Theory:Timeline - First Doctor

This page lists appearances of the First Doctor in the order in which he experienced them. 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, comic story and 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 information in Lance Parkin's AHistory which allow us to make observations on placement of stories. None of these sources should be used solely as a source or considered a "true" timeline for stories.

Additionally there are statements on the back of Virgin Missing Adventures and BBC Past Doctor Adventures novels that state between which TV stories the novel takes place between. These can be used to narrow the field, and should be viewed as the only placing for these novels.

Before An Unearthly Child
Any stories featuring only the First Doctor and Susan travelling or otherwise are generally set before An Unearthly Child where it's established that the TARDIS isn't functioning correctly and where they pick up Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright.

Story placement
Due to how the early-60s stories were told, with one story leading into another there are fewer "gaps" between which stories can be placed. It is often easier to say when television stories do not have a cliffhanger that directly continues into another than when they do.

Many novels and short stories, are therefore set between in the gap between stories at the end and start of seasons;

Season 1 and Season 2
 * Between TV: The Reign of Terror and Planet of Giants

Season 2 and Season 3
 * Between TV: The Time Meddler and Galaxy 4

Season 3 and Season 4
 * Between TV: The War Machines and The Smugglers

Additionally some stories, in particular The Companion Chronicles and others are set during particularly long stories such as TV: The Daleks' Master Plan.

There are several other smaller gaps between stories such as between TV: The Dalek Invasion of Earth and The Rescue.

TV Comics placement
The First Doctor's travels with John and Gillian are very problematic to place in the Doctor's timeline, between The Experimenters and The Extortioner the Doctor regenerates into his second incarnation. The stories Conundrum and The Land of Happy Endings have retconned these adventures as either stories created by The Master of the Land of Fiction or the Doctor's dreams.

Companions
Story placement can also be narrowed down by which companions are travelling with the Doctor, see Series basics below.

Series basics
The First Doctor's stories can roughly be sorted by which companions he travels with and also the medium in which the companions first appeared together.

TV created

 * Susan
 * Susan, Ian Chesterton, Barbara Wright
 * Ian Chesterton, Barbara Wright, Vicki Pallister
 * Vicki Pallister, Steven Taylor
 * Steven Taylor
 * Steven Taylor, Katarina
 * Steven Taylor, Sara Kingdom
 * Steven Taylor, Dodo Chaplet
 * Dodo Chaplet
 * Ben Jackson, Polly Wright

Comic created

 * John and Gillian

Audio created

 * Steven Taylor, Oliver Harper

Life on Gallifrey

 * TV: Listen
 * The Doctor is a child before studying at the Academy.


 * PROSE: Lungbarrow (flashback)
 * The Doctor is learning about basic Gallifreyan history.


 * PROSE: Divided Loyalties (flashback)
 * The Doctor is studying at the Academy.


 * PROSE: From Eternity (Doctor unspecified, but likely the First)
 * The Doctor is working for the Time Lords.


 * COMIC: Flashback
 * The Doctor is on Gallifrey in this story, and is shown to still have superior ranking.


 * PROSE: The End
 * The Doctor is still living on Gallifrey.

Leaving Gallifrey

 * PROSE: Lungbarrow
 * PROSE: Nightshade
 * COMIC: Time & Time Again
 * AUDIO: The Beginning
 * TV: The Name of the Doctor
 * PROSE: The Exiles
 * Lungbarrow, Nightshade, Time & Time Again contain flashbacks to the Doctor departing Gallifrey, while The Beginning depicts the Doctor departing Gallifrey and his initial trip with Susan in the main narrative. The events of The Name of the Doctor take place within The Beginning when the Doctor is dissuaded from entering the first TARDIS he picks in the repair shop. The Exiles depicts the Doctor and Susan having just escaped from Gallifrey.

Wanderers in the fourth dimension

 * PROSE: Frayed
 * The Doctor and Susan have recently departed Gallifrey.


 * COMIC: Time Trick
 * PROSE: The Arboreals
 * PROSE: All-Consuming Fire
 * PROSE: Urrozdinee
 * PROSE: Categorical Imperative
 * PROSE: The Price of Conviction
 * The Doctor and Susan have been several times on Earth.


