. The Third Doctor briefly wakes up to find that the TARDIS has landed in Oxley Woods on Earth in 1970 or 1980, only to pass out as he stumbles out of the TARDIS, leading directly into Spearhead from Space.
The Doctor falls into a coma after his TARDIS lands in Oxley Woods during October of a disputable year. Upon awakening, he assists UNIT in combating the Nestene Consciousness's Auton invasion and is asked by Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart to become UNIT's scientific advisor with Dr. Liz Shaw, and he accepts in return for a car and the proper facilities to repair his TARDIS in.

UNIT career begins[[edit source]]

(FLASHBACK)
The Brigadier unveils the promised car to the Doctor, who names her Bessie and begins work on refurbishment. (AUDIO: Bessie Come Home)
Liz is examining the leftovers of the Auton invasion, setting this shortly after Spearhead from Space.
The Doctor has not yet had an adventure on Earth without the Brigadier since his exile began.
RAF Lieutenant Mike Yates is asked to join UNIT, with a promotion from lieutenant to captain, setting this before Shadow of the Past, although, in a contradiction, Benton is already a sergeant. The Doctor uses Venusian aikido for the first time in his third incarnation, setting this before Landbound.
(FLASHBACK)
Shortly before his first encounter with the Silurians, the Doctor hooks Bessie up to the TARDIS during his repairs, unintentionally bestowing consciousness and reasoning to Bessie in the process. (AUDIO: Bessie Come Home)
Set in November, according to AUDIO: The Last Post. The Doctor finishes tinkering with Bessie, including adding the number plate WHO 1, and takes the car for its first test drive[quote 1], despite Liz's disbelief in its capabilities on the road, setting this before any story where Liz sees the Doctor driving Bessie. The Doctor encounters the Silurians for the first time, but, to his dismay, they are killed and their city at Wenley Moor destroyed on the Brigadier's orders after a young Silurian release a Silurian virus on humanity.

After the Wenley Moor massacre[[edit source]]

(SEGMENT)
Immediately after seeing the Silurian city destroyed, the Doctor leaves UNIT. After Bessie runs out of petrol in Whitby, the Doctor saves Captain Ronald Henderson from attackers, and, learning of the loss of Henderson's ship, decides to return to UNIT. (AUDIO: Landbound)
After leaving Whitby, the Doctor travels to Peru, leaving enough of a trail behind for the Brigadier to follow. After they talk it out, the Doctor is convinced to return to UNIT. In a contradiction to the shorter time-span depicted in other stories, it is mentioned that "about a month" has passed since the events of Doctor Who and the Silurians.
Explicitly dated to December in the opening narration of the story.
Set between Doctor Who and the Silurians and Ambassadors of Death.[1] A few weeks have passed since the Wenley Moor Affair and the Doctor is still angry at the Brigadier for destroying the Silurians.
Set between The Silurians and Ambassadors of Death.[2] The Doctor is still unhappy about the outcome of Doctor Who and the Silurians, which Liz recalls as having happened "a few weeks" ago. Liz mentions Captain Yates, setting this after Vengeance of the Stones. Following the death of Sergeant Robin Marshall, Corporal Benton is promoted to Sergeant.
Set "slap bang in the middle of Season 7".[3] The Doctor is reinstalling the TARDIS console into the control room after removing it, but the timeline is reset after he fights off an alien invasion with the Second Doctor, leaving him unsuccessful in reinstalling the console, setting this before The Ambassadors of Death.
The Doctor is still upset with the Brigadier for the outcome of Doctor Who and the Silurians.[quote 2] He has removed the control console from the TARDIS control room and set it up in his lab to get it working again. Corporal John Benton has been promoted to Sergeant.
Set between The Ambassadors of Death and Inferno, according to the back cover. Although the story begins during the events of Spearhead from Space and concludes just before Inferno, the segments featuring the Doctor take place shortly after The Ambassadors of Death, with the Doctor mentioning that he's "just [got] back from space". The TARDIS console is still located in the laboratory, setting this before The Unzal Incursion. According to the Doctor, the Inferno Project hasn't started drilling yet.
Set on Christmas Eve. Liz has been working with UNIT for "a few months", and her complaints about her job here are similar to those that the Brigadier cites in Terror of the Autons as her reason for leaving. Benton is a Sergeant, setting this after Shadow of the Past. The TARDIS console has also been removed from within the ship and is located in the Doctor's laboratory, setting this before The Unzal Incursion.
Set on Christmas Day. The Doctor, Liz and Benton are part of a skeleton crew manning UNIT HQ over the festive period. Benton is a sergeant, setting this after Shadow of the Past.
The Doctor and Liz recall the recent events of Doctor Who and the Silurians, which the Doctor is still resentful towards the Brigadier for. Sergeant Nicola Attah is seconded into UNIT to replace the recently promoted Sergeant Benton. The Doctor moves the TARDIS console from the lab to the garage and the Brigadier is surprised that the console works, setting this between The Ambassadors of Death and Inferno.
The Brigadier finds it doubtful that the Doctor can get the TARDIS to work, setting this before Inferno.
In an attempt to get his TARDIS working, the Doctor is transported to a different dimension, where the Earth is destroyed as a result of the Inferno Project. Returning to his own dimension before the destruction, the Doctor is able to prevent the Inferno Project from destroying his Earth, but is unable to stop several people from being mutated into Primords.
Set immediately after Inferno, with the Doctor discovering that his experiment with the TARDIS caused Corporal Helen Martin to be transported into another universe, though UNIT suspects that she was turned into a Primord.
The outcome of Doctor Who and the Silurians is still fresh on the Doctor's mind. He has been working with UNIT for "months" and the Brigadier has warned Liz about her tone before, suggesting a setting after Inferno. The TARDIS console is still disconnected from the control room.
The Doctor returns to UNIT after hunting for Sensorites across Europe for several months. River Song has been acting as UNIT's scientific advisor in the meantime and has reinstalled the TARDIS console, setting this between Inferno and Terror of the Autons.

Continued work with Liz[[edit source]]

Six months have passed since Spearhead from Space, setting this in April. The Doctor spends several weeks investigating Cardle Muir without Liz or UNIT.
Liz sees the Doctor driving Bessie, setting this after Doctor Who and the Silurians.
The Doctor alludes to the events of The Ambassadors of Death.
It is summer.
The Doctor and Liz are forced to hide in Ireland for a month when the Witch-Queen Carolina Thorne invades London with an army of magical beings.
It has been "months" since Spearhead from Space, and the Monk also mentions the events of Doctor Who and the Silurians. Liz has heard the Doctor's TARDIS materialise before, setting this after Inferno.
The events of The Ambassadors of Death are referred to.
(REFERENCE)
The Doctor and Liz go to Stegmoor to investigate reports of a crashed Voord spaceship, but find nothing. (AUDIO: Beachhead)
Liz has missed a full academic year at Cambridge during her time with UNIT, and feels that she would return to Cambridge if the Doctor were to fix the TARDIS and return to his travels, due to the military life not being for her.

