Then Again: The Third Deciaeon

 

A E van Vogt’s 1947 novel The Book of Ptath is set in 2 x 108 CE (and has indeed been pulished under the title 200,000,000 AD, I would like to think with an explanation mark.) The Earth’s sizeable population occupy a single supercontinent, which I think it is reasonable to call Zothique. It is thought that by this time Antarctica will have collided with the coasts of what had been east Africa and west India, trapping the Arabian Sea as an inland body of water. There seems nothing going on in Doctor Who narrative at this point to be contradicted by any of this.

 

This is approximately as far in the future as the beginning of the Jurassic Period, marked by the Triassic-Jurassic extinction event, was, in the past.  

 

The Next Universe But One   Charity short story, published 1999         Doctor: 1

featuring Barbara, Ian, Vicki

Written by David Owen.

Arbitrary placement Takes place on Tyron.


Sweet Flower of Uthe   Illustrated short story, published 1980               Doctor: 4

featuring K9 II, Romana

Written by the World Distributors Annual 1981 crew.

Arbitrary placement Takes place on Uthe 3.


The Grief Collector   Illustrated short story, published 2015                   Doctor: 10

Written by Justin Richards.

Arbitrary placement Takes place in an unnamed environment inhabited by humanoids.

 

This is approximately as far in the future as the initial uplifting of the Andes and the  ancestors of turtles developing , was, in the past.

 

The Ruins of Time   Short story, published 2006                        Doctor: Unbound 1

Featuring Unbound Susan, Unbound Barbara, Unbound Ian

Written by Philip Purser-Hallard.

Arbitrary placement Takes place on Torcaldi. Events in this story are, or should be, negated by the events of DS Al Fine.


Erasure   Audio short story, released 2018                                                 Doctor: 4

Featuring the Time Lords, Leela, Romana, Adric

Written by Gary Russell.

Arbitrary placement The principal action takes place on Bellascon.

 

This is approximately as far in the future as the beginning of the Triassic Period, marked by the Permian-Triassic extinction event, the most lethal in Earth’s history, (it appears to have seen off the exceptionally tenacious trilobites) and the period which would see the emergence of dinosaurs and mammals, was, in the past. 

 

The Sons of the Crab   Illustrated short story, published 1965            Doctor: 1

Written by David Whitaker and Dennis Spooner.

Arbitrary placement Takes place on Wengrol. This is located in the Crab Nebula, described as a galaxy and consequently not the feature of that name visible from the Earth. The Doctor mentions that this is the first time he has travelled outside the galaxy.


Run the Gauntlet   Illustrated short story, published 1969                      Doctor: 2

featuring Jamie, Zoe

Written by the World Distributors Annual 1970 crew.

Informed guess Takes place on an unnamed planet, but Valgar’s oath “by the great star of Yend!” and a reference to mutation suggest that this story take place relatively soon after The Sons of the Crab.


The Vortex Code   Comic story, published 2009                                      Doctor:10

Written by Trevor Baxendale.

Arbitrary placement Takes place in the Gorlon asteroid field and on Chrone. This is described as the oldest planet in the universe, a label given to Planet One in The Pandorica Opens. There is no reason why it should not be the same planet under a different name, of course.


The Life Bringer   Comic story, published 1981                                     Doctor: 4

featuring K9 II

Written by Steve Moore.

Arbitrary placement Takes place partially on Olympus.


Shark Bait   Comic story, published 1965                                                 Doctor: 1

featuring Gillian, John

Illustrated ?and written by Bill Mevin.

Arbitrary placement Takes place on an unnamed planet of unusual physical properties.

 

The film Battle Beyond the Stars (1980) takes place in or on the fringes of Tellurian space (it features a small-time interstellar arms dealer from Earth). It can use up space here well enough, I think.

 

The Doctor’s Greatest Escape   Charity drabble, published 1993          Doctor: Unbound

Written by Keith Brooke.

Takes place in an indeterminate environment.

 

This is approximately as far in the future as the beginning of the Permian period, marked by widespread desertification of the earth’s land surfaces, was, in the past.

 

 

 

Total Stories Considered             6306

Proportion Written By Women 10%                                       

 

Top Docs

4                 557 stories                   

7                 533 stories 

10               461 stories 

11               456 stories 

8                 429 stories 

6                 393 stories

3                 389 stories 

5                 376 stories         

1                 371 stories 

2                 342 stories         

12               193 stories

Unbound  136 stories

9                 94 stories  

13               88 stories           

War           48 stories                     

 

 

Top Twenty Recurring Elements

 

London                                                              1173 stories                

Regional England                                            832 stories

The Time Lords                                               557 stories

The Daleks and Davros                                  504 stories 

UNIT                                                                  470 stories  

Alastair, Kate, Kadiatu, Lucy Weston and the Lethbridge-Stewart family                                                                            467 stories  

Continental Europe                                         443 stories 

North America                                                 436 stories  

Benny                                                                 321 stories

The Master, including Missy                         305 stories

Sarah Jane                                                        291 stories 

Ace                                                                      291 stories

The K9s                                                              277 stories 

Amy and Rory                                                  275 stories 

Wales                                                                  261 stories

Torchwood                                                        257 stories  

At Sea                                                                 234 stories

Peri                                                                     226 stories 

Jamie                                                                  218 stories 

Romana                                                             218 stories Climber! 

 

 

Top Decades

 

The Teens                                                          2531 stories

The Noughties                                                  1688 stories       

The Nineties                                                      644 stories  

The Twenties                                                     518 stories   

The Eighties                                                      342 stories   

The Seventies                                                    297 stories         

The Sixties                                                         216 stories

(Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Oscar Wilde and William Hope Hodgson)                                                                                      70 stories  

 

 

And Top Twenty Years

 

2018                                                          320 stories

2016                                                          318 stories 

2020                                                          303 stories  

2015                                                          281 stories 

2008                                                          279 stories  

2017                                                           256 stories       

2009                                                          245 stories 

2010                                                          243 stories 

2011                                                          243 stories 

2013                                                          242 stories 

2019                                                          236 stories 

2007                                                          226 stories 

2021                                                          217 stories 

2014                                                          210 stories 

2001                                                          187 stories  

2012                                                          187 stories 

2006                                                          170 stories

2004                                                          157 stories

2005                                                          144 stories

2003                                                          124 stories  

                            

          

 

 

Total Writers (including showrunners, script editors, anthology linking material writers)                                     1179

Proportion of Female Writers                17%      

 

Top Twenty Writers

 

Justin Richards                                       164 stories

James Goss                                              155 stories 

Terrance Dicks                                       148 stories

Russell T Davies                                     125 stories  

Jonathan Morris                                    120 stories 

Steven Moffat                                         105 stories

Eddie Robson                                          105 stories         

Paul Magrs                                              97 stories  

Matt Fitton                                              91 stories  

Terry Nation                                           90 stories  

Nicholas Briggs                                       88 stories 

Simon Guerrier                                       88 stories  

John Dorney                                            87 stories 

David Whitaker                                      85 stories           

Steve Lyons                                             78 stories 

Trevor Baxendale                                  75 stories  

Guy Adams                                              69 stories           

Alan Barnes                                             69 stories  

Gareth Roberts                                       69 stories  

Eric Saward                                            66 stories  

 


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