In TSV 12 I gave my
theories on the multi-Doctor stories. However I was not overly satisfied
with the reply. So, with a little help from Mr Scoones (the one who gave
me the question in the first place!) here is one solution to that annoying
problem:
THE FIRST DOCTOR
KEY
- The Doctor lands in London in 1966.
- After the adventure of the War Machines, the Doctor takes a rest at
Charles Sumner's place. While walking in the garden, he is contacted by
the Time Lords and brought to Gallifrey. There, he is told that his two
future selves are not making much progress and so...
- ... he is sent to Earth to sort them out. He meets the 'dandy' and
the 'clown'.
- With the danger still not resolved, the Time Lords recall him and request
that he makes the dangerous journey through the black hole to Omega's world.
Reluctantly he agrees.
- He travels through the Hole in his Time Bubble where he makes contact
with the Doctors over the TARDIS scanner.
- As Omega's world is destroyed, the Time Bubble breaks free and travels
to Earth. He congratulates the Doctors and...
- ... is snatched away by the Time Lords and returned to 1966.
- Once back in the garden the Doctor is about to have his mind wiped
by the Time Lords when suddenly a black obelisk imprisons him and deposits
him on a future Gallifrey in the death Zone. There he meets his other future
selves, Tegan, Turlough, Sarah, the Master, the Brigadier and Borusa.
(The First Doctor clearly recalls his adventure with Omega because he asks
where the 'little fellow' is.)
- Rassilon frees the Doctors and returns them to their correct place
in time. En route, their minds are wiped of the adventure. The Omega adventure
is also deleted.
- The Doctor once again finds himself back in the garden - but with no
recollection of what has happened to him.
- He leaves 1966 with two new companions...
- ...and on to adventures anew
THE SECOND DOCTOR
![[diagram]](g/dilemma2.gif)
KEY
- The Doctor lands on Earth, 1960s and meets the Brigadier in the London
Underground.
- Leaving Earth, the TARDIS is snatched by the Time Lords (this time
it is the Celestial Intervention Agency (See The Deadly Assassin episode
1) and the Doctor is persuaded by them to stop the work at Space Station
Camera. The High Council of the Time Lords knows nothing of this. Victoria
decides to stay on Gallifrey to study graphology - and also as a 'guarantee'
of the Doctor's cooperation.
- The TARDIS travels to the station under remote control of the CIA.
- The CIA bring the TARDIS back to the space station. The Doctor and
Jamie's memories are wiped of the affair.
- The TARDIS is then returned to its original flight path, and on to
other adventures. The Doctor doesn't realise it, but the CIA have been
manipulating his TARDIS for some time now. His arrivals on planets are
not always 'coincidences'...
- The CIA sends the Doctor on other secret missions. But the Doctor eventually
discovers that he is being used. So when he has no other choice than to
call the High Council about the War Lord, he tries to escape. The High
Council bring the Doctor...
- ...to Gallifrey and put him on trial. The CIA remain behind the scenes.
Jamie and Zoe have their minds wiped by the Council and are returned to
their own times. The Doctor is sentenced. The CIA convinces the Council
that the Doctor could be put to good use as an agent on Earth and so that
is where he is to be 'exiled'.
- Awaiting his sentence, the Doctor is scooped by future Time Lords
(because their records showed them that he could be located on Gallifrey
at that precise moment in time). They brief him of the problem...
... and send him to Earth to help his future self defeat Omega.
- The future Time Lords return him to Gallifrey, and prepare to wipe
his mind when the Council send him on his term of exile.
- The Doctor is tried. The reason he does not like the faces offered
to him by the Council is because he already knows what he is going to look
like, and the new face is not one of the ones shown.
- The TARDIS is sent to Earth, but on the way, the Doctor manages to
bypass the controls and ends up on Earth in 1983. He reads of the UNIT
reunion in the paper and visits the Brigadier.
- But they are time scooped to Gallifrey by Borusa and put in the Death
Zone. The Doctor sees through the phantom Jamie and Zoe because of the
recent trial.
- Rassilon returns the Brigadier to Earth...
- ... and replaces the Doctor back on the flight path programmed by the
Time Lords. The Doctor's mind is wiped of the affair. An automatic process
triggers the Doctor's regeneration, and the trauma causes further amnesia.
He arrives on Earth and taken to hospital.
- Now at UNIT he works for them - and secretly, unbeknown by him, for
the CIA...
THE THIRD DOCTOR
KEY
- The Doctor is scooped by Borusa and taken to a future Gallifrey and
placed in the Death Zone. He meets a future Sarah (who tells him he will
change into 'teeth and curls'), plus the new Master, and the Brigadier.
- Rassilon frees him and...
- ...wipes his mind of the affair...
- ...returning him to Earth with Bessie to the same moment in space and
time from which he left. To the Doctor, none of it ever took place.
This should explain how it all is possible without affecting continuity.
And now for the tricky part - who is the Valeyard, and where does he come from...
To be continued...
Footnote
Many of my continuity-based articles in TSV have, in some form or another,
been revised for my book Timelink
(first published in 2000). This multi-Doctor analysis from 1989 is no exception.
Interestingly, in the 11 years between TSV15 and Timelink, it is only the
timeline for the second Doctor that I have drastically altered for Timelink.
The notion that Victoria was studying graphology on Gallifrey (which
was actually an idea that Paul Scoones came up with!) doesn't make sense
to me now; I prefer to leave her educational sojourn to be at an unidentified
location.
I think I should point out that when I say the Doctor's mind was wiped,
I mean it was only the memory of the events of the multi-Doctor story that
was erased.
In terms of the timeline diagram, without resorting to drawing a new
flow-chart, the main changes I have made for Timelink are the positions
for The Three Doctors and The Five Doctors. In TSV15 I speculated that
the Doctor was, in both cases, time-scooped while he was in the holding
cell awaiting sentencing at his trial on Gallifrey.
In Timelink I have moved The Three Doctors to take place between The
Space Pirates and The War Games (the brief clip of the second Doctor seen
in The Three Doctors is from the "untelevised" adventure in which he was
taking part when he was scooped). The Five Doctors now takes place after
The War Games (the Doctor temporarily seizes control of the TARDIS while
being sent to Earth to commence his exile (sorry, but I don't subscribe
to the Season 6b theory!).
For a more detailed explanation for all of this, you'll just have to
buy my book! :)
Jon Preddle
May 2003