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[[File:Big_Ben_destroyed.jpg|frame|A [[Slitheen]] ship hits Big Ben. ([[DW]]: ''[[Aliens of London]]'')]]'''Big Ben '''was the popular name of a [[clock]] tower located in [[London]]. Big Ben was originally the name of the tower's bell, but was popularly used in reference to the tower.
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{{wikipediainfo}}
{{ImageLink}}
{{Infobox Location
|image          = Big Ben - The Vanishing Ray.jpg
|aka            = {{il|Clock Tower|St Stephen's Tower|Elizabeth Tower}}
|type          = [[Clock]] tower (named after the Great Bell)
|location      = [[Palace of Westminster]]
|first mention  =
|first cs      = The Dalek Invasion of Earth (TV story)
|appearances    = {{appears}}
|clip          = Spaceship Crashes into Big Ben! (HD) Aliens of London Doctor Who
}}
'''Big Ben''' was the popular name by which the [[clock tower]] at the [[north]]-[[east]]ern end of the [[Palace of Westminster]] was most commonly known. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Time Traveller's Almanac (reference book)|chaptnum=3|chaptname=Everything Changes|page=81}}) It was also known simply as the '''Clock Tower''', ([[COMIC]]: {{cs|The Aquarius Condition (comic story)}}, [[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Time Traveller's Almanac (reference book)|chaptnum=3|chaptname=Everything Changes|page=81}}) '''St Stephen's Tower''', ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Alien landing confirmed (short story)}}, {{cs|Lucy Wilson (short story)}}) and '''Elizabeth Tower'''. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Twenty-First-Century London (feature)|page=28}}) "Big Ben" was in actuality the [[nickname]] of the tower's [[Great Bell]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Time Traveller's Almanac (reference book)|chaptnum=3|chaptname=Everything Changes|page=81}}, {{cs|Twenty-First-Century London (feature)|page=28}})
 
The tower housed five bells, the largest of which was the Great Bell. The clock tower was [[96.3 (number)|96.3]] [[metre]]s [[Height|tall]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Time Traveller's Almanac (reference book)|chaptnum=3|chaptname=Everything Changes|page=81}})


== History ==
== History ==
In [[1924]], [[Shade Vassily]] planned to use Big Ben to power his ship. ([[NSA]]: ''[[The Clockwise Man]]'')
=== 19th century ===
The [[tower]] was designed by the [[English]] [[architect]] [[Augustus Pugin]] when the Palace was rebuilt following a [[fire]] in [[1834]], and the [[clock]] was started in [[September]] [[1859]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Time Traveller's Almanac (reference book)|chaptnum=2|chaptname=Brave New World|page=49}})
 
In [[1892]], [[Clara Oswin Oswald]], while serving as a governess under the alias Miss Montegue, claimed to her young charges that she was born behind Big Ben's face. She explained that it accounted for her acute sense of [[time]]. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Snowmen (TV story)}})


In [[1941]], during [[World War II]], [[Jack Harkness]] tethered his ship to Big Ben. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Empty Child]]'')
Later during the [[1890s]], a [[Dinosaur (Deep Breath)|Tyrannosaurus rex]], having been accidentally sent to the [[Thames]] after swallowing [[the Doctor's TARDIS]], advanced on Big Ben before being encircled by the efforts of [[Scotland Yard]] using a series of [[sonic lantern]]s provided by [[Vastra|Madame Vastra]]. The [[Half-Face Man]], who had later [[Spontaneous human combustion|murdered]] the [[dinosaur]], met his end impaled on the spire of Big Ben after falling from his hot-air [[balloon]] in a confrontation with the [[Twelfth Doctor]], with his top [[hat]] falling down the tower. ([[TV]]: {{cs|Deep Breath (TV story)}})


In [[1976]], Big Ben's clock face was bombed by [[Black Star]]. ([[NA]]: ''[[Love and War]]'', ''[[No Future]]'')
=== 20th century ===
[[File:In front of the clock.jpg|left|thumb|[[Rose Tyler]] and [[Jack Harkness]] dance upon a [[Chula warship]], tethered to Big Ben. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Empty Child (TV story)}})]]
In [[1924]], [[Shade Vassily]] planned to use Big Ben to power his ship. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Clockwise Man (novel)}})


