Doctor Who comes back in August 2014 for season 8. Between now and then, how can new Whovians be brought in to the fold?

Doctor Who will finally kick off season 8 after a 15 month hiatus. Granted, the show celebrated its 50th anniversary back in November 2013, and had the obligatory Christmas episode in December 2013, so Whovians haven’t been totally devoid of their Doctor fix, but the new season has been a long time in the making!

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One of the best things about Doctor Who, is that there are certain logical points when new viewers can jump right in. Those times coincide with new companions and/or new Doctors coming on board. The scripts surrounding these introductory episodes almost always have to explain a certain amount of background and Whovian lore to catch everyone up on regenerations, past lives, puzzling references, etc.

Peter Capaldi will be starting off as the new Doctor. Clara, other than as the impossible girl, has never really seen and totally lived through a regeneration. Likely, she will be a bit confused, so it’s a great time for new viewers to get up-to-speed right along with Clara. Even though it will be a great season to catch up, there are still going to be those times when new viewers get lost. In fact, old viewers get lost, too, since the show makes reference to things that happened over the course of 50 years.

One way of catching up is the Tardis Wikipedia to look up specific alien references, old companions, and obscure factoids. On the other hand, sometimes you just want an overview. That’s where the new Doctor Who Interactive Timeline comes in.

The Doctor Who Interactive Timeline covers each of the Doctors from both the classic and reboot era. There are Doctor bios, famous quotes, iconic moments, videos and more. Essentially, the timeline is an interactive infographic that responds to either voice commands, mouse clicks, or arrow keystrokes. The timeline was created by Doctor Who superfan Sarah Bends, who wrote in to tell us, “I am a huge fan of Doctor Who and check in all the time to see new articles or features on my all time favorite TV show. Great stuff! As you know, the new series is starting in the next couple months starring the 12th Doctor. In honor of the new Doctor, I just made a really cool infographic on my site featuring a timeline including all 12 doctors.”

Check out the infographic to give yourself a refresher course on the Doctors and their companions, and let us know what you think in the comments.