Now:
Nineteen Eighty
The Movellan Grave Audio drama, released 2017 Doctor: 4
Featuring Romana, The Movellans
Written by
Andrew Smith.
Informed guess Takes place in London; self-dated 1980 CE.
The Shining (1980), a film about a haunted hotel, may be an account of N-form activity. There is also a suggestion that Jack Torrance is some form of time traveller: in Doctor Who terms, I think there is an aesthetic of The Enemy.
The Labyrinth of Buda Castle Audio drama, released 2016 Doctor: 4
Featuring the Vampires, K9II,
Romana
Written by Eddie Robson.
Informative guess Takes place beneath Budapest; self-dated 1980 CE.
Budapest was the capital city of Hungary,
a landlocked European republic lying south of Czechslovakia, east of Austria
and west of the USSR.
Terror of the Zygons TV story, broadcast
1975 Doctor:
4
featuring
Lethbridge-Stewart, UNIT, Benton, Sarah
Jane, Harry, the Zygons
Written
by Robert Banks Stewart, script edited by Robert Holmes.
informed guess Takes place near Inverness and, briefly, in London;
for Sarah, shortly before Pyramids of
Mars: I suggest, 1980 CE. The clear implication of the broadcast was that
this follows straight on from Revenge of
the Cybermen, but this leaves a ludicrous number of stories featuring Sarah
Jane and Harry to be squeezed in unconvincingly, apart from exacerbating the Mawdryn Undead dating problem. In my
defence, the TARDIS on this occasion has been summoned by a psionic beam, rather
than the Space-Time telegraph mentioned in Revenge
of the Cybermen. Also, the Doctor claims to have been dragged 2.7 x 107
miles, while Revenge of the Cybermen
was taking place more like 3.7 x 107 miles from Earth (not that the
fourth Doctor is given to pedantic accuracy). This implies that Lethbridge-Stewart has been recalled to UNIT
after his retirement and nervous breakdown in Mawdryn Undead. We know that he is recalled to UNIT subsequently (Heart of TARDIS, The Fires Down Below). I think it is quite plausible that Margaret
Thatcher, cleared to read the top secret details of his career, would be keen
to have him back, and might even have appealed to him personally, which I am
sure he would have found it hard to resist, despite the delicate state of his
mental health. At any rate, I suggest that this commences the ninth and final
phase of the Doctor’s time as UNIT’s scientific adviser.
Things
That Doctor Who Writers Who Want To Set Things In “The Present” Should Find
Difficult To Ignore. Though Quite Likely They’ll Just Pile More Stuff In.
THE
LOCH NESS MONSTER APPEARS IN THE THAMES IN CENTRAL LONDON.
Coda Charity short story, published 2001 Doctor: 4 (glimpse)
featuring
the Cybermen, Lethbridge-Stewart, UNIT,
Benton, Liz, Harry, with Sarah Jane (glimpse)
Written
by Joshua Lou Friedman.
Takes
place in Scotland and probably elsewhere in the UK, immediately after Terror of the Zygons.
The Star Beast Comic story, published 1980 Doctor: 4
featuring
Sharon, the Beep of all the Meeps, with UNIT,
K9 II, Grace technology (informative mention)
Written
by Pat Mills and John Wagner.
contemporary to publication Takes place in Blackcastle, Yorks; fifteen years
before Star Beast II.
Sharon
Davies is a Tellurian born in approximately 1965 CE. During this story she
leaves linear time, being aboard the TARDIS when it dematerialises.
Things
That Doctor Who Writers Who Want To Set Things In “The Present” Should Find
Difficult To Ignore. Though Quite Likely They’ll Just Pile More Stuff In.
BLACKCASTLE
HOVERS ON THE EDGE OF BEING SUCKED INTO A BLACK HOLE.
Doctor Who and the Pyramids of Mars Novelisation, published 1976 Doctor: 4
featuring
Sarah Jane, the Osirians
Adapted
by Terrance Dicks, from a story by Lewis Griefer and Robert Holmes.
informed guess Takes place in rural England, partly in a version of
1980 CE, presumably between Terror of the
Zygons and The Seeds of Doom;
also on Mars.
The
Osirians are a spacefaring race of
exceptional technological development and telekinetic powers. They appear to
select their physical form as a matter of individual choice.
Official Secrets Comic story, published 2016 Doctor: 9
Featuring Lethbridge-Stewart, UNIT, Benton, Harry,
Rose, Captain Jack, Tara
Written by
Cavan Scott.
