Theory:Timeline - Last Great Time War

This page lists appearances of the Last Great Time War in the order in which it occurred. 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.

A Prelude to the War

 * TV: Genesis of the Daleks (Fourth Doctor, Daleks & Davros)
 * The Time Lords fire the proverbial first short of the war by instructing the Doctor to wipe out the Daleks before they are even created.


 * TV: The Chase
 * In what one source claims to be the "first skirmish" of the coming war, (AUDIO: The Dalek Conquests) the Daleks develop a time machine which is used to pursue the Doctor and his companions.


 * TV: Day of the Daleks
 * The Daleks use temporal manipulation to conquer Earth. Though this timeline is averted, one source suggests that this act brought the Daleks to the attention of the Time Lords, and perhaps motivated them to plot their "future strategy". (AUDIO: The Dalek Conquests)


 * TV: Frontier in Space/Planet of the Daleks
 * Another "seed" of the Time War is planted when the Time Lords accept the Doctor's telepathic plea for assistance, sending him to the site of a Dalek army on Spiridon.


 * TV: Resurrection of the Daleks
 * The Daleks attempt to send duplicates of the Doctor and his companions to assassinate members of the High Council. Their plan fails as one of their own duplicates destroys the ship that the duplicates of the Doctor and his companions were on.


 * TV: Remembrance of the Daleks
 * The Doctor tricks Davros into using The Hand of Omega to turn Skaro's sun into a supernova, thus destroying Skaro.


 * AUDIO: The Apocalypse Element
 * The Daleks attack Gallifrey, and imprison Romana for twenty years.


 * PROSE: Birth of a Legend
 * The Emperor Dalek states that a great war with an Ancient Enemy has been foretold, a war that will be waged throughout all time and all space. The Cult of Skaro is formed, so the Dalek race will survive.


 * AUDIO: Arbitration
 * The Daleks infiltrate the Axis, and attack Gallifrey.


 * AUDIO: Renaissance
 * AUDIO: Ascension
 * Vayles is sent to meet the Fourth Doctor and to instruct him to destroy the Daleks before they were created, as a method of preventing the infiltration of the Axis.
 * TV: Genesis of the Daleks (Time Lords)


 * AUDIO: The Death of Hope / The Reviled / Masterplan / Rule of the Eminence (Narvin)
 * Narvin from the future (AUDIO: Desperate Measures) attempts to prevent the War.


 * AUDIO: Call for the Dead / The Glittering Prize / The Persistence of Dreams / Sins of the Father
 * The Time War has yet to be formally declared but tensions are rising between the Time Lords and Daleks. Narvin gives the Master a Chameleon Arch.

First timeline

 * AUDIO: Aimed at the Body / Lightspeed / The Bookshop at the End of the World / Interlude / Echo Chamber / Towards Zero / Castle Hydra / Effect and Cause
 * The Daleks launch a ship to Gallifrey with four Daleks aboard and a weapon designed to wipe the Time Lords from time. The fact that the Time Lords’ creation is not time locked implies this is early on in the war. The weapon malfunctions and creates temporal shadows of the four Daleks throughout time and space. The Fifth Doctor meets some of these shadows and follows them to their source and diverts the erasure of Gallifrey from time.


 * AUDIO: Celestial Intervention
 * Time Lords under Livia officially declare war on the Daleks, after they obliterate many other Temporal Powers. The War Council secretly operates a project in the Death Zone that could result in the resurrection of the dead Time Lords.


 * PROSE: Father of the Daleks
 * The Daleks contact Davros for aid directly after the Time War has been formally declared.


 * AUDIO: The Starship of Theseus (Sheena timelines)
 * The shifting of timelines seen in Celestial Intervention reaches the Doctor and shifts him into the Time War.

Timeline established after shifting at beginning

 * PROSE: Natural Regression
 * The Doctor's TARDIS is caught in the temporal wave caused by the Dalek's use of the Time Destructor.


 * AUDIO: The Sontaran Ordeal
 * The Doctor is trying to minimise the damage caused by the Time War.


