White Rabbit, London

White Rabbit, London
Type:	Pub
Location:	London
First appearance:	The Harvest

You may wish to consult White Rabbit (disambiguation) for other, similarly-named pages.

The White Rabbit was a London public house which was located near St Gart's Bankside Hospital. (AUDIO: The Longest Night, Project: Destiny)

Design and layout

In the 17th century, a sign hung above the entrance to the tavern depicting a fat hare and proclaiming its name. The interior was packed full of wooden tables and stools and lit by candles and warmed by a fire in one corner. (PROSE: The Feast)

History

The Second Doctor, Ben Jackson and Polly Wright visited the pub during the reign of Oliver Cromwell in the 17th century. They arrived during Christmas, but were quickly arrested for mentioning the "pagan" holiday. Later, they were rescued by the tavern landlord, who himself was a Christmas-believer. He took the Doctor to the tavern cellar, where he encountered a being claiming to be Saint Nick. (PROSE: The Feast)

On 25 June 1906, Richard and his fiancée Violet met at the White Rabbit. (PROSE: Prologue)

The pub once survived a direct hit from a German bomb during World War II. (PROSE: Incongruous Details)

At one point, it was owned by Dominique van Gysegham's first husband, who died in 1977. (AUDIO: The Reaping)

In 2012, Flip Jackson often frequented the White Rabbit. (AUDIO: Quicksilver)

Before his travels in the TARDIS, Hex would go to the Rabbit every Friday with friends. (AUDIO: Project: Destiny) He and his fellow nurses would go there on Saturday nights as well to "blow off some steam". (PROSE: Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast) He visited the place for a final time for his 23rd birthday on 12 October 2021, where he first met Ace and was nearly killed before finding refuge in the TARDIS with her. (AUDIO: The Harvest)

Hex had always planned to return there with Mark Mathias. However, Mark died before his return to London in August 2025. (AUDIO: Project: Destiny)

Emily Chaudhry described the pub as "warm and cosy". It was a frequent destination for UNIT soldiers. (PROSE: Incongruous Details) Emily, who wished to play with the Rabbit's quiz machine with some alcohol rather than run around with the Sixth Doctor, was godmother to the barmaid's son. (PROSE: Defining Patterns)

Linda Grainger spent a miserable Christmas Eve 1990 in the White Rabbit after her boyfriend dumped her. (PROSE: She Won't Be Home) Immediately before Emily first met an incarnation of the Doctor in the 1990s, she was in the White Rabbit. (PROSE: Incongruous Details) On his first trip in the TARDIS, Will Hoffman was brought to the White Rabbit in the 1940s, and then in the 1950s. Emily thought it no mere coincidence. (PROSE: Defining Patterns)

The Seventh Doctor used it as a point of reference to prove that he, Ace and Hex had arrived in the correct location. Hex later expressed that he felt "like I've had the night with the lads in the Rabbit" because of sedatives given to him while recovering in the Crichton Building from a musket shot (AUDIO: Project: Destiny) fired at him by Bartholomew Kitchen. (AUDIO: The Angel of Scutari) The Seventh Doctor and Hex later visited the pub after defeating Nimrod. (AUDIO: Project: Destiny)

The White Rabbit was also where Ace and soon-to-be-boyfriend, and — some would argue — fiancé, Henry Noone, first met on 24 June 2027. She later returned to use his mobile phone to contact UNIT and government agents for help, and the two thereafter frequently met there. After living together for around a year and finally defeating Nobody No-One and reviving the Seventh Doctor, Ace left with the Doctor instead of meeting with Henry at the pub as they had planned, after he wiped her TG tablet's hard drive clean. (AUDIO: A Death in the Family)

It was later moved to Bedrock 12 during one of the wars, either the one with the Jullatii, Daleks or the Draconians. Bernice Summerfield came here to meet Kadiatu Lethbridge-Stewart. (AUDIO: The Final Amendment)