Theory:Timeline - Second Doctor

This page lists appearances of the Second 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. 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
Time placement of Second Doctor stories has a lot to do with looking at the companions. Any story featuring only Ben Jackson and Polly Wright must take place before TV: The Highlanders; any story featuring Jamie McCrimmon must take place after TV: The Highlanders. Any story with Victoria Waterfield must take place after TV: The Evil of the Daleks and before TV: Fury from the Deep. Any story with Zoe Heriot must be set during or after TV: The Wheel in Space.

Where it gets tricky is when the Second Doctor is with un-televised companions, or with Jamie alone. A lot of these stories are often said to occur during Season 6B, a fan-opined spot on the timeline after the Doctor's trial on Gallifrey in The War Games. Such placement is possible because we don't actually see the Second Doctor regenerate into the Third. Thus it is possible to imagine, as TV Comic writers and Terrance Dicks certainly did, that the Second Doctor survived for an unspecified period of time after The War Games.

But you can't always shuffle off these difficult stories to Season 6b. And even if you do put them there, it's hard to know precisely where they sit in relation to each other.

TV Comics placement
The Second Doctor's travels with John and Gillian are very problematic to place in the Doctor's timeline, as they are inexplicably traveling with him by The Extortioner, with no explanation given as to how this relate to their travels with the First Doctor.

The stories Conundrum and The Land of Happy Endings hypothesise that these adventures are either stories created by The Master of the Land of Fiction or the Doctor's dreams.

A changed man

 * TV: The Tenth Planet
 * The Doctor regenerates from his previous incarnation.


 * TV: The Power of the Daleks
 * Set immediately after The Tenth Planet, with the Doctor adjusting to his new body.


 * COMIC: The Chameleon Factor
 * The Doctor has only just regenerated, and is mourning the loss of his old signet ring.


 * AUDIO: The Light at the End
 * Whilst leaving Vulcan, the Doctor, Ben and Polly briefly encounter an apparition of a Charley Pollard from an alternate timeline.


 * PROSE: Timewyrm: Apocalypse
 * Soon after regenerating, the Doctor meets Lilith on Kirith.


 * PROSE: Pluto
 * Set almost immediately after The Power of the Daleks, with Ben finally accepting the Doctor's change of appearance.


 * PROSE: The Sour Note
 * PROSE: The Dream Masters
 * COMIC: The Tests of Trefus
 * PROSE: The Word of Asiries
 * No explanations are given about the absence of Ben and Polly


 * PROSE: Only a Matter of Time
 * References are made to the Doctor's recent regeneration.


 * PROSE: Planet of Bones
 * PROSE: When Starlight Grows Cold
 * The Doctor claims this is the first time the TARDIS has ever managed a short hop.


 * COMIC: World Without Night
 * PROSE: H.M.S. TARDIS
 * PROSE: The King of Golden Death
 * PROSE: Invasion of the Cat-People
 * Three weeks have passed since The Power of the Daleks.


 * PROSE: The Murder Game
 * The Doctor creates a temporary sonic device, and resolves to begin work on a permanent version when he gets back to the TARDIS, leading to the creation of the sonic screwdriver.


 * PROSE: Dying in the Sun
 * Ben and Polly are well adjusted to the Second Doctor, placing this shortly before The Highlanders. The Doctor says that he has not been in America for some time, placing this before Wonderland.


 * PROSE: The Feast
 * PROSE: Wonderland
 * The Doctor unlocks a door with a prototype sonic screwdriver, placing this after The Murder Game.

A new best friend

 * TV: The Highlanders
 * The Doctor, Ben and Polly meet Jamie McCrimmon, who joins them aboard the TARDIS.


 * TV: The Underwater Menace
 * Jamie is marvelling at the sight of the TARDIS interior, setting this immediately after The Highlanders.


 * TV: The Moonbase
 * Set immediately after The Underwater Menace, and the ending leads directly into The Macra Terror.


 * TV: The Macra Terror
 * AUDIO: Resistance
 * The Doctor has only recently regenerated.