Liz's last days with UNIT[[edit source]]

Set after Inferno, according to the back cover. According to Liz, thirteen months have passed since Spearhead from Space, setting this in November. Liz volunteers for a mission to Cambridge for a few days, as an opportunity to catch up with old friends. She claims that she is "always on the verge of leaving" UNIT. According to the Brigadier, the last time he was in Geneva was when he reported on the Inferno Project eight months ago, suggesting as long has passed since Inferno.
Liz has been working with UNIT for "about a year". An older Liz recalls that her experience with the Cybermen was the first of many factors that lead to her decision to leave UNIT, although she specifies that the decision wasn't "one that was made overnight."
After a fight with the Doctor, Liz begins thinking about leaving the Doctor and returning to Cambridge. Remaining behind at the lab while the Doctor and the Brigadier attend a conference, she meets the Master, who hypnotises her into revealing details about her adventures with the Doctor since joining UNIT. The Master wipes her memory of their meeting and leaves, planning to make contact with the Nestene Consciousness. Liz decides that she will soon return to Cambridge, but will leave without saying goodbye to the Doctor when she does, in order to stop him from talking her into staying.
Set after Inferno.[4] Having had enough of being under-utilised by UNIT, Liz has decided that she will quit UNIT and return to Cambridge after her assignment to repair an alien computer. However, after uncovering the computer's sentience and allowing it to go free, Liz changes her mind and elects to stay with UNIT, deciding that she has a unique perspective that is of value to them.
In a contradiction to Vengeance of the Stones, the Doctor meets Sergeant Mike Yates for the first time. Mike sees inside the TARDIS for the first time, and the Doctor mentions visiting the parallel universe from Inferno. The TARDIS console has been moved back into the laboratory, but is still disconnected.

Liz leaves UNIT[[edit source]]

Due to conflicting information, each telling of Liz's exit from UNIT have been listed in order of release.
According to this account, Liz is offered a position working at CERN and decides to tell the Doctor about the opportunity. However, after he reacts badly to the news, she decides that she must put her career first, and immediately leaves UNIT without saying goodbye to him. The Doctor is using the UNIT lab from Terror of the Autons.
Set one month after the events of Inferno and immediately after Liz's farewell party. The Doctor is aware that Liz is leaving UNIT, which she believes he found out from the Brigadier. The Time Lords send the Doctor on a mission to stop Liz from becoming a dictator in the future, and then decide to release the Master from Shada in order to keep the Doctor busy.
Liz officially leaves UNIT, Yates is promoted to from sergeant to captain, and the Doctor is in a new laboratory. Yates recalls the recent events of The Eye of the Giant, which was the first time he had worked closely with the Doctor, and the Doctor reinstalls the TARDIS console back into the control room.
One of the Doctor's attempts to repair the TARDIS sends Liz back in time to 1539. She is rescued and returned by the Doctor's future self, but is forced to return to Cambridge a day earlier than planned and avoid saying goodbye to the Doctor in order to fulfil the destiny trap.

Working without an assistant[[edit source]]

Set during the "summer months", with the Doctor and the Brigadier having taken "a few weeks away" from UNIT on a private cruise to the Caribbean.
The Doctor implies that he has been exiled to Earth for "years", or at least that Professor Carl Readon has been an friend of his for "a long time".
The Doctor says he has traveled "a thousand years into the future" when is told that John Henderson's time traveling bulldozer has arrived in 2971, and the text bubble explicitly says he returns to 1971.
The date is given as January 1971. The Doctor attends a conference with Liz, and they discus her departure from UNIT. Jo's absence implies a setting prior to Terror of the Autons.
With no travelling companion, the Doctor meets Horatio Nelson, whom he refers to as a personal friend in The Sea Devils.
Set between Inferno and Terror of the Autons.[5]
Set shortly before Terror of the Autons. The Doctor reprimands Sergeant Benton outside Jack Canning's office when he sees Benton dressed up like him.

Battles with the Master[[edit source]]

The Doctor has been moved to a new laboratory. Jo Grant joins UNIT as the Doctor's new assistant, just in time for UNIT's first open battle with the Master. The Doctor steals the dematerialisation circuit from the Master's TARDIS, stranding his old enemy on Earth with him after his failed alliance with the Nestene Consciousness forces him to flee.
Set during Terror of the Autons: Episode 2.
Months have passed for Liz since she left UNIT, and the Doctor now has a new assistant, setting this shortly after Terror of the Autons.
Though the audio's blurb places this between The Dæmons and Day of the Daleks, Jo is still quite new to UNIT, and is unaware of the true nature of the TARDIS, setting this before The Claws of Axos. According to this account, Jo is 18-years-old, despite other accounts giving her age as 19 during Terror of the Autons.
The Master is still trapped on Earth, setting this before The Mind of Evil.
In an alternate timeline created by Rassilon and the Cybermen, the Doctor senses a time distortion during a brawl with the Master.
Set on 20 June, ostensibly in 1972, during Jo's first year at UNIT. The Doctor doesn't have the TARDIS working yet, and UNIT considers the Master a threat to Earth safety, setting this between Terror of the Autons and The Claws of Axos.
Set on 1 July, ostensibly in 1972.
The events of Inferno were "some time ago".[quote 3] While using the Keller Machine to interfere with the First World Peace Conference, the Master manages to reclaim his dematerialisation circuit from the Doctor and promptly leaves Earth in his TARDIS, stopping only to give the Doctor a taunting phone call. Benton hears the Master's voice for the first time.
The Master has a working TARDIS, setting this after The Mind of Evil.
The Doctor is visibly chafing at his confinement to 20th century Earth.
Set around Christmas time, a year after UNIT Christmas Parties: First Christmas. The Doctor hasn't seen the Master since Deadly Reunion.
The Doctor and UNIT face Axos at the Nuton Power Complex after the Master directs them to Earth to escape from them, forcing the two Time Lords to team up to trap Axos in a time loop, though the Master gets away in time. By tricking the Master into fixing it, as well as Axos unlocking the correct equations in his mind, the Doctor is able to restore his TARDIS back to working order, only to discover that the Time Lords had pre-programmed it to always return him to 20th century Earth in case he managed to escape his exile, turning him into a "galactic yo-yo".
The Doctor has just discovered that he will be drawn back to Earth even now he can depart with the TARDIS, setting this shortly after The Claws of Axos.
The Mega received advice from the Master, setting this after he got his TARDIS working in The Mind of Evil. The Nuton Power Complex is referenced, setting this after The Claws of Axos as well.
The Doctor incorrectly believes that the Time Lords have lifted his exile, setting this between The Claws of Axos and Colony in Space.
The UNIT HQ laboratory has been relocated to a smaller room. Jo sees inside the TARDIS for the first time when the Doctor is assigned a mission to 2472 Uxarieus by the Time Lords to keep the Master from harnessing the Doomsday Weapon, while also helping some colonists in their struggle against the Interplanetary Mining Corporation. After the Master is forced to retreat empty handed, the Time Lords return the Doctor and Jo to UNIT HQ the moment after they left.
Jo travels in the TARDIS, setting this after Colony in Space.
Set primarily on 1 May. Drawn to Devil's End by news of a dig during Beltane, the Doctor, Jo and the UNIT team find the Master trying to strike an alliance with the Dæmon Azal. With help from the White Witch Olive Hawthorne, the Doctor and Jo are able to destroy Azal. With his plan foiled, the Master fails to escape and is finally arrested by UNIT.
Set during The Dæmons: Episode 4.