In [[2006]], Big Ben was destroyed by a [[Slitheen]] craft, which sheared it in half. ([[DW]]: ''[[Aliens of London]]'') This was seen by [[Elton Pope]] among many witnesses. ([[DW]]: ''[[Love & Monsters]]'') Reconstruction proceeded shortly afterwards. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Christmas Invasion]]'')
Whilst the Palace was hit fourteen times during [[the Blitz]], the clock remained operational and accurate throughout the [[Second World War]], although it was not [[illumination|illuminated]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Time Traveller's Almanac (reference book)|chaptnum=2|chaptname=Brave New World|page=49}})


[[File:In front of the clock.jpg|left|thumb|[[Rose Tyler]] and [[Jack Harkness]] dance upon a [[Chula Warship]], tethered to Big Ben. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Empty Child]]'')]]
In [[January]] [[1941]], [[Jack Harkness]] tethered his ship to Big Ben. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Empty Child (TV story)}}) For the only time between [[September]] [[1939]] and [[April]] [[1945]], Big Ben's [[light]]s were switched back on as Jack danced with Rose on top of his [[Chula warship]] alongside the tower. It was not recorded whether this itself led to one of the successful [[German]] strikes on the Palace of Westminster. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Time Traveller's Almanac (reference book)|chaptnum=2|chaptname=Brave New World|page=49}})
The [[Eleventh Doctor]] barely avoided crashing [[the Doctor's TARDIS|his TARDIS]] into Big Ben as he attempted to stabilize it following his [[regeneration]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Eleventh Hour]]'')


: ''The exact timeframe of this is uncertain, as the TARDIS had dematerialised from [[2005]] prior to the near-crash and eventually landed in [[1996]] Leadworth.''
In [[1976]], Big Ben's clock face was bombed by [[Black Star]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Love and War (novel)}}, {{cs|No Future (novel)}})


In [[2009]], in an [[alternate timeline]] created by [[Sarah Jane]]'s actions in [[1951]] in which the world was destroyed, [[Luke Smith|Luke]], Sarah and [[the Trickster]] stood near the remains of Big Ben. ([[SJA]]: ''[[The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith]]'')
=== 21st century ===
After [[Christmas]] [[2004]], [[Lee (Have You Seen This Man?)|Lee]] met the [[Ninth Doctor]] near Big Ben to find the Doctor looking up at it, violently [[laughing]]. The Doctor told Lee to "make the most of it while you can", and Lee hurried off, thinking the Doctor was [[drunk]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Have You Seen This Man? (short story)}})


In [[2167]], the chimes of Big Ben rang for the first time in years to celebrate the end of the [[22nd century Dalek invasion]] after the [[First Doctor]] defeated the [[Dalek]]s. Despite the initial bombardment prior to the invasion, Big Ben was unscathed. It still stood 30 years later. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Dalek Invasion of Earth]]'', [[PDA]]: ''[[Legacy of the Daleks]]'')
On [[1 January]] [[2005]], the [[Eleventh Doctor]] barely avoided crashing [[the Doctor's TARDIS|his TARDIS]] into Big Ben as he attempted to stabilise it following his [[regeneration]]. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Eleventh Hour (TV story)}})


By the [[28th century]], Big Ben had been destroyed. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Sensorites]]'')
[[File:Big Ben destroyed.jpg|thumb|Big Ben being destroyed by the [[Slitheen]]. ([[TV]]: {{cs|Aliens of London (TV story)}})]]
On [[6 March]] [[2006]], Big Ben was destroyed by a [[Slitheen craft]], which sheared it in half. ([[TV]]: {{cs|Aliens of London (TV story)}}, [[PROSE]]: {{cs|Operation London (short story)}}) This was seen by [[Elton Pope]] among many witnesses. ([[TV]]: {{cs|Love & Monsters (TV story)}}) Reconstruction proceeded shortly afterwards, ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Christmas Invasion (TV story)}}) when Prime Minister [[Harriet Jones]] ordered the rebuilding to begin soon after she took office. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Time Traveller's Almanac (reference book)|chaptnum=3|chaptname=Everything Changes|page=81}})


In [[4039]], Big Ben was again destroyed in the [[Graxnix]] invasion of Earth. ([[DWM]]: ''[[Hotel Historia (comic story)|Hotel Historia]]'')
Shortly after Big Ben was rebuilt, the last [[Steggosian]] attempted to release a deadly [[poison]] from the tower, but the [[Tenth Doctor]] stopped him. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Eyeless (novel)}})