 * AUDIO: The Three Companions: Polly’s Story
 * Polly's Story takes place between the Companion Chronicles story Resistance and the television story The Faceless Ones.


 * PROSE: The Slave War
 * AUDIO: The Forbidden Time
 * AUDIO: The Selachian Gambit
 * Jamie and Ben refer to their escape from the Milice from Resistance.


 * AUDIO: House of Cards
 * Jamie refers to the events of the The Selachian Gambit.


 * AUDIO: The Yes Men
 * The Doctor is trying to return Polly and Ben to 1966, setting this close to The Faceless Ones.


 * PROSE: The Roundheads
 * Jamie has started to consider the TARDIS to be home, setting this late in his early travels.


 * AUDIO: The Forsaken
 * TV: The Faceless Ones
 * Having landed on the day their left, Ben and Polly decide to remain behind at Gatwick Airport. Ending leads directly into The Evil of the Daleks.

Looking after Victoria

 * TV: The Evil of the Daleks
 * After her father dies protecting him from the Daleks, the Doctor takes on the orphaned Victoria Waterfield as a companion.


 * TV: The Tomb of the Cybermen
 * Victoria is introduced to the TARDIS, setting this immediately after The Evil of the Daleks.


 * AUDIO: Return to Telos
 * Set during The Tomb of the Cybermen: Episode 1, when Jamie and Hayden enter the weapons testing room.


 * PROSE: The Age of Ambition
 * Victoria has not fully accepted her new life aboard the TARDIS. She recalls visiting Telos, setting this shortly after The Tomb of the Cybermen.


 * AUDIO: The Way Forwards
 * Victoria has only been travelling with the Doctor for a short time, placing near the beginning of her travels.


 * PROSE: The Lost
 * Jamie has not yet learned to write.


 * PROSE: Lords of the Galaxy
 * PROSE: Follow the Phantoms
 * PROSE: Mastermind of Space
 * PROSE: The Celestial Toyshop
 * PROSE: Valley of Dragons
 * PROSE: Planet from Nowhere
 * COMIC: Atoms Infinite
 * PROSE: Happy as Queeg
 * PROSE: World of Ice
 * PROSE: The Microtron Men
 * PROSE: Death to Mufl
 * COMIC: Freedom by Fire
 * PROSE: Heart of TARDIS
 * The Doctor still feels "new" to his body. Jamie has learned to write in English, albeit not very well.


 * PROSE: Independence Day
 * TV: The Abominable Snowmen
 * The Doctor meets Professor Edward Travers and faces the Great Intelligence for the first time.


 * TV: The Ice Warriors
 * Jamie thinks that the TARDIS has only landed further up the Tibetan mountain, setting this shortly after The Abominable Snowmen.


 * AUDIO: The Black Hole
 * Jamie compares a colony's computers to those from The Ice Warriors. Between Episode 2 and Episode 3, the Doctor and Jamie almost visit the events of The Two Doctors, but leave immediately upon seeing that Sontarans.


 * PROSE: The Last Emperor
 * PROSE: Dreams of Empire
 * The Doctor uses his new sonic screwdriver, which he had previously resolved to create in The Murder Game.


 * PROSE: Combat Rock
 * The Doctor refers to the tropical beach as "a welcome change", placing this story before The Enemy of the World.


 * PROSE: Face-Painter
 * PROSE: The Farmer's Story
 * PROSE: Saint Nicholas's Bones
 * PROSE: On a Pedestal
 * PROSE: Timewyrm: Apocalypse
 * Set during the very beginning of The Enemy of the World: Episode 1.


 * TV: The Enemy of the World
 * TV: The Web of Fear
 * Set immediately after The Enemy of the World. The Doctor has his first formal encounter with Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart.


 * PROSE: The Ambush!
 * Set during The Web of Fear: Episode 2. Depicts the moment the Doctor was introduced to Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart.


 * PROSE: Downtime
 * Continues on from the ending of The Web of Fear: Episode 6.


 * PROSE: Father Figure
 * Set shortly after The Web of Fear, with London recovering from the Yeti invasion.


 * COMIC: Bringer of Darkness
 * Victoria welcomes a peaceful change from "the horrors of the London Underground", referring to The Web of Fear.


