1997

April

 * 30 - Bernice Summerfield is dropped off at the Doctor's house. (NA: The Dying Days)

May

 * Tuesday 6 - Bernice first meets the Doctor in his eighth body. Britain sends the Mars 97 Orbiter onto the surface of Mars and the three astronauts on the surface stumble across the Ice Warrior tomb of the Great Marshall Kyruul of the Argyre Clan under the sands of the Mare Sirenum and are killed. The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is assassinated in Washington. Lord Xznaal arrives over London and orders the country to submit to his rule. (NA: The Dying Days)


 * 7 - Alexander Christian escapes from his military captors and manages to contact Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. The United Kingdom submits to Martian rule and sets up a Provisional Government. (NA: The Dying Days)


 * Unknown date - Queen Elizabeth II is deposed and the Ice Warrior Xznaal is crowned King.

November

 * 23 - The Re-coronation of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, at which the Fourth Doctor, Romana II and K9 are present. (NA: The Dying Days)

Dates unknown

 * After 7th May but before 23rd November - The Doctor and Ace encounter Arthurian knights in Carbury. (DW: Battlefield)
 * After 7th May but before 23rd November; after the events of (DW: Battlefield) - Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart is promoted to General Lethbridge-Stewart.
 * The Torchwood Institute shoots down a Jathaa sunglider over the Shetland Islands. They begin to reverse-engineer its technology. (DW: Army of Ghosts)
 * Sam Jones joins the Doctor on his travels. (EDA: The Eight Doctors)
 * A Friday - Carolyn McConnell summons the Doctor and Sam Jones to San Francisco to assist her with vampires. (EDA: Vampire Science)
 * Carys Fletcher's mother died in a car crash. (TW: Day One)

January

 * 8 - Tom Bowman, who played a sentry in DW: The Highlanders, dies.
 * 16 - NA: Eternity Weeps is first published. Features return appearances by Benny Summerfield and Liz Shaw.
 * MA: Burning Heart is first published. Final Sixth Doctor novel in the Virgin Missing Adventures series.
 * REF: The Nth Doctor is first published.
 * 30 - Nicholas Mallett, who directed DW: The Mysterious Planet, DW: Paradise Towers and DW: The Curse of Fenric dies.

February

 * 8 - Elroy Josephs, who played Jamaica in DW: The Smugglers, dies.
 * 16 - Arthur Hewlett (Kalmar in DW: State of Decay and Kimber in DW: Terror of the Vervoids) dies in England.
 * 20 - NA: The Room With No Doors is first published.
 * MA: A Device of Death is first published.

March

 * 20 - NA: Lungbarrow is first published. Chronologically, this is the final Virgin New Adventures novel featuring the Seventh Doctor and Chris Cwej. Features many characters from both the TV series and New Adventures, and is notable for fully expanding the so-called Cartmel Masterplan regarding the Doctor's origins. It is not the final Seventh Doctor NA novel to be published due to the delay on NA: So Vile a Sin.
 * MA: The Dark Path is first published. Final Second Doctor novel in the Virgin Missing Adventures line.

April

 * 17 - NA: The Dying Days is first published. This was the final book commission in the Virgin New Adventures line of original Doctor Who novels, but not the last published. It was the first and only book in the NA line to feature the Eighth Doctor and marked the final appearance to date of Bernice Summerfield with the Doctor, as the book helped to launch her continuation of the New Adventures.
 * MA: The Well-Mannered War is first published. Featuring the Fourth Doctor, it is the last release in the Virgin Missing Adventures line.

May

 * NA: So Vile a Sin is finally published. Although scheduled for release earlier in the year, manuscript issues resulted in its release this month. As such it became the final book in the Virgin New Adventures line featuring the Doctor to see print, and the last to feature the Seventh Doctor, and describes the circumstances surrounding the departure of Roz Forrester from the series. The NA series would continue for a couple more years featuring the adventures of Bernice Summerfield.
 * BNA: Oh No It Isn't! is first published, continuing the Virgin New Adventures line as the Virgin Bernice Summerfield New Adventures. Featuring companion Bernice Summerfield, the NA books from here on in are devoid of overt references to Doctor Who, although other non-TV characters from the NA series appear.
 * VD: Decalog 4: Re-Generations is first published. As Virgin no longer has the licence for Doctor Who, the book focuses on companion Roz Forrester.

