Alan Kistler's In-Depth History of Doctor Who

The original Doctor Who series is still the longest running science fiction program in television history.

On Saturday evening, November 23, 1963, the day after John F. Kennedy was assassinated, a new program premiered on the BBC. It was conceived as an educational program aimed at ages 8-12 roughly, and was intended to last no more than a single year. It wound up going on for 26 years, racking up 695 episodes and 251 stories, becoming a favorite among fans of all ages. Even after the first few episodes, the BBC were getting letters of interests from scientists and sci-fi writers who found the show and its concepts quite fascinating.

Over the twenty-six seasons of the original program's run, seven different actors portrayed the wandering alien hero known only as "The Doctor."

After the show was canceled in 1989 Doctor Who was continued in various novels. In 1996, Fox did a movie-length pilot that introduced the Eighth Doctor. They'd hoped this would spawn a new series. Didn't happen, sadly.

In 1999, Big Finish Productions began creating brand new audio plays, new adventures with a full cast and the TV show actors reprising their roles. Now new adventures could be featured with old Doctors, stories that wouldn't be hampered by a special effects budget or concerns over what was appropriate for a family TV program. The Big Finish audio plays feature the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Doctors. Sometimes they are with familiar companions, sometimes they are alone, and sometimes they are with companions we never knew they had traveled with.

Finally the new TV series began in 2005, spearheaded by executive producer and head writer Russell T Davies (creator of Queer As Folk). While the new show displays the adventures of the current Doctor, the radio plays continue to be produced under the new banner of "Classic Doctors! New Adventures!"

In America, the TV series Doctor Who is a bit of a cult phenomenon. In England, he is equivalent to how Superman is in the U.S. For people in the states, even if you have never read a Superman comic, you can identify Superman on sight. You know he's Clark Kent, you know kryptonite can kill him, and you know the major people in his life are Lois Lane and Lex Luthor. That's how Doctor Who is in the U.K. Even if you don't watch the show, you know who the Doctor is, you know what the TARDIS looks like, you know what Daleks and Cybermen are.

While the current show is written to be friendly for new viewers rather than make knowledge of the past a requirement, it's important to note that it is still a continuation of a program that began in 1963 and created a universe that continued in various other media. And it's a little more fun, I think, when you get to learn about that history and can better appreciate certain things in the new show.

And so I have compiled these essays and chronology lists to explain the history of the program by looking at each Doctor and what they brought to the show's mythology.

A SPECIAL NOTE CONCERNING CONTINUITY

In the audio play Zagreus, Big Finish established that the Eighth Doctor novels exist in an alternate time line, separate from the audio play continuity, a fact confirmed in the Eighth Doctor BBC novel The Chronicles of Gallifrey. There are also instances where the some of the other books (such as some of the Virgin Seventh Doctor novels) go against continuity established in the new TV series.

In Doctor Who Annual 2005, Russell T. Davies mentioned that his new series was in line with the audio plays certainly, as well as some of the other media. He also mentioned a positive attitude towards the comic strips of Doctor Who Magazine and considered them to be canon so much so that he was willing to let them do the official death scene of the Eighth Doctor.

Because of all this, and because I consider them to be more legit than some of the tie-in novels since they actually involve the TV show actors, these history essays of mine will refer to the audio plays and the Doctor Who Magazine strips as canon with the TV show. I will mention many of the novels, but won't give much credence to those that clearly contradict the continuity of the new TV series and/or Big Finish unless there's something significantly interesting about them. On the flipside, I will indeed mention where the DWM comic strips may seem to contradict the audio plays (which certainly happens in the case of the character Ace). The Doctor Who series from Marvel Comics I won't really talk about since I found most of those stories to be lackluster and without any serious connection to the TV show.

If you can't abide by this attitude of mine (I never claimed to be unbiased) and are a completist, I suggest going to the  Doctor Who Reference Guide, a very well-researched site which does its best to include every single story every published concerning Doctor Who into one time line (even the ones that don't make sense).

And so, we begin. Enjoy.

History of the First Doctor (William Hartnell)
First Doctor Chronology List - All the First Doctor's adventures in various media in chronological order. No spoilers, except concerning which companions were with him.
First Doctor Annotated Chronology - Contains notes about how each story relates to or references others. Some spoilers abound.

History of the Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton)
Second Doctor Chronology List - All the Second Doctor's adventures in various media in chronological order. No spoilers, except concerning which companions were with him.
Second Doctor Annotated Chronology - Contains notes about how each story relates to or references others. Some spoilers abound.

History of the Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee)
Third Doctor Chronology List - All the Second Doctor's adventures in various media in chronological order. No spoilers, except concerning which companions were with him.
Third Doctor Annotated Chronology - Contains notes about how each story relates to or references others. Some spoilers abound.

History of the Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker)
Fourth Doctor Chronology List - All the Second Doctor's adventures in various media in chronological order. No spoilers, except concerning which companions were with him.
Fourth Doctor Annotated Chronology - Contains notes about how each story relates to or references others. Some spoilers abound.

History of the Fifth Doctor (Peter Davison)
Fifth Doctor Chronology List - All the Fifth Doctor's adventures in various media in chronological order. No spoilers, except concerning which companions were with him.
Fifth Doctor Annotated Chronology - Contains notes about how each story relates to or references others. Some spoilers abound.

History of the Sixth Doctor (Colin Baker)
Sixth Doctor Chronology List - All the Sixth Doctor's adventures in various media in chronological order. No spoilers, except concerning which companions were with him.
Sixth Doctor Annotated Chronology - Contains notes about how each story relates to or references others. Some spoilers abound.

History of the Seventh Doctor (Sylvester McCoy)
Seventh Doctor Chronology List - All the Fifth Doctor's adventures in various media in chronological order. No spoilers, except concerning which companions were with him.
Seventh Doctor Annotated Chronology - Contains notes about how each story relates to or references others. Some spoilers abound.

History of the Eighth Doctor (Paul McGann)
History of the Eighth Doctor Part 2 - This essay covers the Eighth Doctor's history through the Doctor Who Magazine comic strips and the Big Finish audio plays (in which Paul McGann reprises the role). They contain spoilers for the stories, so if you wish to enjoy them for yourself, simply use the Chronology list below as a guide for what to read and listen to.
Eighth Doctor Chronology List - All the Eighth Doctor's adventures in various media in chronological order. No spoilers, except concerning which companions were with him.
Eighth Doctor Annotated Chronology - Contains notes about how each story relates to or references others. Some spoilers abound.

Ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston)
Ninth Doctor Chronology List - All the Ninth Doctor's adventures in various media in chronological order. No spoilers, except concerning which companions were with him.
Ninth Doctor Annotated Chronology - Contains notes about how each story relates to or references others. Some spoilers abound.

Tenth Doctor Chronology List - All the Ninth Doctor's adventures in various media in chronological order. No spoilers, except concerning which companions were with him.
Tenth Doctor Annotated Chronology - Contains notes about how each story relates to or references others. Some spoilers abound.