Theory:Timeline - Sarah Jane Smith

This page lists appearances of Sarah Jane Smith in the order 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 that for each novel, comic, audio or television series, their published, broadcast or numbered order is the order they occur in.

Fan sources like the Doctor Who Reference Guide should not be used solely as a source or considered a "true" timeline for stories.

Limitations
Any story with her and the Third Doctor travelling together must be before TV: Planet of the Spiders. Any story with the Fourth Doctor and Harry Sullivan must be after TV: Robot and before TV: Terror of the Zygons, though due to the nature of travel throughout season 12, any story featuring TARDIS travel with Harry (other than TV: The Ark in Space) must take place after TV: Revenge of the Cybermen. Any story with just Sarah Jane and the Fourth Doctor must be after TV: Terror of the Zygons and before TV: The Hand of Fear. Any story featuring K9 Mark III must be after TV: A Girl's Best Friend and before TV: School Reunion.

Any story with Maria, Luke and Clyde on her team must be after TV: Revenge of the Slitheen and before TV: The Last Sontaran. Any story with Clyde and Rani must be after TV: The Last Sontaran. Any story with K9 Mark IV defending the black hole must be between TV: Invasion of the Bane and TV: The Mad Woman in the Attic. Any story with K9 freely around in Bannerman Road must be after TV: The Mad Woman in the Attic and before TV: The Nightmare Man. Any story with Luke at Oxford with K9 must be after TV: The Nightmare Man. Any story with Sky must be after TV: Sky.

Series basics
Sarah Jane's adventures can be broadly be divided into these various eras;


 * Her travels with the Doctor (original to television)


 * Her investigations during the two series of Big Finish Productions' Sarah Jane Smith audio series and any related stories to this series.
 * Her defence of the Earth from Bannerman Road in the early 21st century (original to television)
 * Any other solo stories that take place post-The Hand of Fear and/or A Girl's Best Friend.

Her setup of allies can be further divided into:


 * The Third Doctor
 * The Fourth Doctor and Harry Sullivan
 * The Fourth Doctor
 * Josh Townsend and Natalie Redfern
 * Maria Jackson, Luke Smith and Clyde Langer
 * Luke, Clyde and Rani Chandra
 * Clyde and Rani
 * Clyde, Rani and Sky Smith

Early Life

 * TV: The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith
 * Set on 18 August 1951. Sarah Jane is a newborn baby.


 * TV: The Day of the Clown
 * As a child.


 * AUDIO: The White Wolf
 * As a child, about 8 years old.


 * PROSE: Playtime
 * Sarah Jane is about 12 years old.


 * TV: Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?
 * As a teenager.

Travels with the Third Doctor

 * TV: The Time Warrior
 * The Doctor meets Sarah Jane Smith, who becomes a reluctant stowaway aboard the TARDIS.


 * AUDIO: The Paradise of Death
 * Set immediately after The Time Warrior, with the Doctor returning Sarah home. She decides to officially join the Doctor's company.


 * PROSE: Before the Legend
 * Sarah Jane doesn't know much about the Doctor's origins.


 * PROSE: The Time Thief
 * The Doctor tells Sarah Jane about Gallifrey and the Time Lords.


 * PROSE: Scorched Earth


 * COMIC: Doomcloud


 * COMIC: Perils of Paris


 * COMIC: Who's Who?


 * TV: Invasion of the Dinosaurs


 * PROSE: Neptune
 * The Doctor has been trying to get Sarah Jane to Florana since they left London in Invasion of the Dinosaurs, but has failed to get her there several times already.


 * TV: Death to the Daleks
 * The Doctor and Sarah are traveling to Florana for a holiday, setting this almost immediately after Invasion of the Dinosaurs. Sarah Jane has her first encounter with the Daleks.


 * AUDIO: The Ghosts of N-Space
 * The TARDIS is still recovering from the energy drainage sustained in Death to the Daleks.


 * PROSE: The Hungry Bomb
 * The Doctor and Sarah finally make it to Florana, setting this after Death to the Daleks.


 * PROSE: Interesting Times
 * Set after Death to the Daleks.


 * PROSE: Signal S.O.S.