Informed guess Takes
place in Bristol, a coastal city of Gloucestershire; self-dated the 70s or 80s,
which I take to be 1979 or 1980 CE. As I’ve gone for Lethbridge-Stewart being
on active service with UNIT in 1980, I’m going for that.
Javic
Piotr Thane, known as Captain Jack
Harkness is a humanoid of probably Tellurian extraction born not long before
5094 CE.
Tara Mishra is a Tellurian born probably in the
late 1950s CE. In this story she first leaves linear time by being aboard the
TARDIS when it dematerialises.
Hubert’s Folly Comic story, published 1976 Doctor: 4
featuring
Sarah Jane
Illustrated
?and written by John Canning.
informed guess Takes place in the UK, after The Hoaxers as published.
Counter-Rotation Comic story, published 1976 Doctor: 4
featuring
Sarah Jane, Mars
Illustrated
?and written by John Canning.
Informed guess Takes place on Earth, after Hubert’s Folly, as published. The Scartig might be a
physiologically engineered Ice Warrior, or an essentially different form of
sentient Martian life.
Things
That Doctor Who Writers Who Want To Set Things In “The Present” Should Find
Difficult To Ignore. Though Quite Likely They’ll Just Pile More Stuff In.
MORE
HIGH JINKS WITH THE BRITISH SPACE PROGRAMME.
Planet
of Dust Audio drama,
released 2019 Doctor: 8
Featuring the Master, Liv, Helen, the Eleven
Written by Matt
Fitton.
Arbitrary placement Takes place on Parrak.
The Seeds of Doom TV story, broadcast
1976 Doctor:
4
featuring
UNIT, Sarah Jane, the Krynoids
Written
by Robert Banks Stewart, script edited by Robert Holmes.
informed guess: Takes place in the UK and Antarctica; not long after Doctor Who and the Pyramids of Mars.
The
Krynoids are spacefaring sentient
plant life, ideologically committed to carnivority.
Things
That Doctor Who Writers Who Want To Set Things In “The Present” Should Find
Difficult To Ignore. Though Quite Likely They’ll Just Pile More Stuff In.
THE
RAF IS REQUIRED TO BOMB A GIANT MOVING PLANT.
Casket 44 Charity short story, published 2001 Doctor: 4
featuring
UNIT, Sarah Jane, the War in Heaven
Written
by Alex Steer.
Takes
place in London; self-dated August, 1980 CE. Sarah Jane has been travelling
with the Doctor for six years, which suits me down to the ground.
Double Trouble Illustrated short story,
published 1976 Doctor:
4
featuring
Lethbridge-Stewart, UNIT, Sarah Jane,
Harry
Written
by the World Distributors 1977 Annual crew.
informed guess Takes place at UNIT HQ. I am assuming that all
meetings between Sarah Jane and Lethbridge-Stewart after Robot also take place after Terror
of the Zygons.
Hello Goodbye Short story, published 2009 Doctor: 4
featuring
Lethbridge-Stewart, UNIT, Benton, Harry,
Sarah Jane
Written
by Jim Sangster.
informed guess Takes place at UNIT HQ, implicitly after Terror of the Zygons.
The Collector Comic story, published 1980 Doctor:
4
featuring
K9 II, Sharon
Written
by Steve Moore.
informative guess Takes place mostly on the Moon; not long after The Star Beast.
Shada Uncompleted TV story,
recorded 1979 Doctor: 4
featuring
the Time Lords, K9 II, Romana, Skagra
Written
by Douglas Adams.
Takes
place in Cambridge and space; dated October 1980 CE by Parkin in Ahistory.
Skagra
is a non-Tellurian humanoid, possibly of Gallifreyan extraction, certainly with
access to Time Lord level technology and presumably a contemporary of the
Doctor.
The Great Eskape Charity short story, published 2001 Doctor: 0
featuring
Skagra
Written
by Nick Walters.
Takes
place in Skagra’s spaceship, soon after Shada.
Mutiny Short story, published 2008 Doctor: 4
featuring
UNIT, Benton, Harry, and
Lethbridge-Stewart, Sarah Jane (informative mention)
Written
by Robert Dick.
informed guess Takes place at UNIT HQ, some time after Terror of the Zygons. Lethbridge-Stewart
is still senior British officer, though absent.
Fiends of the Eastern Front, a comic story published in 2000AD in 1980, was a vampire story recounting events in World War
II, but set in a framing sequence set in contemporary Germany. Fiends of the Eastern Front: Stalingrad,
a prequel published in 2006, revealed that the Hammer and Sickle signified the
USSR’s occult status as a vampire-hunting realm, a bit of gothic daftness I am
keen to claim for Doctor Who narrative.