 * AUDIO: The Great Space Elevator
 * Even though Victoria mentions having just been on Telos, the story's blurb places its events between The Web of Fear and Fury from the Deep.


 * AUDIO: The Emperor of Eternity
 * Upon learning that they are near Tibet, Jamie wonders if the travellers will encounter more of the Yeti from The Abominable Snowman.


 * PROSE: Twilight of the Gods
 * Victoria has been on the TARDIS for several months now, and starts thinking about leaving.


 * PROSE: The Dark Path
 * Having just left Vortis in Twilight of the Gods, the Doctor reunites with an old Time Lord friend, who succumbs to his inner darkness and becomes the Master. Victoria decides that she shall leave the TARDIS at their next stop on Earth.


 * PROSE: The Astronomer's Apprentice
 * Set shortly before Fury from the Deep.


 * PROSE: The Cutty Wren
 * The Doctor is testing his new sonic screwdriver, which sets this story just before Fury from the Deep.


 * PROSE: Screamager
 * After seeing far too much death in her travels, Victoria privately decides that she will leave the TARDIS soon.


 * TV: Fury from the Deep
 * Having found a surrogate family, Victoria parts with the Doctor and Jamie.

The Doctor and Jamie

 * All stories that feature Jamie as a young man, and which has the Doctor with little control over the TARDIS, must be set between Fury from the Deep and The Wheel in Space.


 * PROSE: Twin Piques
 * PROSE: The Revolutionaries
 * PROSE: The Nameless City
 * The Doctor hasn't seen the Master in a long time, but knows that he hates him, setting this after The Dark Path. Jamie hasn't been traveling with the Doctor long.

Back]]''
 * AUDIO: Seven to One
 * PROSE: ''[[One Step Forward, Two Steps Back (short story)|One Step Forward, Two Steps

John and Gillian

 * After leaving Jamie in 1967, the Doctor somehow reunites with his two grandchildren, John and Gillian, and travels with them for a while.


 * COMIC: The Extortioner
 * COMIC: The Trodos Ambush
 * The Daleks recognise the Doctor from their encounter with him from The Power of the Daleks.


 * COMIC: The Doctor Strikes Back
 * COMIC: The Zombies
 * COMIC: Master of Spiders
 * COMIC: The Exterminator
 * COMIC: Barnabus
 * COMIC: Jungle Adventure
 * COMIC: The Monsters from the Past
 * COMIC: The TARDIS Worshippers
 * COMIC: Space War Two
 * COMIC: Egyptian Escapade
 * COMIC: Attack of the Daleks
 * COMIC: Pursued by the Trods
 * COMIC: The Coming of the Cybermen
 * COMIC: The Faithful Rocket Pack
 * COMIC: Flower Power
 * COMIC: The Witches
 * COMIC: Cyber-Mole
 * COMIC: The Sabre-Toothed Gorillas
 * COMIC: The Cyber Empire
 * COMIC: The Dyrons
 * COMIC: Return of the Witches
 * COMIC: Masquerade
 * COMIC: Dr. Who and the Space Pirates
 * COMIC: Car of the Century
 * COMIC: The Jokers
 * COMIC: The Time Museum
 * COMIC: The Electrodes

Travelling with Jamie again

 * COMIC: Invasion of the Quarks
 * To protect them from the Quarks, the Doctor enrols John and Gillian in the University of Zebedee, and then reunites with Jamie. The Doctor knows the Quarks by reputation only, setting this before The Dominators.


 * COMIC: The Killer Wasps
 * COMIC: Ice Cap Terror
 * The Doctor addresses the whole world on television, leading him to be "known on the Earth", as would be referenced in The War Games.


 * COMIC: Jungle of Doom
 * COMIC: Father Time
 * COMIC: Martha the Mechanical Housemaid

Zoe joins the duo

 * TV: The Wheel in Space
 * Zoe Heriot hides aboard the TARDIS when it departs the Space Station W3 and joins the Doctor and Jamie in their travels.


