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Starship UK was a huge ship built to house the population of the United Kingdom after the Earth was threatened by solar flares in the 29th century.
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The whole of the United kingdom of England, Wales and Northern Island (but not Scotland; they wanted their own ship) was converted from an island nation into Starship UK. The Spaceship UK was divided into large blocks and sections named after the country's counties, such as Surrey and Devon. Transport was provided by "Vators" (elevators), which were modelled around the old London Underground, while citizens made their way around on bikes. Markets and schools existed. Order was kept using the Smilers and Winders. (DW: The Beast Below)
History
When the Earth was under threat from the solar flares, the United Kingdom was unable to create a ship to escape with. When the last Star Whale came to help, the humans captured it and built a ship around it. While the creature had volunteered for this, the humans were unaware and so enslaved it unnecessarily, torturing it with an electrical device in the "Tower of London" dungeon to keep it moving.
The head of state was Queen Elizabeth the Tenth, or "Liz Ten" as she was known, reigning for three hundred years due to a halted body clock. While the Queen believed she was being marginalized and was unaware of things, she had instigated the capturing of the Star Whale and constantly chose to forget - having her mind wiped - every time she found out; the government were still following her original orders. Every 5 years the people of the Starship UK would vote whether to protest at the treatment of the Star Whale, or forget about it; those who protested were fed to the Star Whale.
The Doctor and Amy Pond arrived, deduced there was no engine powering the ship (as no vibrations came through the floor), and eventually uncovered the whole conspiracy. In the end the Doctor's companion, Amy Pond, resolved everything by making the Queen press the button marked "Abdicate" (rather than "Forget"), which released the Star Whale - revealing that the Star Whale would not abandon the Starship UK, because it had volunteered to move the ship. In fact, with the Star Whale not being tortured anymore, the ship moved even faster than it ever had before. (DW: The Beast Below)