The 663rd episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Richard Briers guest stars as the Chief Caretaker.
This timeline entry leads to an entry covering this entire Doctor Who serial; there are plans to write new episodic entries in the future. You can support this effort!
Order Earl Green’s book VWORP!1 from theLogBook.com Store
The week-long national syndication window opens for the sixth episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. This is the first episode after Encounter At Farpoint to feature future Star Trek: Deep Space Nine regular Colm Meaney as a yet-to-be-named crewman. 
The 664th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Stubby Kaye and Don Henderson (Star Wars) guest star.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the seventh episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
The 665th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Stubby Kaye and Don Henderson (Star Wars) guest star.
This timeline entry leads to an entry covering this entire Doctor Who serial; there are plans to write new episodic entries in the future. You can support this effort!
Order Earl Green’s book VWORP!1 from theLogBook.com Store
The week-long national syndication window opens for the eighth episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. This is the second Ferengi episode, and the first episode to delve into Captain Picard’s previous command, the U.S.S. Stargazer.
The 666th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Stubby Kaye and Don Henderson (Star Wars) guest star.
This timeline entry leads to an entry covering this entire Doctor Who serial; there are plans to write new episodic entries in the future. You can support this effort!
Order Earl Green’s book VWORP!1 from theLogBook.com Store
The Alan Parsons Project releases a remastered and revised edition of its first album, Tales of Mystery & Imagination, based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe. For the first time, narration recorded in 1976 by Orson Welles is heard in the context of the album itself. This is the first time the album has been available on CD.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the ninth episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. This is the second appearance of Q, and the first TNG glimpse of a female Klingon.
The 667th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. David Selby (Dark Shadows) guest stars as Glitz; this story introduces Sophie Aldred as new TARDIS traveler Ace.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the tenth episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Majel Barrett Roddenberry, who played the recurring role of Nurse Chapel in the original Star Trek, makes the first of many appearances as Lwaxana Troi. This is actually one of the earliest episodes filmed.
The 668th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. David Selby (Dark Shadows) guest stars as Glitz; this story introduces Sophie Aldred as new TARDIS traveler Ace.
This timeline entry leads to an entry covering this entire Doctor Who serial; there are plans to write new episodic entries in the future. You can support this effort!
Order Earl Green’s book VWORP!1 from theLogBook.com Store
The 669th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. David Selby (Dark Shadows) guest stars as Glitz; this story introduces Sophie Aldred as new TARDIS traveler Ace. Bonnie Langford makes her final appearance as Melanie. This story concludes the 24th season.
This timeline entry leads to an entry covering this entire Doctor Who serial; there are plans to write new episodic entries in the future. You can support this effort!
Order Earl Green’s book VWORP!1 from theLogBook.com Store
Lewis Galoob Toys releases its first wave of toys from Star Trek: The Next Generation, consisting of six characters (all members of the Enterprise crew) and a die-cast metal miniature starship Enterprise. While there’s an instant interest from Star Trek collectors, Galoob is perhaps a bit premature: the series upon which its toys are based is in the middle of a very uneven first season, and has demonstrated more appeal to older viewers than to the age group that normally buys action figures. A more successful line, geared more toward adult collectors, will surface in the 1990s.
Titan Books UK publishes Neil Gaiman’s non-fiction account of the making of the Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy franchise, Don’t Panic! – The Official Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Companion. The book features numerous interviews with Douglas Adams and others involved in the making of the radio and television series, records and books.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 11th episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. This episode, the first to take place almost entirely within the holodeck aboard the Enterprise, goes on to win a Peabody Award.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 12th episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. This episode introduces Data’s “brother” Lore, also played by Brent Spiner, and establishes an origin story for both.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 13th episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 14th episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 15th episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 16th episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 17th episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 18th episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. In an rare example of what passes for a “story arc” in early TNG, the characters of Admiral Quinn and the disagreeable Commander Remmick make their first of two first-season appearances.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 19th episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. This is the first episode of the series to focus on the Klingon race – a holdover from the original series and movies that series creator Gene Roddenberry had planned to avoid revisiting until co-producer (and fellow classic Trek producer) Bob Justman convinced him otherwise during pre-production, leading to the very late creation of a “Klingon Marine” named Worf.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 20th episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. This is the second of three occasions in the series in which the Enterprise’s saucer section is separated from the rest of the ship.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 21st episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Merritt Butrick (Star Trek II & III) and Judson Scott (The Phoenix) guest star.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 22nd episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. This marks the final appearance of Denise Crosby as series regular Lt. Tasha Yar; the actress has decided to move on to less limited roles. Crosby returns to TNG several times, and later hosts several documentaries on the Star Trek phenomenon.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 23rd episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. This is one of the late first season episodes most notably affected by the Writers’ Strike, as filming had to begin without a completed final draft script. Michelle Phillips guest stars.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 24th episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. This is the goriest episode of the series’ entire run; even improved make-up effects in later seasons never quite match up to this story’s exploding head and torso (graphic visuals which any network with creative input or oversight would likely have nixed). Despite ending on an obvious cliffhanger, this story is never revisited by any later episodes or spinoff series.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 25th episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. This episode marks the end of the first season (with no guarantee, due the 1988 Writers’ Guild strike, that the series will be back in production anytime soon), and the return of the Romulans to the Star Trek universe, a sign that Gene Roddenberry is relaxing his stance on revisiting elements of the original series.