 * PROSE: Undercurrents
 * Zoe experiences uncertainty for the first time in her life, and Jamie notes that it has not been long since she joined the crew of the TARDIS, placing this near the start of her travels.


 * PROSE: The Colony of Lies
 * Zoe recalls the Cybermen's invasion of the Wheel in The Wheel in Space, but doesn't think of their invasion on 20th-century Earth from The Invasion, setting this before The Invasion. She has also yet to meet the Daleks.


 * AUDIO: Shadow of Death
 * Zoe has only just recently joined the TARDIS crew, while Jamie estimates that he has been travelling with the Doctor for "two or three" years. The Doctor explains to Zoe what the HADS are, setting this prior to The Krotons.


 * AUDIO: Little Doctors
 * Zoe only recently joined the TARDIS crew, and is wearing her silver cat suit for the first time.


 * PROSE: Outstanding Balance
 * Zoe is wearing her silver cat suit.


 * PROSE: The Indestructible Man
 * Zoe notes that she has only been travelling with the Doctor for a short time, and that her hair has recently been cut into a bob, setting this before The Dominators.


 * AUDIO: Fear of the Daleks
 * AUDIO: The Uncertainty Principle
 * TV: The Dominators
 * Ending leads directly into The Mind Robber.


 * TV: The Mind Robber
 * COMIC: Time & Time Again
 * Set during The Mind Robber.


 * PROSE: Future Imperfect
 * The Doctor immediately returns to the Land of Fiction from The Mind Robber, only to be recruited into the events of The Three Doctors. The transition into his future appears to affect his memory, as he recognises Corporal Benton from The Invasion, despite that event being in his near future.


 * TV: The Three Doctors
 * TV: The Invasion
 * Set immediately after The Mind Robber. The Doctor is introduced to UNIT and Corporal Benton.


 * AUDIO: The Isos Network
 * Set immediately after The Invasion, with the TARDIS following a Cyber Ships that escaped destruction.


 * PROSE: Briefly Noted
 * Set sometime after The Three Doctors, with the Doctor replacing his destroyed recorder.


 * AUDIO: Prison in Space
 * Zoe refers to a recent encounter with the Quarks from The Dominators. Jamie has been travelling with the Doctor for "years now." Zoe's assimilation into the World Federation of Women may account for her sudden wardrobe change in The Krotons.


 * AUDIO: The Rosemariners
 * AUDIO: The Queen of Time
 * AUDIO: The Dying Light
 * Jamie mentions witnessing a volcanic eruption on Dulkis, setting this after The Invasion.


 * TV: The Krotons
 * COMIC: Land of the Blind
 * Jamie and Zoe are wearing their outfits from The Krotons.


 * PROSE: The Avant Guardian
 * The Doctor is repairing the HADS, placing this after The Krotons.


 * PROSE: Visiting Hours
 * Set between The Krotons and The Seeds of Death. Zoe is mentioned as having been separated from the Doctor and Jamie.


 * PROSE: Please Shut the Gate
 * Jamie mentions the Ice Warriors, and Zoe doesn't react to it, placing this before The Seeds of Death.


 * AUDIO: The Memory Cheats
 * Jamie plays football for the first time in his life. Set between The Krotons and The Seeds of Death.


 * PROSE: Homework
 * Set just before The Seeds of Death.


 * TV: The Seeds of Death
 * PROSE: The Room with All the Doors
 * Before he was in the Multivarium, the Doctor was fighting the Ice Warriors on the Moon with Jamie and Zoe, setting this immediately after The Seeds of Death.


 * PROSE: Lepidoptery for Beginners
 * Set just after The Seeds of Death.


 * AUDIO: Tales from the Vault
 * The Doctor investigates some mysterious robberies.


 * PROSE:  Prelude First Frontier 
 * Zoe is mentioned to have stayed behind in the TARDIS.


 * PROSE: The Final Sanction
 * This novel's blurb places it between The Seeds of Death and The Space Pirates. The Doctor, Jamie and Zoe have already fought with the Daleks, Cybermen and Ice Warriors.


 * AUDIO: Echoes of Grey
 * This novel's blurb places it between The Seeds of Death and The Space Pirates.