 * AUDIO: Day of the Vashta Nerada
 * The Doctor comes across a Time Lord-backed operation overseen by Cardinal Ollistra.


 * PROSE: Museum Peace
 * The Doctor is described as having a frock coat and "shoulder length hair". He knows that he is going to "change" again, but claims that he must do something first, something which involves the Daleks.


 * COMIC: The Forgotten (flashback)
 * The Doctor escapes the cell and recovers the Key of Rassilon.


 * AUDIO: Soldier Obscura
 * Follows on from Celestial Intervention. Ace and Braxiatel on a mission for Romana. She mentions that the Doctor refuses to help. Braxiatel wipes out Ace's memory and leaves her on the 20th century Earth, while telling Romana that she was killed by the Daleks.


 * AUDIO: The Survivor
 * AUDIO: The Coney Island Chameleon
 * AUDIO: Concealed Weapon


 * AUDIO: Lies in Ruins
 * The Doctor is still avoiding the Time War, having stood on the sidelines and helped where he could in the past, and has built a robot named Ria to act as his companion. After an encounter with River Song and Bernice Summerfield, Ria is destroyed, and the Doctor decides that it is time to get involved more directly with the Time War, as oppose to avoiding it entirely. According to River's comments, the TARDIS has its Victorian parlour interior design.


 * AUDIO: The Missing Link
 * AUDIO: Darkness and Light


 * AUDIO: The Castle of Kurnos 5
 * AUDIO: The Edge of Redemption
 * AUDIO: The Scaramancer
 * AUDIO: The Cognition Shift


 * AUDIO: Master of Worlds
 * The Master has his TARDIS and has been hiding from the Time War in a parallel universe.


 * AUDIO: From the Flames
 * The Time War has been declared and Livia is still President of Gallifrey, setting this between Celestial Intervention and Desperate Measures. The Master steals the Anti-Genesis codes, leading directly into The Master's Dalek Plan.


 * AUDIO: The Master's Dalek Plan
 * Under the guise of "Master Sorvad", the Master takes control of Skaro and Dalek history. Ending leads directly into Shockwave.


 * AUDIO: Shockwave
 * Ending leads directly into He Who Wins.

Timeline made after Anti-Genesis cascade

 * AUDIO: He Who Wins
 * Ending leads directly into Beneath the Viscoid.


 * AUDIO: Beneath the Viscoid
 * The Master's escapade before Arcking.


 * AUDIO: The Devil You Know
 * Follows on from Soldier Obscura. The Master allows himself to be summoned to Gallifrey. He and Leela participate in a mission to recover vital information about a potential weapon that could end the Time War. He then throws Leela into the Time Vortex and decides to head for Arcking.


 * AUDIO: Mother Tongue
 * Set directly after The Devil You Know from Leela's perspective.


 * AUDIO: The Good Master
 * The Master's adventure on Arcking. He saves Cole Jarnish, who joins him in the TARDIS.


 * AUDIO: The Sky Man (beginning)
 * Follows directly on from The Good Master. The Master decides to use Cole in his scheme to end the Time War, allowing him to meddle in time as much as possible in order to create more energy from the paradox that he became. This story lasts several months, with the War Master secretly slipping away to do boxsets such as Killing Time.


 * AUDIO: Desperate Measures
 * Follows on from The Devil You Know. Ace and Leela are lost and Braxiatel escapes the war. Livia steps down as Lady President and Rassilon returns to lead Gallifrey, which was the Livia's plan all along. The Doctor still refuses to help. Two months have passed on Gallifrey since Celestial Intervention.


 * AUDIO: Damaged Goods
 * The N-Forms receive an activation call, setting this after Desperate Measures


 * AUDIO: A Heart on Both Sides
 * The Doctor travels incognito with Nyssa for a long time on her hospital ship, protecting her from the Time War.


 * AUDIO: The Sincerest Form of Flattery
 * The Master drinks wine from his vineyard in The Sky Man.


