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The Moon, also known as Luna, is the largest and, for most of its history, the only natural satellite of the planet Earth. No life exists on the Moon at this present time.
History
Origins and Earliest History
The Moon originated outside of the Sol system; it was originally the moon of the Cthalctose homeworld around 60 million years BCE. At that time it housed the Genesis of Cthalctose which was designed to terraform alien worlds (such as, in the future, Earth) to an environment capable of supporting their species. (NA: Eternity Weeps)
As the Moon originated outside the Sol system, it did not relocate until later in its history. It is therefore unknown whether or not the Moon formed at the same time as the Earth itself. (DW: The Runaway Bride)
Later Pre-History
The Silurians went into hibernation because of the appearance of a "small planet" near Earth, the Silurian home planet at that time, which they believed would devastate their world. (DW: Doctor Who and the Silurians)
- This may well refer to the Moon or to another planetary body.
Human Era
19th century
In 1878, secretly, as Queen Victoria watched, three British spacecraft, the Cygnus, the Draco and the Lynx launched from rural Scotland. (PDA: Imperial Moon)
20th century
Some time prior to 2001 there was a base on the Moon at Tycho crater. Movements suggesting active life forms further north in the Eratosthenes crater were spotted as early as 1924. (visittorchwood.co.uk)
The first "official" Moon landing by Humans occurred in 1969. The Doctor and Martha Jones personally witnessed the Moon four times together, as opposed to watching it on television. (DW: Blink) At some point after 1969, the Doctor intended to take Rose Tyler to the Moon, making her unofficially the first human female to set foot there, but this plan went awry. (TDA: I am a Dalek)
Contradicting this, one account shows three Human astronauts landing on the Moon in the year 1970, apparently for the first time. As well as spotting the Doctor's TARDIS, they also got in some trouble. (TVC: Moon Landing)
According to one account, Moon landings became routine in a fairly short while. (DWA: Soldiers from Zolta)
By the late 20th century, the Cybermen had established a base on the Dark Side of the Moon. The base served as the staging area for a fleet poised to invade Earth. It also could fire missiles at approaching craft (such as the Doctor's TARDIS which briefly materialised in space nearby). (DW: The Invasion) The base (or another one) still existed in 1985 (DW: Attack of the Cybermen) and in 1988, the Cyber-Fleet orbited the Moon and waited for the Cyber-Leader, already on Earth, to acquire the Nemesis so that the Fleet could land, conquer Earth and convert the planet into New Mondas. The Nemesis, sent to rendezvous with the Fleet, exploded and destroyed the entire fleet. (DW: Silver Nemesis)
In the 1970s, the Daleks established a base on the Moon and contacted Professor Pillbright, offering him use of their disintegrator weapon in exchange for his servitude. The Doctor went to the Moon and destroyed their base with a neutron bomb. (TVC: The Disintegrator)
In 1992, the Timewyrm created a replica of Victorian-era Cheldon Bonniface on the Moon in order to trap the Doctor. (NA: Timewyrm: Revelation)
21st century
2000s
The Moon was, up until (and possibly beyond) the 21st century, considered neutral ground under Galactic Law, meaning that if law-enforcement agents such as the Judoon, who would have broken Galactic Law to conduct their affairs on Earth, had free reign to do so on its satellite. Accordingly, the Royal Hope Hospital was transported from London to the Moon, through the use of an H2O Scoop, by Judoon during their search for a Plasmavore murderer. (DW: Smith and Jones)
In 2009 the Moon nearly collided into the Earth as part of Mr Smith's plan to destroy Earth using Luke Smith, whose natural power of telekinesis a device named MITRE had amplified. Earth's weather was affected worldwide. However, with Mr Smith "reprogrammed" by a computer virus, Mr Smith had Luke reposition the Moon back into its original orbit. (SJA: The Lost Boy) A few months later, the Earth was relocated to the Medusa Cascade by the Daleks; the Moon, however, remained behind, though it is not known how it maintained its position until the Earth was returned to its original location (DW: The Stolen Earth/Journey's End).
Human Colonization of the Moon
By 2015, when the Doctor and Turlough visited it, Humans had established Lunar Village One. Here they stopped a pair of Dryrth criminals looking for treasure left on the Moon by their people. (DWM: The Lunar Strangers)
In 2070, when Cybermen landed there, a Moonbase housed the Gravitron, a machine that regulated Earth's weather. (DW: The Moonbase) At another time, another base function as a T-Mat relay, co-ordinating T-Mat on Earth. A T-Mat link enabled a person to travel from Earth to the Moon in seconds, until a group of Ice Warriors decided to sabotage the relay. (DW: The Seeds of Death).
Later History
By 2540, it served as a penal colony for dissidents against the war between Earth's empire and the Draconians. (DW: Frontier in Space)
Destruction of the Moon
Circa the 53rd century, the Threshold had established Wormwood, a replica of a late 19th century American frontier town on the Moon as well as the superweapon known as the Eye of Disharmony. When the Doctor's traveling companions Izzy Sinclair and Feyde sabotaged the Eye of Disharmony, the resulting feedback destroyed the Moon. (DWM: Wormwood)
Other Moons
In the time of the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire, the Earth had five moons. A penal colony still existed at this time. (DW: The Long Game, Bad Wolf)
Biological Effects
Werewolves, such as the Host, were transformed from their human form into their wolf form whenever they came under the moonlight. The Doctor, through a telescope at Torchwood House, concentrated moonlight into a laser-like beam which killed the Host, saving Queen Victoria of England. (DW: Tooth and Claw)
