Starship UK
Starship UK was a huge space ship built to carry the population of the United Kingdom when Earth was threatened by solar flares in the 29th century.
Geography and society
The whole of the United Kingdom of England, Wales and Northern Ireland — but not Scotland, who had wanted their own ship — was converted from an island nation into Starship UK. It was divided into huge blocks and sections named after the nation's counties, such as Surrey and Devon. Transport was provided by "Vators" (elevators), modelled on the old London Underground. Citizens made their way around on bikes. Markets and schools existed. Order was maintained by the Smilers and Winders. (TV: The Beast Below)
History
When Earth was threatened by solar flares, the United Kingdom could not build a ship to escape. When the last star whale came to help, the humans captured it and built a ship around it. The creature had volunteered for this, but the humans did not know and enslaved it unnecessarily, torturing it with an electrical device in the Tower of London dungeon to keep it moving. (TV: The Beast Below)
The head of state was Queen Elizabeth X, also known as "Liz Ten." She had reigned for three hundred years due to a halted body clock. The Doctor found this out by noticing that her ancient, cracked mask was perfectly shaped to her face. While the Queen believed she was being marginalised by her government and was unaware of things, she had instigated the capture of the Star Whale and continually chose to forget — having her mind wiped — every time she found out; the government were still following her original orders.
The Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond arrived, and deduced that no engine powered the ship; no vibrations came through the floor nor were the power tubes connected. When Amy was exploring, she came across a road block which was being fixed by "Magpie Electricals." (TV: The Idiot's Lantern) Moving on from that, the Doctor and Amy uncovered the conspiracy. Amy resolved matters by making the Queen to press the button marked "Abdicate" rather than "Forget". This released the Star Whale. The Star Whale did not abandon Starship UK because it had volunteered to move the ship. With the Star Whale no longer tortured, the ship moved faster. As the Doctor and Amy left, a crack in time appeared on the hull of Starship UK. (TV: The Beast Below)
In the starship, there was a Royal Collection, in which River Song stole The Pandorica Opens, which Liz Ten held her to gunpoint. River showed Liz the painting, which was the TARDIS exploding, so she let her go. (TV: The Pandorica Opens).
Behind the scenes
- According to The Brilliant Book 2011, a book that contains non-narrative based information, the government had suspended democratic elections in "this time of upheaval" and continued dictatorial rule for centuries after. However, the citizens were allowed to vote every five years (REF: The Brilliant Book 2011) on whether to protest the treatment of the Star Whale or forget about it. Those who protested were fed to the Star Whale. The Star Whale wouldn't eat children, so they were sent to work in the Tower of London.
- In the DWE, there is a Node seen in the Starship UK museum, meaning they probably used these too in some places, or the same type of technology.
