B00DPX9ST8 EBOK

by Parkin, Lance

  Only One Destruction of Gallifrey?

  The intention of both the creative team behind the EDAs and the new series producer Russell T Davies is that the destruction of Gallifrey seen in The Ancestor Cell and the destruction of Gallifrey reported in the new series are entirely separate events. As the Doctor destroys Gallifrey once while preventing the Enemy and Faction Paradox from taking control of his homeworld, then (presumably after rebuilding Gallifrey, as he pledges to do at the end of The Gallifrey Chronicles) he destroys Gallifrey again in a great war with the Daleks, it would seem clear these are indeed mutually exclusive. Russell Davies likened it, in a DWM column, to the two World Wars humanity fought in quick succession.

  But could Gallifrey have been destroyed just once? The Doctor certainly experiences the destruction of Gallifrey twice, in two different contexts. But this doesn’t rule out it being the same event. If there was only one destruction of Gallifrey, he and his future self would have to be present, and both culpable.

  Surprisingly, this already fits what we know from The Ancestor Cell - the Doctor’s future self, Grandfather Paradox was there. Moreover, this future eighth Doctor fits everything we know about the Doctor who fought the Time War: fighting a vast time war has scarred him, made him lose his faith in humanity, made him a little callous. In The Gallifrey Chronicles recap of the end of The Ancestor Cell, Grandfather Paradox even wears a leather coat. As for the destruction of Gallifrey - the Doctor’s description in Dalek, “I watched it happen ... I made it happen... I tried to stop it” is a neat summary of his actions in The Ancestor Cell.

  If this theory is true, the Doctor’s memories of the War are conflicted because he was literally fighting his (earlier) self over “pulling the lever” that destroyed Gallifrey. So it’s Grandfather Paradox who has fought the Last Great Time War, the Daleks, the Nestenes and so on. He goes back to The Ancestor Cell having done all that, confronts his earlier self... who then outsmarts him by blowing up Gallifrey. Following this defeat, it’s Grandfather Paradox who regenerates into Eccleston (growing his arm back in the process).

  For this to be the case, it involves the introduction of the tiniest bit of extra information: the War that’s being fought in the future has the Daleks in it and at some point they make a decisive move on Gallifrey. What the “current” eighth Doctor doesn’t know - but which his future self does - is that, in the future, the War’s going so badly that the Daleks are heading for Gallifrey. The Daleks were ruled out as “the Enemy” in Alien Bodies, but they don’t need to be for this theory to work - they just need to be capable of hitting the Time Lords hard.

  [602] The Shadow Proclamation

  This group is first referenced in Rose, is seen on screen in The Stolen Earth, and also appears in “Fugitive” (set circa 2545) and The Darksmith Legacy books. The Proclamation’s native time zone is never specified, and it’s unclear if it has access to time travel (meaning the characters seen there might not even originate from the same era) or if the Proclamation perhaps operates (as with Gallifrey) on its own continuum. It’s evidently been around for some time, though - in The Stolen Earth (set in 2009), the Shadow Proclamation consider the disappearance of Pyrovillia as a “cold case”, suggesting they investigated it at the time. “Agent Provocateur” has them active at the time of Ancient Egypt.

  [603] Donna, the Doctor in The Stolen Earth.

  [604] “Fugitive”. This is difficult to reconcile with the actions of Rassilon in The End of Time (TV), so it might represent the actions of another Time Lord authority, although seemingly not the Doctor himself.

  [605] The Stolen Earth has one of the Shadow Proclamation talk of the Holy Writ, and another tell Donna “God save you”, suggesting this might be some form of religious organisation.

  [606] Beautiful Chaos (p211).

  [607] The Beast of Orlok

  [608] The Eleventh Hour

  [609] The Pictures of Emptiness (p15).

  [610] The Depths of Despair

  [611] Borrowed Time

  [612] The Glamour Chase

  [613] How Many Times Has the Doctor Been Married?

  Depending on how you define terms, at least five.

  The earliest we know of in the Doctor’s lifetime was seen in flashback in Cold Fusion, a book that established that prior to the Doctor leaving Gallifrey, he was married to Patience, his former tutor (also seen in The Infinity Doctors). Patience is presumably Susan’s grandmother. Much later in The Adventuress of Henrietta Street, the eighth Doctor married a ritualist named Scarlette on a platonic basis, as a means of becoming vested with the authority to serve as a protector of Earth.

  Since 2009, the new Doctor Who has married off its central character three times. The tenth Doctor is said to have married Queen Elizabeth I – while this event isn’t seen on screen, it’s referred or alluded to so often (The Shakespeare Code, The End of Time (TV), The Beast Below and Amy’s Choice), it seems safe to assume that it happened. The eleventh Doctor very prominently marries River Song in The Wedding of River Song, and prior to that winds up married to Marilyn Monroe in A Christmas Carol.

  An alternate future seen in Human Nature (TV) entailed the Doctor’s “John Smith” persona living out his life as the husband of nurse Joan Redfern. The Aztecs, amusingly enough, entails the first Doctor becoming accidentally engaged to an Aztec woman, Cameca, when he fails to realise the cultural significance of making her a cup of cocoa.

