Theory:Timeline - Seventh Doctor

This page lists appearances of the Seventh 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. 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 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
Limiting factors for the Seventh Doctor's timeline placement are based on which companions he is travelling with at the time. However there are also several instances when the Doctor travels alone, these can often be placed in the latter part of his regeneration as they represent a more sombre character for the Doctor.

Any stories featuring Melanie Bush must take place between TV: Time and the Rani and Dragonfire.

Any stories involving a younger Ace must take place from TV: Dragonfire to PROSE: Love and War. Any story featuring a battle-knowledgeable Ace must take place between PROSE: Deceit and Set Piece.

Any stories where he travels with Bernice Summerfield must take place between PROSE: Love and War and Happy Endings (except Return of the Living Dad, which takes place later).

Any story featuring Roz Forrester must take place between PROSE: Original Sin and So Vile a Sin. Any story featuring Chris Cwej must take place between PROSE: Original Sin and Lungbarrow.

Any story featuring Hex must take place after AUDIO: The Harvest.

There are however some issues with using these stories alone to define story placement as some companions (such as Ace) have contradictory departure stories. Ace departs travelling the with the Doctor in PROSE: Set Piece and is apparently killed in COMIC: Ground Zero.

Series basics
The Seventh Doctor's adventures can be sorted roughly by medium and then also roughly by companion.

Medium

 * TV stories
 * Virgin New Adventures
 * BBC Past Doctor Adventures
 * DWM comics and stories
 * Big Finish audio stories
 * Short Trips prose and audio stories
 * Anything else

TV created

 * Melanie Bush
 * Ace

Novel created

 * Bernice Summerfield
 * Roz Forrester
 * Chris Cwej
 * Catherine Broome
 * Wolsey

Audio created

 * Hex
 * Elizabeth Klein
 * Raine Creevy
 * Sally Morgan
 * Lysandra Aristedes

Comic created

 * Frobisher
 * Olla
 * Ly-Chee

Timeline

 * TV: Time and the Rani
 * The Doctor regenerates from his previous incarnation.


 * PROSE: The Useful Pile
 * AUDIO: Unregenerate!
 * PROSE: Daisy Chain
 * TV: Paradise Towers
 * PROSE: 24 Crawford Street
 * COMIC: Plastic Millenium
 * Mel is wearing the same clothes as in Paradise Towers.


 * AUDIO: Bang-Bang-A-Boom!
 * AUDIO: Flip-Flop
 * COMIC: A Cold Day in Hell!
 * COMIC: ''Redemption
 * COMIC: The Crossroads of Time
 * COMIC: Claws of the Klathi
 * COMIC: Culture Shock
 * COMIC: Keepsake
 * COMIC: Planet of the Dead
 * Comic placements established in DWM 168


 * TV: Delta and the Bannermen
 * AUDIO: The Fires of Vulcan
 * AUDIO: Red
 * The Fires of Vulcan is set here as it begins the transfer to a more S25 type tone but is set before Mel's departure. Red follows it per authorial intent plus it fits better here than in the earlier gap due to tone as well.

Ace is surprised that the Doctor keeps secrets
 * PROSE: Special Weapons
 * TV: Dragonfire
 * TV: Remembrance of the Daleks
 * PROSE: uPVC
 * TV: The Happiness Patrol
 * TV: Silver Nemesis
 * TV: The Greatest Show in the Galaxy
 * COMIC: Echoes of the Mogor
 * COMIC: Time and Tide
 * COMIC: Follow That TARDIS!
 * COMIC: Invaders from Gantac
 * COMIC: Time Bomb!
 * PROSE: The Infinity Season
 * COMIC: Nemesis of the Daleks
 * COMIC: Once in a Lifetime
 * COMIC: Hunger from the Ends of Time
 * COMIC: War World
 * COMIC: Technical Hitch
 * COMIC: A Switch in Time
 * COMIC: The Sentinel
 * COMIC: Who's That Girl!
 * COMIC: The Enlightenment of Ly-Chee the Wise
 * COMIC: Slimmer
 * COMIC: Nineveh
 * COMIC: Stairway to Heaven
 * COMIC: Train-Flight
 * COMIC: Doctor Conkerer
 * PROSE: Living in the Past
 * Comic placements established in DWM 168


 * AUDIO: '' 1963: The Assassination Games
 * Established by John Dorney that he placed this story in the season 25/26 gap.


