London

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Revision as of 08:41, 23 August 2008 by Martin Bizarro (talk | contribs) (→‎20th century: landmarks as settings)
File:800px-IMG 0077.jpg
The London Eye, site of the Nestenes' third attempt to invade Earth in 2005

London is the capital city of the 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 (The War Machines the London Underground (especially Goodge Street Station) (The Web of Fear), Saint Paul's Cathedral (The Invasion) and Heathrow Airport (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 1 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 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)

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.

Notable events

17th century

18th century

19th century

20th century

21st century

22nd century

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)

Companions from London

Television

Comics

Novels

Audio adventures

Real World

London was used as part of location filming for a number of Doctor Who TV stories.

Verity Lambert was born in London.

London