Theory:Timeline - Susan Foreman

This page lists appearances of Susan Foreman in the order in which she 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, such as Doctor Who Reviews, The History of Doctor Who, The Discontinuity Guide, Clive Banks Databank, the Big Finish forums, The Whoniverse and the Divergent Universe forums. 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.

Life on Gallifrey

 * PROSE: Cold Fusion
 * Traveling back in time, the Doctor rescues Patience and her granddaughter from a danger on Ancient Gallifrey. The Doctor later marries Patience, and they two have thirteen children together.


 * AUDIO: The Toy
 * The Doctor brings his granddaughter to watch him and a group of Prydonians perform a ritual in Arcadia.


 * PROSE: The Longest Story in the World
 * The Doctor is living in a small house on a mountain with his "adopted granddaughter", who tells him tales of him "building" the TARDIS and leaving Gallifrey. When the High Council hear of her tales, and after "an incident" takes place outside the Capitol, they send armed guards after the Doctor.

Leaving Gallifrey

 * Due to conflicting accounts, each telling of the Doctor and Susan's fateful escape have been listed in order of release.


 * PROSE: Birth of a Renegade
 * In a story told by, the Doctor decides to leave Gallifrey in the midst of a civil war. He enters a TARDIS alone, and finds a young lady inside, who he adopts as his granddaughter.


 * COMIC: Time & Time Again
 * The Doctor and Susan escape from an explosion on Gallifrey, determined to keep the Hand of Omega safe.


 * After an argument with his cousin, Glospin, the Doctor leaves Gallifrey with the Hand of Omega, and travels back to the Old Time, where he adopts Susan, the granddaughter of the Other. (PROSE: Lungbarrow)


 * AUDIO: The Beginning
 * The Doctor, already with Susan and wearing Victorian era clothing, is being pursued by the Chancellery Guard whilst fleeing Gallifrey with a flying trunk containing the Hand of Omega.


 * TV: The Name of the Doctor
 * Set during The Beginning: The First Flight, after Susan step inside the first TARDIS, and before the Doctor takes her into a second one.

First flight

 * PROSE: The Exiles
 * The Doctor has just escaped Gallifrey. Susan is exploring the TARDIS for the first time.


 * PROSE: Frayed
 * This is the Doctor and Susan's first experience with humanity. Controversially, it even sees them take the names of "the Doctor" and "Susan".


 * AUDIO: The Beginning
 * According to this account, the wanderers, already going by the names "the Doctor" and "Susan", arrive on Earth's moon immediately after leaving Gallifrey. They discover Quadrigger Stoyn in the TARDIS, who was repairing it when they took flight. In a further confliction with Frayed, the Doctor and Susan have their first encounter with humanity on the Moon. The Doctor and Susan decide to pay a visit to planet Earth, but arrive on a mushroom planet instead.

Wanderers in the fourth dimension

 * PROSE: Susan's Diary
 * Susan has started writing in the Five Hundred Year Diary.


 * AUDIO: The Sleeping Blood
 * Susan feels enough familiarity with the TARDIS to begin calling it home.


 * Wanting to learn more of Earth and the human race, the Doctor and Susan visit the French Revolution in 1791. (PROSE: Christmas on a Rational Planet) Shortly after leaving the French Revolution, the Doctor meets another renegade time traveler named Iris Wildthyme. (PROSE: The Scarlet Empress)


 * COMIC: Comic Relief Comic


 * The Doctor saves a world from radiation poisoning and takes the radiated fragment of a spaceship with him. (PROSE: Tragedy Day)


 * PROSE: All-Consuming Fire
 * The Doctor and Susan visit Jabalhabad in 1843, and meet Siger Holmes.


 * PROSE: Bide-a-Wee
 * The Doctor is relatively familiar and comfortable with humanity. This is the first time the Doctor and Susan have been apart, and is the Doctor's first holiday since leaving Gallifrey. Susan's experience with humanity prior to this story appears to be limited to eras where they "[chopped] off the heads of anyone posh", setting this before any of her visits to 20th century Earth or later.


 * PROSE: Categorical Imperative
 * Learning that a dictator would cause Earth's destruction, the Doctor and Susan go back in time to kill the dictator as a baby. However, the Doctor drops his weapon and is forced to flee before he even sees the baby.


 * The Doctor and Susan visit India during the Indian Mutiny, where the Doctor becomes the guardian to David Warblington after having his life saved by David's father. (PROSE: The Duke's Folly)


 * PROSE: The Gift
 * The Doctor meets Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart properly for the first time, and recalls visiting his funeral.