 * TV: Battlefield
 * PROSE: Relative Dementias
 * PROSE: Fable Fusion
 * TV: Ghost Light
 * AUDIO: Police and Shreeves
 * TV: The Curse of Fenric
 * PROSE: Ace of Hearts
 * The Doctor apologises to baby Ace over the Gabriel Chase and Fenric incidents


 * PROSE: The Hollow Men
 * PROSE: The Algebra of Ice
 * PROSE: The Ripple Effect
 * AUDIO: Critical Mass
 * AUDIO: Seven to One
 * AUDIO: The Riparian Ripper
 * AUDIO: The Shadow Trader
 * PROSE: Séance
 * TV: Survival
 * PROSE: Timewyrm: Genesys
 * Ace is still feeling the effects of the Cheetah virus.


 * PROSE: Timewyrm: Exodus
 * PROSE: Endgame


 * PROSE: Timewyrm: Apocalypse
 * PROSE: Timewyrm: Revelation
 * PROSE: Teenage Kicks
 * COMIC: Fellow Travellers
 * COMIC: Distractions/The Mark of Mandragora
 * PROSE: Brief Encounter
 * COMIC: Under Pressure
 * COMIC: Party Animals
 * COMIC: The Chameleon Factor
 * COMIC: Seaside Rendezvous
 * COMIC: The Good Soldier
 * COMIC: A Glitch in Time
 * COMIC: Evening's Empire
 * COMIC: The Grief
 * PROSE: Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible
 * The Doctor hasn't been to Alaska.


 * PROSE: Cat's Cradle: Warhead
 * COMIC: Ravens (takes place within Warhead)

Ace also recalls the Blitz of illegal Alien which cannot occur between storm and Matrix for the above reason. This leads directly into Storm Harvest Storm must take place before Dust Breeding as the doctor and Ace know of the Krill in Dust.
 * PROSE: Cat's Cradle: Witch Mark
 * AUDIO: Thin Ice
 * AUDIO: Crime of the Century
 * AUDIO: Animal
 * AUDIO: Earth Aid
 * AUDIO: The Fearmonger
 * AUDIO: The Genocide Machine
 * PROSE: Illegal Alien
 * PROSE: Matrix
 * PROSE: Storm Harvest
 * PROSE: Prime Time
 * PROSE: Heritage
 * PROSE: Loving the Alien
 * Ace's death here is undone in Sometime Never....


 * PROSE: The Colony of Lies
 * PROSE: Atom Bomb Blues
 * AUDIO: Dust Breeding
 * COMIC: Prisoners of Time
 * Set after Survival as Ace recognises the Master.


 * TV: The Day of the Doctor
 * The doctor ages rapidly due to amount of doctors while saving gallifrey


 * AUDIO: Colditz
 * AUDIO: The Rapture
 * AUDIO: The Harvest
 * AUDIO: Dreamtime
 * AUDIO: LIVE 34
 * AUDIO: Night Thoughts
 * AUDIO: Thicker than Water
 * AUDIO: The Settling
 * AUDIO: No Man's Land
 * AUDIO: Nocturne
 * AUDIO: The Dark Husband
 * AUDIO: Forty-Five
 * False Gods
 * Order of Simplicity
 * Casualties of War
 * The Word Lord
 * AUDIO: The Magic Mousetrap
 * AUDIO: Enemy of the Daleks
 * AUDIO: The Angel of Scutari
 * AUDIO: Project: Destiny
 * AUDIO: A Death in the Family (from the perspective of the earlier Seventh Doctor)
 * AUDIO: Lurkers at Sunlight's Edge
 * The Doctor leaves Ace and Hex for a time and begins travelling with Sally Morgan and Lysandra Aristedes. In Black and White, the Doctor states that he left them after their adventure in Alaska.


 * AUDIO: Robophobia
 * AUDIO: The Doomsday Quatrain
 * AUDIO: House of Blue Fire
 * AUDIO: Project Nirvana
 * AUDIO: Protect and Survive
 * AUDIO: Black and White
 * AUDIO: Gods and Monsters
 * AUDIO: Afterlife
 * AUDIO: Revenge of the Swarm
 * AUDIO: Mask of Tragedy
 * AUDIO: Signs and Wonders
 * Signs and Wonders states that the Virgin New Adventures take place after Hex leaves the TARDIS.


 * COMIC: Metamorphosis
 * COMIC: Memorial
 * PROSE: Nightshade
 * The Doctor and Ace haven't been anywhere exciting since he "pulled his old ship back together again." Originally, this referred to Cat's Cradle but could now refer to the Black and White TARDISes in Gods and Monsters.


