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IndexTimey-wimey detector → Timeline - Susan Foreman
Spoilers are strongly policed here.
If this thread's title doesn't specify it's spoilery, don't bring any up.

This page lists appearances of Susan Foreman in the order in which 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, much like its TV story counterparts that for each novel, comic story and audio series their published/numbered order is the order they occur in. This does not apply to short stories which are often ambiguous about their placement. There are also many gaps between stories.

The layout of this timeline is in part based on the observations on Doctor Who Reference Guide and Doctor Who - The Complete Adventures, as well as information in Lance Parkin's AHistory which allow us to make observations on placement of stories, such as Doctor Who Reviews, The History of Doctor Who, The Discontinuity Guide, Clive Banks Databank, the Big Finish forums, The Whoniverse and the Divergent Universe forums. None of these sources should be used solely as a source or considered a "true" timeline for stories.

Additionally there are statements on the back of Virgin Missing Adventures and BBC Past Doctor Adventures novels that state between which TV stories the novel takes place between. These can be used to narrow the field, and should be viewed as the only placing for these novels.

Timeline[]

Life on Gallifrey[]

The Doctor rescues Patience and her granddaughter from a danger on Ancient Gallifrey. The Doctor later marries Patience, and they two have thirteen children together.
The Doctor brings his granddaughter to watch him and a group of Prydonians perform a ritual in Arcadia.
The Doctor is living in a small house on a mountain with his "adopted granddaughter", who tells him tales of him "building" the TARDIS and leaving Gallifrey. When the High Council hear of her tales, and after "an incident" takes place outside the Capitol, they send armed guards after the Doctor.

Leaving Gallifrey[]

Due to conflicting accounts, each telling of the Doctor and Susan's fateful escape have been listed in order of release.
In a story told by the Tremas Master, the Doctor decides to leave Gallifrey in the midst of a civil war. He enters a TARDIS alone, and finds a young lady inside, who he adopts as his granddaughter.
The Doctor and Susan escape from an explosion on Gallifrey, determined to keep the Hand of Omega safe.
After an argument with his cousin, Glospin, the Doctor leaves Gallifrey with the Hand of Omega, and travels back to the Old Time, where he adopts Susan, the granddaughter of the Other. (PROSE: Lungbarrow)
The Doctor, already with Susan and wearing Victorian era clothing, is being pursued by the Chancellery Guard whilst fleeing Gallifrey with a flying trunk containing the Hand of Omega.
Set during The Beginning: The First Flight, after Susan step inside the first TARDIS, and before the Doctor takes her into a second one.

First flight[]

The Doctor has just escaped Gallifrey. Susan is exploring the TARDIS for the first time.
This is the Doctor and Susan's first experience with humanity. Controversially, it even sees them take the names of "the Doctor" and "Susan".
According to this account, the wanderers, already going by the names "the Doctor" and "Susan", arrive on Earth's moon immediately after leaving Gallifrey. They discover Quadrigger Stoyn in the TARDIS, who was repairing it when they took flight. In a further confliction with Frayed, the Doctor and Susan have their first encounter with humanity on the Moon. The Doctor and Susan decide to pay a visit to planet Earth, but arrive on a mushroom planet instead.

Wanderers in the fourth dimension[]

