London

London is the capital city of Great Britain and of England.

History

Origins

The name London came from the Latin name Londinium, the city having been founded by the Romans during their reign over the island. Barbara Wright's casual mention of coming from Londinium during a visit to Rome in the year 64 led to her and Ian Chesterton being abducted and sold into slavery, as the recently conquered Britons were not, at that time, Roman citizens. (DW: The Romans)

Early history

In 1666, the Great Fire of London swept through and destroyed a large part of the City of London, caused by the destruction of a Terileptil base. (DW: The Visitation)

The Doctor had also earlier implied involvement in this event. (DW: Pyramids of Mars)

On 14th September 1752, the standard dating system in the British Empire shifted from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar, as a result of which, it lost eleven days. Thereafter, the Eleven-Day Empire used a shadow version of London as their capital.

20th century

London was evacuated several times during the late 20th century, most notably during the activities of Operation Golden Age where it remained mostly unoccupied, aside from UNIT and scattered looters (DW: Invasion of the Dinosaurs); however little lasting damage to the city occurred during these evacuations. Specific locations and landmarks featuring in twentieth century events included the Post Office Tower (DW The War Machines the London Underground (especially Goodge Street Station) (DW The Web of Fear), Saint Paul's Cathedral (DW The Invasion) and Heathrow Airport (DW Time-Flight).

21st century

By the early 21st century a surprisingly large number of London landmarks had secret bases of either human or alien origin located beneath them. The London Eye was integral to the plans of the Nestene Consciousness to invade in 2005 (DW: Rose). The Tower of London, was a UNIT command centre (DW: The Christmas Invasion).

Canary Wharf housed the Torchwood One tower, which the Institute had constructed in order to study a mysterious phenomena (actually an entrance into the Void) five hundred feet above the city. The Institute built a skyscraper in order to investigate it (DW: Army of Ghosts/Doomsday).

The Institute also maintained an installation at the Thames Flood Barrier which was later taken over by the Empress of the Racnoss. (DW: The Runaway Bride)

On a smaller scale, a suburban home on Bannerman Road served as an informal base for the home's owner, Sarah Jane Smith for the investigation of alien activities on Earth. (SJA: Invasion of the Bane)

In 2096, following the devastating Myloki conflict of the 2060s, London was ravaged and poverty stricken, and a paramilitary force called the City Militia imposed a brutal order on East London. The City of London, owned by the world's remaining banks, was relatively stable but operated on a caste-system based around slavery. The clandestine SILHOET organisation maintained a covert HQ in the old British Film and Television Corporation building. (PDA: The Indestructible Man)

Later history

The city was largely abandoned during the 22nd century Dalek invasion. (DW: The Dalek Invasion of Earth, EDA: Alien Bodies)

By the 28th century, London was known as Central City and covered most of southern England. (DW: The Sensorites, The Daleks' Master Plan)

The name as well as the importance of some of the activities there, implied it had by then become the capital of Earth and by extension, the Sol system.

In 4039, many prominent London landmarks, such as Big Ben, still existed for a while prior to their destruction by the invading Graxnix, and the city again went by the name of London, rather than Central City. (DWM: Hotel Historia)

Notable events

17th century

• 1666: The Great Fire of London.

18th century

• 1752: The foundation of the Eleven-Day Empire, which has its capital in a version of London.

19th century

• The Jack the Ripper murders.
• The Tong of the Black Scorpion and Li H'sen Chang carry out a series of abductions at the behest of Magnus Greel. (DW: The Talons of Weng-Chiang)

20th century

• The Blitz. The Empty Child plague occurs during this time.
• 1953: Londoners with televisions supplied by Mr Magpie are having their faces stolen by the Wire, which uses television transmissions to spread. It attempts to transmit itself to the whole country of England using the BBC's Alexandra Palace transmitter. (DW: The Idiot's Lantern)
• 1963: The Shoreditch Incident.
• 1966: WOTAN, located at the top of the Post Office Tower, attempts a takeover of Earth with mind control and its robots, the War Machines. (DW: The War Machines)
• Yeti invasion. The city is evacuated. In the London Underground there are pitched battles between British soldiers and Yeti. (DW: The Web of Fear)
• London is occupied by Cybermen. (DW: The Invasion) After their defeat, some Cybermen still survive in the London sewers and carry out occasional cyber-conversions until 1985. (DW: Attack of the Cybermen, Dalek)
• The Silurian virus spreads throughout the city. (DW: Doctor Who and the Silurians)
• The city is evacuated as a result of Operation Golden Age. (DW: Invasion of the Dinosaurs)
• 1976: Big Ben is destroyed by bombing. (NA: No Future)
• 1983: Ace burns down Gabriel Chase, a mansion in Perivale. (DW: Ghost Light)
• 1984: British troops battle a Dalek in the docklands. (DW: Resurrection of the Daleks)
• 1989: A number of young people in Perivale disappear mysteriously. This is due to the Master being in League with The Cheetah People. (DW: Survival)

