Here is ‘The Merlin Doctor’s Timeline’.
I’ve referred to
- TARDIS Wiki – Fandom – https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/Doctor_Who_Wiki
to help me put this version of the timeline together.
I’ve included all the book and short stories into the list for now.
The (Book) stories are to remain un-highlighted for now.
The short stories are highlighted in ITALICS and are CENTRED.
The stories with links to reviews by me on my blog are highlighted in BOLD and DARK GREEN.
Regarding the (Book) stories, I’ve identified each of them as follows in the KEY below.
KEY
*VNA – Virgin New Adventures
*EDA – Eighth Doctor Adventures
Regarding the short stories, I’ve identified each of them as follows with abbreviations.
- (ST) – Short Trip (either Big Finish or BBC)
- (BS) – ‘Bernice Summerfield’ short stories
The Merlin Doctor’s Timeline
The Merlin Doctor’s appearance in ‘Battlefield’ (TV) according to the Target novelization/audiobook takes place here.
The Merlin Doctor’s appearance in ‘Transit’ (Book) – VNA* takes place here.
The Merlin Doctor’s appearance in ‘Birthright’ (Book) – VNA* takes place here.
The Merlin Doctor’s appearance in ‘Happy Endings’ (Book) – VNA* takes place here.
‘Good Companions’ (ST)
‘Revenants’ (ST)
‘Greenaway’ (ST)
The Merlin Doctor’s appearance in ‘The Tomorrow Windows’ (Book) – EDA* takes place here.
‘Excalibur of Mars’ (BS)
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Ah, this is where it gets tricky… Merlin also makes appearances in the DWM comics “The Neutron Knights” and “The Tides of Time”, respectively, but it’s unclear whether or not this is the same Merlin from “Battlefield” and the VNAs.
The Fifth Doctor story — “The Creation of Camelot” — has the Master appear as Merlin, which would imply that “Merlin” is a title, rather than a name. Something that can be transferred among individuals. Like the position of scientific advisor at UNIT.
What’s interesting, however, is that although the Fourth Doctor is unaware of who Merlin is… Both Merlin and Arthur consider him a known quantity. Arthur even calls him a Time Lord without prompting (much as Ancelyn almost does with the Seventh Doctor).
There’s definitely more going on than first appearances.
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Hi Wolfie,
Thanks for pointing out these details about Merlin’s other appearances in ‘Doctor Who’. I’ve been umming and aahing about what to call this particular incarnation of the Doctor as on TARDIS wiki, it refers to him in some cases as ‘the future Doctor’, but that’s too vague and could refer to any future Doctor like the Curator. There’s even a case where the Merlin Doctor is called Muldwych, but I’ve not read the book adventures (presumably VNA) to appreciate that.
On reflection, based on what you’ve sent, I’ll amend this from being Merlin’s timeline to the Merlin Doctor’s timeline instead to make it a little clearer and not to confuse it with other Merlin appearances in ‘Doctor Who’. It’s been a while since I’ve read ‘The Tides of Time’ and I forgot Merlin was in that story. 😀
Many thanks,
Tim 🙂
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No worries, Tim. DWM!Merlin is one of Rassilon’s Matrix Lords and a representative of Earth among the High Evolutionaries on Gallifrey. A sort of neighbourhood watch on a cosmic scale. His role is kept deliberately vague, but it’s implied he has a hand in ensuring that Sir Justin of Wells is remembered and memorialised (which points to the notion that he might just be the Doctor).
Muldwych is an alias used by an incarnation who is destined to become the Merlin seen in the novelisation of “Battlefield”. His white hair will go ginger. He’ll be recognisable from his Afghan coat. And it’s implied that his presence will be in King Arthur’s court what the Third Doctor was to the Brigadier during Doctor’s exile.
Interestingly, Muldwych wasn’t meant to be Merlin. Allegedly, “Birthright” was written with the notion that Muldwych was a completely different incarnation, but both roles were folded together after the fact into one character in subsequent books. In “Transit”, the Afghan-coated Doctor’s a legend among the hackers, known as the Flying Dutchman. Same character. Entirely different names.
(I pictured Muldwych as somewhere close to Leo McKern. DWM!Merlin felt more like Max von Sydow.)
It gets even wilder if you look at Captain Britain and Merlin’s appearances there. DWM!Merlin can alter his features at will (not unlike the Curator’s many revisited faces) and possessed a persona who killed his own daughter in a madness of trying to protect the multiverse.
We’re not even getting into ye olde Arthurian legend itself where Merlin lived his life *backwards* in relation to Arthur’s court. The Doctor’s relationship with the old sorcerer is inherently complex and when you bring the “magic” of Arthur’s dimension into the equation… It becomes a whole different ball game.
I’d say take your best guess. It’s still largely speculation, that part of the Doctor’s life.
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Hi Wolfie,
Ah yes. Matrix Lords! That’s coming back to me as I recall reading from ‘The Tides of Time’ long ago. 😀 Thanks for letting me know about these details regarding Merlin in ‘Doctor Who’. I’m hoping to read and listen to the Target novelization/audiobook of ‘Battlefield’ by Marc Platt sometime soon as it contains the prologue scene featuring the Merlin Doctor and his involvement in the story overall. Yes, the speculation about the Doctor being Merlin is so open-ended, even from watching ‘Battlefield’ as a story and how it ties in to other stories since then both on TV and other mediums. I’m looking forward to checking out the short story ‘Good Companions’ featuring the Merlin Doctor and Tegan to uncover more about his character and history.
Many thanks for your comments.
Tim 🙂
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