 * COMIC: In With the Tide
 * The Doctor is driving the "Whomobile", setting this after Invasion of the Dinosaurs. The Doctor and Sarah have been absent from UNIT long enough for it to have been infiltrated by the Remoraxians. Liz, Sarah Jane and the Brigadier are kidnapped Adam Mitchell, leading directly into Endgame.


 * COMIC: Endgame
 * The Doctor joins with his other incarnations to rescue his friends from Adam and, and assists the other Doctors in saving their companions as well.


 * PROSE: Numb
 * Set seven weeks after Invasion of the Dinosaurs.


 * COMIC: Invasion of the Scorpion Men


 * PROSE: The Discourse of Flies
 * Sarah has already been to a number of alien worlds.


 * PROSE: Island of Death
 * Sarah mentions her vacation in Sicily, setting this after The Ghosts of N-Space.


 * TV: The Monster of Peladon


 * PROSE: Alien Bodies
 * Sarah Jane and the Doctor have just left Peladon, setting this after The Monster of Peladon.


 * PROSE: Interference: Shock Tactic
 * Set immediately after Alien Bodies, with the Doctor and Sarah intending to return to Earth. The Doctor discovers a door within the TARDIS that leads to his eighth incarnation, who attempts to warn him of Faction Paradox. The TARDIS lands on the planet Dust during the War in Heaven, on the same day when I.M. Foreman's Travelling Show arrived and the Faction Paradox warships approached the planet, leading directly into Interference: The Hour of the Geek.


 * PROSE: Interference: The Hour of the Geek
 * The Doctor defeats the Remote invasion, and resolves the apparent paradox of Foreman's original encounter with his future selves. However, due to the interference of Faction Paradox, the Doctor is shot by Magdelana Bishop, and begins to regenerate into his next incarnation.


 * The Eighth Doctor was uncertain which timeline would become real. Compassion initially told Fitz Kreiner that the Doctor's visit to Dust and the War in Heaven had been unwritten from history. (PROSE: The Ancestor Cell) However, when the Eighth Doctor eventually regained contact with the greater universe, history had been rewritten so that Gallifrey had never even existed, (PROSE: The Adventuress of Henrietta Street) suggesting that the War had not been erased but actually continued and ended in some other way. (PROSE: The Book of the War, The Story So Far...)


 * PROSE: Separation Day
 * Sarah is wearing the leather jacket seen in The Monster of Peladon.


 * PROSE: Amorality Tale
 * Set between The Monster of Peladon and Planet of the Spiders, with the Doctor feeling morbid after his brush with death on Peladon.


 * PROSE: Link
 * Set after The Monster of Peladon.


 * AUDIO: Glorious Goodwood
 * Sarah recalls meeting Aggedor on Peladon, setting this after The Monster of Peladon.


 * PROSE: A Visit from Saint Nicholas
 * Set after The Monster of Peladon.


 * PROSE: Primitives


 * PROSE: The Lampblack Wars


 * PROSE: Generation Gap


 * PROSE: An Overture Too Early
 * Set shortly before  Planet of the Spiders.


 * TV: Planet of the Spiders
 * Confronting the Great One of the Eight Legs, the Doctor receives a lethal dose of radiation, but is able to escape in the TARDIS. After the TARDIS finally lands back at UNIT HQ, the Doctor is able to regenerate into his next incarnation with assistance from K'anpo Rimpoche.

Travels with the Fourth Doctor

 * TV: Robot
 * Set immediately after Planet of the Spiders, with the Doctor's regeneration stabilising. Though he intends a fresh start by leaving UNIT behind, the Doctor accepts Sarah's offer to let her travel with him. UNIT doctor Harry Sullivan follows them into the TARDIS.


 * TV: The Ark in Space
 * Harry is taking his first trip in the TARDIS, setting this directly after Robot. The TARDIS crew arrive at the Nerva Beacon due to Harry fiddling with TARDIS, and volunteer to beam down to Earth to do repairs, leading directly into The Sontaran Experiment.


 * TV: The Sontaran Experiment
 * The TARDIS crew fix the faulty equipment on Earth and beam back to the Nerva Beacon.