 * PROSE: Childhood Living
 * The Doctor and Susan are familiar enough with Earth to debate whether or not the Great Wall of China is visible from space.


 * PROSE: Indian Summer
 * The Doctor has been attempting to "fine tune" the operation of the TARDIS


 * PROSE: Losing the Audience
 * The Doctor and Susan arrive at 76 Totter's Lane in 1963, but quickly leave and arrive in 1955. The Doctor retains the police box shape, but this was after the TARDIS appeared to malfunction while the Doctor was trying to fix it. Presumably the chameleon circuit was fixed again once the Doctor fixed it in 1955. The Doctor expressed disdain for human school systems. At the story's conclusion, Susan wonders if they'll ever end up in 1963 again.


 * PROSE: A Big Hand for the Doctor
 * The Doctor is familiar enough with human pop culture to reference Harry Potter, Blake's 7 and Artemis Fowl. He is not easily able to pay for his replacement hand, setting this before The Price of Conviction.


 * COMIC: Time Trick
 * The Doctor is targeted for punishment by the people of Refkeet Nine for meddling with time.


 * PROSE: The Arboreals


 * PROSE: Dr. First
 * The Doctor and Susan land in London, much to the Doctor's chagrin. The Doctor recognises the Cybermen.


 * COMIC: Where's the Doctor?
 * The Doctor and Susan attend the coronation of Elizabeth II.


 * PROSE: The Gift
 * The Doctor has been separated from Susan, setting this after Bide-a-Wee. The Doctor meets the Brig for the first time and recalls having been to his funeral.

Searching for a new home

 * PROSE: The Price of Conviction
 * The Doctor considers settling down somewhere for a period of time soon. He is currently using jewels from Aldebaran IV as a form of currency.


 * PROSE: Urrozdinee
 * After leaving 2134 Urrozdinee, the Doctor says that he and Susan will "put down some roots" for a while, and says he has a place in mind.


 * PROSE: Life from Lifelessness
 * According to the Fourth Doctor, Susan will be enrolled at an Earth school not long after the adventure in 16th century Prague.


 * AUDIO: Quinnis
 * Set "4 or 5 journeys" before The Edge of Destruction. Telling the story after she settled on 22nd century Earth, Susan believes it to be her last adventure before 1963. The Doctor believes Susan needs friends her own age, stability and teachers.


 * AUDIO: The Alchemists
 * The Doctor and Susan have already had many adventures in the 20th century, but have not seen much of the latter half of the century. The Doctor is looking for a place for him and Susan to settle down for a while. Telling the story during her adventures with Barbara and Ian, Susan recalls the Doctor's search for a suitable place to use a machine of his, recalling the events of Quinnis as taking place during his search, setting this story near Quinnus.


 * PROSE: Susan's Diary
 * Susan has made a note of her adventures on Venus, Esto, Quinnis, and Dido.


 * PROSE:  The Little Things
 * The Doctor takes a brief trip to 1997 to check if the United Kingdom will remain a safe place to stay in the times to come. The TARDIS takes a the form of a red pillar box, which the Fourth Doctor says was the last shell the TARDIS had before the chameleon circuit broke in 1963.

Hiding on Earth

 * The Doctor uses the Blessing Star to pilot the TARDIS to the junkyard at 76 Totter's Lane, but the ship is damaged in the process. The Doctor takes up residence in the junkyard, and Susan begins attending Coal Hill School. (PROSE: The Rag & Bone Man's Story)


 * In her second diary entry, Susan suspects that the Doctor does not know how to pilot the TARDIS and recalls visiting Earth, Venus, Esto, Quinnis and Dido. She is now living on Earth in 1963 and plans to enroll herself at a school. (PROSE: Susan's Diary)


 * PROSE: Echoes of Future Past
 * The Doctor has only recently arrived in London 1963, and Susan is already in education.


 * PROSE: Ash
 * Susan and the Doctor get lost in the streets of London on a "very cold" night, possibly setting this before Time and Relative.


 * PROSE: Time and Relative
 * Set from 27 March to 4 April 1963. The Doctor and Susan have been on Earth for five months, Susan is attending school and something breaks when the Doctor journeys in the TARDIS, forcing him to fix it using 20th century parts. The Doctor begins to take an interest in protecting the human race.


 * In her third diary entry, Susan recounts her experiences at Coal Hill School. The Doctor is currently giving the TARDIS an overhaul. (PROSE: Susan's Diary)


 * PROSE: The Juror's Story
 * Set in the late summer of 1963. The Doctor uses the name "Dr. Foreman".