After the Master's arrest[[edit source]]

Set after the Master's arrest in The Dæmons.
Set shortly the Master's arrest in The Dæmons, and the events of Freedom are mentioned.
The Doctor attends the Master's trial, where he is tricked into acknowledging his intelligence in front of the world leaders, allowing the Master to talk his way out of the death sentence by showing his usefulness as a living prisoner.
Set between The Dæmons and Day of the Daleks,[6] and in July. The Doctor investigates the reports of freak weather conditions UNIT have been receiving since the events of The Claws of Axos. Not long has passed since Mike joined UNIT in Vengeance of the Stones.
During some unexpected free time from UNIT, the Doctor visits the cinema to see the latest Peter Cushing films. He mentions Jo, setting this at least after Terror of the Autons.
Jo knows about the Inferno Project, setting this after The Mind of Evil.

Taking a break[[edit source]]

The TARDIS is not in working order, setting this before The Three Doctors. Jo takes a break from UNIT due to the effects of the Time Keeper.
The Doctor has relocated to a Welsh mountainside so that he can focus on repairing the TARDIS in solitude, and has been doing so for the past two days, implying a setting after the Master's arrest, when the Doctor could relax more. He manages to rebuild the dematerialisation circuit and is able to pilot the TARDIS to Australia.
After driving Bessie to Dartmoor to find some peace and quiet while he continues to work out his TARDIS repairs, the Doctor is transported to 1942, where he claims to have come from 1971, despite possessing a coin from 1972.
The Doctor completes his repairs on the TARDIS and takes a trip to the planet of the Vogans, implying a setting after The Claws of Axos.
After returning to Earth following the events of The Vogan Slaves, the Doctor rents a cottage in the countryside and decides to take a short holiday. However, on the first day of his holiday, he is called into action by Oswald Holland. He decides to continue his holiday by taking a trip to the past so that he can't be interrupted again, leading directly into Backtime.
The Doctor visits 1863 London and meets young pickpocket Charlie Fisher, who he takes to Ballarat to pursue a better life. The Doctor also meets Abraham Lincoln in-person for the first time.
Having seen enough on his own, the Doctor decides to take the TARDIS back to 1971 England, but is swiftly abducted by the time police and taken to 3550 New Britain.
Set directly after *Sub Zero, with the Daleks seeking revenge. The Doctor is still staying at a cottage in the English countryside, presumably the same one he was renting in The Celluloid Midas.
A mysterious force takes control of the TARDIS, leading directly into The Ugrakks.
The Doctor is still staying at the cottage he began renting in The Celluloid Midas.
Set between Zeron Invasion and Deadly Choice.Evidence yet to be determined for this placement. The Doctor recalls the recent events of The Vogan Slaves, *Sub Zero and The Ugrakks.
(EPILOGUE)
Jo returns to UNIT after several weeks. Shortly afterwards, her father passes away. (AUDIO: Still Life)

Missions in time[[edit source]]

Set around 13 September. Before she is correct by the Doctor, Jo was under the impression that the TARDIS had been in working order since the events of Colony in Space, but the Doctor confirms that he still does not have full control over it.[quote 4] The TARDIS control console has been removed from the control room again, and the Doctor is working in yet another laboratory. Jo encounters the Daleks and the Ogrons for the first time when they try to disrupt the Second World Peace Conference to ensure the the 2150s Dalek invasion of Earth, but the Doctor is able to break the bootstrap paradox and stop them.
Set during Day of the Daleks: Episode 1.
During an alternative timeline created by corruption during the Time War. The Third Doctor is instead trapped in a bootstrap paradox in which he joins up with the resistance to the 2150s Dalek invasion of Earth and becomes a temporal assassin who is then killed and examined by his own past self.
The Doctor saves journalist James Stevens from an Ogron immediately after the events of Day of the Daleks.
Set sometime after The Dæmons, and not long before The Face of the Enemy, as the Master is being held in Aylesbury Grange Detention Centre.
Set immediately prior to The Curse of Peladon, with the Doctor and Jo leaving in the TARDIS. Jo hasn't had a trip in the TARDIS since Colony in Space.
The Doctor visits Peladon for the first time while taking the TARDIS on its first test run since he "got it working again", though he comes to suspects the Time Lords were responsible for his arrival on Peladon. Jo encounters the Ice Warriors for the first time, and has a brief romance with King Peladon of Peladon.
The Doctor and Jo are still wearing their clothes from The Curse of Peladon. The TARDIS is hit be a temporal wake that drags it off course.
The Doctor and Jo return to UNIT almost immediately after The Curse of Peladon.
Set between The Dæmons and The Sea Devils, as the Master is still imprisoned.
Set between The Dæmons and The Sea Devils, as the Master is still in prison. The Brigadier mentions the Daleks, setting this after Day of the Daleks.
Set between The Curse of Peladon and The Sea Devils, as the Master, while having switched his body with the Doctor's, changes the internal configuration of his TARDIS and arranges for himself to be sent to Fortress Island.
The Master is said to be locked up on a secure island, setting this shortly before The Sea Devils.
Prior to their visit to 2028 Australia, Jo had spent long enough time inside the Doctor's lab to get pale skin.
Aided by the Sea Devils, whom the Doctor is encountering for the first time, the Master is able to escape his prison sentence on Fortress Island.
Set immediately after The Sea Devils.
Despite the back cover placing this story between Planet of the Daleks and The Green Death, the Doctor is still in exile and explicitly cannot travel freely, setting this before The Three Doctors. The Doctor is working on a device that would help him to locate the whereabouts of the Master, suggesting a setting between The Sea Devils and The Time Monster, detecting him in North London and setting Huxley the Noveliser onto him.
The Time Lords send the Doctor and Jo to 30th century Solos to deliver a message pod to Ky to ensure the freedom of the Solonians from the Marshal of Solos. The Doctor has been relocated to yet another UNIT laboratory.
Set three years after Spearhead from Space. The Doctor lists his work for the Time Lords, with The Mutants being the last one he mentions. This is also where UNIT acquires the manor house headquarters first seen in The Three Doctors.
Set on 31 October. The Doctor is still trying to escape his exile, and refers to the events of Day of the Daleks. UNIT are using Doc Dantalion's manor house as their headquarters, setting this after Where the Heart Is.
Set between early May and 20 June. Jo recalls the Daleks and Ogrons, setting this after Day of the Daleks. The Doctor confesses that sheep have "never filled [him] with dread before", setting this before Verdigris.
The Doctor is once again using a completely new UNIT laboratory. Jo comments on the TARDIS's new interior design, which the Doctor dismisses as a "redecoration". The Doctor and Jo travel to Ancient Atlantis to stop the Master harnessing the power of Kronos the Chronovore.
According to an attached footnote, this is set after The Time Monster, with the Doctor recalling how the TARDIS "took a bit of a tumble during [his] recent battle against the Master."
Set shortly after The Time Monster, with the Doctor having scavenged components from the Master's TARDIS to put together a device that will restore functionality to his own. However, during a test, he accidentally rips a hole in the Time Vortex, freeing the Master and a swarm of baby Chronovores.
While authorial intent would place this between Day of the Daleks and The Time Monster,[7] the Doctor uses Bessie's super drive function, which he demonstrated for the first time in The Time Monster.
The Doctor is still in exile, and refers to the events of Colony in Space and The Mutants.
The Doctor mentions Peladon, setting this after The Curse of Peladon.
Jo has faced the Ogrons before, setting this after Day of the Daleks. The Doctor's TARDIS is still limited in its capabilities, and the Doctor is sent on a mission by the Time Lords, setting this before The Three Doctors.
The Doctor is using the control room from The Time Monster.
The Doctor warns Jo what she should do if she ever encounters the Pyromeths, and is using the control room from The Time Monster.
Still in his exile, the Doctor uses a previously unseen TARDIS control console to contact the Stormcage Containment Facility to get an update on the Master, implicitly setting this between The Time Monster and The Three Doctors. He recalls the events of Colony in Space.