 * AUDIO: The Apocalypse Mirror
 * PROSE: The Wheel of Ice
 * Zoe mentions the Ice Warriors and their use of the T-Mat network in The Seeds of Death.


 * AUDIO: The Glorious Revolution
 * This audio's blurb places it between The Seeds of Death and The Space Pirates. Jamie mentions Tobias Vaughn from The Invasion.


 * TV: The Space Pirates
 * AUDIO: Last of the Cybermen
 * The Doctor is switched with his sixth incarnation by the Monk. The adventure explicitly takes place two weeks after The Isos Network, and just after The Space Pirates.


 * PROSE: The Anti-Hero
 * PROSE: Foreign Devils
 * PROSE: The True Tragedy of Macbeth
 * PROSE: That Which Went Away
 * PROSE: Goodwill Toward Men
 * Jamie alludes to being trapped in the Land of Fiction from The Mind Robber.


 * COMIC: The Forgotten: Renewal
 * AUDIO: The Light at the End
 * AUDIO: Penny Wise, Pound Foolish
 * PROSE: Vortex of Fear
 * There's a reference to The Seeds of Death.


 * PROSE: The Dragons of Kekokro
 * PROSE: The Singing Crystals
 * COMIC: The Vampire Plants
 * PROSE: The Mystery of the Marie Celeste
 * PROSE: Grip of Ice
 * PROSE: Man Friday
 * PROSE: Slave of Shran
 * COMIC: Robot King
 * PROSE: Run the Gauntlet
 * PROSE: A Thousand & One Doors
 * PROSE: uPVC
 * Conversation about the vortex suggests that it is after Vortex of Fear.


 * PROSE: One Small Step...
 * The Doctor has faced the Krotons, setting this after The Krotons.


 * PROSE: Mercury
 * PROSE: Mirth, or Walking Spirits
 * AUDIO: The Jigsaw War
 * AUDIO: The Five Dimensional Man
 * AUDIO: Lords of the Red Planet
 * Zoe has met the Ice Warriors before, placing this after The Seeds of Death.


 * PROSE: Aliens and Predators
 * Zoe recalls the trip to the 1960s from The Invasion.


 * COMIC: Prisoners of Time
 * Zoe mentions T-Mat from The Seeds of Death.


 * PROSE: Favourite Star
 * AUDIO: The Way of the Empty Hand
 * PROSE: The Menagerie
 * Jamie remembers his time on LIZ 79 from The Space Pirates.


 * AUDIO: Second Chances
 * PROSE: The Scruffy Piper
 * Though they are absent, the Doctor is traveling with Jamie and Zoe.


 * PROSE: Constant Companion
 * PROSE: Fallen Angel
 * Foreshadows The War Games.

Trial

 * TV: The War Games (Episode 1–Episode 9)
 * Needing their help to stop the War Lords, the Doctor surrenders his location to the Time Lords.


 * PROSE: The Eight Doctors
 * Set during The War Games: Episode 9, just before the Doctor uses the hypercube.


 * PROSE: War Crimes
 * The Doctor, Jamie and Zoe are attempting to flee from the Time Lords.


 * PROSE: The Thousand Years of Christmas
 * The Doctor is fleeing from the Time Lords.


 * TV: The War Games (Episode 10)
 * After Jamie and Zoe are returned home with their memories of him wiped, the Doctor stands trial before the Time Lords. His sentence is an exile to Earth in the 20th century and an enforced regeneration.

Working for the CIA

 * PROSE: World Game
 * Follows directly from The War Games, with the Doctor's sentence revoked on the condition that he works as a "hired gun" for the Celestial Intervention Agency. Ending leads into The Two Doctors, with a grey-haired Doctor and an older Jamie going to meet Joinson Dastari at the Space Station Camera.


 * PROSE: Players
 * Set during World Game, after the Doctor asks to be sent to World War II to see if the soldiers from the War Games have been sent home.
 * All stories that feature Jamie as a young adult, and which has the Doctor in control of the TARDIS, must be set during Season 6B.