 * COMIC: Operation Proteus
 * Set in October 1963, according to Ground Zero. Raldonn claims to have noticed the Doctor arriving in Shoreditch four months ago.


 * COMIC: Ground Zero
 * Set directly after Operation Proteus


 * AUDIO: Hunters of Earth
 * Set in October 1963. Susan claims to have been at Coal Hill for four months. The Doctor has been collecting parts for the repair of his TARDIS since he arrived.


 * AUDIO: An Unearthly Woman
 * The Doctor is still collecting parts for his TARDIS. He and Susan meet River Song for the first time. Set during the first week back at school after half-term, and Susan has been at Coal Hill for "a few months".


 * PROSE: Press Play
 * Susan leaves a message for her grandfather shortly before going to school.

Back to travelling

 * COMIC: Supremacy of the Cybermen Prologue: The First Doctor
 * In an alternate timeline created by Rassilon and the Cybermen, the Doctor is captured by the Cybermen immediately before the events of An Unearthly Child.


 * TV: An Unearthly Child
 * On 22 November 1963, Susan's curious teachers, Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright, follow her home and force themselves into the TARDIS, and the Doctor flies the ship in a panic, bringing the teachers with him and Susan to 100,000 BC. Ending leads directly into The Daleks.
 * PROSE: Susan's Diary
 * Susan makes a note in her diary of how she and the Doctor have been discovered.


 * PROSE: Susan's Diary
 * Set just after An Unearthly Child.


 * TV: The Daleks
 * The Doctor encounters the Daleks and the Thals for the first time. He also explains to Ian and Barbara that he can't properly fly the TARDIS and can't return them to 76 Totter's Lane. Ending leads directly into The Edge of Destruction.


 * PROSE: Susan's Diary
 * Set just after The Daleks.


 * TV: The Edge of Destruction
 * The TARDIS' sentience is brought up for the first time. After realising that his paranoia got the best of him, the Doctor makes amends to better himself in the future. Ending leads directly into Marco Polo.


 * PROSE: Susan's Diary
 * Set just after The Edge of Destruction.

The great spirit of adventure

 * TV: Marco Polo
 * The TARDIS crew venture on a trek through China with Marco Polo in 1289. The Doctor receives a cane from Kublai Khan.


 * PROSE: The Sorcerer's Apprentice
 * The TARDIS crew have just left China, setting this immediately after Marco Polo.


 * PROSE: Who Discovered America?
 * Ian is still wearing his Chinese gown, setting this shortly after Marco Polo.


 * PROSE: The Ruins of Time
 * Ian and Barbara are still trying to grasp some of the more alien concepts in their travels, and the Doctor is not yet on a first name basis with them.


 * COMIC: In-Between Times
 * The Doctor believes that he and Susan should be more open with Ian and Barbara, setting this after The Edge of Destruction. Ian and Barbara are given their first proper tour of the TARDIS, though it is a brief one. Though they are still recent additions to the TARDIS crew, Susan claims they have "been through so much together" by this point.


 * COMIC: The Path of Skulls
 * The Doctor is still unfamiliar with the layout of the TARDIS interior, and is still learning about most of the universe.


 * AUDIO: A Small Semblance of Home
 * Barbara recalls the recent events of The Daleks.


 * TV: The Keys of Marinus
 * The TARDIS lands on Marinus, and the crew are forced by Arbitan to locate the keys to the Conscience of Marinus before the Voord can.


 * PROSE: Susan's Diary
 * Set immediately after The Keys of Marinus.


 * COMIC: The Forgotten
 * Barbara has yet to visit an Aztec temple, setting this before The Aztecs. The Doctor's most recent travels haven't been into Earth's history.


 * TV: The Aztecs
 * The Doctor warns Barbara about the consequences of altering the course of history when she tries to educate the Aztecs against using human sacrifices. The Doctor has a brief affair with Cameca, and is gifted with a brooch from her when he leaves.


 * PROSE: Susan's Diary
 * Set immediately after The Aztecs.


 * PROSE: The Last Days
 * Barbara refers to the events of The Aztecs.


 * PROSE: Mire and Clay


 * PROSE: The Duke's Folly
 * Barbara refers to the Doctor's warning about interfering with history from The Aztecs.


 * PROSE: The Mother Road
 * Susan knows of Barbara's familiarity with Cortez and the Mexican civilisations, setting this after The Aztecs.


