1981

In 1981, someone tried to assassinate the Pope. (PROSE: The Assassin's Story)

January - June
On 21 January, the Fourth Doctor, Romana II and K9 Mark II visited Norway. (COMIC: A Midsummer's Nightmare)

On 28 February, the Fourth Doctor and Adric landed the TARDIS by the side of a motorway to gain measurements of a police box. Air hostess Tegan Jovanka stumbled aboard the TARDIS on her way to work at London's Heathrow Airport. Shortly after, Tegan's aunt Vanessa went looking for Tegan but was killed by. Afterwards, the Master's actions on Logopolis caused heat death to spread through N-Space in the form of an entropy wave. (TV: Logopolis)

On 1 March, the Doctor stopped the entropy wave by reopening a CVE in Cassiopeia. Soon afterwards, following a fall from the Pharos Project's dish, the Fourth Doctor regenerated into his fifth incarnation. (TV: Logopolis) The newly regenerated Doctor and his companions Adric, Nyssa and Tegan, escaped in the TARDIS. (TV: Castrovalva)

On 30 March, John Hinckley Jr tried to assassinate American President Ronald Reagan. (PROSE: The Assassin's Story)

On 7 April, Cassandra Elizabeth Schofield, the mother of the Seventh Doctor's companion Hex, was born to Hilda Schofield in Royal Bolton Hospital. (AUDIO: Project: Destiny)

July - December
In August, Martin Tuck was killed by the I Predator. (AUDIO: Iterations of I)

Peter Tracey was given a suspended sentence for breaking and entering. (TV: A Girl's Best Friend)

The Fifth Doctor attended a cricket match in Leeds twice. (PROSE: Graham Dilley Saves the World)

A hailstorm struck Moreton Harwood. It lasted only thirteen seconds, but destroyed Commander Bill Pollock's crops. (TV: A Girl's Best Friend)

On 22 October, Welsh MP for Anglesey Ieuan Wyn Jones spoke at Westminster, stressing that Dafydd Wigley was standing down for health reasons — and not because of a supposed UFO incursion shortly before. (TV: The New World)

From 1 December to 14 December, Sarah Jane Smith was out of the country working for Reuters. (TV: A Girl's Best Friend)

On 4 December, the Jex arrived on Earth, taking shelter in California's San Joaquin Valley. (PROSE: The King of Terror)

On 6 December, Lavinia Smith departed Moreton Harwood for a lecture tour in the United States. Before leaving, she arranged for a mysterious crate addressed to her niece, Sarah Jane Smith, to be left at Moreton Harwood. (TV: A Girl's Best Friend)

On 10 December, Lavinia Smith phoned her ward Brendan Richards to tell him that he would be spending Christmas with Sarah Jane. Brendan waited for Sarah to pick him up at Wellington College for over a week, unaware that she was out of the country. (TV: A Girl's Best Friend)

On 18 December, Sarah Jane met Brendan for the first time. Shortly afterwards, she opened the crate addressed to her in Lavinia's house and activated K9 Mark III, who had been left in her flat in Croydon by the Doctor in 1978. (TV: A Girl's Best Friend)

From 20 December to 21 December, Brendan was kidnapped by the Hecate Cult, who intended to use him as a human sacrifice. However, he was rescued by Sarah Jane Smith and K9 Mark III before this could happen. (TV: A Girl's Best Friend)

On 25 December, Sarah Jane, Brendan and K9 Mark III spent Christmas Day with Howard and Juno Baker as Sarah Jane's aunt Lavinia Smith was in the United States. (TV: A Girl's Best Friend)

On 29 December, members of the Hecate Cult at Moreton Harwood were charged with attempted murder. (TV: A Girl's Best Friend)

In December, the Fifth Doctor, Adric, Nyssa and Tegan Jovanka encountered the I and the I Predator on Fleming's Island off the coast of Ireland. (AUDIO: Iterations of I)

Unknown dates
Anne Travers became the British Cabinet's chief scientific advisor, succeeding her University of Cambridge lecturer and mentor Professor Rachel Jensen. She served in that position until her death on 31 December 1999. (PROSE: Millennial Rites)

Ellie Ravenwood met her future husband, Dave Oswald, after saving him from being hit by a car. Unbeknownst to them, they were watched by the Eleventh Doctor, who was trying to figure out the history of Clara Oswald. (TV: The Rings of Akhaten)

In some timelines, Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart retired from UNIT and began teaching at Brendon Public School. Just after telling the UN he was retiring, Lethbridge-Stewart was taken from time by the Accord and copied to help stabilise the temporal instability concerning the 1970s and 1980s being melded together. He was returned to his present time and retained no memory of the incident. (PROSE: The Enfolded Time)

Joel's father lost his job. He was still out of work in 1991. (AUDIO: The Blood Furnace)

Behind the scenes
According to the Torchwood House website, the Torchwood House was opened to the public in this year.