A Biography of the Doctor

The First Doctor

Season Two

PLANET OF GIANTS

The TARDIS doors open in flight, causing the TARDIS to shrink when it materialises on Earth in the 1960's. When the now tiny crew leave the TARDIS, they manage to foil a scientist's plans to market a lethal insecticide, DN6, by using the telephone. When they return to the TARDIS, the Doctor is able to undo the damage to the TARDIS.

(The TARDIS shrinking is probably caused by the removal of what appears to be a Marston Sphere in City at World's End.)

UNRECORDED ADVENTURE
(placement rating 3)

The Doctor and companions witness the relief of Mafeking during the Boer War.

(In Planet of Giants, the Doctor says he has never been to Africa, yet in The Daleks' Masterplan he claims to have witnessed this African event. This adventure must have been before The Chase, as Steven is ignorant of it. Perhaps the TARDIS picked up on his comment and, as in The Ark, chose a destination for him.)

SHORT TRIPS COMPANIONS: A LONG NIGHT

Barbara shares a dream with her mother, who then knows that she will return eventually.

(This is exactly a year since 100,000 BC for Barbara's mother, so probably the same for Barbara.)

THE DALEK INVASION OF EARTH

The TARDIS lands in London in the 22nd century, in the middle of the Dalek occupation of Earth. The efforts of the Doctor and his companions ultimately defeat the Daleks' plan to extract the Earth's core through a mine in Bedfordshire, which would allow them to pilot Earth. During the course of these events, Susan falls in love with resistance fighter David Campbell. As the TARDIS prepares to leave, the Doctor locks Susan out of the TARDIS, believing that she is torn between her love for him and for David.

VENUSIAN LULLABY
(placement value 5)

Following the departure of Susan, the Doctor discovers an invitation to the funeral of his old Venusian friend Dharkig. On arrival, Ian is captured by a group that is attempting to thwart the oncoming death of the Venusian race. Events are complicated when an alien race called the Sou(ou)shi arrive offering to rehouse the Venusians on the still primeval Earth. The Venusians initially accept this offer, but the Doctor soon realises that the Sou(ou)shi intend to kill the Venusian race. His and his companion's intervention thwarts the Sou(ou)shi and gives the Venusians another 10,000 generations to live. The Doctor leaves with a Venusian formula that allows him to calculate the whereabouts of another individual.

(The story follows on from the departure of Susan, and there is no possibility of anything happening in between. It is said to have been about a year since 100,000 BC)

DECALOG 1: BOOK OF SHADOWS
(placement value 4)

The Doctor visits the mines of Alexandria, looking for gold with which to make a wedding ring for Susan. He discovers that the great library has been fitted with temporal baffles so books can be collected by patrons from the future. These propel Barbara 9 years into the past, where she translates for the alien Rhakotis, who has crashed. She eventually becomes queen and meets the Doctor. She is given the choice to change history so she was never propelled into the past. This means that Rhakotis perished in the crash and the TARDIS crew is able to depart.

(This story follows on from the end of Venusian Lullaby.)

DECALOG 2: THE NINE DAY QUEEN
(placement rating 4)

The TARDIS is invaded by a Vrij, an energy being feeding on negative emotions. It escapes into England 1553, inhabiting the Duke of Northumberland. Several months later, its influence causes popular support for Queen Jane Grey. The army assembled by the Vrij/Duke of Northumberland disperses when the Doctor is able to capture the Vrij. Jane Grey is later executed.

(This story has to happen after Venusian Lullaby and Decalog: Book of Shadows, as they follow straight on from The Dalek Invasion of Earth. It is possible that Jane's similarity to Susan - at least in the Doctor's eyes - is responsible for dialogue in The Rescue suggesting that Susan's departure is a recent event, despite the two months that this story takes.)

THE RESCUE

The TARDIS lands on Dido in 2493. There, its crew encounters the survivors of a spaceship crash, a crippled man called Bennett and a young woman named Vicki. They believe that they are being protected from the natives by a being named Koquillion. Knowing that the natives are peaceful, the Doctor soon discovers that Koquillion is Bennett in disguise. He also discovers that Koquillion is guilty of murdering the other survivors. Bennett is accidentally killed fleeing from the natives. The Doctor, missing Susan, offers Vicki the chance of a new life aboard the TARDIS, which she accepts.