In [[Pete's World]] Big Ben had a square face, however in another appearance it was circular. {{Fact}}
[[File:FAB One drives past Big Ben.png|thumb|left|''[[Lady Penelope's car|FAB One]]'' is driven past Big Ben. ([[COMIC]]: {{cs|The Great Silver Robbery! (comic story)|part=2}})]]
In [[2065]], multiple [[car]]s owned by the [[British Secret Service]] [[driving|drove]] past Big Ben on the way to [[Creighton-Ward Manor]] to bring [[Lady]] [[Penelope Creighton-Ward]] and [[Aloysius Parker|Parker]] in for [[interrogation]]. ([[COMIC]]: {{cs|The Vanishing Ray (comic story)|part=2}})


{{wikipediainfo}}
In [[2066]], Parker drove himself and Lady Penelope in ''[[Lady Penelope's car|FAB One]]'' past Big Ben on the way to the [[London Silver Vaults]]. ([[COMIC]]: {{cs|The Great Silver Robbery! (comic story)|part=2}})
 
=== 22nd century ===
In [[2167]], the chimes of Big Ben rang for the first time in years to celebrate the end of the [[2150s Dalek invasion of Earth]] after the [[First Doctor]] defeated the [[Dalek]]s. Despite the initial bombardment prior to the invasion, Big Ben was unscathed. It still stood thirty years later. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Dalek Invasion of Earth (TV story)}}, [[PROSE]]: {{cs|Legacy of the Daleks (novel)}})
 
=== 23rd century ===
[[File:Big Ben DA.jpg|thumb|The [[Seventh Doctor]] near a view of Big Ben. ([[GAME]]: {{cs|Dalek Attack (video game)}})]]
In [[2254]], Big Ben survived a [[Dalek]] invasion of Earth which saw London liberated by [[the Doctor]]. ([[GAME]]: {{cs|Dalek Attack (video game)}})
 
=== Later history ===
By the [[28th century]], Big Ben had again been destroyed. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Sensorites (TV story)|namedep=Strangers in Space (1)}})
 
In [[4039]], Big Ben was destroyed during the [[Graxnix]] invasion of [[Earth]]. ([[COMIC]]: {{cs|Hotel Historia (comic story)}})
 
== Behind the scenes ==
[[File:BigBenFlipped.jpg|thumb|The flipped clock face from ''[[Aliens of London (TV story)|Aliens of London]]''.]]
* When the [[Slitheen craft (Aliens of London)|Slitheen craft]] crashes into Big Ben in ''[[Aliens of London (TV story)|Aliens of London]]'', the on-screen scenes are flipped, causing the clock face(s) to appear back-to-front in the finished programme.
* Big Ben is actually the name of the main bell housed within the Westminster Clock Tower, and not the name of the clock tower itself.
* Big Ben was featured in [[Alister Pearson]]'s cover artwork for the 1990 [[BBC Video]] release of ''[[The Dalek Invasion of Earth (TV story)|The Dalek Invasion of Earth]]'', which was also used on the 1990 edition of [[Terrance Dicks]]'s [[Doctor Who and the Dalek Invasion of Earth (novelisation)|novelisation]] of the story. The clock tower had not featured in the original artwork, but was added by Pearson at the request of BBC Video themselves — apparently to aid overseas sales.
* In the ultimately unproduced film ''[[The Dark Dimension (TV story)|The Dark Dimension]]'', the Daleks were to have been among several [[alien]] races which simultaneously invade [[London]], with one particular scene depicting a pair of [[white]]-coloured Daleks with glowing bases swooping past the face of Big Ben with [[gunstick|guns]] blazing.
 
