1981

History of the Doctor Who Universe

 * Anne Travers becomes the cabinet's scientific advisor. (MA: Downtime)

February

 * 28 - The Doctor and Adric land the TARDIS by the side of a motorway to gain measurements of a police box. (DW: Logopolis)


 * Traken and Metulla Orionsis are destroyed by a wave of entropy. (DW: Logopolis)


 * Monarch intended to return to Earth and conquer it. (DW: Four to Doomsday)

March

 * 1 - The Doctor travelled with The Master and Tegan Jovanka to the Pharos Project on Earth to use it as a CVE. (DW: Logopolis'')


 * *The Doctor completed his regeneration at the base of the dish of the Pharos Project following a lethal fall from the top. (DW: Castrovalva'')

June

 * Peter Tracey is given a suspended sentence for breaking and entering. (K-9 & Company: A Girl's Best Friend)

September

 * A hailstorm srikes Moreton Harwood. It lasts only thirteen seconds, but destroys Commander Pollock's crops. (K-9 & Company: A Girl's Best Friend)

December

 * (1 - 14) - Sarah Jane Smith is out of the country working for Reuters. (K-9 & Company: A Girl's Best Friend)


 * 6 - Lavinia Smith leaves Moreton Harwood for a lecture tour in America. (K-9 & Company: A Girl's Best Friend)


 * 10 - Lavinia Smith phones Brendan Richards to tell him he will be spending Christmas with Sarah Jane. Brendan waits for Sarah to pick him up at school, unaware that she is out of the country. (K-9 & Company: A Girl's Best Friend)


 * At some point prior to 18 December, the Doctor visits Moreton Harwood, leaving a package for Sarah Jane containing a version of K-9. (K-9 & Company: A Girl's Best Friend)


 * 18 - 22) - . (K-9 & Company: A Girl's Best Friend) - Sarah Jane Smith discovers K-9.


 * 29 - Members of the witch's coven at Moreton Harwood are tried for attempted murder. (K-9 & Company: A Girl's Best Friend)

Unknown date

 * British musical group Soft Cell release their single, Tainted Love, which would go on to become recognized as a classic of early-1980s pop music. It is destined to be preserved until at the year 5,000,000,000 when it is revered as a piece of classical music from old Earth. (DW: The End of the World

January

 * 02 - Victor Carin, who played Virgil Earp in "The Gunfighters," dies from cancer in Edinburgh, Scotland.


 * 03 - Warriors' Gate Episode 1 First Broadcast


 * 10 - Warriors' Gate Episode 2 First Broadcast


 * 15 - Doctor Who and the Creature from the Pit First Published.


 * 17 - Warriors' Gate Episode 3 First Broadcast


 * 24 - Warriors' Gate Episode 4 First Broadcast


 * 31 - The Keeper of Traken Episode 1 First Broadcast

February

 * 07 - The Keeper of Traken Episode 2 First Broadcast


 * 14 - The Keeper of Traken Episode 3 First Broadcast


 * 21 - The Keeper of Traken Episode 4 First Broadcast


 * 21 - Ron Grainer dies


 * 28 - Logopolis Episode 1 First Broadcast

March

 * 07 - Logopolis Episode 2 First Broadcast


 * 14 - Logopolis Episode 3 First Broadcast


 * 21 - Logopolis Episode 4 First Broadcast, ending in Tom Baker's regeneration into Peter Davison. For the last time until 2005, the lead actor of the series is credited on screen as "Doctor Who" (beginning with the next season, the credit becomes "The Doctor").

April

 * 17 - Doctor Who and the Enemy of the World First Published. Written by series actor Ian Marter, the book is controversial at the time of release for its use of adult language in a line of books officially considered children's literature. This is the final release in the Target Books line to use the old series logo from 1973-80 (the logo would next appear on a Target novelization in the early 1990s).

October

 * 15 - Doctor Who and An Unearthly Child, an adaptation of the very first Doctor Who serial, is first published. Its publication promotes the upcoming rebroadcast of the serial by BBC Two. The Target Books line switches to the then-current "neon tubing" series logo with this release.

November

 * 02 - Third television Broadcast of An Unearthly Child in the UK on BBC Two


 * 03 - Second television Broadcast of The Cave of Skulls in the UK on BBC Two


 * 04 - Second television Broadcast of The Forest of Fear in the UK on BBC Two


 * 05 - Second television Broadcast of The Firemaker in the UK on BBC Two

December

 * 28 - K9 and Company - A Girl's Best Friend First Broadcast. This is an attempt at launching a spin-off series, but is not successful.

Unknown date

 * Steven Scott, who played Kebble in "The Power of the Daleks," dies.