2004

In 2004, Toshiko Sato was blackmailed into stealing plans for a sonic weapon from the Lodmoor Research Facility for a terrorist group holding her mother hostage. She used the plans to build a working prototype of the device. The terrorists and she were arrested by UNIT personnel. Jack Harkness of Torchwood Three called in a favour to have Toshiko released from UNIT detention in exchange for her joining his team. (TW: Fragments)

June
Tate Modern was destroyed by an electron bomb. (EDA: The Tomorrow Windows)

January

 * EDA: Sometime Never... was first published.
 * BFA: The Creed of the Kromon was first released. A new companion, C'rizz, joined the Eighth Doctor.
 * 7 - DW: The Two Doctors was released to DVD in Region 4 in the Australian market.
 * 17 - Andrew Tourell (Constable Cummings in DW: Black Orchid) died.
 * 19 - DW: The Visitation was released to DVD in Region 2 in the UK.

February

 * DWN/PDA: Scream of the Shalka was first published. This was a novelisation of the WC: Scream of the Shalka webcast. It was the first novelisation to be published since the novelisation of the TV movie in 1996. Considered part of the BBC Past Doctor Adventures line, the book included a section detailing the making of the story.
 * BFA: The Natural History of Fear was first released.
 * TN: Blood and Hope was first published.
 * 7 - DW: The Curse of Fenric was released to DVD in Region 4.
 * 26 - Russell Hunter, who played Uvanov in DW: The Robots of Death and the MB: Kaldor City audio series, died from lung cancer in Edinburgh, Scotland.

March

 * PDA: Empire of Death was first published. This was the final BBC Past Doctor Adventures novel to feature the Fifth Doctor and, as of 2011, this was the most recent original novel to feature the Fifth Doctor.
 * BFA: The Twilight Kingdom was first released.
 * ST: Short Trips: Past Tense was first published.
 * TN: The Dalek Factor was first published. This novella, featuring an unspecified incarnation of the Doctor, was the final release in the Telos Doctor Who novellas series, although the company continued publishing books set in the Doctor Who universe with its Time Hunter spin-off line.
 * BFG: Weapon of Choice was first released. This audio drama launched an ongoing Big Finish Productions spin-off series, Gallifrey, starring Lalla Ward as Romana II, Louise Jameson as Leela and John Leeson as K9.
 * 1 - DW: Pyramids of Mars was released to DVD in the UK.
 * 2 - DW: The Seeds of Death and The Three Doctors were released to DVD in Region 1.
 * 3 - Sheila Dunn, widow of Douglas Camfield, who played Blossom Lefavre in DW: The Daleks' Master Plan, a telephone operator in DW: The Invasion, and Petra Williams in DW: Inferno, died.
 * 18 - THN: The Tunnel at the End of the Light was first published.
 * 20 - The BBC announced that Christopher Eccleston had been cast as the Ninth Doctor in the new series.
 * 20 - The same day, the Daily Mail ran an erroneous story indicating that Bill Nighy has been cast as the Doctor. (Nighy was eventually cast in the 2010 series as a guest star.)
 * 24 - Richard Leech (Hade in DW: The Sun Makers) died.
 * 27 - Peter Diamond, who played numerous roles and performed many stunts on Doctor Who, died from a stroke in Wakefield, Yorkshire, England.

April

 * EDA: Halflife was first published.
 * BFA: The Axis of Insanity was first released.
 * ST: Short Trips: Past Tense was first published.
 * BFG: Square One and BFG: The Inquiry were first released.
 * 8 - DW: The Visitation was released to DVD in Region 4.
 * 19 - Philip Locke (Bigon in DW: Four to Doomsday) died.
 * 30 - Richard Steele, who guested on several Doctor Who stories, died.

May

 * PDA: The Eleventh Tiger was first published.
 * BFA: Arrangements for War was first released.
 * BFG: A Blind Eye was first released.
 * BFDE: Dalek Empire III: The Exterminators was first released, launching Big Finish Productions' third Dalek Empire mini-series.
 * BFBS: The Big Hunt was first published. This was first full-length novel in the Big Finish Bernice Summerfield Series to be published in more than two years.
 * 3 - Anthony Ainley, who played the Master in various stories from 1981 to 1985 and in the Destiny of the Doctors computer game, died at Harrow in London. He had recently recorded commentary for the DVD release of DW: The Keeper of Traken which ultimately did not see release until several years after his death.
 * 10 - DW: The Green Death was released on DVD in region 2 in the UK.
 * 14 - Shaun Sutton (BBC Head of Serials in the mid-1960s) died.

June

 * EDA: The Tomorrow Windows was first published.
 * BFA: The Harvest was first released. A new companion for the Seventh Doctor, Hex, was introduced.
 * ST: Short Trips: Life Science was first published.
 * BFDE: Dalek Empire III: The Healers was first released.
 * 1 - DW: The Curse of Fenric and The Two Doctors were released to DVD in Region 1.
 * 10 - DW: Pyramids of Mars was released to DVD in Region 4.
 * 17 - THN: The Clockwork Woman was first published.
 * 18 - Frederick Jaeger, who played Jano in DW: The Savages, Professor Sorenson in DW: Planet of Evil and Professor Marius in DW: The Invisible Enemy, died in Majorca, Spain.
 * 19 - Colin McCormack, who portrayed the Commander in DW: The Sun Makers, died in Middlesex, England, following a battle with cancer.
 * 23 - Peter Birrel, who appeared as the Draconian Prince in DW: Frontier in Space, died in Bath, England, after losing a battle with cancer.
 * 26 - DW: The Web of Fear episode one was repeated on BBC Four as part of a night dedicated to cult TV from the 1960s.

