A History of the Whoniverse

The Twenty-eighth Century (2701-2800)

As the Earth Empire expanded, it became more imperialistic and began enslaving large numbers of alien races. Amongst the races they oppressed were the Wirrn and the Mogarians. They were helped in this by the collapse of several intergalactic business consortia that had effectively ruled the galaxy. This had been engineered by the Legions, who were subsequently trapped by Time Lord temporal inhibitors. Unfortunately for the Empire, Earth had a number of wars and food riots during the early part of this century.

This is a summary of the position of the Empire in this period. The Legions' role is mentioned in The Crystal Bucephalus (page 40). The wars and food riots are mentioned in The Dark Path (page 256). Perhaps the wars and riots were sparked by the collapse of the business consortia.

2738

On Colony world 4378976.Delta-Four Anton Ryland the Sixth of Sector Four-Four-Kappa-Zero begins working for the Office of Statistical Processing

This was 37 years before The Stealers of Dreams page 15.

2744

On Colony world 4378976.Delta-Four, Helene is born. She will later marry Mr Flanagan and become a schoolteacher.

She is 31 on page 20 of The Stealers of Dreams.

28th Century

THE STEALERS OF DREAMS (PROLOGUE)

Fifteen-year-Old Kimmi Waller is sent to the Big White House because she has gone fantasy-crazy, believing in monsters. This is two weeks after being caught drawing a monster in school, and she stays in for 16 months.

Kimmi is 15 on page 8. It's uncertain how long this is before the main events of the book. The length of her stay is given on page 110.

2758

On Colony world 4378976.Delta-Four, Nat is born. She would later join Domnic's reading group.

Domnic notes that she is seventeen on page 131 of The Stealer of Dreams.

2765

INITEC built the first of a series of Vigilant laser defence stations in orbit around Earth. This prevented the Zygons from melting Earth's icecaps and flooding the planet.

Original Sin (page 287). This is presumably the Zygon fleet that was expected to arrive on Earth centuries after Terror of the Zygons.

1st October

The Forrester Family History is published to celebrate the birth of Nelson Forrester II. It includes George Forrester, claimed to be a nephew of Nelson Mandela who fought in his uncle's army at the battle of Trafalgar. This is the earliest ever record of George Forrester.

Decalog 4: Secrets of the Black Planet (page 231).

2770

Five humans arrive on the Sense-Sphere. They all go insane after telepathic contact with the Sensorites. Their ship is believed to have left the planet, but three of them stay and begin poisoning the Sensorite water supply with deadly nightshade.

Ten years before The Sensorites.

2774

On Colony world 4378976.Delta-Four, rumours start spreading about Hal Gryden, a man who is broadcasting fiction and subversive messages on a channel in the static between television channels.

Dominic says that Gryden a year ago, Gryden was just a rumour on page 92 of The Deviant Strain.

2775

THE STEALERS OF DREAMS

On Colony world 4378976.Delta-Four there is widespread rioting, supposedly sparked off by Hal Gryden's Static TV, with people going fantasy-crazy. The riots end when the police storm the Big White House, a prison/asylum for the fantasy crazy where the inmates/patients have taken control. Hal Gryden is broadcasting from inside, cutting in on all 36 real channels. He confronts police Inspector Waller on camera, who is revealed to be fantasy crazy herself. This calms the tensions and technicians synthesise cure for the micro-organisms now known to cause people going fantasy crazy. Within a couple of months, there is an election campaign to form a new government, and a new drama series on Channel One.

The Doctor claims that it is 2775 on page 18.

2779

One of the crew of an Imperial ship orbiting the Sense-Sphere discovers the planet contains a source of molybdenum a short time before going mad.

A year before The Sensorites.

2780

THE SENSORITES

An Imperial expedition to Sense-Sphere is persuaded to leave the planet in peace.

Maitland says it's the 28th century. The exact date is arbitrary - most chronologies place the story between about 2750 and 2770. I thought I'd buck the trend.

Earth society in this era was becoming very prejudiced. The Data Barons exercised a monopoly of information. They supported an apartheid-like system. The Townships around major cities were considered no-go areas, where you needed a travel permit to get back out. Earth was ruled by a World President, underneath the Empress. It was divided into regions such as Europe, the Americas, Africa, Eurasia, and the Southern Chinese Union.

This is the background to Decalog 4: Secrets of the Black Planet. Presumably the regions are developments of the Zones that developed in the 21^st Century (see Enemy of the World and Warriors of the Deep).

c. 2782

One of the first empathic movies made is Mandela, starring Troy Forrester. This features many anachronisms and portrays Mandela as the imposer, rather than opposer, of Apartheid.

Eight years before Decalog 4: Secrets of the Black Planet.

c. 2787

The Climate Reclamation Project begins in Transkei.

Three years before Decalog 4: Secrets of the Black Planet.

c. 2790

DECALOG 4: SECRETS OF THE BLACK PLANET

Kent Forrester discovers some secrets concerning the Panafrica Corporation. His discoveries lead to the death of his brother Troy. He spends the next 27 years in jail.

There's no date given. It has to be at least 24 years since the first edition of the family history in 2765, as Kent is 24 (page 228) and it was around when he was a child. It also has to be more than 27 years before the 2954 edition (page 238). Therefore, it's between 2789 and 2927. Following the pattern of the book, I assume it is in the 28th Century. Hence, I'm placing it here.

2800

DECALOG 3: TIMEVAULT

There is an outbreak of plague on board a Lorq Vaultship. It is soon discovered that the plague was caused by the wonder drug Aesulac. The plague allows the Crialans, a species of sentient bacteria who were hiding on board, to take over the bodies of the crew and passengers. The intervention of a stowaway calling himself the Doctor stopped the Crialan take-over.

The date is never stated. Aesulac was developed by the Gwendoline Talwinning Memorial Institute. As Gwendoline had only just qualified as a doctor in Decalog 3: Continuity Errors (2668), this story must be set in at least the 28th Century. I've placed it here, as I felt that the Lorq Vaultships would be out of place during the height of the Earth Empire.