 * COMIC: Cat Litter
 * Order of the NAs and DWM comics based on editorial intent in "Interweaving with the New Adventures"


 * PROSE: Independence Day
 * PROSE: Cathedral Heart
 * PROSE: Love and War (novel) / AUDIO: Love and War (audio story)
 * PROSE: Affirmative


 * PROSE: Transit
 * COMIC: Pureblood
 * COMIC: Flashback
 * COMIC: Emperor of the Daleks!
 * PROSE: The Highest Science
 * PROSE: The Pit
 * PROSE: Deceit
 * PROSE: Lucifer Rising
 * COMIC: Final Genesis
 * PROSE: White Darkness
 * PROSE: Shadowmind
 * PROSE: Birthright (cameo)
 * PROSE: Iceberg
 * COMIC: Time & Time Again
 * COMIC: Cuckoo
 * PROSE: Blood Heat
 * PROSE: The Dimension Riders
 * PROSE: The Left-Handed Hummingbird
 * PROSE: Conundrum
 * PROSE: No Future
 * PROSE: Tragedy Day
 * PROSE: Legacy
 * PROSE: Theatre of War
 * COMIC: Uninvited Guest
 * Order of the NAs and DWM comics through Theatre of War and Uninvited Guest based on editorial intent in "Interweaving with the New Adventures"


 * PROSE: All-Consuming Fire
 * AUDIO: The Shadow of the Scourge
 * AUDIO: The Dark Flame
 * AUDIO: The Prisoner's Dilemma
 * The Big Finish pages for The Shadow of the Scourge and The Dark Flame places them after All-Consuming Fire and before Blood Harvest.


 * PROSE: Blood Harvest
 * PROSE: Strange England
 * PROSE: First Frontier
 * PROSE: St Anthony's Fire
 * PROSE: Falls the Shadow
 * PROSE: Parasite
 * PROSE: Warlock
 * PROSE: Set Piece
 * PROSE: Infinite Requiem
 * PROSE: Sanctuary
 * PROSE: Human Nature
 * AUDIO: Bernice Summerfield and the Criminal Code
 * PROSE: Original Sin
 * PROSE: Sky Pirates!
 * PROSE: Zamper
 * PROSE: Toy Soldiers
 * GAME: Dalek Attack
 * PROSE: Head Games
 * PROSE: The Also People
 * PROSE: Shakedown
 * PROSE: Just War
 * PROSE: Warchild
 * PROSE: Sleepy
 * PROSE: Death and Diplomacy
 * PROSE: Happy Endings
 * PROSE: GodEngine
 * PROSE: Christmas on a Rational Planet
 * PROSE: Return of the Living Dad
 * PROSE: Cold Fusion
 * PROSE: The Death of Art
 * PROSE: Damaged Goods
 * PROSE: So Vile a Sin
 * PROSE: Bad Therapy
 * PROSE: Eternity Weeps
 * PROSE: The Room With No Doors
 * PROSE: Bullet Time
 * Authorial intent places it within The Room With No Doors. Furthermore the NA style tone without a companion also makes this the only plausible gap anyway.
 * AUDIO: The Sirens of Time


 * PROSE: Lungbarrow
 * The Doctor is sent on a mission by the Time Lords to pick up the Master's remains.


 * AUDIO: The Revolution
 * the Doctor and Ace have been reunited, post New Aventures


 * AUDIO: Good Night, Sweet Ladies
 * AUDIO: The Lights of Skaro
 * AUDIO: The Pyramid of Sutekh
 * AUDIO: The Vaults of Osiris
 * AUDIO: The Eye of Horus
 * AUDIO: The Tears of Isis
 * COMIC: Ground Zero
 * The doctor is older looking, and his TARDIS is damaged, preluding it's change into the Gothic interior


 * AUDIO: Excelis Decays
 * AUDIO: Last of the Titans
 * AUDIO: A Thousand Tiny Wings
 * AUDIO: Klein's Story
 * AUDIO: Survival of the Fittest
 * AUDIO: The Architects of History
 * AUDIO: The Four Doctors
 * AUDIO: The Shadow Heart
 * PROSE: Time, Love and TARDIS
 * AUDIO: Project: Lazarus
 * AUDIO: A Death in the Family (from the perspective of the later Seventh Doctor)
 * AUDIO: Master
 * AUDIO: Return of the Daleks
 * AUDIO: Valhalla
 * AUDIO: Frozen Time
 * While recovering his memories, the Doctor erroneously refers to Genevieve as Mel, Ace and Hex, before remembering he's alone.