Susan starts writing in the Five Hundred Year Diary, having bought it as a gift for the Doctor in Tiaanamat. (PROSE: Susan's Diary)
Susan feels enough familiarity with the TARDIS to begin calling it home.
Wanting to learn more of Earth and the human race, the Doctor and Susan visit the French Revolution in 1791. (PROSE: Christmas on a Rational Planet) Shortly after leaving the French Revolution, the Doctor meets another renegade time traveler named Iris Wildthyme. (PROSE: The Scarlet Empress)
The Doctor saves a world from radiation poisoning and takes the radiated fragment of a spaceship with him. (PROSE: Tragedy Day: Prologue 1)
The Doctor and Susan visit Jabalhabad in 1843, and meet Siger Holmes.
The Doctor is relatively familiar and comfortable with humanity. This is the first time the Doctor and Susan have been apart, and is the Doctor's first holiday since leaving Gallifrey. Susan's experience with humanity prior to this story appears to be limited to eras where they "[chopped] off the heads of anyone posh", setting this before any of her visits to 20th century Earth or later.
Learning that a dictator would cause Earth's destruction, the Doctor and Susan go back in time to kill the dictator as a baby. However, the Doctor drops his weapon and is forced to flee before he even sees the baby.
The Doctor and Susan visit India during the Indian Mutiny, where the Doctor becomes the guardian to David Warblington after having his life saved by David's father. (PROSE: The Duke's Folly)
The Doctor meets Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart properly for the first time, and recalls visiting his funeral.
The Doctor and Susan are familiar enough with Earth to debate whether or not the Great Wall of China is visible from space.
The Doctor has been attempting to "fine tune" the operation of the TARDIS
The Doctor and Susan arrive at 76 Totter's Lane in 1963, but quickly leave and arrive in 1955. The Doctor retains the police box shape, but this was after the TARDIS appeared to malfunction while the Doctor was trying to fix it. Presumably the chameleon circuit was fixed again once the Doctor fixed it in 1955. The Doctor expressed disdain for human school systems. At the story's conclusion, Susan wonders if they'll ever end up in 1963 again.
The Doctor is familiar enough with human pop culture to reference Harry Potter, Blake's 7 and Artemis Fowl. He is not easily able to pay for his replacement hand, setting this before The Price of Conviction.
The Doctor is targeted for punishment by the people of Refkeet Nine for meddling with time.
Susan is one of many companions who have been captured by Adam Mitchell and the Tremas Master. They are all rescued by the first Eleven Doctors and Frobisher. In The Choice, Adam implies that all the companions were taken from their travels with the Doctor[quote 1] and in addition, Susan is wearing her outfit from An Unearthly Child, both of which suggest a setting prior to The Dalek Invasion of Earth.
The Doctor and Susan land in London, much to the Doctor's chagrin. The Doctor recognises the Cybermen.
The Doctor and Susan attend the coronation of Elizabeth II.
The Doctor has been separated from Susan, setting this after Bide-a-Wee. The Doctor meets the Brig for the first time and recalls having been to his funeral.

Searching for a new home[]

The Doctor considers settling down somewhere for a period of time soon. He is currently using jewels from Aldebaran IV as a form of currency.
After leaving 2134 Urrozdinee, the Doctor says that he and Susan will "put down some roots" for a while, and says he has a place in mind.
According to the Fourth Doctor, Susan will be enrolled at an Earth school not long after the adventure in 16th century Prague.
Set "4 or 5 journeys" before The Edge of Destruction. Telling the story after she settled on 22nd century Earth, Susan believes it to be her last adventure before 1963. The Doctor believes Susan needs friends her own age, stability and teachers.
The Doctor and Susan have already had many adventures in the 20th century, but have not seen much of the latter half of the century. The Doctor is looking for a place for him and Susan to settle down for a while. Telling the story during her adventures with Barbara and Ian, Susan recalls the Doctor's search for a suitable place to use a machine of his, recalling the events of Quinnis as taking place during his search, setting this story near Quinnus.
The Doctor and Susan take a brief trip to 1997 to check if the United Kingdom will remain a safe place to stay in the times to come. The TARDIS takes a the form of a red pillar box, which the Fourth Doctor says was the last shell the TARDIS had before the chameleon circuit broke in 1963.

Hiding on Earth[]

