Theory:Timeline - Fifth Doctor

This page lists appearances of the Fifth Doctor in the order in which he experienced them. This timeline is based on observations of the Doctor Who universe and the events in each of these stories. From these observations we have attempted to build a concise timeline. It is assumed, much like their TV story counterparts, that each novel or audio series their published/numbered order is the order they occur in. There are also many gaps between stories.

The layout of this timeline is based in part on the observations on Doctor Who Reference Guide and Doctor Who - The Complete Adventures, Lance Parkin's AHistory and other sources that allow us to make observations. None of these sources should be used solely as a source or considered a "true" timeline for stories.

Companions
Any story with Adric must take place before TV: Earthshock. Any story with Nyssa and Tegan Jovanka must take place before TV: Time-Flight, after TV: Arc of Infinity and before TV: Terminus, or after AUDIO: Cobwebs. Any story with just Nyssa must be after TV: Time-Flight and before TV: Arc of Infinity. Any story with Tegan and Turlough must take place after TV: Mawdryn Undead and before TV: Resurrection of the Daleks. Any story with just Turlough must take place after TV: Resurrection of the Daleks and before TV: Planet of Fire. Any story with Peri Brown must take place after TV: Planet of Fire.

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

TV created

 * Adric, Nyssa, Tegan Jovanka
 * Nyssa, Tegan
 * Nyssa
 * Nyssa, Tegan
 * Nyssa, Tegan, Turlough
 * Tegan, Turlough
 * Turlough
 * Peri Brown

Audio created

 * Thomas Brewster
 * Erimem
 * Amy

Timeline

 * TV: Logopolis
 * TV: Castrovalva
 * PROSE: The Comet's Tail
 * Set during Castrovalva.


 * PROSE: Cold Fusion
 * The Doctor is still recovering from the effects of his recent regeneration.


 * TV: Four to Doomsday
 * TV: Kinda
 * TV: The Visitation
 * PROSE: Divided Loyalties
 * The Doctor has recently met the Terileptils from The Visitation.


 * TV: Black Orchid
 * TV: Earthshock
 * PROSE: Wake
 * The crew of the TARDIS are mourning the death of Adric.


 * TV: Time-Flight
 * AUDIO: The Land of the Dead
 * AUDIO: Winter for the Adept
 * AUDIO: The Mutant Phase
 * AUDIO: Primeval
 * AUDIO: Spare Parts
 * AUDIO: Creatures of Beauty
 * AUDIO: The Game
 * AUDIO: Spring
 * AUDIO: Summer
 * AUDIO: Autumn


 * COMIC: The Tides of Time
 * The Doctor already knows Shayde when he meets him in No Place Like Home, so these comic strips must take place before that story. Renaissance of the Daleks shows a period where the Doctor travels alone while Nyssa goes on a solo expedition to Rhodes.


 * COMIC: Stars Fell on Stockbridge
 * COMIC: The Stockbridge Horror
 * COMIC: Lunar Lagoon
 * COMIC: 4-Dimensional Vistas
 * COMIC: The Moderator
 * AUDIO: Renaissance of the Daleks
 * The Doctor continues to travel with Nyssa.


 * AUDIO: Return to the Web Planet
 * AUDIO: The Haunting of Thomas Brewster
 * AUDIO: The Boy that Time Forgot
 * AUDIO: Time Reef
 * AUDIO: A Perfect World
 * AUDIO: Castle of Fear
 * AUDIO: The Eternal Summer
 * AUDIO: Plague of the Daleks
 * AUDIO: The Demons of Red Lodge
 * AUDIO: The Entropy Composition
 * AUDIO: Doing Time
 * AUDIO: Special Features


 * TV: Arc of Infinity
 * AUDIO: Omega
 * The Doctor is clearing up after the events of Arc of Infinity.


 * AUDIO: The Burning Prince
 * The Doctor is returning to Amsterdam to pick up Nyssa and Tegan.


