London Eye
- You may wish to consult
London (disambiguation)for other, similarly-named pages.
The London Eye, also known as the Millennium Wheel, (PROSE: The Clockwise Man [+]Loading...["The Clockwise Man (novel)"]) was a giant Ferris wheel and a well-known part of London's skyline. (PROSE: The Time Traveller's Almanac [+]Loading...{"page":"65","1":"The Time Traveller's Almanac (reference book)"}) It was located in the borough of Lambeth.[nb 1]
Location
The London Eye stood on the South Bank of the River Thames, within easy reach of London's West End via Westminster Bridge. (PROSE: The Time Traveller's Almanac [+]Loading...{"page":"65","1":"The Time Traveller's Almanac (reference book)"})
History
Construction and early life
Constructed to mark the end of the second millennium, the London Eye was a huge Ferris wheel — at the time, the largest in the world. Construction work was completed by the end of 1999, although the wheel itself was not ready for public use until some months later. (PROSE: The Time Traveller's Almanac [+]Loading...{"page":"65","1":"The Time Traveller's Almanac (reference book)"}) It was first opened in the year 2000. (PROSE: Magic of the Angels [+]Loading...["Magic of the Angels (novel)"], Have You Seen This Man? [+]Loading...["Have You Seen This Man? (short story)"])
The London Eye quickly became a familiar and immediately recognisable part of the London skyline, alongside St Paul's Cathedral, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, its night-time illuminations ensuring it was always visible. (PROSE: The Time Traveller's Almanac [+]Loading...{"page":"65","1":"The Time Traveller's Almanac (reference book)"})
In the early morning of 1 January 2005, the newly regenerated Eleventh Doctor flew west over the Thames, past the Eye, whilst clinging by his fingers from his TARDIS' doorway, before climbing back aboard and being thrown nearly nine years back in time. (TV: The Eleventh Hour [+]Loading...["The Eleventh Hour (TV story)"])
In early 2005, A. Fergus was doing a report on the fifth birthday of the London Eye for 60 Seconds on BBC3, when the Ninth Doctor, with blood on his face, told Fergus and his crew to run, and despite them being hardened professionals, they ran like children, not stopping to ask questions. Fergus later wrote about his encounter on Doctor Who?. (PROSE: Have You Seen This Man? [+]Loading...{"writer":"Unknown","1":"Have You Seen This Man? (short story)"})
During the Auton invasion
- Main article: Operation Mannequin
Two months later, in March, the Ninth Doctor and Rose Tyler discovered that the Nestene Consciousness, who had set up its base underneath, used the landmark as a transmitter to activate its Autons as it was circular and that was what was needed to send the activation signal (TV: Rose [+]Loading...["Rose (TV story)"], PROSE: Twenty-First-Century London [+]Loading...{"page":"28","1":"Twenty-First-Century London (feature)"}) and the cross-frequency jamming wave (PROSE: Operation Mannequin [+]Loading...["Operation Mannequin (short story)"]) and the pair shut down the Autons' operation. (TV: Rose) At least one person found themselves unable to see due to the brightness and unable to talk because of the noise. The appearance of the Eye, also hyperbolically referred to as a wheel of fire, was comparable to that of fireworks and St. Elmo's fire. (PROSE: Dummy Massacre [+]Loading...["Dummy Massacre (short story)"])
According to one account, after the death of the Nestene Consciousness due to it being infected with Anti-plastic, the explosion caused the Eye to collapse and fall into the Thames, (PROSE: Rose) however, other accounts that showed the immediate clean-up of "Operation Mannequin" by UNIT indicated no damage to the London Eye. (PROSE: Operation Mannequin [+]Loading...["Operation Mannequin (short story)"], Dummy Massacre [+]Loading...["Dummy Massacre (short story)"])
After the invasion
In 2016, the London Eye was wrecked by the rampaging robot K2. (COMIC: Robo Rampage [+]Loading...["Robo Rampage (comic story)"])
When the end of the world came due to Sol slowly imploding, Lucy Wilson and Hobo Kostinen, making their way through an abandoned, derelict London, observed the London Eye once more tipping into the river. (PROSE: Assessment Day [+]Loading...["Assessment Day (short story)"])
Footnotes
Notes
- ↑ The map of London boroughs in Revenge of the Slitheen matches up with the birds-eye view of London when the Sycorax ship arrives in The Christmas Invasion. The London Eye can be seen on the bank of the Thames, just as it bends towards City - placing it in Lambeth according to Mr Smith's map.
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