MORE SHORT TRIPS: ROMANS CUTAWAY
(placement value 4)

The TARDIS lands on a cliff in Italy 64AD. They encounter a lion and kill it. In the process, they agree to look after a Roman villa as the slave who had been guarding it had been mortally wounded by the lion.

(This follows on immediately from the last scene of The Rescue and sets the scene for The Romans.)

BYZANTIUM!
(placement value 4)

The TARDIS lands on a cliff in Thrace, March 64 AD. The TARDIS crew spend several uneventful days relaxing in nearby Byzantium. Just before they are due to leave the city, they are caught in the marketplace in the middle of a zealot attack. Ian is injured and then locked up by the Roman army. Barbara finds sanctuary in the local synagogue, Vicki is taken in by a Greek family, and the Doctor is rescued by Christians. Ian is responsible for uniting the local prefect and general, who embark on a purge of their enemies. In the midst of this chaos, the travellers are reunited. However, they are forced to walk to Rome, as a local Senator has found the TARDIS and taken it to his villa near Rome.

(This follows on immediately from the last scene of The Rescue and potentially sets the scene for The Romans. However, it is impossible to properly reconcile the book with Romans Cutaway. In favour of Byzantium!, books are usually considered more authoritative than short stories. In favour of Romans Cutaway, it fits much better with what we see in The Romans. The nearest we have to a decent compromise is that Ian has a dream right at the end of Byzantium! that shares a few common elements with Romans Cutaway, or that the start of Romans Cutaway is partly a flashback to the start of Byzantium!)

THE ROMANS

After spending a month at the villa, the Doctor and Vicki get bored. They head off to Rome and end up in the court of Nero, where the Doctor accidentally gives him the idea of burning down Rome. Meanwhile, Ian and Barbara are kidnapped and taken into slavery. They eventually escape and return to the villa, where the two groups of companions are reunited.

THE WEB PLANET

The TARDIS is drawn to the planet Vortis. The crew find themselves in the middle of a war between the butterfly-like Menoptra and the ant-like Zarbi. They discover that the Zarbi are controlled by a being known as the Animus. Eventually, Barbara destroys the Animus using a device known as the Isotope. This causes the Zarbi to revert to their natural state of mindless cattle.

THE CRUSADE

The TARDIS arrives in 12th century Palestine. The crew is caught in a Saracen ambush and Barbara is captured. The others are taken to King Richard's palace in Jaffa. Ian is knighted Sir Ian of Jaffa and allowed to go in search of Barbara. He rescues her and returns to the TARDIS. Meanwhile, the Doctor and Vicki make an enemy of the Earl of Leicester. They are forced to flee the court. The Doctor is captured by Leicester, but Ian saves him by claiming the right to execute him. They then escape in the TARDIS, making it appear as if Sir Ian has been spirited away by sorcerers.

THE SPACE MUSEUM

The TARDIS "jumps a time track" and arrives on Xeros. Its crew discovers that they are destined to end up as exhibits in a museum. They eventually realise that they must help the native Xerons rebel against the Morok invaders to forestall this fate. When the revolt is successful, the Xerons give the Doctor a time-space visualiser from the museum.

(Given that "jumping a time track" is almost certainly against the laws of time travel, it seems very strange that the TARDIS would allow this to happen. Was there some kind of external influence? Maybe some powerful being was interfering in the Doctor's travels, or the CIA took control of his TARDIS. In the latter case, this would have to be the CIA from the Third Doctor's era or later, as the CIA of this period are, as far as we know, unaware of his whereabouts.)

THE PLOTTERS
(placement value 5)

The TARDIS arrives in London during November 1605. Ian and Barbara take the opportunity to visit the Globe theatre, but instead, Barbara is captured by a group of Catholics plotting to kill the king. She escapes, but Ian ends up trapped in a cellar beneath the houses of Parliament that is filled with gunpowder. Meanwhile, the Doctor and Vicki have been visiting the court of King James. The Doctor hopes to observe history in the making, using the cover of helping with the King James translation of the Bible. He discovers that the King's advisor Robert Cecil has been involved in the gunpowder plot with the aim of exposing the Catholic threat. His intervention rescues Ian. The TARDIS crew is able to use the confusion created by the widespread discovery of the gunpowder plot to slip away.