{{City of Westminster}}
[[it:Big Ben]]


[[Category:London buildings]]
[[Category:London towers]]
[[Category:Buildings from the real world]]
[[Category:Buildings from the real world]]
[[Category:Time keeping devices]]

Latest revision as of 18:17, 3 November 2024

Big Ben
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Big Ben

Big Ben was the popular name by which the clock tower at the north-eastern end of the Palace of Westminster was most commonly known. (PROSE: The Time Traveller's Almanac [+]Loading...{"chaptname":"Everything Changes","page":"81","chaptnum":"3","1":"The Time Traveller's Almanac (reference book)"}) It was also known simply as the Clock Tower, (COMIC: The Aquarius Condition [+]Loading...["The Aquarius Condition (comic story)"], PROSE: The Time Traveller's Almanac [+]Loading...{"chaptname":"Everything Changes","page":"81","chaptnum":"3","1":"The Time Traveller's Almanac (reference book)"}) St Stephen's Tower, (PROSE: Alien landing confirmed [+]Loading...["Alien landing confirmed (short story)"], Lucy Wilson [+]Loading...["Lucy Wilson (short story)"]) and Elizabeth Tower. (PROSE: Twenty-First-Century London [+]Loading...{"page":"28","1":"Twenty-First-Century London (feature)"}) "Big Ben" was in actuality the nickname of the tower's Great Bell. (PROSE: The Time Traveller's Almanac [+]Loading...{"chaptname":"Everything Changes","page":"81","chaptnum":"3","1":"The Time Traveller's Almanac (reference book)"}, Twenty-First-Century London [+]Loading...{"page":"28","1":"Twenty-First-Century London (feature)"})

The tower housed five bells, the largest of which was the Great Bell. The clock tower was 96.3 metres tall. (PROSE: The Time Traveller's Almanac [+]Loading...{"chaptname":"Everything Changes","page":"81","chaptnum":"3","1":"The Time Traveller's Almanac (reference book)"})

History[[edit] | [edit source]]

19th century[[edit] | [edit source]]

The tower was designed by the English architect Augustus Pugin when the Palace was rebuilt following a fire in 1834, and the clock was started in September 1859. (PROSE: The Time Traveller's Almanac [+]Loading...{"chaptname":"Brave New World","page":"49","chaptnum":"2","1":"The Time Traveller's Almanac (reference book)"})

In 1892, Clara Oswin Oswald, while serving as a governess under the alias Miss Montegue, claimed to her young charges that she was born behind Big Ben's face. She explained that it accounted for her acute sense of time. (TV: The Snowmen [+]Loading...["The Snowmen (TV story)"])

Later during the 1890s, a Tyrannosaurus rex, having been accidentally sent to the Thames after swallowing the Doctor's TARDIS, advanced on Big Ben before being encircled by the efforts of Scotland Yard using a series of sonic lanterns provided by Madame Vastra. The Half-Face Man, who had later murdered the dinosaur, met his end impaled on the spire of Big Ben after falling from his hot-air balloon in a confrontation with the Twelfth Doctor, with his top hat falling down the tower. (TV: Deep Breath [+]Loading...["Deep Breath (TV story)"])

20th century[[edit] | [edit source]]

Rose Tyler and Jack Harkness dance upon a Chula warship, tethered to Big Ben. (TV: The Empty Child [+]Loading...["The Empty Child (TV story)"])

In 1924, Shade Vassily planned to use Big Ben to power his ship. (PROSE: The Clockwise Man [+]Loading...["The Clockwise Man (novel)"])

Whilst the Palace was hit fourteen times during the Blitz, the clock remained operational and accurate throughout the Second World War, although it was not illuminated. (PROSE: The Time Traveller's Almanac [+]Loading...{"chaptname":"Brave New World","page":"49","chaptnum":"2","1":"The Time Traveller's Almanac (reference book)"})

In January 1941, Jack Harkness tethered his ship to Big Ben. (TV: The Empty Child [+]Loading...["The Empty Child (TV story)"]) For the only time between September 1939 and April 1945, Big Ben's lights were switched back on as Jack danced with Rose on top of his Chula warship alongside the tower. It was not recorded whether this itself led to one of the successful German strikes on the Palace of Westminster. (PROSE: The Time Traveller's Almanac [+]Loading...{"chaptname":"Brave New World","page":"49","chaptnum":"2","1":"The Time Traveller's Almanac (reference book)"})

In 1976, Big Ben's clock face was bombed by Black Star. (PROSE: Love and War [+]Loading...["Love and War (novel)"], No Future [+]Loading...["No Future (novel)"])

21st century[[edit] | [edit source]]

After Christmas 2004, Lee met the Ninth Doctor near Big Ben to find the Doctor looking up at it, violently laughing. The Doctor told Lee to "make the most of it while you can", and Lee hurried off, thinking the Doctor was drunk. (PROSE: Have You Seen This Man? [+]Loading...["Have You Seen This Man? (short story)"])