 * AUDIO: A Quiet Night In
 * AUDIO: The Orphan
 * AUDIO: Unfinished Business


 * AUDIO: The Sky Man (ending)


 * AUDIO: The Heavenly Paradigm
 * Follows directly on from the end of The Sky Man. The Master kills Cole in order to power up the weapon that could end the Time War. When his plan fails, he escapes the war using the Chameleon Arch.


 * PROSE: The Third Wise Man
 * Traveling to the first year of the Time War, the Doctor answers a summons from Davros, and attempts to save him from the Nightmare Child at the Gates of Elysium, but appears to fail. Davros is then saved by a damaged Dalek Caan.


 * PROSE: The Stranger
 * The War Doctor travels back in time to the First Segment of the Time War to save Gallifreyan children.

Rassilon's Return

 * AUDIO: The Starship of Theseus (final timeline)
 * In the history that exists at the story's end, the Doctor has travelled in the sidelines of the War trying to avoid participating.


 * AUDIO: Echoes of War
 * Follows on from The Starship of Theseus.


 * AUDIO: The Conscript
 * Follows on from Echoes of War. Assassins indicates this story's setting was established early during the Rassilon presidency.


 * AUDIO: One Life
 * Follows on from The Conscript. The CIA and the Academy still exist, setting this close to Desperate Measures.


 * AUDIO: Havoc
 * Set shortly after Desperate Measures.


 * AUDIO: Partisans


 * AUDIO: Collateral


 * AUDIO: Assassins
 * By this point the Eleventh General, the War Ollistra and Harlan have all joined the frontline. The Celestial Intervention Agency is disbanded. Romana and Narvin are exiled from Gallifrey by Rassilon.


 * AUDIO: Hostiles
 * Set directly after Assassins, with Romana and Narvin escaping from Gallifrey.


 * AUDIO: Nevernor
 * Romana and Narvin encounter the Orrovix on Njagilheim.


 * AUDIO: The Lords of Terror
 * Set shortly after One Life.


 * AUDIO: Planet of the Ogrons


 * AUDIO: In the Garden of Death


 * AUDIO: Jonah


 * AUDIO: All Hands on Deck
 * Susan receives a tesseract that says "Gallifrey needs you to fight the Daleks" and learns that the Doctor for a long time was creating diversions so that he could remove the cubes from her flat. Time Lords already asked the Doctor to help, but he refused. She decides to return to Gallifrey.


 * AUDIO: Sphere of Influence
 * Set immediately after All Hands on Deck, with Susan arriving on a Time Lord flagship after responding to the hypercube. Susan meets Veklin and Rasmus for the first time.


 * AUDIO: Prequel
 * Susan has just arrived on Gallifrey to join the Time War and discusses her role with Rasmus, setting this during Sphere of Influence.


 * AUDIO: The Uncertain Shore
 * Ending leads directly into Assets of War.


 * AUDIO: Assets of War
 * The Time Lords are experimenting on the Orrovix. Susan exiles Rennis to the planet Njagilheim.


 * AUDIO: The Rulers of the Universe
 * The Eighth Doctor uses technology seen as modern in Assets of War.


 * AUDIO: The Shoreditch Intervention
 * Susan is aware that the Celestial Intervention Agency disbanded, setting this after Assassins. Susan is reunited with the Doctor for the first time since All Hands on Deck. Rassilon takes an interest in Susan and wishes to speak to her.


 * AUDIO: State of Bliss
 * Sometime after Jonah.


 * AUDIO: The Famished Lands


 * AUDIO: Fugitive in Time
 * Cliffhanger leads to the end of the Time War which is backstory for The War Valeyard.

Cessation and reignition of War

 * AUDIO: The War Valeyard


 * AUDIO: Palindrome


 * AUDIO: Dreadshade
 * Rassilon is President and Rasmus has regenerated into a new incarnation.


 * AUDIO: Restoration of the Daleks

The War Doctor

 * TV: The Night of the Doctor
 * The Eighth Doctor regenerates into the War Doctor with help of the Sisterhood of Karn.