  To date, the Doctor has not literally married the TARDIS, despite The Doctor’s Wife (as the title suggests) taking this ongoing element of the programme’s subtext and, in large measure, turning it into text.

  None of the Above

  There are a number of stories without the references needed to place them in any meaningful relation to the rest of universal history.

  Some (such as The Celestial Toymaker) take place in a reality that is completely detached from the universe’s timeline. Some, such as the E-Space Trilogy (Full Circle to Warriors’ Gate) and the Divergent Universe Series (the Big Finish audios Scherzo to The Next Life), take place in locations clearly outside the universe’s physical boundaries.

  A number of stories simply fail to provide (or aren’t interested in providing) more evidence beyond the fact that they occur “on an alien planet in the future”. Given the entire duration of human development into space, this isn’t particularly helpful, presuming the humanoids featured in the story are human in the first place. Without more clues as to how such stories relate to human history or another documented event, a proper dating is impossible. A story such as Anachrophobia looks for all the world like placement on the timeline should be attainable, but the evidence (or lack thereof) says otherwise.

  The following stories are among those that defy a proper dating. The TV stories are listed in broadcast order; the books, audios and comics are listed alphabetically.

  TV Stories

  The Edge of Destruction (1.3, set in the TARDIS)

  The Chase (2.8, the sequence on Aridius - although it has to take place after the Daleks launch their time machine, as the Doctor and companions see that on the Time-Space Visualiser, which can only see into the past)

  Galaxy 4 (3.1)

  The Daleks’ Master Plan (3.4, the sequences on Tigus and the ice planet)

  The Celestial Toymaker (3.7, occurs in the Toymaker’s domain)

  The Dominators (6.1, at a time when the Dominators control “ten galaxies”)

  The Mind Robber (6.2, in the Land of Fiction, a timeless dimension)

  Carnival of Monsters (10.2)

  The Ribos Operation (16.1, the White Guardian sequence)

  The Creature from the Pit (17.3)

  The Horns of Nimon (17.5)

  Full Circle (18.3, E-Space story)

  State of Decay (18.4, E-Space story)

  Warriors’ Gate (18.5, E-Space story)

  Castrovalva (19.1, the non-Earth sequences)

  Enlightenment (20.5)

  The Five Doctors (20.7, the first Doctor’
s kidnap and the Eye of Orion sequences)

  The Greatest Show in the Galaxy (25.4)

  “Born Again” (Children in Need sketch #1, post-regeneration scene in the TARDIS with tenth Doctor and Rose)

  “Time Crash” (Children in Need sketch #2, scene in the TARDIS with the fifth and tenth Doctors)

  Amy’s Choice (X5.7, occurs in the TARDIS)

  “Time” (Comic Relief sketch #1, occurs in the TARDIS)

  “Space” (Comic Relief sketch #2, occurs in the TARDIS)

  The Girl Who Waited (X6.10, although mention of Disneyland Clom, and the presence of a Mona Lisa and a Venus de Milo, broadly suggests that it’s the future)

  Novels and Novellas

  Anachrophobia (EDA #54)

  Beltempest (EDA #17)

  Citadel of Dreams (TEL #2)

  Coldheart (EDA #33)

  Crooked World, The (EDA #57)

  Doctor Trap, The (NSA #26)

  Dreams of Empire (PDA #14)

  Eight Doctors, The (EDA #1, the Eye of Orion sequence)

  Frontier Worlds (EDA #29)

  King’s Dragon, The (NSA #41; the Doctor’s remark on page 224 that Prime Directives are “So twenty-third century. So very retro”, isn’t very helpful, even presuming he can be taken literally)

  Match of the Day (PDA #70)

  Nightdreamers (TEL #3)

  Parallel 59 (EDA #30)

  Shell Shock (TEL #8)

  Shining Darkness (NSA #27)

  Sky Pirates! (NA #40)

  Audios

  Absolution (BF #101)

  Blood of the Daleks (BF BBC7 #1.1-1.2; events on Red Rocket Rising)

  Caedroia (BF #63, Divergent Universe story)

  Cannibalists, The (BF BBC7 #3.6)

  Circular Time: “Spring” (BF #91, events on the planet of the bird-people)

  City of Spires (BF #133, occurs in the Land of Fiction)

  Company of Friends, The: “Fitz’s Story” (BF #123b)

  Creatures of Beauty (BF #44)

  Creed of the Kromon, The (BF #53, Divergent Universe story)

  Dark Husband, The (BF #106)

  Darkening Eye, The (BF CC #3.6, flashback story)

  Dead London (BF BBC7 #2.1, occurs in an alien’s mind)

  Doomsday Quatrain, The (BF #151, occurs on alien planet made to simulate sixteenth-century Earth)

  Drowned World, The (BF CC #4.1, flashback story)

  Elite, The (BF LS #3.1)

  Embrace the Darkness (BF #31)

  Empathy Games (BF CC #3.4, flashback story)

