Of interest probably only to myself, I’ve been trying to work out a chronology of the Doctor Who comics set between “Journey’s End” and “The End of Time.” From the Doctor’s perspective, in what order did they occur?
Here’s what I’m currently thinking, with television adventures bolded…
“Journey’s End”
“The Time of My Life” (Doctor Who Magazine #399)
“The Big, Blue Box” (IDW Publishing, Doctor Who Annual 2010)
“Ground Control” (IDW Publishing, Doctor Who Annual 2010)
The Forgotten (IDW Publishing mini-series)
“The Time Machination” (IDW Publishing one-shot)
“The Next Doctor”
“Think Twice” (Doctor Who Magazine #400-402)
“The Stockbridge Child” (Doctor Who Magazine #403-405)
“Mortal Beloved” (Doctor Who Magazine #406-407)
“The Age of Ice” (Doctor Who Magazine #408-411)
“The Deep Hereafter” (Doctor Who Magazine #412)
“Onomatopoeia” (Doctor Who Magazine #413)
“Ghosts of the Northern Line” (Doctor Who Magazine #414-415)
“The Crimson Hand” (Doctor Who Magazine #416-420)
“Planet of the Dead”
“Silver Scream” (IDW Publishing, Doctor Who #1-2)
“Fugitive” (IDW Publishing, Doctor Who #3-6)
“Tesseract” (IDW Publishing, Doctor Who #7-8)
“Don’t Step on the Grass” (IDW Publishing, Doctor Who #9-12)
“Old Friend” (IDW Publishing, Doctor Who Annual 2010)
“Final Sacrifice (IDW Publishing, Doctor Who #13-16)
The Waters of Mars
“Room With a Deja Vu” (IDW Publishing one-shot)
“To Sleep, Perchance to Scream” (IDW Publishing, Doctor Who Annual 2010)
The End of Time, Parts One and Two
There’s very little on this list that’s certain.
“Final Sacrifice” ends with the TARDIS on its way to Bowie Base One, so IDW’s run of Doctor Who comics must go there. And “The Time Machination” has to go at some point before “Final Sacrifice” because of the Torchwood agents.
Putting the Majenta stories between “The Next Doctor” and “Planet of the Dead” is based on nothing more than a gut feeling based on the Doctor’s willingness (or lack thereof) toward taking on a traveling companion in the TARDIS.
“Room with a Deja Vu” I placed near the end because the Doctor seems far more depressed and detached in this story.
The stories from IDW’s Doctor Who Annual 2010 can go anywhere, except for the profoundly moving “Old Friend” which leads directly into “Final Sacrifice.” The first story, “Ground Control,” just goes sometime after “Journey’s End” as there are flashbacks to both Martha and Donna. “The Big, Blue Box” finds the Doctor in an especially pensive mood, and I see that as matching the mood at the end of “The Time of My Life” very well to the point where I could see one leading into the next. “To Sleep, Perchance to Scream” makes sense in the gap between “The Waters of Mars” and “The End of Time” because it shows the Doctor approaching his death (he sees the eleventh Doctor in his mind).
I would place Sarah Jane‘s “The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith” after “The Waters of Mars.” The solo Doctor novels in 2009 would most likely go between “The Next Doctor” and “Think Twice,” except for Lance Parkin’s The Endless which I would place after “Journey’s End” and before The Forgotten.
It’s not a perfect arrangement, but it makes sense to me. :tardis:
A quick comment on the novels – I don’t have my notes at hand, but one of the solo Doctor novels—Autonomy, I think—mentions Captain Magambo. Because of that, at least it should probably go after “Planet of the Dead” (and I put the entire batch of three for convenience’s sake).
Oh, come on, you know this sort of thing would be of interest to me as well! 🙂
Unfortunately, I don’t have much to offer because my ability to follow the comics has been very spotty—despite my local comics shop doing a good job with most IDW titles, they haven’t consistently carried Doctor Who for quite a while. :-/ At some point, I’ll probably pick up the trades…unless the stories aren’t good enough to bother?
Why would you put “The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith” after “The Waters of Mars?” The Doctor doesn’t seem as…on the run in that episode as such a placement would seem to indicate.
I’d be interested in seeing an updated version of this list which includes that episode and the novels, though. 🙂
Andrew, that makes sense. I also know that most fans tend to take the books, except for the December 2008 batch, as following in order based on their publication date.
Edgar, I liked Tony Lee’s run on Doctor Who. I was a little iffy on it at first, and it’s aimed more at the hard-core fan than any other licensed Who story (outside of Big Finish) at the moment, but around the midpoint of the run the book really starts going places. There’s a two-part “bottle show,” then there’s a cool UNIT/Martha story, and the final story arc, amazingly, ties it all together, and the final issue is absolutely heart-breaking. I will admit that there is a certain fannishness to the IDW Tenth Doctor ongoing, and if your continuity porn threshold is low you may not like them. However, I stand by something I said on Gallifrey Base last week, that “Tony Lee’s run was like the 2009 season we didn’t get.” You don’t realize it at first, but it’s an epic story that creeps up on you, until things start falling into place and you go “Wow.” I’m planning on rereading all sixteen issues (and the Annual) either this weekend or next and then blogging about it. And, as far as I’m concerned, the eleventh Doctor comics can’t come soon enough. 🙂
There are two reasons why I put “The Wedding” after “The Waters of Mars.” Given when “Final Sacrifice” ends, “The Wedding” would have to go before “Silver Scream” if it goes before “The Waters of Mars” at all, and the Doctor’s attitude at the end of “Wedding,” when Sarah Jane asks him if she’ll ever see him again and the Doctor’s dark mood toward that question, doesn’t make sense with the happy-go-lucky Doctor of the “Planet of the Dead”-era, but does make sense with the “Doctor running away and out of time” that we see at the end of “Waters of Mars.” It’s a purely aesthetic judgment.