1987

History of the Doctor Who Universe

 * Sometime after February 7 - Death of Kathy Nightingale. (DW: Blink)

February

 * 7 - Kathy Costello Wainright (aka Nightingale) writes a letter to her friend Sally Sparrow, entrusting her grandson to deliver it (along with a package of photographs) to Sparrow in the year 2007. (DW: Blink)

April

 * 27 - Birth of Rose Tyler, companion of the Ninth and Tenth Doctors. (Note:This date is cited in Doctor Who Annual 2006, but is contradicted by information in DW: Rose and Aliens of London.)

November

 * 7 - Pete Tyler is killed when he is struck by a vehicle while crossing the road en route to a friend's wedding. This event is witnessed by Rose Tyler and the Doctor. Initially Pete died alone before help could arrive. Rose creates an alternate timelines by preventing him from being killed, which results in a dangerous paradox. Ultimately, after spending some time with his now-grown daughter, Pete learns that in order for time to continue normally, he must die, so he walks in front of another vehicle. This time Rose is with him when he dies, and the fabric of time is altered so that the record shows Pete died as an unidentified woman knelt beside him. (DW: Father's Day) Technically, since Rose being with Pete becomes part of established time, the alternate timeline is in fact now the one where he dies alone.

Unknown date

 * The BBC announces that Colin Baker will not be returning as the Doctor; Sylvester McCoy is chosen to replace him.

February

 * 19 - Doctor Who - Black Orchid First Published. This was the final Fifth Doctor story to be novelised; plans were made for a novelisation of Resurrection of the Daleks, but the book was never published, and as such the story remains officially unnovelised.

March

 * 19 - Doctor Who - The Ark First Published.


 * 28 - Patrick Troughton dies from a heart attack while appearing at a Doctor Who convention in Columbus, Georgia, USA.

April

 * 16 - Doctor Who - The Mind Robber First Published.

May

 * 21 - Doctor Who - The Faceless Ones First Published.

June

 * 18 - Doctor Who - The Space Museum First Published.

July

 * 16 - Doctor Who - The Sensorites First Published.

August

 * 20 - Doctor Who - The Reign of Terror First Published. Written by Ian Marter, this novel was published posthumously, 10 months after his death.

September

 * 07 - Time and the Rani Episode 1 First Broadcast. First appearance of Sylvester McCoy as the Doctor; due to Colin Baker declining to return for a cameo appearance, McCoy plays both the Sixth and Seventh Doctors for the regeneration sequence. The series introduces a new theme music arrangement by Keff McCulloch, a new computer generated opening credits sequence, and a new series logo.


 * 14 - Time and the Rani Episode 2 First Broadcast


 * 19 - Doctor Who - The Romans First Published.


 * 21 - Time and the Rani Episode 3 First Broadcast


 * 28 - Time and the Rani Episode 4 First Broadcast

October

 * 01 - Doctor Who - The Ambassadors of Death First Published. With this book, all stories of the Third Doctor era were now novelised -- the first era to be completed; two additional Third Doctor novelisations based upon radio plays would be published in the 1990s.


 * 05 - Paradise Towers Episode 1 First Broadcast


 * 12 - Paradise Towers Episode 2 First Broadcast


 * 19 - Paradise Towers Episode 3 First Broadcast


 * 26 - Paradise Towers Episode 4 First Broadcast


 * K-9 and Company First Published. This is the belated third (and final) volume in the Companions of Doctor Who spin-off series. Unlike the previous two books, however, this is not an original work but an adaptation of the K-9 & Company pilot episode.


 * The Star Trek franchise returns to television after an 18-year hiatus (not counting an animated cartoon series) with the debut of Star Trek: The Next Generation which successfully reestablished the franchise and led to several spinoff series. Eighteen years after this, the Doctor Who franchise itself was revived (after a 16-year hiatus); it too was a successful relaunch that led to spinoffs.

November

 * 02 - Delta and the Bannermen Episode 1 First Broadcast


 * 09 - Delta and the Bannermen Episode 2 First Broadcast


 * 16 - Delta and the Bannermen Episode 3 First Broadcast


 * 01 - Doctor Who - The Massacre First Published. An adaptation of the serial The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve, this is the first time in more than a decade that a novelisation title differs from the broadcast serial.


 * 23 - Dragonfire Episode 1 First Broadcast. Debut of Sophie Aldred as the final original-series companion, Ace.


 * 30 - Dragonfire Episode 2 First Broadcast

December

 * 07 - Dragonfire Episode 3 First Broadcast. Bonnie Langford leaves the series with this episode.


 * 10 - Doctor Who - The Macra Terror First Published.