June

 * BNA: Dragons' Wrath is first published.
 * 02 - EDA: The Eight Doctors is first published, launching the BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures line. It is the first multi-Doctor original novel and includes references to many TV episodes. It is also noted for conflicting with elements of the Virgin New Adventures line. Samantha Jones becomes the Doctor's newest companion.
 * PDA: The Devil Goblins from Neptune is first published, a Third Doctor adventure launching the BBC Past Doctor Adventures line.

July

 * BNA: Beyond the Sun is first published.
 * 7 - EDA: Vampire Science is first published.
 * PDA: The Murder Game is first published. First BBC Past Doctor Adventures novel featuring the Second Doctor.
 * Royston Tickner, who played Steinberger P. Green in DW: The Daleks' Master Plan and Robbins in DW: The Sea Devils, dies.
 * 16 - Hugh Martin, who appeared as Munro in DW: Terror of the Zygons and a Priest in DW: Vengeance on Varos, dies from a heart operation.

August

 * BNA: Ship of Fools is first published.
 * 04 - EDA: The Bodysnatchers is first published.
 * PDA: The Ultimate Treasure is first published. First BBC Past Doctor Adventures novel featuring the Fifth Doctor.

September

 * VD: Decalog 5: Wonders is first published. This post-BBC licence short story collection features very little noticeable connection to Doctor Who save for one story featuring Bernice Summerfield. It is the last volume of the series.
 * BNA: Down is first published.
 * 01 - EDA: Genocide is first published.
 * PDA: Business Unusual is first published. This novel is notable for chronicling the adventure in which Melanie Bush first met the Sixth Doctor. Also first BBC Past Doctor Adventures novel to feature the Sixth Doctor.
 * 7 - News reporter turned actor Alex MacIntosh, who made a cameo as himself in DW: Day of the Daleks, dies.

October

 * BNA: Deadfall is first published.
 * 6 - Adrienne Hill, who played companion Katarina, dies from cancer.
 * EDA: War of the Daleks is first published.
 * PDA: Illegal Alien is first published. This is the first solo "Past Doctor/Missing Adventures"-style novel to feature the Seventh Doctor.
 * Tom Baker publishes his autobiography, Who on Earth is Tom Baker?. An audio book version, read by Baker, is also released this date.
 * REF: Doctor Who: A Book of Monsters is first published.
 * REF: Doctor Who: The Book of Lists is first published.
 * 16 - REF: Licence Denied is first published.
 * 17 - Space, a Canadian cable network, launches. It airs classic-era Doctor Who during its first few years. In the late 2000s it becomes the broadcast home of Torchwood and the revived Doctor Who.
 * 30 - Sydney Newman, the creator of Doctor Who, dies from a heart attack in Toronto, Canada aged 80.

November

 * BNA: Ghost Devices is first published.
 * 20 - REF: Doctor Who - The Handbook: The Second Doctor is first published.
 * REF: Doctor Who: The Eighties is published in paperback.
 * 24 - EDA: Alien Bodies is first published. This book introduces Faction Paradox, later to be featured in a series of spin-off audio dramas and novels.
 * PDA: The Roundheads is first published.

December

 * BNA: Mean Streets is first published.
 * Down month for both the EDA and PDA book lines.
 * After trying several "test balloon" services, the BBC officially launches BBC Online (also known as BBCi) at bbc.co.uk. This becomes the network's main online portal and, in the coming years, a Doctor Who section of the site is launched which has featured not only promotions and archival features relating to both the 1963-89 and 2005-present series, but also original contented such as webcasts and online fiction.
 * 14 - Stubby Kaye (Weismuller, DW: Delta and the Bannermen) dies.

Unknown dates

 * Destiny of the Doctors, a home computer adventure game, is released. The game uses newly recorded audio of all surviving Doctor actors (except Paul McGann), and features Anthony Ainley in newly shot video footage as The Master, his final appearance in this role.