 * AUDIO: The Alchemists
 * The Doctor and Susan have been several times on Earth, but never during the 20th century.


 * AUDIO: The Sleeping Blood
 * PROSE: The Constant Doctor
 * This story takes place ten years after the Doctor and Susan first visited Lemaria, a theatrical account of their adventure is shown.


 * PROSE: The Gift
 * PROSE: Childhood Living
 * PROSE: Indian Summer
 * PROSE: Bide-a-Wee
 * PROSE: A Big Hand for the Doctor
 * The Doctor and Susan are used to travelling and have been chasing the Soul Pirates across time.


 * PROSE: Life from Lifelessness
 * The Doctor will soon be sending Susan to school on Earth.


 * AUDIO: Quinnis
 * This is the trip before the Doctor and Susan come to 1963.


 * PROSE: The Little Things
 * The second last time the Chameleon Circuit properly works.

Hiding on Earth

 * PROSE: Losing the Audience
 * Susan explores the surroundings of Totter's Lane.


 * PROSE: The Rag and Bone Man's Story (flashback)
 * Susan begins going to Coal Hill School. The TARDIS is damaged by the Blessing Star.


 * PROSE: The Juror's Story
 * The Doctor begins calling himself "Dr. Foreman".


 * PROSE: Time and Relative
 * The Doctor and Susan have been on Earth for some time, Susan is attending school and when the Doctor journeys in the TARDIS something breaks in it, forcing him to fix it using 20th century parts.
 * PROSE: The Sons of the Crab
 * The Doctor is traveling alone. In Time and Relative, The Doctor takes the Cold away from Earth, so it is possible that the Doctor spends several adventures trying to get back to Susan. It would also explain why the Doctor calls himself human.
 * PROSE: The Lost Ones
 * Set some time before The Web Planet, since the Doctor does not recognize the Zarbi; he is traveling alone.
 * PROSE: The Monsters from Earth
 * Set some time before The Sensorites, since the Doctor does not recognize them; he is traveling alone in this story.


 * PROSE: Ash (flashback)
 * COMIC: Operation Proteus
 * AUDIO: Hunters of Earth
 * The Doctor and Susan have been on Earth for 4 months, the TARDIS is broken.


 * COMIC: Time & Time Again (cameo)

Meeting Ian and Barbara

 * TV: An Unearthly Child / PROSE: Doctor Who and an Unearthly Child
 * PROSE: The Eight Doctors
 * The Eighth Doctor visits the First Doctor during An Unearthly Child


 * TV: The Daleks / PROSE: Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks
 * TV: The Edge of Destruction / PROSE: The Edge of Destruction

Further adventures

 * TV: Marco Polo / PROSE: Marco Polo
 * Lacks a cliffhanger ending.


 * PROSE: The Sorcerer's Apprentice
 * The TARDIS crew have just left China.


 * AUDIO: The Fragile Yellow Arc of Fragrance
 * AUDIO: Farewell, Great Macedon
 * AUDIO: The Masters of Luxor
 * This story places The Fragile Yellow Arc of Fragrance before Farewell, Great Macedon, both of which take place just before this story. Susan seems to still be getting used to Ian and Barbara being in the TARDIS.


 * TV: The Keys of Marinus / PROSE: Doctor Who and the Keys of Marinus
 * TV: The Aztecs / PROSE: The Aztecs
 * The Keys of Marinus does not end on a cliffhanger, though the beginning of The Aztecs has a reprise of the TARDIS leaving Marinus.


 * TV: The Sensorites / PROSE: The Sensorites
 * AUDIO: The Transit of Venus
 * It is made explicit in dialogue that this story takes place immediately after The Sensorites.


 * TV: The Reign of Terror / PROSE: The Reign of Terror
 * AUDIO: Rise and Fall
 * AUDIO: Here There Be Monsters
 * PROSE: The Thief of Sherwood
 * This story ends with the TARDIS suffering from space pressure, leading directly into the beginning of Planet of Giants.