Reunion with Liz[[edit source]]

Jo recalls the events of The Sea Devils. Jo and Liz meet for the first time, and the Doctor and Liz last saw each other in The Sentinels of the New Dawn.
Jo is aware of Bessie's super drive function, setting this after The Time Monster. Liz is in the same area as the UNIT HQ, and is acquainted with Jo, setting this after Primord.

Last days in exile[[edit source]]

The Doctor and Jo visit the year 2006, having travelled from December 1972 in the TARDIS.
Jo recalls her recent encounter with Liz, setting this shortly after Primord.
Set between The Sea Devils and The Touch of the Nurazh, as Jo fails to recognise the Fourth Doctor when he helps repel an attack by the Sea Devils.
Set between The Sea Devils and The Three Doctors, as the Doctor is still in exile and a Sea Devil statue is included in the UNIT rogues gallery.
Set after Day of the Daleks.
The events of The Mutants are mentioned. The Doctor briefly regenerates into his fourth incarnation, but the regeneration is aborted due to the Nurazh's interference.
The Doctor recalls the events of The Curse of Peladon.
(SEGMENT)
The Doctor investigates a mysterious infantryman's jacket. (AUDIO: Tales from the Vault)
Set after The Mutants, as Jo hasn't been in the TARDIS very often, the Master is free and the Doctor is anticipating being freed from his exile soon.
The Doctor and Jo attend the coronation of Elizabeth II in Bessie.
The Doctor doesn't have use of his TARDIS, setting this before The Three Doctors. He recognises his next incarnation on sight due to his "teeth and curls", setting this after The Touch of the Nurazh.
The Doctor recalls the events of Day of the Daleks.[quote 5] He has not heard the phrase "timey wimey" before, setting this before The Heralds of Destruction as well.
(REFERENCE)
The Doctor, Jo and the Brigadier corner the Master in the Tower of London during his attempt to steal the British Crown Jewels. (AUDIO: Masterful)
(FLASHBACK)
The Doctor visits Professor Child's dig. (PROSE: The Suns of Caresh)
Set in May 1973. Ending leads directly into The Three Doctors.
After defeating Death's challenge with his past selves, the Doctor is told memories of this encounter will fade and similar events will take its place. He, Jo and the Brigadier discuss the disappearance of Mr Ollis and Dr Tyler's visit, leading directly into The Three Doctors.
Set five years after Spearhead from Space, according to PROSE: Transit. UNIT HQ is shown to a manor house for the first time, and the Doctor is now in his permanent UNIT HQ laboratory, and has also redecorated the TARDIS control room again. Benton and the Brigadier enter the Doctor's TARDIS for the first time, and Jo learns about regeneration when the Time Lords summon the Second Doctor to assist them in combating Omega in the anti-matter universe, with the First Doctor providing advice from a time eddy. As a reward for defending them from Omega, the Time Lords restore the Doctor's knowledge of time travel, bringing his exile to an end. However, due to needing to fix up the TARDIS further, he doesn't leave immediately.[quote 6]
During an alternative timeline, Omega escapes the anti-matter universe and the Third Doctor regenerates prematurely into an alternative fourth incarnation. The Fourth Doctor appears to join Omega's side as he invades Earth but in reality uses his double agent status to travel back in time and avert Omega's escape, restoring the original course of events.

Working on the TARDIS[[edit source]]

Set directly after The Three Doctors, with the Doctor's exile having just been rescinded. He plugs in his new dematerialisation circuit, and takes Jo to meet Iris and Tom for drinks.
The Scorchies song mentions the Gell guards, setting this after The Three Doctors. The Doctor is repairing the TARDIS' trans-dimensional stabilisers.
The Doctor is switched with his seventh incarnation by the Monk. Jo recalls the events of The Three Doctors. The TARDIS is back in working order, but the Doctor is still tinkering with it.
Jo is aware of the Doctor's regenerative abilities, setting this after The Three Doctors, but the TARDIS is not currently operational, suggesting that this occurs before the Doctor completes his repairs and begins travelling with Jo.
The Doctor admits to Jo that he has come to find comfort in Earth since his exile was lifted, and that the reason he hasn't left entirely is because of his friends there. However, after defeating Ramón Salamander, he decides that it is finally time he resumed his travels again, and invites Jo to join him. Some of his abilities that were previously blocked by the Time Lords are still returning, setting this shortly after The Three Doctors.

Testing his newfound freedom[[edit source]]

The Doctor goes on his first test flight into the past since his time travel knowledge was returned in The Three Doctors, taking Liz and Jo with him.
(EPILOGUE)
With the TARDIS in his control again, the Doctor rescues Liz from 1539. (PROSE: Hiccup in Time)
(SEGMENT)
With his TARDIS working again after being restored to working order by the Time Lords, the Doctor visits Captain Henderson, months after their last meeting, to take him back to witness the loss of his ship. (AUDIO: Landbound)
Jo recalls that the events of this story occurred "sometime after" the events of The Doll of Death, and also recalls the events of Day of the Daleks. The Doctor, freed from his exile, takes the TARDIS on a test flight, suggesting a setting shortly after The Three Doctors, which, according to Jo, they do not immediately return home from.
The Doctor has only recently been freed from his exile, and Jo mentions that they are taking the TARDIS for a "test run", setting this shortly after The Three Doctors. The Doctor was aiming for the Acteon Galaxy, the home galaxy of Metebelis III.
According to the novelisation, the Doctor and Jo are taking the TARDIS for a test flight shortly after the events of The Three Doctors. Attempting to visit Metebelis III, the Doctor and Jo instead arrive on Inter Minor, where they are trapped in Vorg's miniscope. Jo is skeptical of the Doctor's ability to pilot the TARDIS, suggesting that he has only just had his ability to fly it returned to him.
Set during the epilogue of Carnival of Monsters. The Doctor is approached by River Song, who tells him he is "about to have his hearts broken", referring to Jo's upcoming departure from his company in The Green Death.
The Doctor and Jo are still aiming for Metebelis III. The Doctor tries to recalibrate the TARDIS' navigational system, and Jo mentions the events of Carnival of Monsters. After his attempt to travel directly to Metebelis III resulted in the TARDIS arriving on Inter Minor, the Doctor attempts several shorter hops to planets closer to the Earth, though these visits do not lead to any adventures.
The Doctor's exile has been recently lifted, setting this shortly after The Three Doctors.
The Doctor's exile has been recently lifted, but he still feels uneasy when it is mentioned, setting this shortly after The Three Doctors.
Set between Carnival of Monsters and Frontier in Space, according to the Big Finish website.
The Doctor has had his ability to pilot the TARDIS returned to him recently, and his exile is still a sore subject of conversation for him, setting this shortly after The Three Doctors.

