2004

Events

 * Tate Modern was destroyed by an electron bomb. (PROSE: The Tomorrow Windows)


 * Cassandra Schofield was killed by Nimrod in the The Forge's alpha facility in Dartmoor. (AUDIO: Project: Lazarus)


 * 25 - The First Doctor, Ian Chesterton, Barbara Wright and Vicki Pallister became trapped in a time loop in the home of George Smythe, his wife Patricia and his children of Josie and Mark. (PROSE: Every Day)

Unknown dates

 * Toshiko Sato was blackmailed into stealing plans for a sonic modulator from the Lodmoor Research Facility for a terrorist group holding her mother hostage. She used the plans to build a working prototype of the device. The terrorists and she were arrested by UNIT personnel. Jack Harkness of Torchwood Three called in a favour to have Toshiko released from UNIT detention in exchange for her joining his team. (TV: Fragments)

Behind the scenes

 * PROSE: Sometime Never... was first published.
 * AUDIO: The Creed of the Kromon was first released. A new companion, C'rizz, joined the Eighth Doctor.
 * 7 - TV: The Two Doctors was released to DVD in Region 4 in the Australian market.
 * 17 - Actor Andrew Tourell died.
 * 19 - TV: The Visitation was released to DVD in Region 2 in the UK.


 * PROSE: Scream of the Shalka was first published. This was a novelisation of the WC: Scream of the Shalka webcast. It was the first novelisation to be published since the novelisation of the TV movie in 1996. Considered part of the BBC Past Doctor Adventures line, the book included a section detailing the making of the story.
 * AUDIO: The Natural History of Fear was first released.
 * PROSE: Blood and Hope was first published.
 * 7 - TV: The Curse of Fenric was released to DVD in Region 4.
 * 11 - Actor Hugh Cecil died.
 * 26 - Actor Russell Hunter died from lung cancer in Edinburgh, Scotland.


 * PROSE: Empire of Death was first published. This was the final BBC Past Doctor Adventures novel to feature the Fifth Doctor and,, the most recent original novel to feature the Fifth Doctor.
 * AUDIO: The Twilight Kingdom was first released.
 * PROSE: Short Trips: Past Tense was first published.
 * PROSE: The Dalek Factor was first published. This novella, featuring an unspecified incarnation of the Doctor, was the final release in the Telos Doctor Who novellas series, although the company continued publishing books set in the Doctor Who universe with its Time Hunter spin-off line.
 * AUDIO: Weapon of Choice was first released. This audio drama launched an ongoing Big Finish Productions spin-off series, Gallifrey, starring Lalla Ward as Romana II, Louise Jameson as Leela and John Leeson as K9.
 * 1 - TV: Pyramids of Mars was released to DVD in the UK.
 * 2 - TV: The Seeds of Death and The Three Doctors were released to DVD in Region 1.
 * 3 - Actress Sheila Dunn died.
 * 18 - PROSE: The Tunnel at the End of the Light was first published.
 * 20 - The BBC announced that Christopher Eccleston had been cast as the Ninth Doctor in the new series.
 * 20 - The same day, the Daily Mail ran an erroneous story indicating that Bill Nighy has been cast as the Doctor. (Nighy was eventually cast in the 2010 series as a guest star.)
 * 24 - Actor Richard Leech died.
 * 27 - Fight arranger Peter Diamond died from a stroke in, Yorkshire, England.


 * PROSE: Halflife was first published.
 * AUDIO: The Axis of Insanity was first released.
 * PROSE: Short Trips: Past Tense was first published.
 * AUDIO: Square One and AUDIO: The Inquiry were first released.
 * 8 - TV: The Visitation was released to DVD in Region 4.
 * 19 - Actor Philip Locke died.
 * 30 - Actor Richard Steele died.


 * PROSE: The Eleventh Tiger was first published.
 * AUDIO: Arrangements for War was first released.
 * AUDIO: A Blind Eye was first released.
 * AUDIO: Dalek Empire III: The Exterminators was first released, launching Big Finish Productions' third Dalek Empire mini-series.
 * PROSE: The Big Hunt was first published. This was first full-length novel in the Big Finish Bernice Summerfield series to be published in more than two years.
 * 3 - Actor Anthony Ainley died at Harrow in London. He had recently recorded commentary for the DVD release of TV: The Keeper of Traken which ultimately did not see release until several years after his death.
 * 10 - TV: The Green Death was released on DVD in region 2 in the UK.
 * 14 - BBC Head of Serials Shaun Sutton died.
 * 22 - Actor Michael Wade died.


 * PROSE: The Tomorrow Windows was first published.
 * AUDIO: The Harvest was first released. A new companion for the Seventh Doctor, Hex, was introduced.
 * PROSE: Short Trips: Life Science was first published.
 * AUDIO: Dalek Empire III: The Healers was first released.
 * 1 - TV: The Curse of Fenric and The Two Doctors were released to DVD in Region 1.
 * 10 - TV: Pyramids of Mars was released to DVD in Region 4.
 * 17 - PROSE: The Clockwork Woman was first published.
 * 18 - Actor Frederick Jaeger died in Majorca, Spain.
 * 19 - Actor Colin McCormack died in Middlesex, England, following a battle with cancer.
 * 23 - Actor Peter Birrel died in Bath, England, after losing a battle with cancer.
 * 26 - TV: The Web of Fear episode one was repeated on BBC Four as part of a night dedicated to cult TV from the 1960s.


