Royal Hope Hospital

Royal Hope Hospital
Type:	Hospital
Location:	London Borough of Lambeth, the Moon (temporarily)
First appearance:	Smith and Jones

Alternate counterparts ofRoyal 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 in the 2000s, 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)

It was located in the borough of Lambeth.

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)

When a Slitheen craft crash landed in the River Thames, a hospital was required which could easily be reached by boat. Despite Royal Hope Hospital being closer, it would have presented greater operational difficulties, as it housed many more staff and patients, than the nearby Albion Hospital. (PROSE: The Time Traveller's Almanac ^[+]Loading...{"chaptname":"Everything Changes","page":"73","chaptnum":"3","1":"The Time Traveller's Almanac (reference book)"})

In the 2000s, 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, just as the air ran out altogether. (TV: Smith and Jones) UNIT tended to the Royal Hope Hospital upon its return to Earth and retrieved moon rocks. (PROSE: UNIT History, AUDIO: Recruits)

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 all 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)

After becoming Prime Minister, The Saxon Master 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 senior consultant B. Stoker and junior doctors Martha Jones, Oliver Morgenstern and Julia Swales; nurses Jan and 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)

Martha Jones's ID card stated that her Authority was "RH0495" that her Number was 0/39 (PROSE: ID Cards) or, according to another account, that her Authority was "RH0776" and that her Number was 0/75. (PROSE: "A Medical Note")

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

• Episode one of third series of Doctor Who, Smith and Jones, itself does not give a date for the Hospital's trip to the Moon, but the short story The Paradox Moon places it on 23 June 2007 and the audio drama Recruits places it in March 2008. Page 120 of The Secret Lives of Monsters gives Sunday 4 June as the date of the events of Smith and Jones and the incident with the hospital. However, it does not specify 2007 or 2008 as a current year. On top of this, the first two Sunday 4 Junes after 2004 (page 119 places the incident over 30 years after 1974) are in 2006 and 2017.
• 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's ID badge and a blank ID badge that was customisable.