AHistory
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AHistory is a speculative history of the Doctor Who universe as shown in multiple media. It is an expanded and updated version of A History of the Universe, written by Parkin. The first and second editions are credited to Parkin, "with additional material by Lars Pearson"; the third edition is credited to both Parkin and Pearson. The book's title is written as AHistory for the first and second editions, and Ahistory for the third edition.
Publisher's summaries[[edit] | [edit source]]
First edition[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Does the Doctor really have a granddaughter?
- How many times have the Daleks conquered Earth?
- ...and when did Bruce Springsteen become President of the USA?
The answers are in AHistory: a complete timeline of the Doctor Who universe, starting with its inception in Event One and ending with its final destruction many billions of years in the future. The dates cited range from the obvious (the Kennedy assassination) to the obscure (the years dogs evolve thumbs), with extensive notes offered to explain this book's reasoning and research, plus a wealth of behind-the-scenes information.
AHistory is a fully expanded and updated version of the classic A History of the Universe, which had been out of print for ten years. All told, AHistory incorporates more than four decades of the Doctor Who TV show — including the 2005 series starring Christopher Eccleston — all original Doctor Who novels up through "The Gallifrey Chronicles", all Big Finish Doctor Who audios up through "Terror Firma", all Doctor Who novellas and much more. All told, this book incorporates nearly five hundred full-length Doctor Who stories, in a single chronology of epic proportions.
Second edition[[edit] | [edit source]]
- When did the Cybermen have an empire?
- When did Captain Jack start working for Torchwood?
- ...and did Shakespeare really die at Bosworth Field?
Find the answers here in AHistory: a complete timeline of the Doctor Who universe, starting with its inception in Event One and ending with its final destruction many billions of years in the future. Dates cited range from the obvious (the Kennedy assassination) to the obscure (the year dogs will evolve thumbs). Extensive annotations detail the book's reasoning and research, plus a wealth of behind-the-scenes information.
This expanded second edition of AHistory includes almost half again as much material as its sold-out predecessor. For the very first time, the new AHistory includes the entire run of Doctor Who Magazine comics that have been publishing since 1979. The comics join the grand tapestry of the Doctor Who TV show (up to and including the 2007 series starring David Tennant), all original Doctor Who novels up through "Wooden Heart", all Big Finish audios up through "Frozen Time", all Torchwood Series 1 episodes, and much more. All told, this book incorporates more than forty years of Doctor Who into a single massive chronology of epic proportions.
Fully revised and expanded to cover nearly 800 stories!
Third edition[[edit] | [edit source]]
- When was Sarah Jane Smith born?
- When did Amy Pond learn the art of picking handcuffs?
- ...and who caused the great tulip mania of 1637?
Find the answers here in Ahistory: a complete timeline of the Doctor Who universe, starting with its inception in Event One and ending with its final destruction many billions of years in the future. Dates cited range from the obvious (the Kennedy assassination) to the obscure (the year dogs will evolve thumbs). Extensive annotations detail the book's reasoning and research, plus a wealth of behind-the-scenes information.
This expanded third edition contains more than half again as much material as its sold-out predecessor, and is a grand tapestry that includes the Doctor Who TV show (up to and including the 2011 series starring Matt Smith); all Torchwood stories through Season 4 (Miracle Day); all The Sarah Jane Adventures through Season 5; the K9 TV show; all original Doctor Who novels and novellas up through The Silent Stars Go By; all Big Finish audios up through Army of Death (#155); and the IDW and Doctor Who Magazine comics (up through "The Child of Time"). For the first time, Ahistory now incorporates many non-BBC spin-off series, including the whole of the Bernice Summerfield novels and audios, the Iris Wildthyme audios, Dalek Empire, Faction Paradox, Kaldor City and much, much more.
Fully revised and expanded to cover nearly 1400 stories!
Fourth edition[[edit] | [edit source]]
The Fourth Edition of AHistory amends and vastly expands (by about 40%) the work of Third Edition, continuing to incorporate the whole of Doctor Who into a single timeline. All told, this Fourth Edition takes about 2000 (!!!!!) full-length Doctor Who stories and dates them in a single chronology — starting with the Universe's origins and working its way forward to the end of time.
Specifically, this Fourth Edition covers all Doctor Who TV episodes through the end of the twelfth Doctor era starring Peter Capaldi (Twice Upon a Time); all New Series Adventures up through Diamond Dogs; the Big Finish audio range up through Static (#233); all Torchwood, The Sarah Jane Adventures, K9 and Class episodes, novels and comics; the Titan, IDW and Doctor Who Magazine comics; and a cornucopia of other Doctor Who spin-off series (Jago & Litefoot, Counter-Measures and more).
All told, the three volumes of Ahistory Fourth Edition contain more than a million words of hardcore geeky analysis on the world's longest-running Sci-Fi series.
Gallery[[edit] | [edit source]]
1st edition (2006)
2nd edition (2007)
3rd edition (2012)
2012-2013 update (2014, digital)
Unhistory (2017, digital)
4th edition, volume 1 (2018)
4th edition, volume 2 (2018)
4th edition, volume 3 (2019)
2018 update (2023, digital)
Subject matter[[edit] | [edit source]]
- A single, mostly linear timeline encompassing a history of the Doctor Who universe.
Notable features[[edit] | [edit source]]
- As mentioned in the Publisher's summary, this includes far more information than the original Virgin published edition.
- It also offers a timeline which attempts to explain the UNIT dating.
Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The first edition incorporates Doctor Who and K9 and Company, webcasts, novels and audio plays. It does not include comics stories or short prose fiction, including the Telos Doctor Who novellas. The second edition adds Torchwood (including original novels), The Sarah Jane Adventures, comics published in Doctor Who Magazine and The Dalek Chronicles but still omits short fiction and most other comics. The third edition incorporates many non-BBC spin-off series, including Bernice Summerfield, Iris Wildthyme, Dalek Empire, Faction Paradox and Kaldor City.
- Some stories are not included in the timeline, either due to lack of evidence of time placing, or because they take place in an alternate reality. (See 'Un-placed Stories' section below for a full list of these stories.)
- Although Lance Parkin had previously stated that the practical limitations of researching a third edition and putting it into one volume would make a third edition more or less impossible, a third edition was published in November 2012.[1]
- Parkin acknowledges that Lawrence Miles intended the Man with the Rosette in The Adventuress of Henrietta Street to be the Master.
- The fourth edition was split into three volumes.