Dredger Comic story, published 1977 Doctor: 4
featuring
Sarah Jane
Illustrated
?and written by John Canning.
informed guess: Takes place in tropical seas; the design of the TARDIS
console room indicates that for Sarah Jane it is after The Masque of Mandragora. In the contemporary UK that the Doctor
was aiming the TARDIS for, it was November.
The Magic Box Illustrated short story,
published 1975 Doctor:
4
Featuring
Lethbridge-Stewart, Sarah Jane
Written
by a writer employed by Polystyle.
Informed guess Takes place in the UK, after Terror of the Zygons.
The Hand of Fear
TV story, broadcast 1976 Doctor:
4
featuring
Sarah Jane
Written
by Bob Baker and Dave Martin, script edited by Robert Holmes.
informed guess Takes place in the UK and on Kastria; soon after The Seeds of Doom and some time before A Girl’s Best Friend.
Glass Short story, published 1998 Doctor: 4
featuring
Romana
Written
by Stephen Cole as Tara Samms.
Takes
place in Cambridge; self-dated 1980 CE, and after Shada.
Autaia Pipipi Pia Short story, published 2008 Doctor: 4
featuring
Sarah Jane
Written
by Beverley Allen.
Takes
place in and above Napier, New Zealand; self-dated December, 1980 CE.
New Zealand was a monarchy occupying an archipelago in the south
Pacific, east of Australia, sharing a monarch with the UK.
UNIT Christmas
Parties: Ships That Pass Short
story, published 2004 Doctor: 4
featuring
Lethbridge-Stewart, UNIT, Sarah Jane,
Harry
Written
by Karen Dunn.
informed guess Takes place at UNIT HQ; on Christmas Day, after Terror of the Zygons.
Total Stories Considered 546
Proportion Written By Women 8%
Top Docs
3 189 stories
4 71 stories
2 32 stories
7 23 stories
1 22 stories
8 16 stories
10 14 stories
12 14 stories
11 12 stories
6 11 stories
Unbound 9 stories
5 8 stories
13 4 stories
9 3 stories
Top Twenty Recurring Elements
Alastair and the Lethbridge-Stewart family 193 stories
UNIT 160
stories
London 138 stories
Regional England 124 stories
Jo 82 stories
Benton 79
stories
North America 66 stories
Yates 60
stories
The Master 45
stories
Liz 45
stories
Sarah Jane 44
stories Climber!
At sea 42
stories
The Travers family 40
stories
The Intrusion Counter-Measures Group 39
stories
Continental Europe 34 stories
Scotland 29
stories
Christmas 28 stories Climber!
Iris Wildthyme 27 stories
The Time Lords 26 stories
Senor 105 19
stories
Top Decades
The Teens 235 stories
The Seventies 120
stories
The Noughties 92 stories
The Nineties 50 stories
The Sixties 24 stories
The Twenties 18
stories
The Eighties 6
stories
And Top Twenty Years
2016 46 stories
2015 30 stories
2017 29 stories
2013 27 stories
2018 25 stories
1970 24
stories
2012 21 stories
1973 20 stories
2001 20
stories Climber!
2019 20
stories Climber!
2011 19 stories
1972 18
stories
2020 18 stories
1974 14
stories
1976 11
stories New entry!
1993 11
stories
2007 11
stories
2009 11
stories Climber!
2008 11
stories Re-entry!
2005 10 stories
Total Writers (including showrunners, script editors, anthology
linking material writers) 251
Proportion of Female Writers 13%
Top Twenty Writers
Terrance Dicks 27
stories
? John Canning 25
stories
Paul Magrs 15
stories
Anonymous Polystyle Writers 15 stories Climber!
John Dorney 12 stories
Andy Frankham-Allen 12 stories
Robert Holmes 10
stories Climber!
Malcolm Hulke 10
stories
Eddie Robson 9 stories
Mark Wright 9
stories
Simon Guerrier 8 stories
Dennis Hooper 8
stories
Justin Richards 8 stories
1971 Annual crew 8 stories
1973 Annual crew 8 stories
Roger Noel Cook 7 stories
Guy Adams 6
stories=
Matt Fitton 6
stories=
David A McIntee 6 stories=
Jonathan Morris 6 stories=
Cody Schell 6
stories=
David Whitaker 6 stories=
1974 Annual crew 6 stories=
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