 * TV: Planet of Giants / PROSE: Planet of Giants
 * PROSE: The Time Travellers
 * The first scene in this novel follows on from the closing scenes of Planet of Giants.

Leaving Susan behind

 * TV: The Dalek Invasion of Earth / PROSE: Doctor Who and the Dalek Invasion of Earth
 * PROSE: Venusian Lullaby
 * The TARDIS crew have just left 22nd century Earth and the departure of Susan is weighing on the Doctor.


 * PROSE: The Book of Shadows
 * The Doctor is still thinking about gold for a wedding ring for Susan, as he does in Venusian Lullaby.


 * AUDIO: The Revenants
 * Ian says that they left Susan a while ago and it his first trip to Scotland, therefore set before Set in Stone.


 * PROSE: Set in Stone
 * PROSE: The Nine-Day Queen
 * PROSE: The True and Indisputable Facts in the Matter of the Ram's Skull
 * The Book of Shadows, The Revenants, Set in Stone, The Nine-Day Queen, and The True and Indisputable Facts in the Matter of the Ram's Skull, must be set between Venusian Lullaby and The Rescue as they feature only the First Doctor, Ian and Barbara.

More companions

 * TV: The Rescue / PROSE: The Rescue
 * After leaving Dido, the TARDIS falls from a cliff.


 * PROSE: Romans Cutaway
 * PROSE: Byzantium!
 * Romans Cutaway and Byzantium! are both set after the TARDIS materialises and falls off the cliff at the end of The Rescue.


 * TV: The Romans / PROSE: The Romans
 * AUDIO: Starborn
 * Vicki says that her last trip was to Nero's Rome.


 * PROSE: The Eleventh Tiger
 * The TARDIS crew are still wearing their Roman costumes


 * TV: The Web Planet / PROSE: Doctor Who and the Zarbi
 * AUDIO: The Rocket Men
 * TV: The Crusade / PROSE: Doctor Who and the Crusaders
 * TV: The Space Museum / PROSE: The Space Museum
 * The beginning of The Space Museum has a reprise of The Crusade.


 * COMIC: Prisoners of Time
 * Ian, Barbara, and Vicki are travelling together with the Doctor at this time.


 * AUDIO: The Sleeping City
 * Ian mentions being knighted by Richard the Lionheart.


 * TV: The Chase / PROSE: The Chase
 * TV: The Time Meddler / PROSE: The Time Meddler
 * Ian and Barbara's departure is mentioned along with Vicki's brief stop off at the Empire State Building, and Steven has taken his first trip in the TARDIS, placing this not long after The Chase.


 * AUDIO: The Bounty of Ceres
 * The Doctor is experimenting with the component he stole from the Monk.


 * COMIC: Are You Listening?
 * AUDIO: Frostfire
 * AUDIO: The Secret History
 * Does not feature the First Doctor as such, but explicitly occupies a point in his timeline. Steven has not yet been given a TARDIS key, so before The Empire of Glass.


 * PROSE: The Schoolboy's Story
 * The Doctor made modifications to his TARDIS in reaction to his encounter with the Monk in Northumbria.


 * AUDIO: Upstairs
 * TV: The Three Doctors / PROSE: The Three Doctors
 * PROSE: The Empire of Glass
 * The Doctor has just been returned 'the business with Omega' with his memory wiped of the events.


 * AUDIO: The Suffering
 * Leads into Galaxy 4.


 * TV: Galaxy 4 / PROSE: Galaxy Four
 * TV: The Myth Makers / PROSE: The Myth Makers
 * PROSE: Scribbles in Chalk
 * Takes place directly between The Myth Makers and The Daleks Master Plan

Fighting the Daleks

 * TV: The Daleks' Master Plan (first seven episodes) / PROSE: Mission to the Unknown
 * AUDIO: The Anachronauts
 * Sara has not been told not to interfere in history, so before The Little Drummer Boy.


 * PROSE: Katarina in the Underworld
 * Arbitrary placement.