 * AUDIO: The Death Collectors
 * AUDIO: Spider's Shadow
 * AUDIO: Kingdom of Silver
 * AUDIO: Keepsake
 * PROSE: Companion Piece
 * AUDIO: UNIT: Dominion
 * AUDIO: Persuasion
 * Set at some point after UNIT: Dominion.


 * AUDIO: Starlight Robbery
 * AUDIO: Daleks Among Us
 * PROSE: Never Seen Cairo
 * PROSE: Running on Empty
 * PROSE: The Tramp's Story
 * PROSE: The Shopping Trolleys of Doom
 * PROSE: Twilight's End
 * PROSE: Omegamorphosis
 * PROSE: Notre Dame du Temps
 * The Doctor is taking a few side steps before he collects the Master's remains.


 * PROSE: The Eight Doctors
 * TV: Doctor Who / PROSE: The Novel of the Film
 * The Doctor regenerates into his next incarnation.

Unplaced

 * GAME: Destiny of the Doctors
 * PROSE: Who Killed Kennedy
 * PROSE: The City of the Dead (flashback and mental manifestation)
 * PROSE: Citadel of Dreams
 * PROSE: Meridians
 * PROSE: An Unfulfilled Dream
 * PROSE: Echoes of Future Past
 * PROSE: Untitled (DWM 184)
 * PROSE: A Time & a Place
 * PROSE: Three Steps to the Left
 * PROSE: Anti-Matter with Fries
 * PROSE: One Minute Fourteen Seconds
 * PROSE: Front Line
 * PROSE: The Gallery
 * PROSE: Dream a Little Dream for Me
 * PROSE: Pulling Strings
 * PROSE: It's Only a Game
 * PROSE: Playback
 * PROSE: The Trials of Tara
 * PROSE: Continuity Errors
 * PROSE: Question Mark Pyjamas
 * PROSE: Stop the Pigeon
 * PROSE: Monsters
 * PROSE: Storm in a Tikka
 * PROSE: Virgin Lands
 * PROSE: The Invertebrates of Doom
 * PROSE: Hymn of the City
 * PROSE: The Glass Princess
 * PROSE: Monitor
 * PROSE: Inmate 280
 * PROSE: Cold War
 * PROSE: Ante Bellum
 * PROSE: Of the Mermaid and Jupiter
 * PROSE: The Southwell Park Mermaid
 * PROSE: A Rose by Any Other Name
 * PROSE: The Ghost's Story
 * PROSE: Last Rites
 * PROSE: These Things Take Time
 * PROSE: Categorical Imperative
 * PROSE: The Nuclear Option
 * PROSE: Separation
 * PROSE: Culture War
 * PROSE: Anteus
 * PROSE: Last Christmas
 * PROSE: A Yuletide Tail
 * PROSE: Spookasem
 * PROSE: Perfect Present
 * PROSE: Too Rich for My Blood
 * PROSE: Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast
 * PROSE: The Heroine, the Hero and the Megalomaniac
 * PROSE: How You Get There
 * PROSE: Uranus
 * PROSE: Presence
 * PROSE: Nobody's Gift
 * PROSE: The Anchorite's Echo
 * PROSE: Utopia
 * PROSE: Log 384
 * PROSE: Testament
 * PROSE: The Hunting of the Slook
 * PROSE: Natalie's Diary
 * PROSE: Private Investigations
 * PROSE: Sunday Afternoon, 848,988 AD
 * PROSE: Theres Something About Mary
 * PROSE: The Report
 * PROSE: But Once a Year
 * PROSE: Christmas Everyday
 * PROSE: The Tide and Time
 * PROSE: One Card for the Curious
 * PROSE: The Celestial Harmony Engine
 * PROSE: Closing the Account
 * PROSE: The Devil Like a Bear
 * PROSE: Peaceable Kingdom
 * PROSE: Clean-up on Aisle Two
 * PROSE: Policy to Invade
 * PROSE: Driftwood
 * PROSE: Larkspur
 * PROSE: Relativity
 * PROSE: Evitability
 * PROSE: Stolen Days
 * PROSE: Instead of You
 * PROSE: No Room
 * PROSE: The Best of Days
 * PROSE: Christmas in Toronto
 * PROSE: Have You Tried Turning It Off and Then Back On Again?
 * PROSE: Death Sentences
 * AUDIO: The 100 Days of the Doctor
 * AUDIO: The Wormery
 * COMIC: The Last Word
 * COMIC: Younger and Wiser
 * COMIC: The Forgotten
 * COMIC: A Religious Experience
 * AUDIO: ''Shockwave