Aliens of London dating controversy

The Aliens of London dating controversy stems from a narrative feature introduced in the 2005 Doctor Who television story Aliens of London. In that story the Ninth Doctor returns Rose Tyler to her home time one year later than planned, in 2006. Indeed, a missing persons' poster created for that episode states that Rose has been gone since 6 March 2005. Various episodes of Doctor Who and its televised spin-offs that were executive produced by Russell T Davies directly follow from Aliens of London, with multiple successive markings of Christmas Day from The Christmas Invasion (2005) to Voyage of the Damned (2007). The writers of these shows, however, often forget that the contemporary setting is actually a year in the future.

This narrative feature was sometimes forgotten or not applied by some writers, leading to several contradictions.

Towards the end of the Davies era of Doctor Who, no on-screen date is given for the 2009 Easter Special Planet of the Dead, nor The End of Time, which comprises the 2009 Christmas Special and the 2010 New Year's Day Special. Planet of the Dead alludes to the real-world and The End of Time shows President Barack Obama making efforts to end "." Early into Steven Moffat's run as executive producer of Doctor Who, Flesh and Stone (2010) directly describes Amy Pond's home time as 2010, synchronising Doctor Who's contemporary stories with their date of broadcast.

The third series of the spin-off series Torchwood synchronised with its year of broadcast, 2009, when in Children of Earth: Day One, a government operative mentions Clement McDonald's name was last active 44 years ago, i.e. when Clement disappeared in 1965, until Torchwood found him living under an alias. As well as this, in Children of Earth: Day Four, Rhys Williams mentions that Jack Harkness' deal with the 456 at that time worked for 44 years.

Doctor Who

 * The End of the World (2005), set before Aliens of London (2005) from the Ninth Doctor and Rose Tyler's perspective, places Rose Tyler's present 10,000 years before the year 12,005, which would be 2005.
 * Aliens of London, set twelve months after Rose (2005), places Rose's disappearance in Rose on 6 March 2005. In Love & Monsters, Elton Pope says "twelve months later I'm back in town. I'm up west, looking for a new suit, something nice and smart - when I hear this plane overhead" and we see the Slitheen Spaceship crash into Big Ben, as it does in the episode, thus backing up the notion that Rose disappeared on 6 March 2005.
 * In School Reunion (2006), Sarah Jane Smith describes the Sycorax spaceship from The Christmas Invasion (2005) as "this Christmas just gone". Mickey Smith begins travelling with the Tenth Doctor at the end of the episode. Following this, in The Age of Steel (2006), the Doctor informs Jackie Tyler that Mickey has "gone home", referring to the parallel Earth. Love & Monsters (2006) is explicitly two years after the Auton invasion in Rose. Jackie is still living in London, placing the episode some time before Army of Ghosts (2006). Jackie also mentions Mickey as "gone" now, placing the story after School Reunion. All of this appears to place The Christmas Invasion in 2006 and School Reunion, Love & Monsters and Army of Ghosts in 2007.
 * In The Age of Steel, the Preachers, a team of fugitives, own a van with a tax disc due to expire in 2006.
 * In Human Nature, Smith has a memory from "the future" i.e. 2007, the year the story was broadcast, rather than 2008 which is Martha's home time.
 * In The Fires of Pompeii (2008), Donna Noble recalls how the Doctor "saved [her]" in 2008. The previous episode Partners in Crime (2008) has Donna mentioning the Titanic replica on Christmas Day from Voyage of the Damned (2007). Voyage of the Damned itself has Wilfred Mott describing The Christmas Invasion's spaceship as the "Christmas before last", suggesting Donna's time as being 2009.
 * In The Waters of Mars (2009), an on-screen obituary states Adelaide Brooke was born in May 1999, and that the disappearance of her parents during the events of the Dalek invasion from The Stolen Earth / Journey's End (2008) took place in 2008. The same obituary, however, gives her age as 10 when her parents were pronounced missing, placing the events in at least May 2009.
 * In a scene set on 1 January 2005 in The End of Time Part Two (2010), the Tenth Doctor predicts to Rose that she will have a "really great year".