 * PROSE: The Little Drummer Boy
 * AUDIO: An Ordinary Life
 * AUDIO: The Drowned World (flashback)
 * AUDIO: The Guardian of the Solar System (flashback)
 * AUDIO: Home Truths (flashback)
 * TV: The Daleks' Master Plan (episodes eight through twelve) / PROSE: The Mutation of Time
 * PROSE: Ash
 * The Doctor and Steven are recovering from the deaths of Sara Kingdom and Katarina.

Time alone

 * PROSE: Roses
 * The Doctor and Steven are taking a break after the events of The Daleks' Master Plan. Roses leads into The Five Doctors.


 * TV: The Five Doctors / PROSE: The Five Doctors
 * PROSE: The Witch Hunters (final chapter)
 * The Doctor begins travelling on his own with the ability to pilot the TARDIS effectively, as a favour granted to him by Rassilon as he was approaching his first regeneration, allowing him to tie up some of the loose ends left for this incarnation.

Set some time after The Web Planet, since the Doctor returns to Vortis again; he is traveling alone. The Doctor is alone and seems to be based on Earth. The Doctor seems to know the Voords, placing it after The Keys of Marinus.
 * PROSE: The Lair of Zarbi Supremo
 * PROSE: Doctor Who and the Daleks
 * COMIC: Mission for Duh

Accompanied again

 * AUDIO: The Perpetual Bond
 * Steven recalls the events of The Daleks' Master Plan.


 * AUDIO: The Cold Equations
 * AUDIO: The First Wave
 * PROSE: Waiting for Jeremy
 * PROSE: Making History
 * PROSE: Do You Smell Carrots?
 * PROSE: White on White
 * The Doctor and Steven are travelling alone


 * TV: The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve / PROSE: The Massacre
 * PROSE: Salvation
 * This is Dodo's first trip in the TARDIS bridging the gap between The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve and The Ark


 * TV: The Ark / PROSE: The Ark
 * TV: The Celestial Toymaker / PROSE: The Celestial Toymaker
 * TV: The Gunfighters / PROSE: The Gunfighters
 * AUDIO: Mother Russia
 * Due to the TARDIS team involved and references to past stories this is the only possible gap into which this story may fit.


 * AUDIO: Return of the Rocket Men
 * Stephen mentions living in Russia for months.


 * TV: The Savages / PROSE: The Savages
 * PROSE: The Man in the Velvet Mask
 * PROSE: There are Fairies at the Bottom of the Garden
 * Features only the First Doctor and Dodo, therefore takes place between The Savages and The War Machines.

Nearing the end

 * TV: The War Machines / PROSE: The War Machines
 * PROSE: The Rag and Bone Man's Story
 * This is set prior to the end of The War Machines but after the Doctor has defeated WOTAN.
 * According to The Rag and Bone Man's Story the Doctor goes on to travel alone, before returning to London. This is a possible location for the adventures featuring John and Gillian and other adventures when the Doctor is alone.


 * TV: The Smugglers / PROSE: The Smugglers
 * COMIC: Food for Thought
 * PROSE: Ten Little Aliens
 * PROSE: The Three Paths
 * The Doctor is pulled back to Gallifrey and is aware that his next adventure will result in his regeneration.


 * TV: The Tenth Planet / PROSE: Doctor Who and the Tenth Planet
 * AUDIO: The Locked Room
 * The Doctor regenerates into his next incarnation.

Stories about the First Doctor in the Land of Fiction

 * COMIC: The Klepton Parasites
 * COMIC: The Therovian Quest
 * COMIC: The Hijackers of Thrax
 * COMIC: On the Web Planet
 * COMIC: The Gyros Injustice
 * COMIC: Challenge of the Piper
 * COMIC: Moon Landing
 * COMIC: Time in Reverse
 * COMIC: Lizardworld
 * COMIC: The Ordeals of Demeter
 * COMIC: Enter: The Go-Ray
 * COMIC: Shark Bait
 * COMIC: A Christmas Story
 * COMIC: The Didus Expedition
 * COMIC: Space Station Z-7
 * COMIC: Plague of the Black Scorpi
 * COMIC: The Trodos Tyranny
 * COMIC: The Secret of Gemino
 * COMIC: The Haunted Planet
 * COMIC: The Hunters of Zerox
 * COMIC: The Underwater Robot
 * COMIC: Return of the Trods
 * COMIC: The Galaxy Games
 * COMIC: The Experimenters
 * COMIC: Prisoners of Gritog
 * COMIC: Guests of King Neptune
 * COMIC: The Gaze of the Gorgon
 * COMIC: Prisoners of the Kleptons
 * COMIC: The Caterpillar Men
 * COMIC: Deadly Vessel
 * COMIC: Kingdom of the Animals

