1996 (production)

January

 * 7 January - Paul McGann's first photoshoot as the Eighth Doctor took place in Vancouver. It was only then, though, that executive producer Philip Segal realised that McGann had cut his hair significantly for another production. This meant that hairstylist Julie McHaffie had to put together a wig for him quickly; this resulted in the Eighth Doctor's signature Victorian-style puffy hair.
 * 10 January - Paul McGann was announced as portraying the Eighth Doctor in the 1996 TV movie and beyond.
 * 15 January - Filming began in Vancouver, B.C. for the Doctor Who TV movie; discounting some post-production dubbing, this was the first major production session for Doctor Who since recording for Ghost Light concluded on 3 August 1989.

February

 * 21 February - Filming concluded for the Doctor Who TV movie. The next time Doctor Who went into production was not until 18 July 2004.

April

 * April - Fox Television in America began airing trailers for its upcoming broadcast of Doctor Who. The trailers incorporated special effects footage from episode 1 of the 1986 serial The Mysterious Planet.

June

 * June - Around the time the novelisation of the telefilm was published, a major shake-up occurred in the Doctor Who publishing world when it was announced that BBC Books had taken on the licence to publish fiction featuring the Doctor and other BBC-owned characters and concepts from the franchise. Virgin Books, which had been publishing original novels since 1991 and also owned the Target Books line which dated back to 1973, announced its Virgin New Adventures and Virgin Missing Adventures lines would conclude in 1997, after several remaining commissioned novels were published. Virgin, however, also announced it would continue the New Adventures line after that point, focusing on the character of Benny Summerfield.

July

 * 1 July - The BBC applied for trademark status for the traditional police box design associated with the TARDIS.

Unknown Dates

 * Spring - Doctor Who novel writer Jonathan Blum wrote and played the Seventh Doctor in an unofficial video production, Time Rift. Blum later recycled elements of the story for his later novel Vampire Science.