The Doctor uses the Blessing Star to pilot the TARDIS to the junkyard at 76 Totter's Lane, but the ship is damaged in the process. The Doctor takes up residence in the junkyard, and Susan begins attending Coal Hill School. (PROSE: The Rag & Bone Man's Story)
In her second diary entry, Susan suspects that the Doctor does not know how to pilot the TARDIS and recalls visiting Earth, Venus, Esto, Quinnis and Dido. She also mentions having spent a lot of time on Earth lately, mentioning Zeppelins, legionaries and the Tower of London. She is now living on Earth in 1963 and plans to enroll herself at a school. (PROSE: Susan's Diary)
The Doctor has only recently arrived in London 1963, and Susan is already in education.
Susan and the Doctor get lost in the streets of London on a "very cold" night, possibly setting this before Time and Relative.
Set from 27 March to 4 April 1963. The Doctor and Susan have been on Earth for five months, Susan is attending school and something breaks when the Doctor journeys in the TARDIS, forcing him to fix it using 20th century parts. The Doctor begins to take an interest in protecting the human race.
In her third diary entry, Susan recounts her experiences at Coal Hill School. The Doctor is currently giving the TARDIS an overhaul. (PROSE: Susan's Diary)
Set in the late summer of 1963. The Doctor uses the name "Dr. Foreman".
Set in October 1963, according to Ground Zero. Raldonn claims to have noticed the Doctor arriving in Shoreditch four months ago.
Set directly after Operation Proteus
Set in October 1963. Susan claims to have been at Coal Hill for four months. The Doctor has been collecting parts for the repair of his TARDIS since he arrived.
The Doctor is still collecting parts for his TARDIS. He and Susan meet River Song for the first time. Set during the first week back at school after half-term, and Susan has been at Coal Hill for "a few months".
Susan leaves a message for her grandfather shortly before going to school.
In an alternate timeline created by Rassilon and the Cybermen, the Doctor is captured by the Cybermen immediately before the events of An Unearthly Child.

Back to travelling[]

On 22 November 1963, Susan's curious teachers, Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright, follow her home and force themselves into the TARDIS, and the Doctor flies the ship in a panic, bringing the teachers with him and Susan to 100,000 BC. Ending leads directly into The Daleks.
The Doctor encounters the Daleks and the Thals for the first time. He also explains to Ian and Barbara that he can't properly fly the TARDIS and can't return them to 76 Totter's Lane. Ending leads directly into The Edge of Destruction.
During the events of The Daleks: The Dead Planet, after they discover the Dalek city, but before they venture down to search for Mercury, Susan recounts the events of An Unearthly Child in her diary. Then, in her next diary entry set during The Daleks: The Rescue, Susan writes about the events of The Daleks. (PROSE: Susan's Diary)
The TARDIS' sentience is brought up for the first time. After realising that his paranoia got the best of him, the Doctor makes amends to better himself in the future. Ending leads directly into Marco Polo.
In one diary entry, set during The Edge of Destruction, Susan writes "there's something in the ship!". Later, she recounts the events of The Edge of Destruction shortly before they arrive in the Plain of Pamir. (PROSE: Susan's Diary

The great spirit of adventure[]