On 1 January 2005, the Eleventh Doctor barely avoided crashing his TARDIS into Big Ben as he attempted to stabilise it following his regeneration. (TV: The Eleventh Hour [+]Loading...["The Eleventh Hour (TV story)"])

Big Ben being destroyed by the Slitheen. (TV: Aliens of London [+]Loading...["Aliens of London (TV story)"])

On 6 March 2006, Big Ben was destroyed by a Slitheen craft, which sheared it in half. (TV: Aliens of London [+]Loading...["Aliens of London (TV story)"], PROSE: Operation London [+]Loading...["Operation London (short story)"]) This was seen by Elton Pope among many witnesses. (TV: Love & Monsters [+]Loading...["Love & Monsters (TV story)"]) Reconstruction proceeded shortly afterwards, (TV: The Christmas Invasion [+]Loading...["The Christmas Invasion (TV story)"]) when Prime Minister Harriet Jones ordered the rebuilding to begin soon after she took office. (PROSE: The Time Traveller's Almanac [+]Loading...{"chaptname":"Everything Changes","page":"81","chaptnum":"3","1":"The Time Traveller's Almanac (reference book)"})

Shortly after Big Ben was rebuilt, the last Steggosian attempted to release a deadly poison from the tower, but the Tenth Doctor stopped him. (PROSE: The Eyeless [+]Loading...["The Eyeless (novel)"])

FAB One is driven past Big Ben. (COMIC: The Great Silver Robbery! (part 2) [+]Loading...{"part":"2","1":"The Great Silver Robbery! (comic story)"})

In 2065, multiple cars owned by the British Secret Service drove past Big Ben on the way to Creighton-Ward Manor to bring Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward and Parker in for interrogation. (COMIC: The Vanishing Ray (part 2) [+]Loading...{"part":"2","1":"The Vanishing Ray (comic story)"})

In 2066, Parker drove himself and Lady Penelope in FAB One past Big Ben on the way to the London Silver Vaults. (COMIC: The Great Silver Robbery! (part 2) [+]Loading...{"part":"2","1":"The Great Silver Robbery! (comic story)"})

22nd century[[edit] | [edit source]]

In 2167, the chimes of Big Ben rang for the first time in years to celebrate the end of the 2150s Dalek invasion of Earth after the First Doctor defeated the Daleks. Despite the initial bombardment prior to the invasion, Big Ben was unscathed. It still stood thirty years later. (TV: The Dalek Invasion of Earth [+]Loading...["The Dalek Invasion of Earth (TV story)"], PROSE: Legacy of the Daleks [+]Loading...["Legacy of the Daleks (novel)"])

23rd century[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Seventh Doctor near a view of Big Ben. (GAME: Dalek Attack [+]Loading...["Dalek Attack (video game)"])

In 2254, Big Ben survived a Dalek invasion of Earth which saw London liberated by the Doctor. (GAME: Dalek Attack [+]Loading...["Dalek Attack (video game)"])

Later history[[edit] | [edit source]]

By the 28th century, Big Ben had again been destroyed. (TV: "Strangers in Space" [+]Part of The Sensorites, Loading...{"namedep":"Strangers in Space (1)","1":"The Sensorites (TV story)"})

In 4039, Big Ben was destroyed during the Graxnix invasion of Earth. (COMIC: Hotel Historia [+]Loading...["Hotel Historia (comic story)"])

Behind the scenes[[edit] | [edit source]]

The flipped clock face from Aliens of London.
  • When the Slitheen craft crashes into Big Ben in Aliens of London, the on-screen scenes are flipped, causing the clock face(s) to appear back-to-front in the finished programme.
  • Big Ben is actually the name of the main bell housed within the Westminster Clock Tower, and not the name of the clock tower itself.
  • Big Ben was featured in Alister Pearson's cover artwork for the 1990 BBC Video release of The Dalek Invasion of Earth, which was also used on the 1990 edition of Terrance Dicks's novelisation of the story. The clock tower had not featured in the original artwork, but was added by Pearson at the request of BBC Video themselves — apparently to aid overseas sales.
  • In the ultimately unproduced film The Dark Dimension, the Daleks were to have been among several alien races which simultaneously invade London, with one particular scene depicting a pair of white-coloured Daleks with glowing bases swooping past the face of Big Ben with guns blazing.
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