 * TV: Genesis of the Daleks
 * Set immediately after The Sontaran Experiment. The Time Lords intercept to transmat beam and give the Doctor a Time Ring and a mission on Skaro, where the Doctor meets Davros and witnesses the creation of the Daleks.


 * PROSE: A Device of Death
 * The Doctor, Sarah and Harry are scattered across the Adelphine Cluster due to temporal disruption interfering with the Time Ring, setting this immediately after Genesis of the Daleks. The Doctor claims to be 748-years-old.


 * PROSE: The Last Thing You Ever See
 * The Doctor, Sarah and Harry are still using the Time Ring, setting this shortly after Genesis of the Daleks.


 * TV: Revenge of the Cybermen
 * Just as they retrieve the TARDIS from the Nerva Beacon, the TARDIS crew receive a summons from the Brigadier, leading into Terror of the Zygons.


 * PROSE: Nanomorphosis
 * The TARDIS still needs time to recover from the solar flare radiation from Revenge of the Cybermen.


 * AUDIO: #HarrySullivan
 * The Doctor is attempting to travel to Scotland, but the TARDIS is knocked off course and arrives on the Zephyr instead.


 * COMIC: Black Destiny
 * The Doctor and his companions expect to find the Loch Ness on exiting the TARDIS, setting this shortly before Terror of the Zygons.


 * COMIC: Ground Zero


 * PROSE: Wolfsbane
 * The Doctor, Sarah and Harry are wearing their costumes from Terror of the Zygons. The TARDIS is knocked off course after an attempt to get to Scotland. After returning Godric to the arthurian times, the TARDIS makes its way to Scotland, leading into Terror of the Zygons.


 * PROSE: Toil and Trouble
 * Ending leads directly into Terror of the Zygons.


 * TV: Terror of the Zygons
 * The TARDIS crew make it to Scotland, and Harry decides to remain on Earth with UNIT.


 * TV: Planet of Evil
 * Set immediately after Terror of the Zygons, with the TARDIS having just left Loch Ness for London.


 * PROSE: The Republican's Story
 * The Doctor claims to have travelled over 30,000 years to get to the 17th century, implying that this takes place immediately after Planet of Evil. The Doctor is blamed for the Great Fire of London, setting this before Pyramids of Mars.


 * PROSE: Rights
 * Sarah and the Doctor are still wearing the clothes they wore in Planet of Evil.


 * TV: Pyramids of Mars
 * The Doctor and Sarah are still trying to get back to London.


 * PROSE: Scarab of Death
 * Set immediately after Pyramids of Mars.


 * PROSE: Old Flames
 * The Doctor is wearing a burgundy coat, and Sarah observes that he has been moody as of late, setting this shortly after Pyramids of Mars.


 * TV: The Android Invasion
 * The Doctor and Sarah make it to London after leaving for it in Terror of the Zygons, and enduring side-tracks during Planet of Evil and Pyramids of Mars.


 * The Doctor and Sarah Jane return to UNIT HQ, and base themselves on Earth, with the Doctor staying at a cottage and resuming use of Bessie, (COMIC: Death Flower, Return of the Daleks) while Sarah Jane continues working as an investigative reporter. (COMIC: The Hoaxers) However, they frequently take side trips, and are often accompanied by Harry. (PROSE: A New Life, The Hospitality on Hankus)


 * COMIC: Death Flower
 * The Doctor and Sarah Jane both comment on getting used to the Doctor's new face.


 * COMIC: Return of the Daleks
 * The TARDIS is captured by a Renegade Time Lord called Shazar, however, with the Time Lords' help, the Doctor is able to retrieve his ship.


 * While working with UNIT, the Doctor does research into Richard III for his book, Doctor Who Discovers Historical Mysteries. (AUDIO: The Kingmaker)


 * PROSE: A New Life (1976)
 * The Doctor and Sarah leave UNIT HQ to take a trip in the TARDIS. The Brigadier is not happy and questions Harry on their whereabouts.


 * PROSE: Managra
 * Though the book's blurb places this between Planet of Evil and Pyramids of Mars, the Doctor and Sarah aren't trying to get to London.


