Harriet Jones

Harriet Jones
Species:	Human
Place of origin:	Earth
First appearance:	Aliens of London
Appearances:	TV: Aliens of London, World War Three, The Christmas Invasion. The Stolen Earth
Main actor:	Penelope Wilton
Memorable moment
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You may be looking for the Harriet Jones of Pete's World.

Harriet Jones was a British politician in the early 21st century who served from 2006 until 2008 as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Biography

Early career

Harriet Jones was an unassuming career backbencher serving the constituency of Flydale North. She was at 10 Downing Street when an alien spacecraft crashed in the River Thames in 2006. She was there to discuss plans for the Flydale Infirmary in her "tiny little" constituency. She soon discovered that the Cabinet had been infiltrated; the Acting Prime Minister, Joseph Green, was actually one of the Slitheen family in disguise.

When the Ninth Doctor arrived at Downing Street to consult on the crash, she tried to warn his companion, Rose Tyler, of what was happening, but the two were pursued by the unmasked aliens. Eventually she was trapped together with the Doctor and Rose in the Cabinet Rooms and aided the Doctor in determining the Slitheen's weaknesses. As the only elected representative present, Jones gave the Doctor the order to launch a Harpoon missile at Downing Street, killing the Slitheen before they could trigger off a nuclear war.

Jones, the Doctor and Rose survived thanks to the reinforced steel walls of the cabinet rooms. The Doctor told Rose that Jones was destined to be a Prime Minister, elected for three successive terms, and the architect of Britain's Golden Age. (TV: Aliens of London / World War Three)

Prime Minister

After the incident, Harriet Jones was chosen to form a new government. (TV: Aliens of London) (The mention was accidentally included in the first part of the story) During Jones's tenure, she presided over the launch of the Guinevere One space probe by the British Rocket Group and the extension of a Cottage Hospital scheme nationwide. Her administration also enacted educational initiatives and made progress with transport, particularly trains.

Her economic plan allowed people to be £18 a week better off, according to Jackie Tyler. It was the space programme that led to her facing an alien invasion by the Sycorax. Although the invasion was averted by the Tenth Doctor, Jones ordered the covert Torchwood Institute to shoot down the retreating Sycorax ship. (TV: The Christmas Invasion)

Furious with Jones, the Doctor told her he could bring her down with just six words. When she stood by her actions, he whispered those six words to her aide: "Don't you think she looks tired?" Soon she was fending off rumours of ill-health and facing a vote of no confidence (TV: The Christmas Invasion). Her government was damaged and she lost power to Harold Saxon in the 2008 election, as she was indicated as being PM on Saxon's campaign website. Nevertheless, she stuck to her beliefs that the Earth needed to be able to defend itself from alien invasion. (TV: The Stolen Earth).

• British Prime Minister
• March 2006 - May 2008
• Preceded by: Joseph Green (acting)
• Succeeded by: Harold Saxon

Later life

After leaving office Jones continued to work behind the scenes, devising ways to protect the earth from alien intrusion should the Doctor be unavailable. With the help of the Mr Copper Foundation, she developed the subwave network, an intuitive system to seek out via computer anyone who had had extensive dealings with the Doctor. She based this operation out of her home, given on her diplomatic papers as 14 Mantleford Cresent, London.

Jones used the subwave network to contact Sarah Jane Smith, Martha Jones and Torchwood Institute in an attempt to contact the Doctor. In so doing, she allowed the Daleks to trace her signal and a squad of Daleks were dispatched to exterminate her. She remained defiant in her last moments, holding up her ID card saying “Harriet Jones, former Prime Minister”. The Daleks said they knew who she was, but Jones said they knew nothing of her, telling them they would face their downfall in underestimating the human race. The Daleks exterminated her. (TV: The Stolen Earth)

The Doctor would later feel incredible remorse when he realised that, despite rejecting her, she would give her life to get him where he was supposed to be. (TV: The Stolen Earth)

Personality

Harriet Jones was a modest and intelligent middle-aged woman who had served her community faithfully for years without any real ambition beyond that. However, she was able to adapt quickly to the reality of the Slitheen threat. She took to the role of leadership easily, proceeding to reassure the public when the crisis was over. (TV: World War Three)

After her encounter with the Slitheen, Harriet became Prime Minister and proved to be a capable leader devoted to the safety of not only her country but the entire world. However she displayed a darker side by ordering Torchwood to destroy the Sycorax even though they were retreating from Earth. (TV: The Christmas Invasion) After that decision she wondered if she had made the right choice but eventually concluded it had been necessary to defend Earth. Harriet was brave and selfless. She tried to get the Slitheen to kill her, not Rose Tyler.(TV: World War Three) At the end of her life, Harriet fearlessly faced the Daleks when they arrived to exterminate her. Her sacrifice allowed the Doctor and his companions to save the whole of reality. (TV: The Stolen Earth)

Jones always introduced herself by flashing her identity card and saying, "Harriet Jones, MP, Flydale North," because her constituency was a "tiny little place" and people would not know about it. Later, as Prime Minister, she continued to flash her card and say, "Harriet Jones, Prime Minister". She later modified her introduction to say "Harriet Jones, Former Prime Minister", flashing her passport. Whenever she did this, everyone (including the Daleks and the Sycorax) would respond "Yes, we know who you are". (TV: The Christmas Invasion, TV: The Stolen Earth)

Behind the scenes

• Harriet refers to herself as not being "one of the babes", a reference to the recent-past term "Blair's babes". This may mean she was a Labour Party MP.
• Harriet is the namesake of a track on the Doctor Who: Original Television Soundtrack, "Harriet Jones, Prime Minister".