THE CHASE

The Doctor experiments with the time-space visualiser and discovers that the Daleks have constructed a time machine and sent it after his TARDIS. Subsequent events lead to a pursuit across numerous locations in time and space. These include the desert planet Aridus, the Empire State Building in 1966, the deck of the Marie Celeste in 1872 (where the crew jump overboard to escape the Daleks), and Frankenstein's House of Horror at the 1996 Festival of Ghana. Vicki is accidentally left behind at the house of horror, but she manages to stow away on the Dalek ship. When the two ships land on Mechanus, the Daleks release a robot duplicate, which is defeated when it makes a factual slip. The TARDIS crew (including Vicki) are captured by the Mechanoids, robots which have been tending an Earth colony where the colonists never arrived. The Mechanoids and Daleks destroy each other. Ian and Barbara are able to take the Dalek ship back to England, 1965. The Doctor and Vicki leave in the TARDIS, not knowing that Steven Taylor, a prisoner of the Mechanoids, has stowed away.

(It is likely that the Time-Space Visualiser stops working at some time after this, as we never see it again, even at times when it would have proved very useful.)

THE TIME MEDDLER

The Doctor and Vicki discover Steven just before the TARDIS lands in Northumbria in 1066. Taking a look outside the TARDIS, he is eventually convinced that he has travelled in time. Whilst the local villagers deal with a small Viking scout party; the Doctor discovers a member of his own race, [called Mortimus]. He is planning to change history, by destroying the Viking fleet. He believes that, if Harold only has William's invasion to deal with, then England's future will be vastly improved. The Doctor eventually sabotages Mortimus' TARDIS, so that it shrinks. He leaves Mortimus temporarily stranded and vowing revenge.

(By this time, the Doctor has been gone from Gallifrey for some time. If we assume that the Doctor and Mortimus are meeting at the same time in their Gallifreyan-based timelines, then the Doctor has been gone for over 50 years, as Mortimus left Gallifrey 50 years later than the Doctor did. However, comparing Lungbarrow (where the Doctor is over 1000 and has been gone from Gallifrey for 673 years) with Tomb of the Cybermen, where he is 450, we conclude that the Doctor has been gone for over 100 years by this point.)

THE THREE DOCTORS
(placement rating 2)

The Doctor is snatched from his timestream by Time Lords from the future. He is caught in a Time Eddy and thus advises, rather than helps, his second and third incarnations to defeat Omega, a renegade Time Lord from Gallifrey's distant past.

(This apparently happened immediately before The Empire of Glass. Given the Doctor's immediate comments on returning to the TARDIS, and evidence from The Witch Hunters, it seems unlikely that the events of The Five Doctors also occurred here.)

Just before he is returned to the TARDIS, the Doctor is given an invitation to the Armageddon Convention by Irving Braxiatel. Unfortunately, Irving wasn't told that the Doctor would have his mind wiped.

(This is mentioned in The Empire of Glass.)

THE EMPIRE OF GLASS
(placement rating 5)

The invitation to the Armageddon Convention brings the TARDIS to Venice in 1609. The Doctor is taken to be Cardinal Bellarmine, who is to advise the Doge on the telescope recently invented by Galileo. Galileo, however, has seen spaceships travelling between the Earth and the moon. Aliens attempt to kidnap the Doctor, but end up kidnapping the real Cardinal Bellarmine instead. The Cardinal ends up chairing an interplanetary arms limitation conference, believing the aliens to be angels. Vicki soon ends up as a guest of Irving Braxiatel, who is hosting the conference. The Doctor and Steven find themselves thrown together with Galileo, Shakespeare (who is a spy for King James) and the presumed dead Christopher Marlowe (who dies in a duel).

After discovering what's going on, the Doctor is instrumental in discovering two plots to sabotage the conference. The Greld planned to destroy the conference by implanting parts of a cobalt bomb in humans together with hypnotic controls. The Jamarians, servitors to Braxiatel, planned to steal the military secrets of those at the conference. The first plot is averted when the humans involved are taken into orbit, where they can explode away from anyone. The second is foiled when Shakespeare uses the telepathic device in which the secrets are stored. He travels to England, where the Doctor uses the premiere of Macbeth to slip him Shakespeare amnesia pill, so he forgets the advanced knowledge he has learned. The conference is successful, and the TARDIS crew are able to slip away.