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Big Ben was the name by which the clock tower on one end of the Houses of Parliament was most commonly known, although this is not actually the case (see 'Behind the scenes').
History
In 1892, Clara Oswald, while serving as a governess under the alias Miss Montegue, claimed to her young charges that she was born behind Big Ben's face. She explained that it accounted for her acute sense of time. (TV: The Snowmen)
Later during the 1890s, a Tyrannosaurus rex, having been accidentally sent to the Thames after swallowing the Doctor's TARDIS, advanced on Big Ben before being encircled by the efforts of Scotland Yard using a series of sonic lanterns provided by Madame Vastra. The Half-Face Man, who had later murdered the dinosaur, met his end impaled on the spire of Big Ben after falling from his hot-air balloon in a confrontation with the Twelfth Doctor, with his top hat falling down the tower. (TV: Deep Breath)
In 1924, Shade Vassily planned to use Big Ben to power his ship. (PROSE: The Clockwise Man)
In January 1941, Jack Harkness tethered his ship to Big Ben. (TV: The Empty Child)
In 1976, Big Ben's clock face was bombed by Black Star. (PROSE: Love and War, No Future)
In 1996, the Eleventh Doctor barely avoided crashing his TARDIS into Big Ben as he attempted to stabilise it following his regeneration. (TV: The Eleventh Hour)
In 2006, Big Ben was destroyed by a Slitheen craft, which sheared it in half. (TV: Aliens of London) This was seen by Elton Pope among many witnesses. (TV: Love & Monsters) Reconstruction proceeded shortly afterwards. (TV: The Christmas Invasion) Shortly after Big Ben was rebuilt, the last Steggosian attempted to release a deadly poison from the tower, but the Tenth Doctor stopped him. (PROSE: The Eyeless)
In 2167, the chimes of Big Ben rang for the first time in years to celebrate the end of the 22nd century Dalek invasion after the First Doctor defeated the Daleks. Despite the initial bombardment prior to the invasion, Big Ben was unscathed. It still stood thirty years later. (TV: The Dalek Invasion of Earth, PROSE: Legacy of the Daleks)
By the 28th century, Big Ben had been destroyed. (TV: "Strangers in Space")
In 4039, Big Ben was again destroyed in the Graxnix invasion of Earth. (COMIC: Hotel Historia)
Alternate timelines & universes
In the Trickster's World, Sarah Jane and Luke Smith stood on the rubble of Big Ben in the 21st century, and the Houses of Parliament, surveying the obliterated remains of London. Sarah Jane was revolted by what she had unwittingly caused by altering the timeline on 18 August 1951. (TV: The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith)
In Pete's World, Big Ben had a square face. However, in another appearance, it was circular. [source needed]
Behind the scenes
- When the Slitheen craft crashes into Big Ben in Aliens of London, the scenes are flipped, causing the clock face(s) to appear back-to-front on-screen.
- Big Ben is actually the name of the main bell housed within the Westminster Clock Tower, and not the name of the clock tower itself.
- Big Ben was featured in Alister Pearson's cover artwork for the BBC Video release of The Dalek Invasion of Earth. The clock tower had not featured in the original artwork, but was added by Pearson at the request of BBC Video themselves, apparently to aid overseas sales.
