Shakespeare Timeline

I wondered if this might be useful, seeing as Shakespeare is going to be visited in Season 3. Its a summary - to date - of the relevant events concerning the Life of Shakespeare in the Doctor Who Universe. It contains spoilers for recent stuff including the Big Finish audio The Kingmaker, so I'm posting it behind an LJ_cut.



Tower of London, 18 February 1478 (The Kingmaker by Nev Fountain) – Richard Plantaganet rescues George, 1st Duke of Clarence from a private execution after being falsely found guilty of conspiracy against Edward IV. He is set up with a fake identity as a pub landlord.

Tower of London, 1483 (The Kingmaker by Nev Fountain) – Richard Plantaganet places Edward Plantaganet and Richard of Shrewsbury in the Tower of London. In reality they are, like Edward IV, female and therefore unable to ascend to the throne without great deceit.

Prior to 1485 (The Kingmaker by Nev Fountain) – the Ninth Doctor probably meets Richard III.

Tower of London, 1485 (The Kingmaker by Nev Fountain) – Richard Plantaganet arranges for “Edward and Richard”, to be looked after by their uncle Clarrie (George, 1st Duke of Clarence), where they masquerade as the barmaids Susan and Judith. Sir James Tyrell arranges for two decoys to be put in their place.

Tower of London, August 21, 1485 (Sometime Never by Justin Richards) – the eighth Doctor’s companion Trix attends at a feast held by King Richard III, and stumbles upon two boys claiming to be Richard and Edward. They boys are kidnapped by the Council of Eight and later rescued by the Doctor (unaware that they aren’t the real princes – he has amnesia).

Bosworth Field, August 22, 1485 (Kingmaker by Nev Fountain) – Richard III, aged 33, is replaced on a battlefield two and a half miles south of Market Bosworth by a bitter and twisted William Shakespeare, aged 34. Shakespeare dies a coward’s death.

Venice, 1505 (City of Death by Douglas Adams) – Scaroth's splinters didn't die at the same relative time as the last Scaroth, but their ability to communicate with each other was severed. Captain Tancredi takes a new identity.

Stratford-upon-Avon, April, 1564 – William Shakespeare is born.

Warwick, 1572 (Time of the Daleks by Justin Richards) – The Daleks attempt to change history by removing Shakespeare from history. The eighth Doctor and Charley Pollard restore the timeline, and decide to take the 16-year-old Will Shakespeare home.

Inside the TARDIS (Short Trips: Past Tense – Apocrypha Bipedium by Ian Potter) – during the journey home, Will Shakespeare reads the Doctor’s copy of The Complete Works of Shakespeare and writes an abstract called "The Noble Troyan Woman of Troy".

1582 (Short Trips: Companions – Apocrypha Bipedium by Ian Potter) – Scaroth leaves Venice and turns his attentions towards Shakespeare. He either mentors or assumes the guise of Edward Kelly, who becomes an internationally famous alchemist, clairvoyant and con-man. He attempts to find ways of communicating with his other selves again.

1582-1589 – Edward Kelly works closely alongside Queen Elizabeth’s adviser, Dr John Dee.

Stratford-upon-Avon, November 28, 1582 – Shakespeare marries Anne Hathaway.

1583-1585 – Shakespeare’s 3 children are born.

1588 (Short Trips: Companions – Apocrypha Bipedium by Ian Potter) – Edward Kelly kidnaps Shakespeare brings him to the Bohemian home of his sponsor Count Vilem Rožmberk. Here he uses a psionovore to force Shakespeare to write an earlier version of Hamlet in much the same way Captain Tancredi forced Leonardo da Vinci to produce multiple copies of the Mona Lisa. The Doctor and Christopher Marlowe rescue Shakespeare, but his mind is damaged by his encounter with the psionovore. Because of this damage, Marlowe and Shakespeare's relationship is affected, and Shakespeare is in danger of not becoming the great playwright.

1589 – Shakespeare’s "Ur-Hamlet" is circulated and attributed to Thomas Kyd. The preface to Robert Greene’s Menaphon ironically praises the play.

1589-1609 – Shakespeare lives away from Anne Hathaway during this time (this accommodates the change of appearance and the switch from a Midlands to a Yorkshire accent in 1598).

Bohemia, 3rd May, 1591 (Short Trips: Companions – Apocrypha Bipedium by Ian Potter) – In the wake of his encounter with Shakespeare, Marlowe and the Doctor, Edward Kelly is arrested by officers of Emperor Rudolf II. He isn't seen again, and rumours of his death in a Bohemian cellar filter back to England some time between 1595 and1598.