Roaming the universe[[edit source]]

Jo is still new to time travel, but the Doctor has complete control of the TARDIS, setting this after The Three Doctors.
The Doctor can control his TARDIS' flight, and Jo has apparently taken numerous lengthy trips in the TARDIS. The Doctor attempts to take Jo on a "proving trip" to a destination of her choice, suggesting a setting shortly after The Three Doctors. This story also demonstrates her awakening social conscience from The Green Death.
The Doctor and Jo visit Pakha. The Doctor notices for the first time that Jo has grown up a lot since their first meeting.
The Doctor and Jo go back in time to kill a dictator as a baby. However, the Doctor sees his sixth incarnation doing the same, and leaves him to do it.
The Doctor and Jo visit the 2040s after the Doctor fails to take Jo on a trip to see World War II.
According to a note in the About the Authors section of the Short Trips: The Quality of Leadership anthology, this is set between Carnival of Monsters and Frontier in Space,
Jo sees the TARDIS food machine for the first time.
Jo recalls the events of The Three Doctors.
(SEGMENT)
The Doctor and Jo briefly encounter an apparition of a Charley Pollard from an alternate timeline. (AUDIO: The Light at the End)
The Doctor is currently travelling with Jo. (DWM 475) He helps in the saving of Gallifrey on the last day of the Last Great Time War, and, in the novelisation, has a tea party with his other incarnations in the Under Gallery as a celebration.
The Doctor and Jo visit the planet Erindra.
The Doctor and Jo are travelling freely together in the TARDIS, setting this between The Three Doctors and The Green Death.

Returning to Earth[[edit source]]

The Doctor and Jo have been trying to return to Earth for some time.[quote 7] The Doctor has a new sonic screwdriver model. The Doctor and Jo find themselves in the Draconia-Terra skirmishes of the Human-Draconian War, and discover that the Master is exacerbating the conflict with the Ogrons as part of an alliance with the Daleks. Once they expose the deceit to the humans and Draconians, the Doctor is accidentally shot by the Master. Jo then takes him into the TARDIS, where he sends a distress message to the Time Lords.
Following directly on from Frontier in Space, the Time Lords lead the TARDIS to Spiridon, just as the Doctor enters a healing coma. After he awakens, he assists some Thals in stopping the Daleks harnessing the invisibility of the Spiridons and from awakening a frozen Dalek army. After leaving Spiridon, Jo asks the Doctor to take them back to Earth.
The Doctor and Jo have just left Spiridon, setting this immediately after Planet of the Daleks. Jo asks the Doctor if the TARDIS is always "going to go wrong" and arrive at the wrong destination, suggesting she is still new to travelling in the TARDIS without the Time Lords in control of it. After defeating the Daleks on Far, the Doctor and Jo resolve to return to Earth once more.
The Doctor and Jo have just left Spiridon, setting this immediately after Planet of the Daleks. The Doctor realises that Jo has matured since they first met, setting this after Legacy, and expects that she will leave him soon. Following an adventure on Catastrophea, the Doctor sets a course for Earth.
The Doctor is still adjusting to his newfound freedom, but speaks fondly of his time in exile. He has promised to get Jo back to Earth and gives her his TARDIS key, setting this shortly after Planet of the Daleks.

Back on Earth[[edit source]]

Set the week after Planet of the Daleks. The Doctor and Jo have spent the past few weeks trying and failing to get to Metebelis III. The Doctor begins work on a new navigational unit for the TARDIS, and Mike tells Jo that UNIT was left feeling defenceless during her and the Doctor's extended absence.
The Doctor and Jo have recently returned to UNIT from Spiridon, setting this after Planet of the Daleks.
Set between Planet of the Daleks and The Green Death,[8] and in October of ostensibly 1973. The Doctor claims he’s been keeping his ear to ground for the Master coming back to Earth since he and Jo returned from Spiridon.
Jo becomes a contestant on Make a Star, a reality which unbeknownst to her is part of a plan orchestrated by the Master. The Doctor has wistfully come to believe that Jo will leave him eventually, and asks her if she regrets not staying with Latep, setting this after Planet of the Daleks. However, Jo reassures him that, although she has enjoyed being back on Earth for a bit during her time on Make a Star, she is keen to resume their travels in the TARDIS.

Coming and going again[[edit source]]

The Doctor and Jo are aiming for Metebelis III again. Jo wishes for a holiday after what happened on Spiridon in Planet of the Daleks. Jo is reminded of her romance with Latep and muses on whether she made the right choice to leave him, but soon dismisses the thought, even though she does think that her time with the Doctor might be coming to an end, implying a setting after Hidden Talent.
The Doctor is trying to repair the TARDIS dimensional direction unit. He and Jo are kidnapped from Earth in the middle of making the repairs.
The Doctor and Jo have been traveling in the TARDIS for some time.
The Doctor seems able to control the TARDIS, and, although he speaks of Jo in the present tense, she is not traveling with him at the moment. Possibly set before Last of the Gaderene or Speed of Flight, where the Doctor is shown returning to UNIT after taking some solo trips.
According to the back cover, this is set between Planet of the Daleks and The Green Death. The Doctor is attempting to take Jo and Mike to Karfel for a date after Mike expressed interest in TARDIS travel during Dancing the Code, which is still fresh in both Mike and Jo's minds. Jo is beginning to grow unsure whether she wants to travel with the Doctor anymore.
(REFERENCE)
The Doctor, Jo and Mike take a trip to Karfel, where they prevent the experiments of a scientist named Megelen on a local life form called Morloxes. (TV: Timelash)
Jo lost her locket on her previous trip, suggesting a setting immediately after their visit to Karfel.
Set shortly after the Doctor's exile was rescinded by the Time Lords in The Three Doctors, according to the narrator. Although the synopsis states that this is Mike's first trip in the TARDIS, the Doctor comments that he and Jo have taken Mike to other planets before, suggesting a setting after Speed of Flight. Mike is still new to travelling in the TARDIS, while Jo is used to the TARDIS ending up in the wrong place. The Doctor runs maintenance on the TARDIS, which allows it to arrive at its destination much quicker than before.
Jo mentions her ability to resist Time Lord hypnosis, which she first demonstrated during Frontier in Space.
Jo is familiar with the Doctor's trances that make his skin ice-cold, setting this after Planet of the Daleks.
Set between Planet of the Daleks and The Green Death, according to the book's back cover. Jo recalls the Doctor's various attempts to take her to Metebelis III.
Jo refers to the events of Planet of the Daleks.
Jo is familiar with the Doctor entering comas, setting this after Planet of the Daleks.
The Doctor recalls the events of Frontier in Space, and gave the TARDIS navigation systems an overhaul "a few days ago". Jo is becoming fed up with all her and the Doctor's trips in the TARDIS going wrong and putting them in danger.
The Doctor mentions Lava Worms, setting this after The Transcendence of Ephros.
The Doctor and Jo return to Draconia, setting this after Frontier in Space. They leave UNIT HQ at the beginning of the story, setting this after The Tyrants of Logic as well.
Set between Planet of the Daleks and The Green Death. (DWM 599)