Unplaced
Features Ian, Barbara, and Vicki, so must take place sometime between The Romans and The Chase. Features Stephen and Dodo, so must occur between The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve and The War Machines. Features Ian, Barbara, and Susan, so must take place before The Dalek Invasion of Earth. Features Ian, Barbara, and Susan, so must take place before The Dalek Invasion of Earth. Features Ian, Barbara, and Vicki, so must take place sometime between The Romans and The Chase. Likely set before An Unearthly Child, as the Doctor is travelling only with Susan. Features Ian, Barbara, and Susan, so must take place before The Dalek Invasion of Earth. Features Ian, Barbara, and Vicki, so must take place sometime between The Romans and The Chase. Features Steven and Vicki, so must take place sometime between The Time Meddler and The Myth Makers. Features Ian, Barbara, and Susan, so must take place before The Dalek Invasion of Earth. Features Ian, Barbara, and Susan, so must take place before The Dalek Invasion of Earth. Features Ian, Barbara, and Vicki, so must take place sometime between The Romans and The Chase. Features Steven and Dodo, so must occur between The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve and The War Machines. Features Ian, Barbara, and Susan, so must take place before The Dalek Invasion of Earth.
 * AUDIO: ''The Dark Planet
 * AUDIO: Tales from the Vault
 * AUDIO: The Wanderer
 * AUDIO: The Flames of Cadiz
 * AUDIO: 1963
 * AUDIO: Seven to One
 * AUDIO: A Star is Born
 * AUDIO: The Unwinding World
 * AUDIO: The Founding Fathers
 * PROSE: The Witch Hunters
 * PROSE: City at World's End
 * PROSE: The Plotters
 * PROSE: Bunker Soldiers
 * PROSE: Peril in Mechanistria
 * PROSE: The Fishmen of Kandalinga
 * PROSE: The Cloud Exiles
 * PROSE: The Sons of Grekk
 * PROSE: Terror on Tiro
 * PROSE: The Devil-Birds of Corbo
 * PROSE: The Playthings of Fo
 * PROSE: Justice of the Glacians
 * PROSE: Ten Fathom Pirates
 * PROSE: The Meeting
 * PROSE: Echoes of Future Past
 * PROSE: Cambridge Previsited
 * PROSE: Who Discovered America?
 * PROSE: Rennigan's Record
 * PROSE: The Golden Door
 * PROSE: Tarnished Image
 * PROSE: The Last Days
 * PROSE: 64 Carlysle Street
 * PROSE: The Longest Story in the World
 * PROSE: Nothing at the End of the Lane
 * PROSE: Planet of the Bunnoids
 * PROSE: Five Card Draw
 * PROSE: The Little Drummer Boy
 * PROSE: A Long Night
 * PROSE: Mire and Clay
 * PROSE: The Glass Princess
 * PROSE: Corridors of Power
 * PROSE: Every Day
 * PROSE: The Duke's Folly
 * PROSE: Mars
 * PROSE: The Mother Road
 * PROSE: The Ruins of Time
 * PROSE: Room for Improvement
 * PROSE: The Long Step Backward
 * PROSE: Tell Me You Love Me
 * PROSE: Snowman in Manhattan
 * PROSE: iNtRUsioNs
 * PROSE: The Power Supply
 * PROSE: The Reign Makers
 * COMIC: A Religious Experience
 * COMIC: The Forgotten
 * COMIC: To Sleep, Perchance to Scream (cameo)


 * TV: ''The Day of the Doctor