 * PROSE: Synthespians™ was first published.
 * AUDIO: The Roof of the World was first released.
 * AUDIO: Dalek Empire III: The Survivors was first released.
 * BFBS: A Life Worth Living was first published.
 * 5 - TV: The Leisure Hive was released to DVD in the UK.
 * 18 - A new era began as filming commenced on the new BBC Wales production of Doctor Who. This was the first time Doctor Who had been in production in any form since February 1996 (when production of the 1996 TV movie ended) and August 1989 when filming of the original TV series concluded. Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper took their places in front of the cameras as the Ninth Doctor and Rose Tyler (date per Project Who).
 * 31 - Actor Robert James died from complications of Alzheimer's disease.


 * PROSE: The Sleep of Reason was first published.
 * AUDIO: Medicinal Purposes was first released.
 * PROSE: Short Trips: Repercussions was first published.
 * 05 - TV: The Green Death was released to DVD in Region 4.


 * PROSE: The Algebra of Ice was first published.
 * AUDIO: Faith Stealer was first released.
 * AUDIO: Dalek Empire III: The Demons was first released.
 * 06 - AUDIO: Doctor Who at the BBC Volume 2 was first released.
 * 10 - Actor Glyn Owen died from a cancer-related illness in Caernarfon, Gwynedd, Wales, UK.
 * 11 - Cover artist David Mann died.
 * 20 - TV: Ghost Light was released to DVD in the UK.


 * PROSE: The Deadstone Memorial was first published.
 * AUDIO: The Last was first released.
 * PROSE: Short Trips: Monsters and PROSE: Short Trips: 2040 were first published.
 * AUDIO: Dalek Empire III: The Warriors was first released.
 * REF: Howe's Transcendental Toybox Update No. 1 was first published
 * Actor Geoffrey Cheshire died.
 * 07 - TV: The Leisure Hive was released to DVD in Region 4.
 * 17 - This was the twenty-fifth anniversary of Doctor Who Magazine.
 * 19 - PROSE: Kitsune was first published.


 * PROSE: The Indestructible Man was first published.
 * AUDIO: Caerdroia was first released.
 * AUDIO: Dalek Empire III: The Future was first released, concluding Big Finish Productions' third Dalek Empire mini-series.
 * REF: The Discontinuity Guide, 2nd edition, was first published.
 * 01 - Lost in Time, a DVD box set spotlighting incomplete stories from the William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton eras was released in the UK.
 * 02 - The Lost in Time DVD collection was issued in Region 1, only a day after the UK release (the first time Region 1 and Region 2 have so nearly coincided).
 * 07 - TV: Earthshock and Pyramids of Mars were released to DVD in Region 1.
 * 22 - Russell T Davies was interviewed by Phil Williams on BBC Radio 5 about the new series.


 * AUDIO: The Next Life was first released. This audio drama reunited Paul McGann with his TV-movie co-star Daphne Ashbrook.
 * AUDIO: Her Final Flight was first released. This single-episode story was made available exclusively to subscribers to Big Finish.
 * PROSE: Short Trips: A Christmas Treasury was first published.
 * AUDIO: Silver Lining, a single-episode Benny Summerfield story, and AUDIO: The Coup, a "prologue" release for the upcoming UNIT audio series, were released on an exclusive CD included with Doctor Who Magazine. Nicholas Courtney returned as the Brigadier.
 * BFBS: A Life in Pieces was first published. It was the last Benny Summerfield short story collection until 2006.
 * AUDIO: Time Heals was first released, officially launching the spin-off audio series UNIT.
 * AUDIO:  Storm Mine was first released. It was the last release in the Kaldor City series to date.
 * 2 - PROSE: The Severed Man was first published.
 * 2 - The Lost in Time DVD box set was released in Region 4.
 * 6 - This was the fifteenth anniversary of the broadcast of TV: Survival Episode 3, which ended the 1963-89 series. The anniversary came as production was well underway on the show's long-awaited return to television.
 * 11 - Actor Christopher Blake died.

Unknown dates

 * Actor Alec Wallis died.
 * HOMEVID: Dæmos Rising was first released.
 * Throughout the year there was considerable media coverage and fan speculation surrounding the announced return of Doctor Who to television, especially as production of the first season began. It was announced that Christopher Eccleston, an actor best known for appearances in films such as Elizabeth, Jude and Gone in 60 Seconds, would play the Ninth Doctor. Eyebrows were raised when it was announced that Billie Piper, a well-known pop star of the late 90s/early 2000s, would play the Doctor's new companion, Rose Tyler. It was announced that no crossover with Paul McGann's Eighth Doctor was planned at this point, nor were any past companions expected to appear in the new series. Initially there were media reports that due to rights issues, the Daleks would not be appearing in the new series, but after these were worked out it was announced that the iconic creatures would indeed appear in the new series. A surprisingly controversial aspect of the new series was the unveiling of a new series logo, which provoked extremely negative response from some fans, with BBC News reporting that some behind-the-scenes personnel had received threats over it.
 * The announced series revival resulted in Richard E. Grant's version of the Ninth Doctor being deemed non-canonical by the BBC, and future "Shalka Doctor" projects were shelved, including a planned DVD release of WC: Scream of the Shalka.
 * AUDIO:  The Prisoner, a twenty-minute short play, was included on the CD release Paul Darrow: The Actor Speaks.