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Death Comes to Time was a five-episode webcast animated adventure featuring a version of the Seventh Doctor. It was available via the BBCI website in 2001 to 2002. Intended to potentially dovetail into a spin-off that would be the spiritual successor to Doctor Who, called The Minister of Chance (later realised as a non-BBC spin-off in multiple media), this would-be finale depicts the Seventh Doctor making a final sacrifice, and an implied downfall of the Time Lord society prior to the events of the story, as the few Time Lords seen in the story are stated to be the last alive. As such, it seemed to side-step the events of the 1996 TV Movie which had introduced Paul McGann's Eighth Doctor.

By the time it was released, writer Dan Freedman had abandoned his original plans, later stating that he would have ignored Death Comes to Time in his Doctor Who continuation even if he had been granted the license to make one. This, combined with the in-story peculiarities such as the Seventh Doctor's apparent deaths, left the place of the story relative to the wider Doctor Who universe ambiguous at best. However, it was subsequently referenced in such stories as Zagreus and The Gallifrey Chronicles, which suggested that the story's reality was some variety of a parallel universe or timeline relative to the reality of the mainstream Eighth Doctor.

Publisher's summary[]

“Even Time Lords die...”

When a dissident Time Lord group inadvertently caused the destruction of an entire civilisation through interference, its members vowed to repent by serving the Universe not as gods of Time but as mere men. Many years later, this peaceful resolve is severely tested when two of their number are killed -- and the Doctor's seventh incarnation becomes embroiled in the struggle against the apparently unstoppable General Tannis.

Plagued by ominous portents, the Doctor and his companion Antimony must race across the Universe, taking in the Santine Republic, the Great Orion Nebula and the frozen heart of the Canisian Empire. Meanwhile, the mysterious Minister of Chance battles his own inner demons, and former TARDIS traveller Ace finds herself in training for a destiny she never dreamed possible. Matters reach a terrible climax when Tannis' next target for subjugation is identified. Exactly how much is the Doctor prepared to sacrifice in order to save Earth?

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DWM 306 Shrine Death Comes to Time

A preview of the story printed in DWM 306.

DWM 319 DEATH COMES TO TIME

Art by Roger Langridge from DWM 319

  • When asked about the story's timeline placement, writer Dan Freeman simply stated "I must admit I don't think I was considering where it was in terms of timeline, I just saw it as a story :)"[1]
  • Following the broadcast of Survival in 1989 and the show's subsequent placement on "indefinite hiatus" by the BBC, the idea of producing an animated series based upon Doctor Who and continuing the adventures of the Seventh Doctor and Ace was reported several times in the media; reportedly the Canadian animation house Nelvana was even interested at one point. This project never materialised, but the idea of producing animated Doctor Who adventures resurfaced with the coming of the Internet and the newly emerging format known as webcasting. Death Comes to Time was the first experiment of its kind; it would be followed soon after by Real Time (featuring the Sixth Doctor), Shada (featuring the Eighth Doctor) and culminating in Scream of the Shalka, which attempted to introduce a new incarnation of the Doctor.
Death Comes to Time logo

Doctor Who logo used for Death Comes to Time

  • A new Doctor Who logo was introduced for this story. Although it was never used again, the basic shape of the logo would be retained for the new logo designed for the return of the series in 2005.
  • It is left ambiguous as to what the Kingmaker is. However, it is implied she is a being with greater powers than even the Time Lords. This is yet to be explored on screen or in spin-off media.
  • "O'Carolan's Farewell" is played in the first episode. "Allegretto: Allegretto" is played in the fourth episode. "Night on Bald Mountain" and "Pog Aon Oidhche Earraich" are played in the fifth episode.

Original website release/broadcast[]

Continuity[]

CD and other releases[]

Death Comes to Time cover

CD cover

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