 * AUDIO: The Elite
 * The Doctor, Tegan and Nyssa have just left Amsterdam.


 * AUDIO: Hexagora
 * AUDIO: The Children of Seth
 * TV: Snakedance
 * TV: Mawdryn Undead
 * TV: Terminus
 * TV: Enlightenment
 * AUDIO: Freakshow
 * Set just after Enlightenment.


 * AUDIO: Cobwebs
 * Set two days after Nyssa initially left the TARDIS.


 * AUDIO: The Whispering Forest
 * AUDIO: The Cradle of the Snake
 * AUDIO: The Four Doctors
 * AUDIO: Heroes of Sontar
 * AUDIO: Kiss of Death
 * AUDIO: Rat Trap
 * AUDIO: The Emerald Tiger
 * AUDIO: The Jupiter Conjunction
 * AUDIO: The Butcher of Brisbane
 * TV: The King's Demons
 * TV: The Five Doctors
 * AUDIO: The Five Companions


 * PROSE: The Eight Doctors
 * The Eight Doctors takes place just after The Five Doctors


 * TV: Warriors of the Deep
 * TV: The Awakening
 * TV: Frontios
 * AUDIO: Excelis Dawns
 * Takes place during Frontios while the Doctor is transporting the Gravis from Frontios to Kolkokron.


 * TV: Resurrection of the Daleks
 * AUDIO: Phantasmagoria
 * AUDIO: Loups-Garoux
 * AUDIO: Singularity
 * TV: Planet of Fire
 * AUDIO: Red Dawn
 * AUDIO: Exotron
 * AUDIO: Urban Myths
 * AUDIO: The Eye of the Scorpion
 * Erimem joins the TARDIS crew.


 * AUDIO: The Church and the Crown
 * AUDIO: No Place Like Home
 * Erimem is new to the TARDIS.


 * AUDIO: Nekromanteia
 * AUDIO: The Axis of Insanity
 * AUDIO: The Roof of the World
 * AUDIO: Three's a Crowd
 * AUDIO: The Council of Nicaea
 * AUDIO: The Kingmaker
 * AUDIO: The Gathering
 * This adventure occurs while Erimem and Peri are involved in The Veiled Leopard.


 * AUDIO: Cuddlesome
 * The Doctor is still travelling alone.


 * AUDIO: Son of the Dragon
 * The Doctor is again travelling with Peri and Erimem.


 * AUDIO: The Mind's Eye
 * AUDIO: The Bride of Peladon
 * Erimem leaves the Doctor.


 * AUDIO: Mission of the Viyrans
 * AUDIO: The Judgement of Isskar
 * The Doctor is separated from Peri until he finds the Key to Time.


 * AUDIO: The Destroyer of Delights
 * AUDIO: The Chaos Pool
 * AUDIO: Peri and the Piscon Paradox
 * The final lines indicate that this story is set directly prior to Androzani.


 * TV: The Caves of Androzani
 * AUDIO: Winter
 * Set during the Doctor's regeneration.

