Royal Hope Hospital
The Royal Hope Hospital was a hospital situated in the middle of London. As a medical student, Martha Jones was working there when she first met the Tenth Doctor. It was capable of holding at least a thousand patients.
The hospital was transported to the Moon (TV: Smith and Jones) in March 2008 (AUDIO: Recruits) or on 4 June 2008, though the bizarre claims of witnesses were widely reported to be collective hallucinations stemming from a freak weather event. (PROSE: The Secret Lives of Monsters)
History
In 2005, Torchwood One detected a time explosion at the hospital. Kenny led a team there to investigate, although friction was caused due to Sameer's presence on the team. They had to avoid General Asquith, who was quick to assume terrorism and discovered a matter transmission device that they took to Torchwood Tower. (AUDIO: New Girl)
The hospital housed a power generator in the basement. Medical students and porters frequently played cards against one another in a tiny basement side room. (PROSE: The Pirate Loop)
In 2008, the Tenth Doctor, masquerading as a patient, checked himself in Royal Hope to investigate a fugitive Plasmavore. The Judoon then "stole" the hospital and transported it to the Moon using a H₂O scoop. The Doctor and Martha teamed up for the first time to save the patients and medical staff before the Judoon had returned the hospital back to Earth. (TV: Smith and Jones) UNIT tended to the Royal Hope Hospital upon its return to Earth. (PROSE: UNIT History)
An initial theory was that the disappearance of the hospital was a David Blaine stunt. (AUDIO: Hysteria) Following investigations into the incident by the Home Office and the Ministry of Health, it was concluded that the majority of reports, including the most bizarre stemmed from witnesses suffering a collective hallucination caused by oxygen starvation. (PROSE: The Secret Lives of Monsters) Shawna Thompson, a conspiracy theorist, noted that hallucinations could have been caused by a gas leak, pesticides or "meds in the water". (AUDIO: Hysteria) According to a report made public by the Secretary of State, the depletion in oxygen levels was caused by a freak weather event. The majority of newspapers reported on the rain going backwards, but ignored the bizarre claims of hospital staff. (PROSE: The Secret Lives of Monsters) The BBC later claimed to hold no footage of such an event, and went so far as to deny all knowledge of the incident. (AUDIO: Hysteria)
"Harold Saxon" would exploit this event to prove to the British public that aliens represented a threat to Earth. (TV: Smith and Jones)
Staff
Staff at the hospital included B. Stoker, Martha Jones, Oliver Morgenstern, Julia Swales, Jan, Wendy, Dr Beckett, Dr Jackson, Dr Sarn, (TV: Smith and Jones) Rachel. (PROSE: Made of Steel) and Hazel Magee. (PROSE: The Secret Lives of Monsters)
Patients
Patients admitted included average humans of Earth, as well as aliens such as Florence Finnegan and "John Smith". (TV: Smith and Jones)
Behind the scenes
- TV: Smith and Jones itself does not give a date for the Hospital's trip to the Moon, but PROSE: The Secret Lives of Monsters places it on 4 June 2008 and AUDIO: Recruits places it in March 2008.
- The 2009 pilot of Law & Order: UK started at a Royal Hope Hospital. The episode starred Freema Agyeman and was adapted by Chris Chibnall.
- In 2007, the Smith and Jones page on the Doctor Who website featured downloadable images of Martha Jones' ID badge and a blank ID badge that was customisable.[1] On the blank ID, the barcode reads "VOTE SAXON 2306801B" when decoded.
Martha Jones' ID badge
Blank ID badge
Footnotes
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