Much of this is only casually mentioned in the stories, but if you're not aware of it, you won't understand it. This is all loosely based on the characters of the Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith. This is, of course, an alternate universe.

Please note, if you're completely new to Doctor Who, please click here for an explanation geared more toward you.

If you're already familiar with Doctor Who, here are my changes:

As I've stated earlier, I have removed the concept of regeneration. Please see my Warnings page for my defense of my actions.

So each "Doctor" from the TV series is now a stand-alone individual. They're all from Gallifrey, and they're all timelords -- that hasn't changed. However, the removal of regeneration, combined with my use of a few of them in the stories, introduces a new problem ... they can't all be called "Doctor". So, in a fit of pure imaginative genious (read that with sarcasm), I gave each one the same first name as their actors. Hence, Third Doctor = Jon, Fourth Doctor = Tom, Fifth Doctor = Peter, etc. Scary, huh?       :-)

Another change I've made is Sarah's history. I stuck with the TV series to the point that her parents died while she was young, leaving her to be raised by her aunt. However, as I incorporated thoughts and ideas from hubby and friends, I added to, and changed, a little of her history, including how she met "Tom" (TV's Fourth Doctor) (see paragraph above).

First, her parents died in a house fire, trying to save her little sister. Second, her childhood with her aunt was not especially happy. Third, she left England and came to America for college where she met and became friends with Peri. (Remember Peri? Companion to Fifth and Sixth TV Doctors?)

Then, Peter (Fifth TV Doctor) came to America and kidnapped Peri, taking her to Gallifrey and holding her there against her will for a short time. (Have you ever seen Peter Davison in the Miss Marple Mystery, "A Pocketful of Rye?" He plays a disarming evil psychotic very well.)

Tom (who was on the High Council at the time) and Peter were friends, and he also befriended Peri, feeling sorry for her. He was instrumental in convincing the High Council (and Peter) to return Peri to Earth. Intrigued by things Peri had said, Tom left the High Council, took on a more "diplomatic" role (helping other planets and civilizations, like the TV Doctor character), and followed Peter to Earth. There, he offered to take Sarah with him.

The TV stories involving the Fourth Doctor and Sarah are then incorporated into this universe, with the obvious small, but necessary changes as needed. The only significantly large changes are the removal (as a regular entity at least) of UNIT, and the removal of Harry. While I admit I haven't thought through each episode in all the gory details, my general assumption is that most things Harry did could have been performed by either Sarah, Tom, or another incidental character. Someday maybe I'll sit down and figure out exactly which lines/moments from the TV episodes would need to be changed, but I'm not promising. You can usually tell when you see it.

I've also accepted the Doctor Who book "Managra" by Stephen Marley into my universe, but I have it between "Masque of Mandragora" and "The Hand of Fear." Again, just as with the TV episodes, obvious small changes must be assumed ... you can usually tell one when you see one. :-) For example, that bit about the uncle can go. Oh yeah, and they did eventually get to Shalonar. ;-)

Finally, at the end of the TV episode "The Hand of Fear," at the moment that Sarah storms out of the console room, that's where, for my stories, my conclusion takes over. This conclusion can be found in the main stories list.

First off, if you've never read the Tom/Sarah explanation in the left-hand column, read that first.

You'll recall that Peri was a companion of the fifth Doctor on the TV series, but I used her in a different capacity in this universe. Here, she's Sarah best friend, buddy from college, and roommate at the beginning.

Peri was kidnapped by Peter (psycho timelord based on the fifth Doctor), held on Gallifrey, and finally returned with Tom when he helped get her freed. (That is all in "The Blue Box"). She appeared in multiple other Tom/Sarah stories, mostly as a touchpoint for Earth.

For quite a while, the most development I gave her was the theory that she'd studied anthropology/archeaology in school (a twist on BBC canon -- they gave her a stepfather in archeaology), and works at a museum. I roped Peri's grandmother into the mess when I had Tom fight an underground fire in "Coal Fire" (combinations which pretty much force Peri's location to be southern, middle, or eastern PA).

Late 2002, a very good friend of mine asked me a few times over a two-month period to give Peri some sort of life ... a real life unto herself. My first decision was that it couldn't be a "normal" life. I mean, she *knows* what's out there in the universe, and somehow it would seem like a waste to just marry her off to some normal guy and give them 2.5 kids.

I spent at least a month trying to figure out who I could put her with who could actually handle her personality. The TV series presents her (IMHO) as more flighty than Sarah, more panicky, more likely to jump to conclusions, more likely to fly off the handle, and not terribly high in patience. (Not that I don't love her as a character though. She was always my second favorite companion, which is how she landed in my universe in the first place.)

Then we went to see Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, and picked up a copy of the earlier Fellowship movie to refresh our memories. Note, *hubby* was always the Tolkien fan, not me. After one viewing of Two Towers and two viewings of Fellowship, there it was -- someone who I think can put up with Peri's quirks and would actually "fit" her. I think Legolas actually has the patience needed to handle Peri. Even better, he fit my criteria of not being human.

True Tolkien fans will probably hate me for some of the changes I've made, but you must remember that my canon/universe was already two years in the making with over 90 stories before I lassoed Legolas into it. So Tolkien canon was bent to make things fit. (Although, I might add, my husband has been a Tolkien fan for years and years, and is fine with what I've done.)

First off, the humans are out of Middle Earth. Hey, I've got Gallifrey at my disposal here, and I took advantage of it. The theory in this universe is that Middle Earth is a version of Earth that Gallifrey split off into a different dimension (although it's the same spatially ... still orbits our sun, same constellations, same types of weather). Humans went on our Earth, other creatures went on Middle Earth (this is discussed in the story "Humans").

Also, if the timelords aren't regenerative (which has been part of my universe for years), then I can hardly let the elves be immortal. Afterall, in "Pyramids of Mars", Tom clearly states that not even the timelords could stand against Sutekh, and even Sutekh wasn't immortal. If I'm going to keep the scientific timelords in charge, then traditional immortality has to go. The elves can still do "magical" things, they still can die of a broken heart, and I've got a doozy of a "binding theory" going. But immortality is no more.

As for getting Peri in contact with Middle Earth in the first place, well, Tom used to make up all kinds of medical excuses for Peri whenever she needed to explain her absences. I've referenced that numerous times before. So no one around her would be too shocked if she really *did* get sick. Also, I'd touched on Gallifreyan medicine before, and I wanted to hear what Tom had to say about "magic" versus "true technology". (I have an idea for the future where Tom may have to face up to true magic, and this is a good stepping stone along the way.) So, I made Peri sick and had Tom and Sarah take her to the elves in a last ditch search for help. This is in the story "Humans".

Oh yeah, and one other thing. A lot of the stuff in the early Peri/Legolas stories is actually preparation for "Pervading Coldness" ... an adventure on Gallifrey with Tom, Sarah, Peri, Legolas, Jon (TV's third doctor), and Peter (TV's fifth doctor). It's a doozy.