The Sarah Jane Adventures

 * Invasion of the Bane (2007), opens with Alan and Maria Jackson moving into a new house in Ealing following the former's seperation from Chrissie Jackson.
 * According to Sarah Jane Smith, K9 Mark IV has been in a black hole for "a year and a half", setting this story at least that long since School Reunion.
 * The tax disc on Sarah Jane's car expires in July 2007.
 * Sarah Jane adopts Luke Smith who, as she will recall in Sky (2011), "was born a thirteen year old boy".
 * Following Invasion of the Bane is Revenge of the Slitheen (2007), which takes place at the start of a new year at Park Vale Comprehensive School for Luke, Maria and Clyde Langer. Luke and Clyde are in form 10B.
 * Luke is now officially "fourteen" years old.
 * In Eye of the Gorgon (2007), Alan tells Chrissie that she took their home apart "six months ago", setting this story at most that long since Invasion of the Bane.
 * In Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane? (2007), Andrea Yates realises that she has been dead "for forty years", she was infact killed on 13 July 1964.
 * In The Lost Boy (2007), "Jay Stafford" claims that "Ashley Stafford", actually Luke, has been missing for five months, setting this story at least that long since Invasion of the Bane.
 * Maria Jackson is fourteen years old by this story.
 * Sarah Jane recalls that Mr Smith appeared "eighteen months ago", setting this story at least that long since School Reunion and no more than that long since Invasion of the Bane.
 * In the Doctor Who episode The Stolen Earth (2008), Sarah Jane claims that Luke is "fourteen".
 * The Last Sontaran (2008) recalls the events of The Poison Sky (2008).
 * The epilogue of The Last Sontaran takes place "Six Weeks Later", when Maria and her father leave Ealing.
 * The Day of the Clown (2008) takes place a "while" since the disappearance of Park Vale headmaster Greg Blakeman, from Revenge of the Slitheen, introducing new headmaster Haresh Chandra and his teenage daughter Rani Chandra.
 * Haresh observes that Luke has shown impressive results over the "past year".
 * By The Mark of the Berserker (2008), Clyde identifies as being fifteen years old.
 * In The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith (2008), Clyde recalls the events of Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane? as having taken place "last year".
 * The Mad Woman in the Attic (2009) sees K9 returning from the black hole permanently.
 * By Mona Lisa's Revenge (2009), Luke and Clyde are in form 11T.
 * By The Gift (2009), Luke is aged "fifteen".
 * The Nightmare Man (2010) establishes that, shortly after entering sixth form, Luke Smith decides to take his A-levels in June as per Mr Chandra's suggestion, which enables him to get into the University of Oxford a year early.
 * In Death of the Doctor (2010), Sarah Jane tells Jo Jones that she reunited with the Doctor "about four years ago", alluding to the events of School Reunion.
 * A newspaper dates Lost in Time (2010) as taking place on 23 November 2010.
 * In Sky (2011), Sarah Jane adopts Sky, an alien Fleshkind.
 * In The Curse of Clyde Langer (2011), Sarah Jane notes that Sky has been on Earth for "barely a month".
 * In The Man Who Never Was (2011), Luke notes that he has gone through seven mobile phones "in the last two years".

Torchwood

 * Torchwood's backstory is based in the Battle of Canary Wharf from the Doctor Who episodes Army of Ghosts and Doomsday (both 2006). Both Gwen Cooper and Ianto Jones are explicitly mentioned as having joined Torchwood Three after the battle, with Cyberwoman (2006) showing Ianto escaping the Cyberman battle.
 * In Ghost Machine (2006), Tom Flanagan has lived in Cardiff for 66 years after arriving in 1941, which would set the year as 2007.
 * In Greeks Bearing Gifts (2006), a soldier from 1812 was killed by Mary approximately 196 years, 11 to 11-and-a-half months ago, which would set the year as late 2008 at least.
 * In Random Shoes (2006), Shaun Jones came to his son Eugene's funeral 14 years after abandoning Eugene in 1992, which would set the year as 2006.
 * In To the Last Man (2008), Tommy Brockless was born in February 1894 and is chronologically 114 years old, which would set the year as 2008 or early 2009. Tommy is annually defrosted for the last time. As this is Gwen's only encounter with him, she has been at Torchwood for no longer than exactly one year.
 * In Reset (2008), Meredith Roberts was born in early 1962 and was 45 when he died, which would set the year as early 2007.
 * In Adrift (2008), Jonah Bevan, born February 1993, is described as 15 years old, which would set the year as 2008.
 * In Exit Wounds (2008), Toshiko Sato mentions that she covered for Owen Harper as a medic on Owen's second week in Torchwood during the examination of the Space Pig from Aliens of London (2005). Fragments (2008), set immediately before Exit Wounds, places Owen's recruitment to Torchwood as taking place four years ago, apparently putting Fragments and Exit Wounds in 2010. However, Exit Wounds also has Jack Harkness telling the Torchwood from 1901 to freeze him for 107 years to allow him to get back to Gray, placing those two stories in 2008.
 * According to Gwen's CIA file in The New World (2011), Gwen joined Torchwood (which happened in the 2006 episode Everything Changes) in October 2006. This would mean They Keep Killing Suzie (2006), which directly places itself three months after Everything Changes, takes place in January 2007. This clashes with both the apparent 2006 setting of Random Shoes, the episode immediately following They Keep Killing Suzie, as well as the Christmas setting of Out of Time (2006), just two episodes after They Keep Killing Suzie.
 * The Torchwood Magazine short story Happy New Year has Torchwood celebrate New Year's Eve between Exit Wounds and Children of Earth.
 * The Big Finish audio story Outbreak (2016), which takes place between Exit Wounds and Children of Earth, makes explicitly clear, through extensive dialogue, that it is set in 2009.

Other media

 * The short story The Paradox Moon opens with a scene that is set at the beginning of The Year That Never Was, with the date being given as 23 June 2007.