Final adventures with Jo[[edit source]]

The Doctor notes that Jo is beginning to grow up.
Mike is displeased to find himself traveling in the TARDIS, suggesting he has already travelled within it. The Doctor tells Jo that she will leave him when she feels the time is right.
Jo demonstrates her growing environmental awareness, setting this after Come Friendly Bombs... and shortly before The Green Death.
In the novelisation, the Doctor implies that he is 725-years-old. While Jo goes to South Wales to help ecologist Professor Clifford Jones in his fight against Global Chemicals at Llanfairfach, the Doctor is finally able to get the TARDIS to Metebelis III, where takes a Metebelis crystal. Upon his return, he joins the UNIT team at Llanfairfach to stop giant maggots overrunning Llanfairfach, with Mike Yates suffering a minor breakdown while under hypnosis. Once the BOSS computer of Global Chemicals is stopped, Jo leaves UNIT, and the Doctor's company, to marry Clifford, with the Doctor giving them the Metebelis crystal as a wedding gift.
Set during The Green Death: Episode 1, after the Doctor leaves Metebelis III and before he returns to UNIT, as the Doctor still has the Metebelis crystal in his possession.

Travelling alone[[edit source]]

The Doctor is reflecting on Jo's departure at a pub near Llanfairfach, setting this immediately after The Green Death.
Jo has just recently left the Doctor, setting this shortly after The Green Death.
Set shortly after The Green Death, with the Doctor still forlorn in the wake of Jo's departure. He takes the Brigadier on a trip in the TARDIS, his first since The Three Doctors.
The Doctor still misses Jo after she left in The Green Death.
The Doctor refers to Jo leaving him, setting this shortly after The Green Death.
Benton refers to the events of The Green Death.
(EPILOGUE)
After spending years inventing a device to save Jo from the time distortion, the Doctor travels to the 2010s and leaves the device with Petronella Osgood, along with a farewell letter for Jo. (AUDIO: The Sacrifice of Jo Grant)
The Doctor is still saddened by Jo's recent departure, setting this shortly after The Green Death. He has begun work on the Whomobile, but it is not yet ready for use.

Reunited with Jo[[edit source]]

The Doctor has been travelling alone since leaving Llanfairfach in The Green Death. Despite wanting to avoid Earth, the Doctor is brought to the Isle of Wight in the 2020s by the TARDIS, where he is reunited with Jo, nearly fifty years after they parted ways from her perspective and shortly after Cliff's passing. As they are both feeling lonely, the Doctor and Jo decide to renew their travels together.
Jo takes her first renewed trip in the TARDIS, setting this directly after Supernature.
The Doctor and Jo encounter the Mondasian Cybermen.

Solo actions[[edit source]]

The Doctor is on his way back to Earth, and arrives in the North west coast of Scotland.

Temporary companions[[edit source]]

On a mission for the Time Lords, the Doctor is taken prisoner on 32nd century Earth, and assisted in his escape by a young boy named Arnold. After overthrowing the young tyrant, Oswald, the Doctor invites Arnold to travel with him as he takes Oswald away from the vengeful Earth citizens.
Follows directly on from Children of the Evil Eye, with the Doctor and Arnold leaving Oswald on another planet as his punishment. The Doctor begins the return journey to Earth to return Arnold to his home.
The Doctor returns Arnold to his home so as not to alienate him from his time.
The Doctor is traveling with Liz.
The Doctor is acting as a spokesman for Zanussi with a robot named Boris.
Advertisement for The Ultimate Adventure, with the Doctor mentioning his plans to visit Mold, Birmingham, Manchester, Oxford and Bristol, all locations where the play was performed.
According to one account, shortly after he saves the Marquis de Saint Epiman de Sinee de la Tour from the French Revolution, the Third Doctor and the Marquis, who renames himself "Jason", meet Crystal while stopping the Cybermen from kidnapping a US Envoy from the Number 10 nightclub, and she helps them combat the Dalek Emperor, and then joins them in the TARDIS with Zog, a slave from Deneb IV she had befriended. Other accounts, however, depict Jason and Crystal meeting the Sixth Doctor instead.
The Doctor is looking for a new companion.

Travels with Joshua Douglas[[edit source]]

(REFERENCE)
The Doctor meets Lord Joshua Douglas, who leaves his family behind to join the Doctor on an extended trip in the TARDIS. Amongst their adventures, they visit 1953 Nova Scotia, where Joshua wins a swimming certificate. (AUDIO: The Catalyst)
The Doctor and Joshua part ways after ten years of companionship.

Alone again[[edit source]]

Set directly after Size Control, with the Doctor reaching Earth after deciding to visit in the previous story.
Set immediately after The Magician.
The Doctor celebrates Christmas with the Brigadier. They haven't heard from Jo since her departure in The Green Death and wonder how she is doing. There is no indication that the Doctor has met Sarah Jane Smith yet, suggesting a setting before The Time Warrior.
The Doctor visits Winston Churchill using the TARDIS without a companion.
The Doctor recalls the events of Day of the Daleks.
The Doctor was in the middle of making adjustments to Bessie when he was picked up by Bernice Summerfield. He has knowledge of TARDIS travel and recalls his attempts to get to Metebelis III, setting this after The Green Death.
The Doctor is imprisoned at the Maximum security facility with his other incarnations.
The Doctor has Christmas dinner with his other incarnations.
The Third Doctor unites with his other incarnations to help a group of people seal the Time Fracture.
The Doctor meets with Gerry in 1968 to rectify the mistake his first incarnation made with the TARDIS telepathic circuits in 1963. Despite other accounts placing his work with the organisation during the 1970s at the earliest, the Doctor is seen working for UNIT in the 1960s, potentially setting this after his exile ended in The Three Doctors.