21st century

• 2005: The Shop Dummy Massacre. Nestenes activate Autons made to look shop window mannequins, who kill many bystanders before the Autons are de-activated. (DW: Rose, Love & Monsters)
• 2006: A Slitheen craft side-swipes Big Ben, cutting it in half and then crashlands in the Thames. (DW: Aliens of London, Love & Monsters) The next day, 10 Downing Street is destroyed by a Human guided missile. (DW: World War Three)
• Christmas, 2006: The Sycorax ship enters London airspace. The sonic boom causes glass to shatter for miles around. People are taken over by mind control and all stand on the top of tall structures. The ship leaves, but is destroyed by a Torchwood Institute energy weapon. That evening, the remains of the ship, in the form of ash, wafts down upon the city like snow. (DW: The Christmas Invasion, School Reunion, Love & Monsters)
• 2007: The Battle of Canary Wharf. (DW: Army of Ghosts / Doomsday)
• Christmas, 2007: The Empress of the Racnoss attempts takeover of Earth, with her base in the Thames barrier. She is eventually defeated, but the result is that the Thames is drained. (DW: The Runaway Bride)
• 2008: The Judoon search for a Plasmavore in the Royal Hope Hospital and transport it to the Moon as seen. The hospital was later returned. (DW: Smith and Jones)
• 2008: Professor Lazarus creates a machine which makes him younger, yet it also mutates him into a scorpion- like monster. (DW: The Lazarus Experiment).
• 2008 - 2009: Mr. Saxon becomes the prime minister. He then reveals he is evil and sends billions of Toclafane to kill everyone on the planet. But time is reversed, and everything is back to normal. (DW: The Sound of Drums / Last of the Time Lords)
• 2008 Christmas: The Titanic nearly crashes into Buckingham Palace, but the crash is averted by The Doctor. (DW: Voyage of the Damned)
• 2009: Adipose Pills are distributed all over London, then later thousands of young Adipose invade the streets of London. A Nursery Ship then appears to take the Adipose away. (DW: Partners in Crime)
• 2009: The Sontarans attempt to extinguish all life on Earth in order to create a hatchery that will increase their troop production for the Rutan-Sontaran War. They are thwarted by the combined efforts of the Doctor, Donna Noble, and Martha Jones. The Sontaran Stratagem / The Poison Sky
• 2009: The Daleks remove Earth from its native solar system and galaxy to an undisclosed location, along with 27 other planets, in order to form a new Dalek Empire. It is later returned to its normal orbit and saved along with the entire universe thanks to the DoctorDonna. (The Stolen Earth/Journey's End)
• 2010 Easter: A wormhole measuring nearly 10km high appears which would lead to the planet San Helios. It was during this time several members of a unidetified race, nicknamed "Ailen Stingrays" by UNIT, tried to invade the Earth through the wormhole.
• 2010 Christmas: The Master is resurrected on Earth, and uses the Immortality Gate to convert every human being into a version of him. The Time Lords, led by Rassilon, use the drumbeat within the Master's head and a Whitepoint Star to break through the time-lock, and survive the Time War. They plan to erase all of creation in order to start again, but they are defeated by the the Doctor and the Master.
• 2050: The Jixen travel to London via a Fallen Angel. K9 follows them and defeats them he then changes his form. (K9TV: Regeneration)

22nd century

• Circa 2157: London is turned into a ghost city during the 22nd century Dalek invasion. (DW: The Dalek Invasion of Earth, EDA: Alien Bodies)
• Circa 2167: With the Daleks now defeated, the city is re-built and re-populated. (EDA: Legacy of the Daleks)

28th century

• By the 28th century London, and the whole lower half of England, was incorporated in a very large city called Central City. (DW: The Sensorites)

Behind the Scenes

Prominent Doctor Who Universe characters from London

Companions

Television

• Susan Foreman (Shoreditch)
• Barbara Wright
• Ian Chesterton
• Dodo Chaplet
• Ben Jackson
• Polly
• Victoria Waterfield
• Liz Shaw
• Jo Grant
• Sarah Jane Smith (South Croydon)
• Harry Sullivan
• Ace (Perivale)
• Rose Tyler
• Mickey Smith
• Donna Noble (Chiswick)
• Martha Jones
• Adelaide Brooke (Finchley)

Novels

• Samantha Jones

Audio adventures

• Evelyn Smythe
• Thomas Brewster

Others

Television

• John Benton
• Mike Yates
• Maria Jackson
• Luke Smith
• Clyde Langer

Real World

• London was the location of the production team for Doctor Who from Seasons 1 through 26.

• Location filming took part in London for a number of Doctor Who stories.

• Doctor Who's first Producer, Verity Lambert was born in London.