 * PROSE: The Time Eater
 * Jamie gets his first look at the Stattenheim remote control, setting this between World Game and The Two Doctors.


 * TV: The Two Doctors
 * PROSE: Mother's Little Helper
 * The Doctor has grey-hair, so shortly after The Two Doctors.


 * PROSE: Across Silent Seas
 * Jamie is wearing his clothes from The Two Doctors.


 * AUDIO: Helicon Prime
 * Jamie still believes Victoria to be away on her graphology studies, as he said in The Two Doctors, but the Doctor is using his sonic screwdriver, which he didn't use until Victoria left in Fury from the Deep, thus placing this story in Season 6B.


 * PROSE: All of Beyond
 * Set shortly after Helicon Prime.


 * AUDIO: The Old Rogue
 * The Doctor and Jamie imprison Arkinen on Earth in the hope that he can be rehabilitated.


 * PROSE: Categorical Imperative
 * The Doctor and Jamie go back in time to kill a dictator as a baby. However, the Doctor is unable to go through with the act.


 * PROSE: The Christmas Presence
 * The Doctor has complete control of the TARDIS, placing this in Season 6B.

Time I Nearly Destroyed the World Whilst Looking for a Dress]]''
 * PROSE: ''[[That Time I Nearly Destroyed the World Whilst Looking for a Dress (short story)|That
 * The Doctor and Jamie are explicitly working for the Doctor's people.
 * After these adventures, Jamie is returned to his own time by the CIA, and the Doctor continues his adventures alone. 


 * PROSE: Lares Domestici
 * PROSE: Daleks Invade Zaos
 * TV: The Day of the Doctor
 * PROSE: The Glass Princess
 * PROSE: Blue Road Dance
 * AUDIO: The Piltdown Men
 * PROSE: The Juror's Story
 * COMIC: The Duellists
 * COMIC: Eskimo Joe
 * COMIC: Peril at 60 Fathoms
 * COMIC: Day of the Tune
 * PROSE: The Sleeping Beast
 * On Rimba, the Doctor meets the Guerners.

Christmas]]''
 * PROSE: The Steward's Story
 * COMIC: The Champion
 * COMIC: The Entertainer
 * COMIC: Operation Wurlitzer
 * PROSE: Greenaway
 * PROSE: ''[[The Man Who (Nearly) Killed Christmas (short story)|The Man Who (Nearly) Killed
 * COMIC: Death Race
 * COMIC: Test Flight
 * TV: The Five Doctors
 * The Doctor remembers Jamie and Zoe's memories being wiped in The War Games.


 * TV: The Name of the Doctor
 * PROSE: Loop the Loup
 * PROSE: Reunion
 * The Doctor is investigating a time distortion, setting this during Season 6B.


 * PROSE: Five Card Draw
 * PROSE: Dust
 * The Doctor is able to control the flight of the TARDIS, setting this during Season 6B.


 * PROSE: Golem
 * PROSE: Pass It On
 * PROSE: Scientific Adviser
 * Sequel story to The Invasion. The Doctor describes the Brigadier as an "old soldier", placing this after The Five Doctors.


 * GAME: Destiny of the Doctors
 * The Doctor recognises the Master, placing this after The Five Doctors.


 * PROSE: Time, Love and TARDIS
 * The Doctor is meeting with a robed Time Lord to discuss his future usefulness.

Hiding in luxury

 * Unable to hide behind CIA protection, the Doctor has his sentence of exile to Earth enforced, but he is able to escape before he can be forcibly regenerated.


 * COMIC: Action in Exile
 * Recently exiled, the Doctor takes up residence in the Carlton Grange Hotel in London during the 1960s.


 * COMIC: The Mark of Terror
 * COMIC: The Brotherhood
 * COMIC: U.F.O.
 * COMIC: The Night Walkers
 * The Doctor is forced to regenerate into his next incarnation.


 * PROSE: Timewyrm: Apocalypse
 * Set during The Night Walkers, with the Doctor recalling his life as he starts to regenerate.

Currently unplacable

 * PROSE: Dream a Little Dream for Me
 * AUDIO: A Stain of Red in the Sand