 * COMIC: Gaze of the Medusa
 * The Doctor and Sarah have faced Sutekh, and the TARDIS has its primary interior, setting this between Pyramids of Mars and The Masque of Mandragora. The Doctor claims the Brigadier will be angry if he returns without Sarah, and Sarah is excited to see the look on Harry's face when they tell him they met his great-grandparents.


 * PROSE: The Lost Generation
 * Sarah recalls the events of The Android Invasion.


 * COMIC: The Wreckers


 * COMIC: The Emperor's Spy


 * PROSE: Scratchman
 * The Doctor alludes to the recent events of Terror of the Zygons and The Android Invasion.


 * PROSE: The Hospitality on Hankus


 * COMIC: The Psychic Jungle


 * PROSE: The Sinister Sponge


 * COMIC: The Sinister Sea


 * COMIC: Woden's Warriors


 * COMIC: Neuronic Nightmare


 * PROSE: Avast There!


 * PROSE: The Mission


 * COMIC: The Space Ghost


 * PROSE: War on Aquatica


 * PROSE: Cyclone Terror


 * PROSE: The Time Snatch


 * COMIC: The Body Snatcher


 * PROSE: The Eye-Spiders of Pergross


 * PROSE: Detour to Diamedes


 * PROSE: Double Trouble


 * COMIC: Menace on Metalupiter


 * PROSE: Secret of the Bald Planet


 * PROSE: The Heat-Seekers


 * PROSE: To Kill a Nandi Bear


 * PROSE: The Last Broadcast


 * PROSE: The Dragons of Prague


 * AUDIO: How to Win Planets and Influence People


 * PROSE: The Vampires of Crellium


 * PROSE: On the Slippery Trail


 * COMIC: The Dalek Revenge
 * The Time Lords take control of Bessie, and send the Doctor on a mission to defeat the Daleks on the planet Ercos.


 * COMIC: Virus
 * The Time Lords direct the TARDIS to a synthetic jungle inside a space station.


 * COMIC: Treasure Trail
 * The Time Lords direct the TARDIS to a vineyard in Italy so that the Doctor can save some art treasures.


 * TV: The Brain of Morbius
 * The Doctor complains about the Time Lords "messing about with the TARDIS", setting this after the comic stories set between Return of the Daleks and Treasure Trail, where the Time Lord had been doing so.


 * PROSE: Evolution
 * Sarah refers to the recent events of The Brain of Morbius.


 * PROSE: Sarah Jane and the Temple of Eyes
 * Set shortly after The Brain of Morbius.


 * COMIC: Hubert's Folly
 * Set a few days after Treasure Trail.


 * PROSE: All Done with Mirrors


 * PROSE: The Duke of Dominoes


 * PROSE: Observer Effect
 * Sarah understands that it takes time for radio waves to travel between Mars and Earth, setting this after Pyramids of Mars.


 * COMIC: Counter-Rotation


 * COMIC: Mind Snatch


 * COMIC: The Hoaxers


 * PROSE: Conscription
 * Sarah claims it is Christmas in her time period.


 * PROSE: UNIT Christmas Parties: Ships That Pass


 * PROSE: Blessed Are the Peacemakers


 * AUDIO: Chain Reaction


 * COMIC: The Tansbury Experiment


 * COMIC: The Mutant Strain


 * COMIC: Double Trouble


 * COMIC: Dredger


 * AUDIO: The Wondrous Box


 * AUDIO: Collector's Item


 * TV: The Seeds of Doom


 * PROSE: The Magic Box


 * PROSE: Which Way Out?


 * PROSE: System Shock
 * Set between The Seeds of Doom and The Masque of Mandragora. It has been one month from her perspective since Sarah Jane has seen Harry.


 * AUDIO: Doctor Who and the Pescatons
 * Set between The Seeds of Doom and The Masque of Mandragora.


 * PROSE: The Sleeping Beast


 * PROSE: The Sands of Tymus


 * COMIC: The Rival Robots


 * PROSE: A New Life (1978)


 * COMIC: The Traitor


 * PROSE: The Sea of Faces


 * PROSE: Categorical Imperative
 * The Doctor and Sarah go back in time to save the Eighth Doctor after he fails to kill a dictator as a baby.