  Faith Stealer (BF #61, Divergent Universe story)

  Fear of the Daleks (BF CC #1.2)

  Forever Trap, The (BBC DW original audiobook #2)

  Four Doctors, The (BF subscription promo #9, a.k.a. #142b; the Jariden sequences)

  “Fragile Yellow Arc of Fragrance, The” (BF LS #2.1b)

  Her Final Flight (BF subscription promo #2)

  Holy Terror, The (BF #14)

  Immortal Beloved (BF BBC7 #1.4; the participants are human, but this isn’t very helpful for dating purposes)

  Invasion of E-Space, The (BF CC #4.4)

  ... Ish (BF #35)

  Last of the Titans (BF promo #1, DWM #300)

  Last, The (BF #62, Divergent Universe story)

  Legend of the Cybermen (BF #135, Land of Fiction sequences)

  Natural History of Fear, The (BF #54, Divergent Universe story)

  Nekromanteia (BF #41)

  Next Life, The (BF #64, Divergent Universe story)

  Night’s Black Agents (BF CC #4.11, occurs in the Land of Fiction)

  No Place Like Home (BF promo #3, DWM #326)

  Prisoner of the Sun (BF BBC7 #4.8)

  Quinnis (BF CC #3.6, occurs in the Fourth Universe)

  Recorded Time and Other Stories: “Paradoxicide” (BF #150b)

  Recorded Time and Other Stories: “Question Marks” (BF #150d)

  Red (BF #85)

  Ringpullworld (BF CC #4.5)

  Rocket Men, The (BF CC #6.2)

  Scherzo (BF #52, Divergent Universe story)

  Sirens of Time, The (BF #1, sixth Doctor segment)

  Solitaire (BF CC #4.12, occurs in the Toymaker’s domain)

  Something Inside (BF #83)

  Three Companions, The: “Polly’s Story” (serialized back-up story; BF #120-129)

  Time Reef (BF #113a)

  Time Works (BF #80)

  Twilight Kingdom, The (BF #55, Divergent Universe story)

  Wishing Beast, The (BF #97)

  Wreck of the Titan, The (BF #134, occurs in the Land of Fiction)

  Audios (spin-off series)

  Gallifrey: Spirit (Davidia sequences)

  Graceless: The End (warpship sequences)

  Kaldor City: “The Prisoner” (supplemental story on “The Actor Speaks” CD featuring Paul Darrow, stated as taking place three days after Kaldor City: Checkmate, but likely occuring from Landerchild’s perspective within the Fendahl gestalt)

  Kaldor City: Storm Mine (Kaldor City #1.6, stated as taking place eighteen months after Kaldor City: Checkmate, but likely occurs from Blayse’s perspective within the Fendahl gestalt)

  K9: The Choice (BBV audio #13)

  K9: The Search (BBV audio #16)

  Minister of Chance, The: The Broken World (MoC #1)

  Minister of Chance, The: The Forest Shakes (MoC #2)

  Minister of Chance, The: The Pointed Hand (MoC #0)

  Comics

  “Are You Listening / Younger and Wiser” (DWM 1994 Summer Special)

  “Autonomy Bug” (DWM #297-299)

  “Beautiful Freak” (DWM #304)

  “Betrothal of Sontar, The” (DWM #365-367)

  “Black Legacy” (DWW #35-38)

  “Cat Litter” (DWM #192)

  “Chameleon Factor” (DWM #174)

  “Changes” (DWM #118-119)

  “Character Assassin” (DWM #311)

  “City of the Damned” (DWW #9-16)

  “Crossroads of Time” (DWM #135)

  “Culture Shock” (DWM #139)

  “End of the Line” (DWW #54-55)

  “Exodus / Revelation / Genesis” (DWM #108-110)

  “Fabulous Idiot” (DWM Summer Special 1982)

  “Fangs of Time” (DWM #243)

  “Final Quest, The” (DWW #8)

  “Follow That TARDIS” (DWM #147)

  “Food for Thought” (DWM #218-220)

  “Forever Dreaming” (DWM #433-#434, occurs in the dimension of a psychic squid)

  “Forgotten, The” (IDW DW mini-series #2, tenth Doctor sequences)

  “Funhouse” (DWM #102-103)

  “Ground Control” (IDW DW Annual 2010, “Doctor and Donna being chased by killer bow-wielding pandas” sequence)

  “Happy Deathday” (DWM #272)

  “Keepsake” (DWM #140)

  “K9’s Finest Hour” (DWW #12)

  “Land of Happy Endings” (DWM #337; dream sequence in the TARDIS)

  “Land of the Blind” (DWM #224-226)

  “Last Word, The” (DWM #305)

  “Life of Matter and Death, A” (DWM #250)

  “Nature of the Beast” (DWM #111-113)

  “Oblivion” (DWM #323-328; story’s main events)

  “Ophidius” (DWM #300-303)

  “Outsider, The” (DWW #25-26)

  “Party Animals” (DWM #173)

  “Planet of the Dead” (DWM #141-142)

  “Religious Experience, A” (DWM Yearbook 1994)