The TARDIS crew spend several months travelling across Cathay with Marco Polo in 1289.
The TARDIS crew have left China "only two minutes ago", setting this immediately after Marco Polo. They spend over a week on Avalon in 2991, with Barbara and Susan getting changed out of their Chinese garbs before leaving the TARDIS, while Ian remains in his Chinese gown for at least the first day on Avalon, with no further mention of his attire.
Ian is still wearing his Chinese gown, setting this shortly after Marco Polo. The TARDIS crew spend a few days in North America in 1002.
The TARDIS lands on Marinus, and the travellers encounter the Voord for the first time. Ian is still wearing his Chinese clothes from their adventure with Marco Polo, setting this shortly after Marco Polo.
The Doctor believes that he and Susan should be more open with Ian and Barbara, setting this shortly after The Edge of Destruction. Ian and Barbara are given their first proper tour of the TARDIS, though it is a brief one. Though they are still recent additions to the TARDIS crew, Susan claims they have "been through so much together" by this point.
Barbara has yet to visit an Aztec temple, setting this before The Aztecs. Barbara notes that they are finally visiting a time and place where she has an expertise in. The Doctor is constantly rude to Ian and Barbara, who are not particularly fond of him either. The Doctor has his cane, which, later in the story, the Tenth Doctor reveals was given to him by Kublai Khan during the events of Marco Polo.
The Doctor is still unfamiliar with the layout of the TARDIS interior, and is still learning about most of the universe. Ian is still exploring the TARDIS. The Doctor wields the walking stick he acquired from Kublai Khan, setting this after Marco Polo.
Ian and Barbara struggle to grasp the concept of hermaphroditic humanoids. Barbara recalls the events of The Daleks.
The Doctor warns Barbara about the consequences of altering the course of history when she tries to educate the Aztecs against using human sacrifices. The Doctor has a brief affair with Cameca, and is gifted with a brooch from her when he leaves. According to the novelisation, Ian is 28-years-old.
The Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan spend several weeks on the planet Fragrance. The Doctor is making repairs to the TARDIS in order to get Ian and Barbara home.
The crew spend over a month in 4th century BC Babylon. Although the Big Finish website places this between The Reign of Terror and Here There Be Monsters,[1] The Library of Alexandria is set shortly after The Reign of Terror and references Alexander as a close friend, meaning this must be set earlier. Barbara knows that history cannot be changed, but Ian isn't convinced.
Set a day after Farewell, Great Macedon, with the events from The Fragile Yellow Arc of Fragrance being mentioned.
Ian recalls the events of The Daleks as a recent example of the Doctor's obsessiveness. Barbara has made 40-to-50 identical marks in her notebook while keeping track of the days on the TARDIS. This tally seems to represent days, but it is not entirely clear. The Doctor is trying to make the TARDIS feel more comfortable for Ian and Barbara, having spent the past week searching for tea as part of his goal. He has also provides Ian with a new cardigan, after his last one was destroyed by fire ants.
Susan unlocks a deeper telepathic ability than the Doctor thought she had. Barbara has fully recovered from her ordeal from The Aztecs. When Ian makes a snide comment about the Doctor's piloting, the enraged Doctor claims he will leave Ian at the next stop, leading into The Reign of Terror. The Doctor and Susan have been travelling for years, and have never had an argument.
Set between The Sensorites and The Reign of Terror, with the Doctor preparing to throw Ian and Barbara out of the TARDIS. The Doctor and Ian spend several months on the Endeavour while Barbara and Susan are trapped in the TARDIS, though the Doctor still intends to exile Ian and Barbara when they leave in the TARDIS. Susan's enhanced telepathic telepathic abilities she gained from the Sensorites are still lingering.
Following on from The Sensorites, the Doctor is still arguing with Ian and Barbara, until an adventure during the French Revolution calms him down enough to forgive them.

Destiny in the stars[]