First voyages with Sarah[[edit source]]

While helping the Brigadier investigate missing scientists at a research centre, the Doctor meets Sarah Jane Smith, who becomes a reluctant stowaway aboard the TARDIS when he travels to the 13th century, where he finds the Sontaran Linx is kidnapping the scientists to repair his ship at Irongron's castle.
According to this account, the Doctor and Sarah reunite for the first time since the events of The Time Warrior when Sarah tracks the Doctor down at UNIT HQ for an interview. She meets the Brigadier for the first time and decides to officially join the Doctor's company.
This account also depicts the Doctor returning Sarah home to London from the events of The Time Warrior.[quote 8] The Doctor drives the Whomobile for what seems to be the first time. Mike betrays UNIT due to his faith in Operation Golden Age, but the Brigadier allows him to quietly resign instead of being imprisoned. The Doctor proposes taking Sarah on a trip to Florana, leading directly into Death to the Daleks. According to the dating protocol, Sarah is 23-years-old in 1974.
While reflecting on his life, the Doctor comments on Sarah Jane being the "new girl", suggesting a setting shortly after The Time Warrior.
The Doctor and Sarah are traveling to Florana for a holiday, setting this almost immediately after Invasion of the Dinosaurs. When the TARDIS is drawn to Exxilon by the power draining beacon in the Great City of the Exxilons, Sarah has her first encounter with the Daleks.
According to the novelisation, the TARDIS has returned immediately back to UNIT HQ following Death to the Daleks and is still recovering from the energy drainage sustained on Exxilon.[quote 9] Sarah recalls "every time" she has travelled in the TARDIS with the Doctor as only being her trips in The Time Monster, The Paradise of Death and Death to the Daleks.
The Doctor shows the Brigadier the Whomobile for the first time, and refers to it as his "new car", implicitly setting this shortly after Invasion of the Dinosaurs, and Sarah has encountered the Daleks, setting this after Death to the Daleks. The Doctor still plans on visiting Florana, setting this before The Hungry Bomb.

Continued voyages with Sarah[[edit source]]

Sarah has been travelling with the Doctor for only a few weeks.
Sarah doesn't know much about the Doctor's origins, setting this before The Time Thief.
The Doctor tells Sarah about Gallifrey and the Time Lords.
The Doctor is traveling Sarah Jane, as well as the Brigadier and Sergeant Benton. He drives the Whomobile, setting this after Invasion of the Dinosaurs.
Sarah has already been to a number of alien worlds.
The Doctor has been trying to get Sarah to Florana since they left London, but has failed to get her there several times already.[quote 10]
The Doctor is travelling with Jeremy Fitzoliver.
Sequel to Neptune. The Doctor is still traveling with Jeremy, setting this immediately after The Dead Man's Story.
Sarah is still adjusting to her new life in the TARDIS, and has been avoiding the Doctor for the past few days, while he has been busy in his laboratory with delta particles. However, after making some repairs to the Helmic regulator, he invites her on a test flight in the TARDIS and they visit a human colony four-hundred years in the future, and then Africa millions of years in the past, where Sarah is able to relax for the first time in the seven weeks that have passed since Invasion of the Dinosaurs. [quote 11]
The Doctor and Sarah are on their way back to UNIT HQ.
The Doctor is driving the Whomobile, setting this after Invasion of the Dinosaurs. The Doctor and Sarah have been absent from UNIT long enough for it to have been infiltrated by the Remoraxians. Liz, Sarah and the Brigadier are kidnapped by Adam Mitchell, leading directly into Endgame.
The Doctor joins with his other incarnations to rescue his friends from Adam and the Tremas Master, and assists the other Doctors in saving their companions as well.
Set between Death to the Daleks and The Monster of Peladon. [9]

The Game of Rassilon[[edit source]]

Set immediately before The Five Doctors, with a Clara Oswald splinter calling out to the Doctor just before he is sent to the Death Zone.
While out for a ride in Bessie, the Doctor is kidnapped by Borusa to play the Game of Rassilon in the Death Zone with his first, second and fifth incarnations. The Doctor recognises Sarah Jane when he encounters her in the Death Zone, setting this after The Time Warrior, while Sarah Jane, having been taken to the Death Zone years after she left the TARDIS, tells the Doctor she will be present when he regenerates. After Rassilon deals with Borusa at the First Doctor's urging, the Doctors and their friends are returned to their time streams.

Death on Dust[[edit source]]

The Doctor returns to Peladon fifty years after the events of The Curse of Peladon, and notes that it has been "ages" since his own last visit. While helping Queen Thalia dispense with a Federation traitor, the Doctor sees Aggedor perish. The Doctor claims that "the scanner is still on the blink", presumably since the TARDIS was damaged in Death to the Daleks.
The Doctor and Sarah use the TARDIS to find Sputnik 2 and retrieve the body of Laika, which the Doctor then buries on the planet Quiescia.
Set immediately after Alien Bodies, with the Doctor and Sarah having just left Quiescia, and the Doctor also recalls that their previous landing before Quiescia was on Peladon during The Monster of Peladon. The Doctor discovers a door within the TARDIS that leads to his eighth incarnation, who attempts to warn him of Faction Paradox. The TARDIS lands on the planet Dust during the War in Heaven, on the same day when I.M. Foreman's Travelling Show arrived and the Faction Paradox warships approached the planet, leading directly into Interference: The Hour of the Geek.
The Doctor defeats the Remote invasion, and resolves the apparent paradox of Foreman's original encounter with his future selves. However, due to the interference of Faction Paradox, he is shot by Magdelana Bishop, and begins to regenerate into his next incarnation prematurely.
Aware of the perversion of history, the Third Doctor's "ghost" remains in the TARDIS until the Eighth Doctor confronts Grandfather Paradox during the Faction Paradox invasion of Gallifrey. The Third Doctor assists the Eighth Doctor in destroying Gallifrey and Kasterborous, forcing the universe to choose which is the real timeline.
(NOTE)
The Eighth Doctor was uncertain which timeline would become real. Compassion initially told Fitz Kreiner that the Doctor's visit to Dust and the War in Heaven had been unwritten from history. (PROSE: The Ancestor Cell) However, when the Eighth Doctor eventually regained contact with the greater universe, history had been rewritten so that Gallifrey had never even existed, (PROSE: The Adventuress of Henrietta Street) suggesting that the War had not been erased, but actually continued and ended in some other way. (PROSE: The Book of the War, The Story So Far...)
Next page: Fourth Doctor

Further voyages with Sarah[[edit source]]

Set shortly after The Monster of Peladon, with the Doctor feeling morbid after his brush with death on Peladon. The Doctor and Sarah spend a few weeks investigating a mystery in 1952.
Sarah is wearing her leather jacket from The Monster of Peladon.
Set "weeks" before the events of Planet of the Spiders. The Brigadier informs the Doctor that Jo is sending back the Metebelis crystal he gave her.
Sarah mentions her vacation in Sicily, setting this after The Ghosts of N-Space. In a moment of feeling his age, the Doctor wonders if his regeneration is "around the corner".
Sarah recalls meeting Aggedor on Peladon, setting this after The Monster of Peladon.
Sarah recalls visiting Peladon, setting this after The Monster of Peladon. However, she also claims that the only other alien planet she has visited is Exxilon.[quote 12]
The Doctor and Sarah are on their way back to Earth when the TARDIS is diverted, and they arrive on a rig on an ocean planet and face the Gulf. The Doctor informs Sarah that the TARDIS is capable of towing an entire planet.

