1981 (releases)


 * January - DWM 48 was published.
 * 3 January - Warriors' Gate Part One debuted on BBC1.
 * 5 January - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy debuted on BBC Television. A mini-series adaptation of Douglas Adams' radio play and novelisation, the series included a cameo appearance by future Doctor Peter Davison as "The Dish of the Day".
 * 10 January - Warriors' Gate Part Two debuted on BBC1.
 * 15 January - Doctor Who and the Creature from the Pit was first published. Beginning with this release and continuing through 1991, Target Books commissioned the original teleplay authors to adapt their own scripts whenever possible.
 * 17 January - Warriors' Gate Part Three debuted on BBC1.
 * 24 January - Warriors' Gate Part Four debuted on BBC1. Lalla Ward departed the series with the episode. This was also the final appearance of K9 Mark II. Part 4 concluded the "E-Space Trilogy".
 * 31 January - The Keeper of Traken Part One debuted on BBC1. Sarah Sutton debuted as new companion Nyssa, although she did not officially become a companion until the next story, and Anthony Ainley made his first appearance on the series, though not yet as the Master.
 * February - The pop band The Human League released the instrumental "Tom Baker" (in honour of the actor) on the flipside of their single "Boys and Girls". This piece of music was later reused for the Project Who radio series in 2005.
 * February - DWM 49 was published.
 * 7 February - The Keeper of Traken Part Two debuted on BBC1.
 * 14 February - The Keeper of Traken Part Three debuted on BBC1.
 * 21 February - The Keeper of Traken Part Four debuted on BBC1.
 * 28 February - Logopolis Part One debuted on BBC1. Janet Fielding debuted as new companion Tegan Jovanka.
 * March - DWM 50 was published.
 * 7 March - Logopolis Part Two debuted on BBC1.
 * 14 March - Logopolis Part Three debuted on BBC1. Sarah Sutton returned as Nyssa and officially became a companion.
 * 21 March - Logopolis Part Four debuted on BBC1, concluding Doctor Who's eighteenth season.
 * April - DWM 51 was published.
 * 17 April - Doctor Who and the Enemy of the World was first published.
 * May - DWM 52 was published.
 * 21 May - REF: The Doctor Who Programme Guide, Volumes 1 and 2, were first published in hardcover.
 * June - DWM 53 was published.
 * Summer - Doctor Who Magazine Summer Special 1981 was published.
 * July - DWM 54 was published.
 * August - The Doctor Who Annual 1982 was published.
 * August - DWM 55 was published.
 * September - DWM 56 was published.
 * October - DWM 57 was published.
 * October - Paperback editions of REF: The Doctor Who Programme Guide Volumes 1 and 2 was published.
 * 15 October - Doctor Who and an Unearthly Child, an adaptation of the very first Doctor Who serial, was first published.
 * Winter - Doctor Who Magazine Winter Special 1981 was published.
 * November - DWM 58 was published.
 * 2 November - "The Five Faces of Doctor Who" special re-broadcast series commenced with the third television broadcast of the first part of An Unearthly Child, the very first episode of Doctor Who. It aired in the UK on BBC Two.
 * 14 November - The Lord Mayor's Show was first broadcast.
 * December - DWM 59 was published.
 * 10 December - REF: The Doctor Who Quiz Book by Nigel Robinson was published.
 * 28 December - A Girl's Best Friend, a pilot episode for the proposed spin-off K9 and Company, debuted on BBC1.
 * Unknown - Marvel Comics published Marvel Premiere issue 60, bringing to a close the first set of American Fourth Doctor comic strip reprints from Doctor Who Weekly. Another series, Doctor Who, followed in 1984.