Unplaced

 * TV: Time Crash
 * PROSE: Goth Opera
 * PROSE: The Crystal Bucephalus
 * PROSE: Lords of the Storm
 * PROSE: The Sands of Time
 * PROSE: The Ultimate Treasure
 * PROSE: Zeta Major
 * PROSE: Deep Blue
 * PROSE: Imperial Moon
 * PROSE: The King of Terror
 * PROSE: Superior Beings
 * PROSE: Warmonger
 * PROSE: Fear of the Dark
 * PROSE: Empire of Death
 * PROSE: Blood and Hope
 * PROSE: The Key of Vaga
 * PROSE: Planet of Fear
 * PROSE: Danger Down Below
 * PROSE: The God Machine
 * PROSE: The Armageddon Chrysalis
 * PROSE: The Haven
 * PROSE: The Penalty
 * PROSE: Night Flight to Nowhere
 * PROSE: The Oxaqua Incident
 * PROSE: Winter on Mesique
 * PROSE: The Creation of Camelot
 * PROSE: Class 4 Renegade
 * PROSE: The Volcanis Deal
 * PROSE: The Nemertines
 * PROSE: Fungus
 * COMIC: Catalogue of Events
 * PROSE: Birth of a Renegade
 * PROSE: A Victorian Interlude
 * PROSE: Time on a Vine
 * PROSE: Encounter on Burnt Snake Flat
 * PROSE: Perfect Day
 * PROSE: One Last Try
 * PROSE: Fascination
 * PROSE: Lackaday Express
 * PROSE: Lonely Days
 * PROSE: Past Reckoning
 * PROSE: Zeitgeist
 * PROSE: The Parliament of Rats
 * PROSE: The Eternity Contract
 * PROSE: Hot Ice
 * PROSE: A Town Called Eternity
 * PROSE: Five Card Draw
 * PROSE: Hearts of Stone
 * PROSE: Qualia
 * PROSE: The Canvey Angels
 * PROSE: Soul Mate
 * PROSE: Confabula
 * PROSE: The Glass Princess
 * PROSE: Light at the End of the Tunnel
 * PROSE: No Exit
 * PROSE: Greenaway
 * PROSE: The Immortals
 * PROSE: Graham Dilley Saves the World
 * PROSE: White Man's Burden
 * PROSE: Observation
 * PROSE: Lant Land
 * PROSE: The Gangster's Story
 * PROSE: The Assassin's Story
 * PROSE: The Juror's Story
 * PROSE: Flashpoint
 * PROSE: Categorical Imperative
 * PROSE: Not So Much a Programme, More a Way of Life


 * PROSE: Long Term
 * PROSE: Artificial Intelligence
 * The Doctor mentions his visit to the school in Long Term.


 * PROSE: In the TARDIS: Christmas Day
 * PROSE: Never Seen Cairo
 * PROSE: Last Minute Shopping
 * PROSE: Lily
 * PROSE: The 57th
 * PROSE: A Life in the Day
 * PROSE: One Wednesday Afternoon
 * PROSE: Saturn
 * PROSE: Rome
 * PROSE: The Church of Saint Sebastian
 * PROSE: Comforts of Home
 * PROSE: The Velvet Dark
 * PROSE: Life After Queth
 * PROSE: Black and White
 * PROSE: Falling from Xi'an
 * PROSE: The Church of Football
 * PROSE: First Born
 * PROSE: Resonance
 * PROSE: Suspension and Disbelief
 * PROSE: Leap Second
 * PROSE: Men of the Earth
 * PROSE: The Misadventure of Mark Thorne
 * PROSE: There's Something About Mary
 * PROSE: Piecemeal
 * PROSE: Do You Believe in the Krampus?
 * PROSE: Far Away in a Manger
 * PROSE: Keeping It Real
 * PROSE: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back
 * PROSE: Goths and Robbers
 * PROSE: God Send Me Well to Keep
 * PROSE: Gudok
 * PROSE: Tweaker
 * PROSE: Methuselah
 * PROSE: Curiosity
 * PROSE: The Man on the Phone
 * PROSE: Do You Smell Carrots?
 * PROSE: The Fall of the Druids
 * AUDIO: The Deep
 * AUDIO: Sock Pig
 * AUDIO: The Sirens of Time
 * AUDIO: The Darkening Eye
 * AUDIO: The Three Companions
 * AUDIO: Ringpullworld
 * GAME: Destiny of the Doctors
 * COMIC: On the Planet Isopterus
 * COMIC: Time & Time Again
 * COMIC: The Lunar Strangers
 * COMIC: The Curse of the Scarab
 * COMIC: The Stockbridge Child (flashback)
 * COMIC: Blood Invocation
 * COMIC: The Forgotten (flashback)