New York City

The Manhattan skyline of 1930s New York.

New York City was a city in New York state and one of the largest and most impressive cities in the United States of America.

Geography

Manhattan was one borough of New York City. Two landmarks, Central Park were located there. Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty lay off the shore.

History

19th century

Jack Harkness (who had left Great Britain for unknown reasons) visited Ellis Island in 1892. He died there but returned to life, immediately after, informing Harkness for the first time that he could no longer die permanently (DW: Utopia).

20th century

In 1930, the Cult of Skaro established a base of operations in Empire State Building. At the same time, a community of the homeless, known as Hooverville (one of several Hoovervilles across the United States as a result of the Great Depression), had gotten established in Central Park. (DW: Daleks in Manhattan / Evolution of the Daleks) In 1938, Orson Welles and his radio drama production company resided in Manhattan, which the Doctor and his companion Charley Pollard also visited at that time. (BFA: Invaders from Mars)

The Empire State Building was once again visited very briefly by the Daleks (as well as by the Doctor and his companions in the 1960s (DW: The Chase). In 1965, the Latter-Day Pantheon (aliens posing as modern-day gods) visited the city and established a short-lived new religion based on their worship. (PDA: Salvation)

Circa 1985, the Doctor and Frobisher went there to pick up Peri, who had taken some time off from the TARDIS there. (DWM: Time Bomb)

21st century

During the early part of the 21st century, Witch Kids, occult-oriented street gangs had spread throughout the city (as well as the world). The Doctor, on a mission of his own, visited the city as part of one of his over-reaching plot against the Butler Institute. (NA: Cat's Cradle: Warhead)

UNIT maintained a base in a skyscraper high above Manhattan. It housed a war room, as well as research into Project Indigo and the main Osterhagen key. Martha Jones was stationed there following the defeat of the Sontaran invasion. In 2009, after the Earth was transported to the Medusa Cascade, a Dalek task force took the base, killing many of its personnel although Martha escaped using the Project Indigo teleport. (DW: The Stolen Earth)

Later history

In 2157, the Daleks destroyed New York City in the course of their invasion of Earth. (DW: The Dalek Invasion of Earth, The Chase)

By the time of the founding of New New York on the planet New Earth, the city had been re-created fourteen times, prompting the Doctor to joke that New New York should really be called New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New York, to make it accurate. (DW: New Earth)

Behind the Scenes

Though they did not film any scenes involving actual actors, members of the Doctor Who production team visited the city in 2006 to shoot some of the location footage seen in Daleks in Manhattan and Evolution of the Daleks. In post-production, the team later altered to make the city look as it had in 1930 in post-production and made sure that the scenes matched the scenes shot back in Great Britain featuring the main actors and extras. The New York filming marked the first time in a decade, since Doctor Who: The TV Movie, that any production of Doctor Who had taken place outside of the UK, and first and, to date, only filming ever done in the United States.