 * PROSE: Dr. Fourth


 * TV: The Masque of Mandragora
 * The Doctor begins using the secondary control room in the TARDIS.


 * COMIC: Jackals of Space
 * The Doctor is using the secondary control room, setting this after The Masque of Mandragora.


 * PROSE: The Android Maker of Calderon IV
 * Sarah recalls the events of The Masque of Mandragora.


 * PROSE: Eternity
 * The Doctor is using the secondary control room, setting this after The Masque of Mandragora.


 * PROSE: Autaia Pipipi Pia


 * PROSE: Hello Goodbye
 * The Doctor is using the secondary control room, setting this after The Masque of Mandragora.


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


 * AUDIO: Exploration Earth: The Time Machine


 * COMIC: The Naked Flame
 * Sarah is wearing her Andy Pandy clothes, setting this shortly before The Hand of Fear.


 * TV: The Hand of Fear
 * Sarah decides she has had enough of life in the TARDIS, and the Doctor receives a summons from Gallifrey, forcing him to leave Sarah behind.

After the Doctor

 * PROSE: Ships


 * PROSE: Suitors, Inc.
 * Set in 1979. Sarah recalls the events of Old Flames.

Living in Moreton Harwood

 * TV: A Girl's Best Friend
 * Set in 1981.


 * PROSE: Still Need a Title!
 * Sarah believes the Doctor did not live past his fourth life, until K9 tells her that he did regenerate, setting this before The Five Doctors.


 * PROSE: Powerstone


 * PROSE: The Shroud of Azaroth


 * PROSE: Hound of Hell


 * PROSE: The Monster of Loch Crag


 * PROSE: Horror Hotel


 * PROSE: The Curse of Kanbo-Ala


 * COMIC: City of Devils


 * PROSE: The Sow in Rut

Return to London

 * TV: The Five Doctors / PROSE: Punting


 * PROSE: Harry Sullivan's War
 * Set in May, 1983.


 * PROSE: Farewells


 * COMIC: Train-Flight
 * In 1990, Sarah Jane meets the Seventh Doctor for the first time.


 * PROSE: Housewarming
 * Sarah remembers meeting the Master in The Five Doctors.


 * PROSE: Fond Memories


 * HOMEVID: Downtime
 * Set in 1995.


 * PROSE: Balloon Debate
 * Sarah has K9 Mark III and is struggling with writer's block.


 * PROSE: Interference - Book One / Interference - Book Two
 * Set in 1996. K9 is still working.


 * PROSE: Bullet Time
 * Set in 1997. Sarah is killed at the end of the story. However this was orchestrated by the Council of Eight and was undone when the Eighth Doctor defeated them in Sometime Never...


 * PROSE: Moving On
 * K9 is beginning to break down.


 * PROSE: Girls' Night In
 * Sarah Jane meets up with Tegan Jovanka, Liz Shaw, Jo Grant and Ace McShane. She is a published author who has turned her adventures with the Doctor into novels.


 * PROSE: A Dog's Life
 * K9 shuts down.


 * PROSE: A Mutual Friend
 * Set in the 21st century. Sarah is a journalist.

Natalie Redfern and Josh Townsend

 * AUDIO: Comeback


 * AUDIO: The Tao Connection


 * AUDIO: Test of Nerve


 * AUDIO: Ghost Town


 * AUDIO: Mirror, Signal, Manoeuvre


 * AUDIO: Buried Secrets


 * AUDIO: Snow Blind


 * AUDIO: Fatal Consequences


 * AUDIO: Dreamland

A New K9

 * TV: School Reunion


 * PROSE: A Dog's Life
 * Set during School Reunion, while the Tenth Doctor is repairing K9.

Meeting Luke, Maria and Clyde

 * TV: Invasion of the Bane
 * At least "a year and a half" following School Reunion. Sarah Jane meets Maria Jackson adopts Luke Smith, who was "born a thirteen year old boy".


 * TV: Revenge of the Slitheen
 * Takes place shortly after Invasion of the Bane at the start of a new year at Park Vale Comprehensive School. Maria and Luke, who is now "fourteen", befriend Clyde Langer. Luke and Clyde are classmates in form 10B


 * TV: Eye of the Gorgon


 * TV: Warriors of Kudlak


 * AUDIO: The Glittering Stone


 * AUDIO: The Thirteenth Stone


 * TV: Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?