London, September 3, 1592 (A Groatsworth of Wit by Gareth Roberts) – the ninth Doctor briefly meets Shakespeare on the day of playwright Robert Greene’s death. Greene's Groatsworth of Wit Bought with a Million of Repentance' is published in September 1592, 17 days later.

1591-1593 – Shakespeare writes Richard III.

Deptford, 30th May, 1593 (Short Trips: Past Tense All Done With Mirrors by Christopher Bav) – the fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane meet Christopher Marlowe on the day he should have died (he later claims his death was faked). After saving his life, the Doctor sees an opportunity to put right the damage Shakespeare suffered in 1588, and gives Marlowe a copy of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. He makes up a sorry excuse, telling Sarah that he believes Marlowe will adopt Shakespeare as his new identity. Instead, Marlowe goes on to become a spy for Queen Elizabeth.

Windsor, prior to April 1597 – The first Doctor uses the Time-Space Visualiser to witness a discussion between Shakespeare and Elizabeth I about the character of Falstaff. Afterwards, Francis Bacon gives Shakespeare the idea to write Hamlet.

1598 – (Kingmaker by Nev Fountain) – The fifth Doctor discovers the consequences
of Shakespeare's injury at the hands of Kelley. He is still a playwright, but has become a thoroughly selfish and unlikeable fellow. Shakespeare, aged 34, steals the TARDIS and travels back to 1485 where, under the pseudonym “Mr Seyton”, he accidentally switches places with Richard III, aged 33. Richard assumes Shakespeare’s identity, and the Bard’s accent switches from Midlands to Yorkshire.

Bishopsgate, 1598 (Brief Encounter: The Stranger, The Writer, His Wife and the Mixed Metaphor by Graham Cox) – Feeling guilty about the lies he told Sarah Jane about Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe, the fourth Doctor takes her forwards in time to meet Shakespeare. She criticises the sexism in The Taming of the Shrew (which had been written by the original Shakespeare, not Richard) and suggests the future character of Lady Macbeth.

Bishopsgate, 1598-1599 – Richard writes Henry V – his first play as Shakespeare.

Southwark, 1602 (Planet of Evil/City of Death) – The fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane again meet Shakespeare, who refuses to accept the Doctor's advice on mixed metaphors. They find that Shakespeare has sprained his wrist writing sonnets, and cannot write Hamlet. The Doctor thus writes the first folio of Hamlet for him (later claiming that he wrote all the best bits, and didn't just transcribe it in response to Shakespeare's dictation).

Blackfriars, 1606 (Brief Encounter: The Stranger, The Writer, His Wife and the Mixed Metaphor by Graham Cox) – Shakespeare writes Macbeth, basing the character of Lady Macbeth on some suggestions made by Sarah Jane Smith.

Venice, 1609 (Empire of Glass by Andy Lane) – the first Doctor meets Shakespeare (despite a reference to the fourth Doctor, there is absolutely no reference to the fifth or the switch), who is working as a spy for King James I under the pseudonym of “Mr Hall”. They also meet Galileo and Shakespeare’s fomer friend Christopher Marlowe (aka ‘Chigi’), who is killed in a duel.

Hampton Court Palace, 1609 (Empire of Glass by Andy Lane) – Shakespeare plays Lady Macbeth whilst the Doctor and Vicki play a doctor and his servant. Shakespeare’s memories of their adventures in Venice are erased via amnesia pill.

Tower of London, 1674 (Sometime Never by Justin Richards) – Workmen dig up a box containing two small human skeletons. It was placed there by the amnesiac eighth Doctor.

Paris, after 1979 (Short Trips: Companions – Apocrypha Bipedium by Ian Potter) – After the death of Count Scarlioni, Shakespeare’s Ur-Hamlet is unearthed. Because Scarlioni also commissioned a set of Mona Lisa fakes, the manuscript’s authenticity is brought into question, and it comes to be known as “the disputed Scarlioni Hamlet manuscript”.
Institute of Anthropology, London, 2004 (Sometime Never by Justin Richards) – An amnesiac eight Doctor places two boys, whom he thinks are the princes “Edward and Richard” in the care of Ernest Fleetward.

The impact of Season 3: If set prior to 1598, the story in Season 3 is unlikely to have much of an impact on this continuity. If, however, the meeting with Shakespeare antecedes 1598, then how it is interpreted will determine which timeline preceded the new series.