The Doctor takes Susan, Ian and Barbara to a planet to relax following the events from The Reign of Terror. Ian believes the Doctor is trying to convince him and Barbara to stay.
Ian recalls the Doctor telling them that their "destiny is in the stars" and notes that they have arrived on Earth again, suggesting a setting shortly after The Reign of Terror. The Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan spend several weeks in Alexandria. Ian refers to Alexander the Great as "an old friend", setting this after Farewell, Great Macedon. He and Barbara begin to think that the Doctor has been deceitful with them about changing history. Weeks after arriving in Alexandria, Ian recalls the events of The Transit of Venus as occurring weeks ago.
Susan believes that Ian and Barbara are still on "probation" with the Doctor following the events of The Reign of Terror. Susan starts to wonder if she will need to leave the TARDIS and make her own life, for the Doctor's sake. Susan thinks the Doctor could do with a holiday, even if he doesn't agree, setting this before The Mother Road.
Ian refers to the events of The Transit of Venus. He and Barbara aren't surprised when the Doctor thinks that history can be changed. Ian also mentions the watch he has retained since he left Coal Hill.
The crew are a close unit, and Ian wonders if they are still on Earth, indicating that this takes place after an Earthbound adventure. The Doctor spends two years on Destination fixing the damage caused by the Master. Ending leads directly into The Great White Hurricane.
This is Ian's first time in New York City. Susan admits that she sees Ian and Barbara as family. After their adventure in New York City, the Doctor claims to have found a way to return Ian and Barbara home.
Following directly on from The Great White Hurricane, the Doctor fails to return the TARDIS to 1963. Susan refers to the events of The Reign of Terror. Ending leads directly into The Barbarians and the Samurai. Barbara and Ian first learn of the concept of cloning.
When telling Takagi Mamoru about his recent voyages, the Doctor refers to London, China and Mexico, and "more recently, Paris", setting this not long after the events of The Reign of Terror.
Follows directly on from The Barbarians and the Samurai. Barbara learns that the TARDIS has a library, According to Ian's watch, it should be around 23 March 1964 in their own time, meaning it has been four months since they left Shoreditch. Ian sells his watch, setting this after The Flames of Cadiz.
Follows directly on from The Phoenicians. Susan mentions that she is a little bit telepathic, and the Doctor realises that he needs to give Susan more independence.
Still experimenting with ways to take Ian and Barbara home, the Doctor attempts to use the fast return switch for a second time, but it brings the TARDIS back to Skaro fifty years after their previous visit in The Daleks.
The TARDIS has just left Skaro, setting this immediately after Return to Skaro. Barbara and Ian have been travelling with the Doctor and Susan for months by now. Susan believes that history can be changed, but Barbara disagrees and refers to the events of The Aztecs. The Doctor is beginning to wonder if he has a duty to intervene in events, despite what he was taught on Gallifrey. The TARDIS stops working, leading directly into For the Glory of Urth.
The Doctor manages to reboot the TARDIS, however the travellers land on Urth and must disembark while the TARDIS is repairing itself. Susan believes that she has discovered the cause of the TARDIS's troubles, leading directly into The Hollow Crown.
Susan removes a Goliathan spiny-back beetle from the TARDIS console and believes that has resolved their issues getting to 1963 Shoreditch, however the travellers arrive in 1603 Shoreditch instead. Barbara and Susan recall the events of Last of the Romanovs. The Doctor meets William Shakespeare for the first time, who has met one of his future incarnations before.
Barbara visits Susan in her bedroom to inform her that the TARDIS is landing. However, Susan is distressed, having had a nightmare about the piece of supposedly-cursed piece of red glass she and the Doctor took from a planet before they met Barbara and Ian.
The Doctor, Susan, Barbara, and Ian spend weeks in Judaea during the siege of Masada. While Ian knows what the Doctor thinks of changing history, he isn't convinced and tries to help the Jews defeat the Roman Empire in the siege, despite Barbara's insistence that history shouldn't be interfered with, in reference to what she learned during The Aztecs.
The TARDIS crew spend three months in 19th century Afghanistan. Ian begins to realise his love for Barbara.
Barbara refers to the Doctor's warning about interfering with history from The Aztecs. The crew spend months in 19th century Earth, with Ian and Susan crossing the United State together while the Doctor and Barbara remain in England.
Susan knows of Barbara's familiarity with Cortez and the Mexican civilisations, setting this after The Aztecs. The Doctor learns how to drive for the first time and seems unfamiliar with the use of 21st century computers and the internet. He tricks the crew into taking a recreational road trip across the US.
The Doctor considers Ian and Barbara as part of his family.
Barbara believes that history cannot be changed, setting this after The Aztecs.
Ian remembers the Doctor saying that the crew's "destiny is in the stars", which he said in The Reign of Terror. Barbara and Ian still believe that history can't be changed. The Doctor takes Rasputin through the Time Vortex to St Petersburg on first try using Dahensa tech. Ian and Barbara are surprised that he'd attempt this before he mentions the technology, which breaks down after a single use.
Sequel story to The Keys of Marinus. The TARDIS crew spend months on the planet Hydra evading and fighting the Voord.
The Doctor recalls his encounter with the Pied Piper from Challenge of the Piper. Barbara is unsurprised when Susan mentions he has two hearts.
The Doctor, Ian and Barbara only appear in a brief flashback to Susan's arrival on Malkon. Set after The Sensorites, with Susan's telepathy accentuated by the conditions of the planet.