 * PROSE: Tell Me You Love Me


 * PROSE: The Reign Makers
 * Barbara believes that history cannot be changed, setting this after The Aztecs.


 * TV: The Sensorites
 * Susan unlocks a deeper telepathic ability than the Doctor thought she had. Barbara has fully recovered from her ordeal from The Aztecs. When Ian makes a snide comment about the Doctor's piloting, the enraged Doctor claims he will leave Ian at the next stop, leading into The Reign of Terror.


 * PROSE: Susan's Diary
 * Set immediately after The Sensorites.


 * AUDIO: The Transit of Venus
 * Set between The Sensorites and The Reign of Terror, with the Doctor preparing to throw Ian and Barbara out of the TARDIS.


 * TV: The Reign of Terror
 * Follows on from The Sensorites, with the Doctor still arguing with Ian and Barbara, until an adventure during the French Revolution calms him down enough to forgive them.


 * PROSE: Susan's Diary
 * Set immediately after The Reign of Terror.


 * AUDIO: Rise and Fall
 * The Doctor refers to the events from The Reign of Terror as the crew's previous trip.


 * PROSE: Nothing at the End of the Lane


 * AUDIO: The Fragile Yellow Arc of Fragrance


 * AUDIO: Farewell, Great Macedon
 * Authorial intent places this between The Reign of Terror and Here There Be Monsters. Barbara knows that history cannot be changed, but Ian isn't convinced.


 * AUDIO: The Masters of Luxor
 * Set directly after Farewell, Great Macedon, with the events from The Fragile Yellow Arc of Fragrance being mentioned.


 * AUDIO: A Star is Born


 * AUDIO: The Wanderer
 * Ian remembers the Doctor saying that the crew's "destiny is in the stars", which he said in The Reign of Terror. Barbara and Ian still believe that history can't be changed.


 * AUDIO: The Alchemists
 * Susan is writing a letter for Ian and Barbara to read after she's gone. She mentions the Doctor's warning of the immutability of history from The Aztecs, but feels the need to explain that it's wrong, presumably setting this before The Library of Alexandria and The Flames of Cadiz.


 * AUDIO: The Library of Alexandria
 * Ian refers to the events from The Transit of Venus. He and Barbara begin to think that the Doctor has been deceitful with them about changing history. Only a few weeks have passed since The Transit of Venus.


 * AUDIO: The Flames of Cadiz
 * Ian refers to the events of The Transit of Venus. He and Barbara aren't surprised when the Doctor thinks that history can be changed. Ian also mentions his broken watch, setting this before The Phoenicians.


 * AUDIO: The Destination Wars
 * Authorial intent places this during Season 1. The crew are a close unit, and Ian wonders if they are still on Earth, indicating that this takes place after The Reign of Terror. The Doctor spends two years on Destination fixing the damage caused by the Master. Ending leads directly into The Great White Hurricane.


 * AUDIO: The Great White Hurricane
 * This is Ian's first time in New York City. Susan admits that she sees Ian and Barbara as family. After their adventure in New York City, the Doctor claims to have found a way to return Ian and Barbara home.


 * AUDIO: The Invention of Death
 * Follows directly on from The Great White Hurricane, with the Doctor failing to return the TARDIS to 1963. The Doctor refers to the recent events of The Reign of Terror.


 * AUDIO: The Barbarians and the Samurai


 * AUDIO: The Phoenicians
 * Follows directly on from The Barbarians and the Samurai. Ian and Barbara learn that the TARDIS has a library, and believe it should be around Spring 1964 in their own time. Ian sells his watch, setting this after The Flames of Cadiz.


 * AUDIO: Tick-Tock World
 * Follows directly on from The Phoenicians. Susan mentions that she is a little bit telepathic, and the Doctor realises that he needs to give Susan more independence.


 * AUDIO: Return to Skaro
 * The Doctor attempts to use the fast return switch for a second time, but it brings the TARDIS back to Skaro fifty years after their previous visit in The Daleks.


 * AUDIO: Last of the Romanovs
 * The TARDIS has just left Skaro, setting this immediately after Return to Skaro. Barbara and Ian have been travelling with the Doctor and Susan for months by now. Susan believes that history can be changed, but Barbara disagrees and refers to the events of The Aztecs. The TARDIS stops working.


 * PROSE: Rennigan's Record


 * AUDIO: The Light at the End


 * AUDIO: E is for...
 * Set after The Sensorites, with Susan's telepathy growing stronger.