 * TV: The Lost Boy
 * Continues from Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?.


 * TV: The Stolen Earth


 * TV: Journey's End


 * TV: The Last Sontaran
 * Maria moves away to America.

Rani joins the gang

 * TV: The Day of the Clown
 * Rani Chandra moves into Bannerman Road and becomes a part of Sarah Jane's gang.


 * TV: Secrets of the Stars


 * AUDIO: The Time Capsule


 * AUDIO: The Ghost House


 * TV: The Mark of the Berserker
 * Rani meets Maria Jackson for the first time, via a video call.


 * TV: The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith
 * Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane? took place "last year".


 * TV: Enemy of the Bane


 * TV: From Raxacoricofallapatorius with Love


 * TV: Prisoner of the Judoon


 * WC:  Androvax


 * TV: The Mad Woman in the Attic
 * The black hole K9 Mark IV guarded is swallowed up.


 * WC: Alien File: Eve


 * AUDIO: The Shadow People


 * AUDIO: Wraith World


 * AUDIO: Deadly Download


 * AUDIO: The White Wolf


 * WC: Alien File: The Doctor


 * TV: The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith
 * Sarah Jane nearly marries Peter Dalton as part of a plot concocted by the Trickster. The Tenth Doctor appears to foil his plans, meeting Luke, Clyde, and Rani for the first time as he does.


 * TV: The Eternity Trap


 * WC: Alien File: Erasmus Darkening


 * TV: Mona Lisa's Revenge
 * Luke and Clyde are now in form 11T.


 * WC: Alien File: Mona Lisa


 * TV: The Gift
 * Luke is now "fifteen".


 * WC: Alien File: Blathereen


 * COMIC: Monster Hunt


 * COMIC: Return of the Krulius


 * COMIC: Vortex Butterflies
 * Present day setting is 2009. Sarah Jane meets the Tenth Doctor again, and she has a photograph of herself and the Tenth Doctor from her wedding day to Peter Dalton, setting this between The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith and The End of Time.


 * TV: The End of Time
 * Sarah and Luke see the Tenth Doctor for the final time, with Sarah sensing that he is about to regenerate. (TV: Death of the Doctor)

Luke leaves for university

 * TV: The Nightmare Man
 * Luke leaves for Oxford with K9.


 * TV: SJAF 1


 * TV: The Vault of Secrets


 * TV: SJAF 2


 * TV: Death of the Doctor
 * Sarah Jane meets the Eleventh Doctor. She alludes to the events of School Reunion, which she recalls took place "about four years ago".


 * TV: SJAF 3


 * TV: The Empty Planet


 * TV: SJAF 4


 * COMIC: Defending Bannerman Road


 * TV: Lost in Time
 * Set on 23 November 2010.


 * TV: SJAF 5


 * TV: Goodbye, Sarah Jane Smith


 * TV: SJAF 6

Adopting Sky

 * TV: Sky
 * Sky is adopted by Sarah Jane.


 * TV: The Curse of Clyde Langer
 * "Barely a month" following Sky.


 * TV: The Man Who Never Was
 * Luke has gone through seven mobile phones in "the past two years.


 * AUDIO: Children of Steel


 * AUDIO: Judgement Day

Later life

 * PROSE: Doctor Who and the Horror of Coal Hill
 * Sarah Jane catches up with the Eleventh Doctor, mentioning that she intends to meet with Luke in twenty minutes. The Doctor hands her a fez, instructing her to deliver it to Clyde for him.


 * NOTVALID: Visitors to the Vault
 * In 2017, Sarah Jane and Jo Jones visit the Twelfth Doctor at St Luke's University. Sarah Jane is now living on her own at 13 Bannerman Road, with Luke, Clyde, and Rani having long since "flown the nest".


 * PROSE: Lily
 * Sarah Jane has a granddaughter named Lily.


 * WC: Farewell, Sarah Jane
 * Friends of Sarah Jane and the Doctor attend Sarah's funeral.