July

 * PDA: Synthespians™ was first published.
 * BFA: The Roof of the World was first released.
 * BFDE: Dalek Empire III: The Survivors was first released.
 * BFBS: A Life Worth Living was first published.
 * 5 - DW: The Leisure Hive was released to DVD in the UK.
 * 18 - A new era began as filming commenced on the new BBC Wales production of Doctor Who. This was the first time Doctor Who has been in production in any form since February 1996 (when production of the 1996 TV movie ended) and August 1989 when filming of the original TV series concluded. Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper took their places in front of the cameras as the Ninth Doctor and Rose Tyler (date per Project Who).
 * 31 - Robert James, who played Lesterson in DW: The Power of the Daleks and the High Priest in DW: The Masque of Mandragora, died from complications of Alzheimer's disease.

August

 * EDA: The Sleep of Reason was first published.
 * BFA: Medicinal Purposes was first released.
 * ST: Short Trips: Repercussions was first published.
 * 05 - DW: The Green Death was released to DVD in Region 4.

September

 * PDA: The Algebra of Ice was first published.
 * BFA: Faith Stealer was first released.
 * BFDE: Dalek Empire III: The Demons was first released.
 * 06 - BBCR: Doctor Who at the BBC Volume 2 was first released.
 * 10 - Glyn Owen (Rohm-Dutt in DW: The Power of Kroll) died from a cancer-related illness in Caernarfon, Gwynedd, Wales, UK.
 * 11 - David Mann (a cover artist for Pinnacle Books' Americanised Doctor Who novelisations) died.
 * 20 - DW: Ghost Light was released to DVD in the UK.

October

 * EDA: The Deadstone Memorial was first published.
 * BFA: The Last was first released.
 * ST: Short Trips: Monsters and ST: Short Trips: 2040 were first published.
 * BFDE: Dalek Empire III: The Warriors was first released.
 * REF: Howe's Transcendental Toybox Update No. 1 was first published
 * Geoffrey Cheshire, who played numerous roles on the original Doctor Who series and also played a Roboman in the film Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D., died.
 * 07 - DW: The Leisure Hive was released to DVD in Region 4.
 * 17 - This was the twenty-fifth anniversary of Doctor Who Magazine.
 * 19 - THN: Kitsune was first published.

November

 * PDA: The Indestructible Man was first published.
 * BFA: Caerdroia was first released.
 * BFDE: Dalek Empire III: The Future was first released, concluding Big Finish Productions' third Dalek Empire mini-series.
 * REF: The Discontinuity Guide, 2nd edition, was first published.
 * 01 - Lost in Time, a DVD box set spotlighting incomplete stories from the William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton eras, was released in the UK.
 * 02 - The Lost in Time DVD collection was issued in Region 1, only a day after the UK release (the first time Region 1 and Region 2 have so nearly coincided).
 * 07 - DW: Earthshock and Pyramids of Mars were released to DVD in Region 1.
 * 22 - Russell T Davies was interviewed by Phil Williams on BBC Radio 5 about the new series.

December

 * BFA: The Next Life was first released. This audio drama reunited Paul McGann with his TV-movie co-star Daphne Ashbrook.
 * BFA: Her Final Flight was first released. This single-episode story was made available exclusively to subscribers to Big Finish.
 * ST: Short Trips: A Christmas Treasury was first published.
 * BFBS: Silver Lining, a single-episode Benny Summerfield story, and BFU: The Coup, a "prologue" release for the upcoming UNIT audio series, were released on an exclusive CD included with Doctor Who Magazine. Nicholas Courtney returned as the Brigadier.
 * BFBS: A Life in Pieces was first published. It was the last Benny Summerfield short story collection until 2006.
 * BFU: Time Heals was first released, officially launching the spin-off audio series UNIT.
 * MB: Kaldor City: Storm Mine was first released. It was the last release in the Kaldor City series to date.
 * 2 - THN: The Severed Man was first published.
 * 2 - The Lost in Time DVD box set was released in Region 4.
 * 6 - This was the fifteenth anniversary of the broadcast of DW: Survival Episode 3, which ended the 1963-89 series. The anniversary came as production was well underway on the show's long-awaited return to television.

Unknown dates

 * Alec Wallis, who played leading telegraphist Bowman in DW: The Sea Devils and Warner in DW: Revenge of the Cybermen, died.
 * RP: Dæmos Rising was first released.
 * Terry Bale died.
 * Throughout the year there was considerable media coverage and fan speculation surrounding the announced return of Doctor Who to television, especially as production of the first season began. It was announced that Christopher Eccleston, an actor best known for appearances in films such as Elizabeth, Jude and Gone in 60 Seconds, would play the Ninth Doctor. Eyebrows were raised when it was announced that Billie Piper, a well-known pop star of the late 90s/early 2000s, would play the Doctor's new companion, Rose Tyler. It was announced that no crossover with Paul McGann's Eighth Doctor was planned at this point, nor were any past companions expected to appear in the new series. Initially there were media reports that due to rights issues, the Daleks would not be appearing in the new series, but after these were worked out it was announced that the iconic creatures would indeed appear in the new series. A surprisingly controversial aspect of the new series was the unveiling of a new series logo, which provoked extremely negative response from some fans, with BBC News reporting that some behind-the-scenes personnel had received threats over it.
 * The announced series revival resulted in Richard E. Grant's version of the Ninth Doctor being deemed non-canonical by the BBC, and future "Shalka Doctor" projects were shelved, including a planned DVD release of WC: Scream of the Shalka.
 * MB: Kaldor City: The Prisoner, a twenty-minute short play, was included on the CD release Paul Darrow: The Actor Speaks.