Time alone[[edit source]]

The Doctor is driving the Whomobile, setting this after Invasion of the Dinosaurs.
Set immediately after Lords of the Ether.
The exterior of the Doctor's TARDIS is inexplicably in the form of a red telephone box.
The Third Doctor and his other incarnations are switched with the Seventh Doctor at Albert Square by the First Rani's time loop. He recognises Sarah Jane, setting this after The Time Warrior.
The Third Doctor meets with Noel Edmonds to introduce the broadcast of Dimensions in Time.
Standing in for Doctor Who star Jon Pertwee, the Doctor gives a docile Dalek to David Peta as a pet.
The Doctor recalls the events of The Time Warrior, although Sarah Jane is not accompanying him on this trip.[quote 13]
The Doctor is travelling alone with a fully functioning TARDIS. He recalls that he hasn't "had a Christmas since all that nonsense at UNIT HQ", suggesting a setting after A Visit from Saint Nicholas, a previous story in the same anthology which featured the Doctor and Sarah attending a UNIT Christmas party.
The Doctor attends the Brigadier's funeral.
The Doctor salutes the Brigadier with his other incarnations.

Nearing the end[[edit source]]

As he explores the end of the world with Sarah, the Doctor feels that his regeneration is approaching. Sarah recalls the events of The Gulf and The Monster of Peladon, and the Doctor still owes her a trip to Florana, setting this before The Hungry Bomb.
Set over a week after The House That Hoxx Built, with the Doctor having been stationary on Earth since returning from the end of the world, secretly gathering components after being tricked by Rutans disguised as time displaced Earth Defence Force agents from 1994. On the day before the Brigadier's birthday, which multiple accounts would credit as being 21 February, Sarah and the the Brigadier, having grown suspicious of the Doctor's behaviour, follow him to the "agents'" base at Irongron's castle, where they discover the Rutan's deceit. After they thwart the Rutans' invasion attampt, the Doctor admits that he is nearing the end of his life, and worries if his next incarnation will be able to cope without having the Brigadier and UNIT to help him.
The Doctor and Sarah finally make it to Florana.

A slow demise[[edit source]]

"Months" after the events of The Green Death, Jo has the Metebelis crystal returned to the Doctor at the UNIT, just as he is undergoing research in psychic energy. The Eight Legs of Metebelis III then attack Earth to reclaim the crystal and the Doctor, wanting to atone for his theft having caused the attack, goes to confront the Great One in the caves of Metebelis III, where he receives a lethal dose of radiation when the crystal destroys the Great One, though he is able to escape to the TARDIS.
(REFERENCE)
Suffering severe radiation poisoning, the Doctor is stuck wandering around the Time Vortex for ten years due to lacking the energy to properly pilot the TARDIS. (PROSE: Love and War)
Slowly dying from radiation sickness, the Doctor is trying to find his way back to UNIT HQ from Metebelis III.
The Doctor is dying after being exposed to radiation.
After the TARDIS finally lands back at his UNIT HQ laboratory, the Doctor, after a final goodbye to the Brigadier and Sarah Jane, is able to regenerate into his next incarnation with assistance from Cho-Je, the latest incarnation of the Hermit.
Next page: Fourth Doctor

Currently unplaced[[edit source]]

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.
The recent events of The Three Doctors are mentioned. Jo recalls the Doctor's attempts to take her to Metebelis III.
Whilst caught in the events of Lost in Time, the Doctor helps Kate Stewart, Petronella Osgood, Ace McShane and Tegan Jovanka defeat the Ice Warriors in the 2020s.

Awaiting placement[[edit source]]

These entries are placed here until a suitable position in the timeline can be determined based on the available evidence.
Sarah is aware of the TARDIS' ability to tow large objects, setting this after The Gulf. The Doctor sees Sarah in the company of his next incarnation, potentially setting this prior to The Children of the Future. In a contradiction to The Touch of the Nurazh, the Third Doctor is unable to recognise the "teeth and curls" of his fourth incarnation.
Sarah recalls the events of Death to the Daleks and The Monster of Peladon, and believes that every place they visit seems to involve mining in some way. The Doctor and Sarah are on their way back to Earth, and Sarah learns that the Time Lords sometimes take control of the TARDIS and send the Doctor on missions.

Quotes[[edit source]]

  1. ↑ LIZ: "Are you really going to drive about in it?"
    DOCTOR: "Yes, certainly. I've nearly finished my modifications. I thought we'd take her out for a trial run in a minute."
  2. ↑ DOCTOR: "Oh well, I suppose he's got to do something to occupy his mind now that he's blown up the Silurians."
  3. ↑ DOCTOR: "Well, some time ago, Jo, I witnessed a terrible catastrophe. A whole world just... just disappeared in flames."
  4. ↑ JO: "I thought the TARDIS was working again."
    DOCTOR: "What gave you that idea?"
    JO: "Oh, being dragged off to an alien planet five hundred years in the future, for example. Oh, you know, all that business with the miners and the colonists."
    DOCTOR: "My dear Jo, the TARDIS was being operated then under remote control by the High Council of the Time Lords."
  5. ↑ DOCTOR: "Watch for the greatest of all qualities within human beings. That's your ability for kindness, compassion, humour, friendship, generosity, unrestricted access to the wine cellar of Sir Reginald Styles!"
  6. ↑ JO: "I suppose you'll be rushing off, then."
    DOCTOR: "No, not straight away, Jo. Of course not. I've got to build a new force field generator first."
  7. ↑ JO: "That TARDIS of yours. I mean, you're supposed to be getting me back to Earth, right? And we keep landing up in one terrible situation after the other."
  8. ↑ DOCTOR: "Well, I told you I'd get you back home safely, didn't I?"
    SARAH: "We set off from the Research Centre."
    DOCTOR: "Well, there's no point in going back there. No, I set course for UNIT HQ."
  9. ↑ "As you'll remember", he went on, continuing his work, "the TARDIS energy banks were totally drained by the beacon of the Exxilon City –" Sarah shuddered as she remembered their escape from the Daleks; and another curler slipped from its moorings. "–and although she was able to generate enough temporal thrust to take us home, she's by no means back to normal, poor old thing."
  10. ↑ "Is this better than Florana, then?" asked Sarah, skipping to catch up. The Doctor had been promising to take her to Florana ever since they had left London, but somehow the TARDIS always seemed to have other plans.
  11. ↑ It had all changed seven weeks earlier. [Sarah's] discovery of the existence of the government's nuclear shelters in Sir Charles Grover's Whitehall offices had piqued her curiosity about what other Cold War projects were still under wraps and patiently awaiting her investigation.
  12. ↑ "For someone whose previous experience of alien worlds was limited to the dank surface of Exxilon and Peladon's grim caverns, the scene was irresistible."
  13. ↑ "Primitive humans," the aristocrat said. "It reminds me of the time Sarah and I-"''


Footnotes[[edit source]]

  1. ↑ https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/doctor-who-the-companion-chronicles-old-soldiers-463
  2. ↑ https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/doctor-who-the-companion-chronicles-shadow-of-the-past-485
  3. ↑ https://www.bigfinish.com/news/v/the-third-doctor-faces-the-annihilators
  4. ↑ https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/doctor-who-the-companion-chronicles-binary-509
  5. ↑ https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/doctor-who-the-companion-chronicles-the-rings-of-ikiria-512
  6. ↑ https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/doctor-who-the-companion-chronicles-the-magician-s-oath-474
  7. ↑ https://mobile.twitter.com/JJCRichards/status/640915990029668352
  8. ↑ Paul Magrs on Instagram: "Placement, for those who need to know."
  9. ↑ https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/doctor-who-scourge-of-the-cybermen-2443
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