London
London was the capital city of the United Kingdom and of England.
History
The name London came from the Latin name Londinium, as London was founded by the Romans during their reign over the island. Barbara Wright's casual mention that she was from Londinium during a visit to first century Rome led to her and Ian Chesterton being abducted and sold into slavery, as the recently conquered Britons at that time were not yet Roman citizens ("The Romans").
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. (The Visitation).
London was evacuated several times during the late 20th century, most notably during the activities of Operation Golden Age (Invasion of the Dinosaurs); however little lasting damage to the city occured during these evacuations.
By the early 21st century a surprisingly large number of London landmarks had secret bases of either human or alien origin located beneath them. These included the London Eye, which was integral to the plans of the Nestene Consciousness (DW: Rose) the Tower of London, which was a UNIT command centre (DW: The Christmas Invasion). The Torchwood Institute had situated an installation in Canary Wharf and another at the Thames Barrier. Canary Wharf housed Torchwood 1 itself, which the Institute had constructed in order to study a mysterious phenomena (actually an entrance into the Void) five hundred feet above the city (DW: Army of Ghosts/Doomsday). The latter of these was later taken over by the Empress of the Racnoss. (DW: The Runaway Bride)
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 covered most of southern England. (DW: The Sensorites)
By 4000, it had the new name, Central City. (DW: The Daleks' Master Plan)
- The name as well as the importance of some of the activities there, implied it had by then become the capitol of Earth and by extension, the Sol system.'
Notable events
17th century
- 1666: The Great Fire 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 on behest of Magnus Greel.
20th century
- The Blitz. The Empty Child Plague occurs during this time.
- 1963:The Shoreditch Incident. Imperial and Renegade Dalek factions battle on the streets of Shoreditch. An Imperial shuttlecraft lands on the grounds of Coal Hill School.
- 1966: WOTAN, located at the top of the Post Office Tower, attempts a take-over of Earth with mind control and robot War Machines.
- Yeti invasion. The city is evacuated. In the London Undergroun there are pitched battles between British soldiers and Yeti.
- London is occupied by Cybermen. After the defeat of the Cybermen, some Cybermen still survive in the London sewers and carry out occasional cyber-conversions until 1985.
- The Silurian virus spreads throughout the city.
- The city is evacuated as a result of Operation Golden Age.
- 1976:Big Ben is destroyed by bombing.
- 1984:British military fight with Daleks in the docklands.
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.
- 2006: A Slitheen craft side-swipes Big Ben, cutting it in half and then crashlands in the Thames. The next day, 10 Downing Street is destroyed by a Human guided missile.
- Christmas, 2006: The Sycorax ship enters London airspace and hovers off, then is destroyed by a Torchwood Institute weapon. Apart from volumes of ash then wafting down upon the city, when the ship'ssonic boom caused breaking glass for miles around.
- 2007: The Battle of Canary Wharf.
- circa 2157: London is into a ghost city during the 22nd century Dalek invasion. The Daleks were later defeated.
- circa 2164: With the Daleks now defeated, the city is re-built and re-populated.
- London is re-named Central City.
Companions from London
Television
- Susan Foreman (attended school in Shoreditch; but was not actually from the city)
- Barbara Wright
- Ian Chesterton
- Dodo Chaplet
- Ben Jackson
- Polly
- Victoria Waterfield
- Sergeant Benton
- Liz Shaw
- Jo Grant
- Mike Yates
- Sarah Jane Smith
- Harry Sullivan
- Ace (actually not from London, but from its suburb, Perivale)
- Rose Tyler
- Mickey Smith
