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The majority of the stories in the long-running television series Doctor Who and its spin-offs include an element of time travel, with the settings taking place on dates across a wide span of time in the fictional universe of Doctor Who – the "Whoniverse". To date, 11 actors have portrayed the Doctor, with each receiving an ordinal number (1st, 2nd, 3rd etc.). This list encompasses the adventures of all 11 Doctors and the spin-off series Torchwood (TW), The Sarah Jane Adventures (SJA) and K-9. It also includes the singular pilot episode of K-9 and Company. It does not cover audio dramas, such as those by Big Finish Productions, or novels.

Dating
Not all of these stories can have a possible date attributed to them. Some have none; some have more than one, and some have contradictory dating. For example, most of the adventures in Doctor Who featuring the fictional UNIT organisation contain information that would attribute various, often contradictory dates between the 1960s to the 1980s to them. Over the long period of production, different writers have suggested different dates on which the stories are set, resulting in some noted controversy regarding these stories. Other stories take place on the timeless fictional planet of Gallifrey; stories set there can be attributed to a distinct chronological order but cannot be attributed to any specific date.

Many stories and episodes depict or refer to events similar to historical events in real life, or involve characters identifiable as real-life historic individuals. Many dates or periods of time are given without specifying the calendar or units of time; they may be in the Gregorian calendar and the units of time are those in common, everyday usage in the real world.

2nd Millennium
For additional events that possibly occur in this period see

20th Century
For additional events that possibly occur in this period see

Negated timelines
Some stories depict events occurring in timelines that are specifically stated as having been subsequently negated.

Parallel universes
Some stories depict events occurring in what is specifically stated to be a different, parallel universe.

Undated stories and episodes
Many of the stories do not give sufficient information to determine possible dates at which they might be set, though they can often be seen to be set in a contemporary period or at some future time.

Inside the TARDIS
The TARDIS's nature as a time machine makes it impossible to place adventures set solely in the ship to a specific date and locale. However, most of the adventures occur while the ship is in transit between two specifically mentioned locations.

Gallifrey adventures
The time period in which these adventures take place is not specifically stated.

Notes and references

 * Internal cross-references


 * Notes


 * Citations


 * Bibliography


 * Howarth, Chris & Steve Lyons, Doctor Who: The Completely Useless Encyclopedia (London: Virgin Books, 1996), ISBN 0-426-20485-9
 * Lofficier, Jean-Marc, Doctor Who: The Terrestrial Index (London: Virgin Books, 1991), ISBN 0-426-20361-5
 * Miles, Lawrence & Tat Wood, About Time 3: The Unauthorized Guide to Doctor Who—1970–1974, Seasons 7 to 11 (New Orleans, LA: Mad Norwegian Press, 2004), ISBN 0-9725959-2-9
 * Parkin, Lance and Lars Pearson, A History: An Unauthorised History of the Doctor Who Universe (Des Moines, Iowa: Mad Norwegian Press, 2006), ISBN 0-9725959-9-6
 * Richards, Justin & Andrew Martin, Doctor Who: The Book of Lists (London: BBC Books, 1997), ISBN 0-563-40569-4