Final adventures in the TARDIS[]

Susan is writes a letter for Ian and Barbara to read after she's gone, detailing the Doctor's warning of the immutability of history. (AUDIO: The Alchemists)
Susan alludes to the human-colonised planet from The Sorcerer's Apprentice. The Doctor removes a "portion of folded space" from the TARDIS to help an additional 150 people escape to Mirath, hoping that its "unorthodox removal doesn't intefere with the TARDIS' dimensional stability", suggesting a setting this shortly before Planet of Giants.
Told through the fictional documentation of a "lost" TV story, including plot synopses, Target novelisation extracts and DWM articles. Ends with the fault detector warning of a build-up of "space pressure" outside and refers to a cliffhanger leading into Planet of Giants.
Set during The Thief of Sherwood.
Despite the events of Return to Skaro, Susan claims the fast return switch hasn't been used since the events of The Edge of Destruction and that it was only recently fixed. Barbara claims to be "on familiar ground for the first time in so long" when visiting Bristol in 1954. Susan's is still troubled with the telepathic powers she demonstrated in The Sensorites. The Doctor continues to doubt the Time Lord ideals of non-interference, but still takes great pains to avoid changing history. After travelling from Salem Village 1692 to 1742, the Doctor notices that the TARDIS has been working a lot more efficiently lately and makes plans to travel to the 1960s, leading directly into Planet of Giants.
The TARDIS has just left the late 18th century, with the Doctor attempting to travel forward to the mid-20th century when the TARDIS shrinks due to a malfunction. The Doctor is more apologetic towards his rudeness at Ian and Barbara than he was previously.
Set immediately after Planet of Giants.
Set between Planet of Giants and The Dalek Invasion of Earth, according to authorial intent, with the part of the TARDIS the Doctor is shown tinkering with intended to be the scanner.[source needed] Ian and Barbara are unsure of how long they've been travelling with the Doctor, but suspect it has been months at the earliest and "years" at the latest.
The Doctor encounters the Daleks off of Skaro for the first time. Susan falls in love with David Campbell, a rebel of the 22nd century Dalek invasion, and the Doctor decides to leave her behind in 2167 so she can grow into her own person after the crew help defeat the Daleks on Earth.

Life after the TARDIS[]

Set directly after the TARDIS leaves in The Dalek Invasion of Earth.
An older Susan is briefly reunited with the First Doctor as well as meeting three of his future incarnations.
Susan tells the story of one of her adventures with the Doctor. David is still alive, setting this before Legacy of the Daleks and An Earthly Child.
Set circa 2170. Susan sends the Eighth Doctor a hypercube, informing him of the birth of her son, Alex Campbell.
Set in Summer 2187. The Doctor returns to Earth and meets Alex for the first time. David died several years ago.
Set in 2187. Susan recalls the events of An Earthly Child and Alex is still at home, setting this before Relative Dimensions.
Set 24 December 2187. Susan and Alex have Christmas dinner with the Doctor and Lucie Miller in the TARDIS. Lucie and Alex decide to embark on a world tour.
Susan is caught up in a second Dalek invasion. Ending leads directly into To the Death.
Alex and Lucie are killed.
Set in 2199. In an account which conflicts with the stories An Earthly Child through to To the Death, Susan meets the Eighth Doctor. Susan has three adopted children called Ian, Barbara and David Campbell Junior. David is killed by the Master and Susan leaves Earth in the Master's stolen TARDIS.
50 years after the Dalek invasion. Susan blames the Daleks for David dying early and does not mention any children. She meets the Thirteenth Doctor.

The Last Great Time War[]

Susan is living in a block of flats Coal Hill School eventually became when she discovers Hypercube messages left by the Time Lords, who are fighting a great war against the Daleks. Despite the Doctor's attempt to distract and convince her not to leave, Susan answers the call and is picked up by a TARDIS.
Set immediately after All Hands on Deck, with Susan arriving on a Time Lord flagship after responding to the hypercube. Susan meets Veklin and Rasmus for the first time.
Susan has just arrived on Gallifrey to join the Time War and discusses her role with Rasmus, setting this during Sphere of Influence.
Susan is kidnapped by The Union while on a diplomatic mission to the Diamond Array during the Last Great Time War, setting this after A Heart on Both Sides.

Awaiting placement[]

Quotes[]

  1. ADAM: So here's the 'big speech' you wanted you hear - your best friends die. I'm taking them from you, the people you care about most, and I'm scrambling the timelines to do it. Even I don't know what will happen then, when so many of your universe-saving adventures suddenly come to naught before they ever happened.
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