Sorry, I've been looking into Dalek history and this has been bugging me for a while.

The Daleks in the intensive care section of the Asylum are survivors of encounters with the Doctor on planets such as Spiridon (Planet of the Daleks - 2540 AD), Kembel (The Daleks' Master Plan - 4000 AD), Aridius (The Chase - 2215 AD), Vulcan (The Power of the Daleks - 2120 AD), and Exxilon. (Death to the Daleks - 3500 AD)

Does the presence of these Daleks mean that at the earliest, the asylum is situated somewhere in the 41st Century, say 4012? or have they been sent backwards or forwards in time via time-corridors or something?

The other thing is the technology of the Starliner Alaska. At what point in history does the human race have starliners? There is a starliner called the Empress in 'The Nightmare of Eden' and that was set in 2116. So at the very least we must be around that time?

I'm sorry if this all sounds a bit nerdy, but if you can't be nerdy on a forum, when can you be?

I'd say your 41st century assertion sounds correct given the data you have presented... Star liners could have been round for a long time... Just because something has the same name doesn't mean the tech would be the same... It's just a snazzy name for spaceship after all...

Well as you say it would have to be set after all those other Dalek stories unless there is some Timey Wimey nature to the Asylum and all Daleks sent there from any point in history end up in the "Present" of the Asylum.



The Starliner doesn't really help as Humans could reach that level of technology numerous times (and then fall back).

I remember looking at Owins ID badge seen in The Rings of Akhaten for a date but there wasn't one.




We know from Bad Wolf that the Daleks (at some point long before the year 200,100 disappeared from the Universe (off to fight the Time War), just speculation but I would think the Daleks went back to this particular point (after Victory of the Daleks) and re established the Dalek Empire (though as a democracy this time ).

I don't think the makers of DW pay much attention to chronological continuity. I'm pretty sure they just make up anything the episode or story arc needs and hand-wave it as the timey-wimey ball.

Thank you for your replies.

Corwin, you may have hit upon something regarding the Time War! The last Dalek story of the classic series is 'Remembrance of the Daleks', featuring Daleks originating from 4663. Since Skaro was destroyed during this story (and miraculously reappeared later) maybe this was when the Daleks left to fight the Time War, and as you say returned to this time as they consider it their 'present'. (Only one pre-time-war Dalek incident occurs beyond this date and that is the Dalek invasion of Venus (17,000 AD) referred to in Genesis Of The Daleks).

Interesting. Very interesting. (Well, I think so)

Sorry to bump my thread/answer my own OP, but I’ve had further thoughts, if you’ll indulge me…

I’ve been thinking about when Oswin wipes all knowledge of the Doctor from the Dalek pathweb, because this could give us a clue to when certain stories are set. We know that the Daleks regain knowledge of The Doctor from Tasha Lem in ‘The Time Of The Doctor’ and prior to this revelation the Doctor assumes that the Daleks “shouldn’t even know who I am”. This means that unless the Doctor has made a mistake (which is possible), ‘Asylum of The Daleks’ is set prior to this scene in ‘Time Of The Doctor’.

But when is this scene set? The only clue we are given is that the Kovarian Chapter broke away sometime during the Doctor’s first 300 years on Trenzalore. We see at the end of ‘Closing Time’ that this is round about when River Song obtains her doctorate. No date is given, but we know she started the doctorate in the year 5123 (Let’s Kill Hitler). Perhaps someone could help me on the length of doctorates as I don’t know, but I’ll assume she finished it before the end of the decade. Frustratingly, we don’t know whether the Kovarian Chapter broke away during the first year of the siege or whether Tasha Lem is speaking of recent events when she tells the Doctor this. Thus, we are still left with a 300-year window (4845-5445).

So, having established that Asylum of the Daleks cannot be set prior to 4000 or later than 5445, I looked at Dalek activity in this time period. We can rule out any date up to 4703 (Terror Firma) as the Daleks clearly known the Doctor up to this point. Of course it’s important to consider that the Daleks encountered in Asylum Of The Daleks are the race that originated in ‘Victory Of The Daleks’, but do they share information with other Daleks in their time period? Is that what the pathweb is?

Then there’s that scene in ‘Name Of The Doctor’ when Oswin appears to be in the library with the 10th Doctor. If this is true, and it would be really handy if it was, that would put Asylum several years after 5145, the only other reference year we have for River Song’s time period.

Looking at when River gained her doctorate isn't much use, as Kovarian has clearly travelled through time anyway, so they could have travelled forwards/backwards as necessary to capture River.

Not so. The presence of Dorium in 'A Good Man Goes To War' would suggest otherwise. In 'The Pandorica Opens', River and Dorium are both natives of the year 5145 and the headless monks, of which the church is allied, are old customers of Dorium.

This has got me thinking. What year is it when Amy is having her fashion shoot at the beginning? I would say 2013, but I cannot be certain. I know it's 2013 when the Doctor meets up with Clara and the Wi-Fi goes wrong, because 2013 is mentioned during The Bells of Saint John episode.

It all depends on what year the doctor drops them off in at the end of The God Complex. After the events of series 6, they don't see the doctor for two years. If it's 2011, then it's xmas 2013 and Asylum happens the following September

Autumn 2011 - The God Complex (End scene)
December 2013 - The Doctor, The Widow & The Wardrobe (end scene)
April 2014 - Pond Life Episode 1
May 2014 - Pond Life Episode 2
June 2014 - Pond Life Episode 3
July 2014 - Pond Life Episode 4
August 2014 - Pond Life Episode 5
September 2014 - Asylum Of The Daleks
July 2015 - Dinosaurs On A Spaceship
July 2015 - July 2016 - The Power Of Three

HOWEVER 2011 is also supposedly the year that Torchwood: Miracle Day happens. Amy and Rory don't reference or appear to be effected by the events, so maybe they landed in January 2012 instead, in which case the above dates either shift forward a year, or stay the same (jan 12- Dec 13 being 24 months after all).

Thanks! That's given me a clearer idea of the year. But just one thing. Will the show be set in 2014 when we see Peter Capaldi's Doctor and Clara, in August?

Yes, probably. In 'Name Of The Doctor', Vastra sets Clara a letter reading 'Assuming this letter will have reached you as planned, on April the tenth, 2013...'.

Day Of The Doctor, I assumed happened in November 2013, contemporaneously with it's air date. The school term starts in September, so it seems reasonable to assume she's been there for two months at her 'new job'.

'Time Of The Doctor' happens at Christmas, of course, so anything after that would be 2014. They are crashing the TARDIS though, so who knows where they'll end up!

However having Kate Stewart in Day Of The Doctor means that it is set after The Power Of Three, which makes it no earlier than July 2016.

Anybody else got a headache?

Ah, all it takes is one post to take the wind out of your sails! LOL

Similar sort of thing to Angels Take Manhatten when the doctor says "we are back where we started in 2012", although on that occasion you could just say that the Doctor thought 2012 was a good year to visit New York.

I gave up on trying to establish the Dalek's established timeline in relation to the universe when I remembered that stories on Skaro take place in the far future, despite the planet being destroyed in 1963.

I think we can apply this to Doctor Who as a whole.

Skaro was destroyed in the 4663, not in 1963.

DALEK 2: Plotting course to home planet Skaro.
DAVROS: Now the Daleks shall become the Lords of Time!
DALEK 2: Entering Skaro time zone. First stage expansion. Primary neutrino release.

Hey guys, guess what? I asked Steven Moffat a question about this, and it's printed in this month's Doctor Who Magazine!

He was... um... very helpful