 * AUDIO: Domain of the Voord
 * Sequel story to The Keys of Marinus.


 * AUDIO: The Age of Endurance


 * AUDIO: Here There Be Monsters
 * Susan is beginning to realise she will need to leave the Doctor soon and make her own life.


 * PROSE: City at World's End
 * Susan mentions the human-colonised planet from The Sorcerer's Apprentice. The removal of the life pod from the TARDIS begins to affect its dimensional stability, setting this shortly before Planet of Giants.


 * PROSE: The Thief of Sherwood
 * The TARDIS begins suffering from Space pressure, setting this shortly before Planet of Giants.


 * PROSE: The Witch Hunters
 * Susan is still troubled with the telepathic powers she demonstrated in The Sensorites, Barbara is still regretful for the events of The Aztecs, and she and Ian recall the events of The Reign of Terror. After leaving 1692, the Doctor pilots the TARDIS to 1742, and makes further plans to jump from the 18th century to the 20th century, leading into Planet of Giants.


 * TV: Planet of Giants
 * The TARDIS has just left the late 18th century, with the Doctor attempting to travel forward to the mid-20th century when the TARDIS shrinks due to a malfunction.


 * PROSE: Susan's Diary
 * Set immediately after Planet of Giants.


 * PROSE: The Time Travellers
 * Set immediately after Planet of Giants.


 * TV: The Dalek Invasion of Earth
 * The Doctor encounters the Daleks for the first time since The Daleks. Susan falls in love with a rebel of the 22nd century Dalek invasion named David Campbell, and the Doctor decides to leave her behind so she can grow into her own person after the crew help defeat the Daleks on Earth.

Life after the TARDIS

 * COMIC: The Choice
 * Shortly after The Dalek Invasion of Earth, Susan is kidnapped by Adam Mitchell among companions of the Doctor but is soon freed by Frobisher. Leads into Endgame.


 * COMIC: Endgame
 * The first eleven Doctors rescue their companions from Adam and.


 * TV: The Five Doctors
 * An older Susan is briefly reunited with the First Doctor as well as meeting three of his future incarnations.


 * PROSE: Legacy of the Daleks
 * Set in 2199. Susan meets the Eighth Doctor. Susan has three adopted children called Ian, Barbara and David Campbell Junior. David is killed by the Master and Susan leaves Earth in the Master's stolen TARDIS.


 * PROSE: Ghost of Christmas Past
 * Set circa 2170. Susan sends the Eighth Doctor a hypercube, informing him of the birth of her son, Alex Campbell.


 * AUDIO: An Earthly Child
 * Set in Summer 2187. The Doctor returns to Earth and meets Alex for the first time. David died several years ago.


 * AUDIO: Quinnis
 * Set in 2187. Susan recalls the events of An Earthly Child and Alex is still at home, setting this before Relative Dimensions.


 * AUDIO: Relative Dimensions
 * Set 24 December 2187. Susan and Alex have Christmas dinner with the Doctor and Lucie Miller in the TARDIS. Lucie and Alex decide to embark on a world tour.


 * AUDIO: Lucie Miller
 * Susan is caught up in a second Dalek invasion. Ending leads directly into To the Death.


 * AUDIO: To the Death
 * Alex and Lucie are killed.


 * PROSE: Fellow Traveller
 * 50 years after the Dalek invasion. Susan blames the Daleks for David dying early and does not mention any children. She meets the Thirteenth Doctor.

The Last Great Time War

 * AUDIO: All Hands on Deck
 * Susan is living in a block of flats Coal Hill School eventually became when she discovers Hypercube messages left by the Time Lords, who are fighting a great war against the Daleks. Despite the Doctor's attempt to distract and convince her not to leave, Susan answers the call and is picked up by a TARDIS.


 * AUDIO: Sphere of Influence
 * Set immediately after All Hands on Deck, with Susan arriving on a Time Lord flagship after responding to the hypercube. Susan meets Veklin and Rasmus for the first time.


 * AUDIO: Prequel
 * Susan has just arrived on Gallifrey to join the Time War and discusses her role with Rasmus, setting this during Sphere of Influence.


 * AUDIO: The Uncertain Shore


 * AUDIO: Assets of War


 * AUDIO: The Shoreditch Intervention

Awaiting placement

 * PROSE: Playtime
 * PROSE: Tragedy Day: Prologue
 * PROSE: Nightshade
 * PROSE: Nothing at the End of the Lane
 * COMIC: The Message of Mystery
 * COMIC: The Meeting