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.

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

Problem children: John and Gillian
The biggest unknowns certainly surround TV Comic stories, because of a fundamental continuity error. At the beginning of his run in TV Comic, the First Doctor meets John and Gillian. But then after a few stories with them, he leaves them, and returns in his second incarnation. There are several gaps for where those adventures can be set, but the problem is the continuity error surrounding the second Doctors adventures with them.

In The Land of Happy Endings (comic story) the John and Gillian adventures are shown to be a dream.

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

Timeline

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


 * 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.


 * PROSE: Lungbarrow
 * PROSE: Nightshade
 * COMIC: Time & Time Again
 * Lungbarrow, Nightshade and Time & Time Again all contain flashbacks to the Doctor departing Gallifrey.


 * PROSE: The Exiles
 * The Doctor and Susan have just escaped from Gallifrey.


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


 * PROSE: A Big Hand for the Doctor
 * The Doctor first chooses his Victorian themed costume here, making any story featuring his costume taking place after this story.
 * The Doctor and Susan are used to travelling and have been chasing the Soul Pirates across time.


 * PROSE: All-Consuming Fire
 * PROSE: Urrozdinee
 * The Doctor and Susan are travelling alone. He has his costume.


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


 * COMIC: Time & Time Again (cameo)
 * COMIC: Operation Proteus
 * It is 1963 in Shoreditch and Susan is attending school.


 * 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.


 * AUDIO: Hunters of Earth
 * The Doctor and Susan have been on Earth for some time, as well as Susan in school.


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


 * TV: The Daleks
 * TV: The Edge of Destruction
 * TV: 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
 * TV: 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
 * 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
 * AUDIO: Here There Be Monsters
 * TV: Planet of Giants
 * PROSE: The Time Travellers
 * The first scene in this novel follows on from the closing scenes of Planet of Giants.


 * TV: 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.


 * TV: The Rescue


 * TV: The Romans


 * PROSE: Romans Cutaway
 * PROSE: Byzantium!
 * Romans Cutaway and Byzantium! are both set after the TARDIS materialises and falls off the cliff in episode 1 of The Romans.


 * TV: The Web Planet
 * AUDIO: The Rocket Men
 * TV: The Crusade
 * COMIC: Prisoners of Time
 * Ian, Barbara, and Vicki are travelling alone.


 * TV: The Space Museum
 * TV: The Chase
 * TV: The Time Meddler
 * AUDIO: Frostfire
 * AUDIO: The Suffering
 * TV: 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.


 * TV: Galaxy 4
 * TV: The Myth Makers
 * TV: The Daleks' Master Plan


 * AUDIO: The Anachronauts
 * AUDIO: Home Truths
 * AUDIO: The Drowned World
 * AUDIO: The Guardian of the Solar System
 * The Anachronauts follows on directly from episode seven of The Daleks' Master Plan, the other stories follow on from it, all taking place before episode eight of The Daleks' Master Plan.


 * PROSE: Roses
 * Roses is set immediately after The Daleks' Master Plan and leads into The Five Doctors.


 * TV: The Five Doctors


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


 * AUDIO: The Cold Equations
 * AUDIO: The First Wave
 * TV: The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve
 * 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
 * TV: The Celestial Toymaker
 * TV: 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
 * TV: The Savages
 * PROSE: The Man in the Velvet Mask
 * Features only the First Doctor and Dodo, therefore takes place between The Savages and The War Machines.


 * TV: 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: Ten Little Aliens
 * PROSE: Five Card Draw
 * PROSE: Doctor Who and the Invasion from Space
 * PROSE: Cambridge Previsited
 * PROSE: The Meeting
 * 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

The dreams

 * 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

Unplaced

 * AUDIO: Tales from the Vault
 * AUDIO: The Wanderer
 * AUDIO: The Revenants
 * AUDIO: The Flames of Cadiz
 * AUDIO: Rise and Fall
 * AUDIO: 1963
 * AUDIO: Seven to One
 * AUDIO: A Star is Born
 * PROSE: The Plotters
 * PROSE: The Witch Hunters
 * PROSE: City at World's End
 * PROSE: Bunker Soldiers
 * PROSE: The Eleventh Tiger
 * PROSE: The Lair of Zarbi Supremo
 * PROSE: The Sons of the Crab
 * PROSE: The Lost Ones
 * PROSE: The Monsters from Earth
 * 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: Echoes of Future Past
 * PROSE: Who Discovered America?
 * PROSE: Rennigan's Record
 * PROSE: The Golden Door
 * PROSE: Tarnished Image
 * PROSE: The Last Days
 * PROSE: There are Fairies at the Bottom of the Garden
 * 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: The Little Drummer Boy
 * PROSE: A Long Night
 * PROSE: Mire and Clay
 * PROSE: Ash
 * PROSE: The Glass Princess
 * PROSE: Corridors of Power
 * PROSE: The Thief of Sherwood
 * PROSE: Bide-a-Wee
 * PROSE: Scribbles in Chalk
 * PROSE: The Schoolboy's Story
 * PROSE: The Juror's Story
 * PROSE: From Eternity (Doctor unspecified, but likely the First)
 * PROSE: Categorical Imperative
 * PROSE: Every Day
 * PROSE: The Duke's Folly
 * PROSE: Waiting for Jeremy
 * PROSE: Making History
 * PROSE: Mars
 * PROSE: The Gift
 * PROSE: The Mother Road
 * PROSE: Childhood Living
 * PROSE: The Ruins of Time
 * PROSE: Room for Improvement
 * PROSE: Life from Lifelessness
 * PROSE: The Long Step Backward
 * PROSE: Indian Summer
 * PROSE: Tell Me You Love Me
 * PROSE: Snowman in Manhattan
 * PROSE: Losing the Audience
 * PROSE: The Price of Conviction
 * PROSE: iNtRUsioNs
 * PROSE: Do You Smell Carrots?
 * PROSE: White on White
 * PROSE: The Power Supply
 * PROSE: The Reign Makers
 * PROSE: Doctor Who and the Daleks
 * 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.


 * 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
 * COMIC: Mission for Duh
 * COMIC: Food for Thought
 * COMIC: Are You Listening?
 * COMIC: A Religious Experience
 * COMIC: The Forgotten
 * COMIC: To Sleep, Perchance to Scream (cameo)