 * AUDIO: Light the Flame
 * Set directly after The Night of the Doctor.


 * AUDIO: Lion Hearts


 * AUDIO: The Shadow Squad


 * COMIC: Four Doctors
 * The young looking War Doctor makes a decision. In one outcome, he ends up a Dalek spy.


 * COMIC: The Clockwise War
 * The War Doctor is young and is working with the Sisterhood of Karn.


 * AUDIO: Unity
 * Romana and Narvin find Leela on Unity. Romana stays behind to face the Daleks whilst they escape.


 * AUDIO: Deception
 * Immediately after Unity.


 * AUDIO: Dissolution
 * Narvin’s perspective during Deception. Braxiatel rescues Romana from Unity.


 * AUDIO: Beyond
 * Immediately after Braxiatel rescued Romana. Romana claims she’s heard the Doctor has changed for the worse, suggesting he’s become the War Doctor by this point.


 * AUDIO: Homecoming
 * Not long after Beyond. Romana suggests the Doctor wouldn’t have such a problem with weapons now, again implying he’s the War Doctor by this point. Rassilon decides to take more personal control of the War, setting this before any story where Rassilon is leading war plans personally.


 * COMIC: Ambush


 * PROSE: A Prologue


 * COMIC: Four Doctors
 * The War Doctor is fighting in the War.


 * COMIC: Pull to Open (flashback)
 * The Doctor fights various battles with the Squire.


 * COMIC: Outrun
 * The Doctor isn't aware of who wrote the term "Exterminhate" on a wall, placing it before The Organ Grinder, where he meets the Volatix Cabal.


 * COMIC: The Then and the Now
 * Along with, the Doctor lands on the Overcast homeworld during the Time War, where his actions on the planet unleash the Malignant.


 * COMIC: The Organ Grinder


 * COMIC: First Rule


 * COMIC: Kill God


 * COMIC: Fast Asleep


 * COMIC: Gently Pulls the Strings


 * COMIC: Physician, Heal Thyself


 * AUDIO: The Innocent


 * AUDIO: The Thousand Worlds


 * AUDIO: The Heart of the Battle


 * AUDIO: Legion of the Lost


 * AUDIO: A Thing of Guile


 * AUDIO: The Neverwhen


 * AUDIO: The Shadow Vortex


 * AUDIO: The Eternity Cage


 * AUDIO: Eye of Harmony


 * AUDIO: Pretty Lies


 * AUDIO: The Lady of Obsidian


 * AUDIO: The Enigma Dimension


 * PROSE: Engines of War
 * Takes place 400 years after The Night of the Doctor.


 * COMIC: The Bidding War
 * Ollistra orders the release of the Great Vampires against the Daleks. Arriving on Zenobia II, the War Doctor protests to Councillor Voltrix in Ollistra's absence.

The Fall of Arcadia

 * TV: The Last Day
 * Takes place at the Fall of Arcadia before the scenes in The Day of the Doctor.


 * COMIC: Sky Jacks
 * Priyan tells Engin that Rassilon is initiating the Ultimate Sanction, placing it just before The End of Time.


 * TV: The End of Time
 * Set on the last day of the Time War. Dalek saucers are already on Gallifrey, placing it after The Last Day.


 * TV: The Day of the Doctor
 * The General states that the High Council's plan has failed, therefore placing it later in the last day of the Time War than The End of Time.

Aftermath

 * TV: Rose/PROSE: Rose
 * On Earth in 2005, the Ninth Doctor observes that the Nestene Consciousness is still fighting "the war".


 * TV: Dalek/PROSE: Dalek
 * After seeing what he believes to be the last Dalek being destroyed, the Doctor deems that the Time War is over.
 * The Dalek Emperor survives the Time War and ends up in the Sol system circa the year 199,900.


 * TV: Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways
 * The Bad Wolf calls an end to the Time War by destroying the Emperor and his fleet.


 * TV: The Time of the Doctor
 * The Siege of Trenzalore is viewed by some as the true final battle of the Time War. (PROSE: The Secret Lives of Monsters)