1887

History of the Doctor Who Universe

 * Arthur Conan Doyle's "A Study in Scarlet," the first story to feature Sherlock Holmes, is published. Doyle has been commissioned to ghost write fictionalized accounts of the cases of a real consulting detective and his physician assistant, called in the stories, "Dr. Watson." Doyle's fictional version of the detective is inspired by the Fourth Doctor, whom he met several years earlier. The real detectives Holmes and Watson are based on also have their own adventure with the Doctor, in his seventh incarnation ("Evolution," "All-Consuming Fire").