The English Channel, also known as the British Channel, (PROSE: The Universal Databank [+]Loading...["The Universal Databank (reference book)"]) was a body of water that separated Great Britain from France.
Supposed Earthonomics expert Mr Copper referred to it as the "British Channel", separating Great Britain from Great France and Great Germany of Europey. (TV: Voyage of the Damned [+]Loading...["Voyage of the Damned (TV story)"])
History[[edit] | [edit source]]
Early history[[edit] | [edit source]]
In 1588, the Spanish Armada massed in the Channel before its failed attack on England. (AUDIO: The Devil's Armada [+]Loading...["The Devil's Armada (audio story)"])
In 1875, Captain Matthew Webb became the first person to swim the English Channel. The Sixth Doctor claimed that he swam with Webb in the Channel. (AUDIO: Doctor Who and the Pirates [+]Loading...["Doctor Who and the Pirates (audio story)"])
20th century[[edit] | [edit source]]
In October 1914, Germany bombarded Antwerp. Using her yacht, a British woman named Jessica Borthwick evacuated numerous Belgians across the English Channel while under German fire. (AUDIO: Brotherhood of the Daleks [+]Loading...["Brotherhood of the Daleks (audio story)"])
In 1941, Bernice Summerfield spent time stranded on Nazi-occupied Guernsey, an island in the Channel. (AUDIO: Just War [+]Loading...["Just War (audio story)"], PROSE: Just War [+]Loading...["Just War (novel)"])
Reg Arwell was believed to have died while flying over the English Channel on 20 December 1941. However, his wife Madge Arwell had saved him while flying through the Time Vortex with the Eleventh Doctor. (TV: The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe [+]Loading...["The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe (TV story)"])
A German U-boat which was patrolling the English Channel in 1943 was sent forward in time to 1964, where it threatened to torpedo the Isle of Wight ferry. Sir Toby Kinsella of the Intrusion Countermeasures Group ordered Group Captain Ian Gilmore and his squad to investigate and render assistance to the personnel of the nearby Lanchester Naval Base. (AUDIO: State of Emergency [+]Loading...["State of Emergency (audio story)"])
In the 1970s, a prison was established on Fortress Island, located in the Channel. (TV: The Sea Devils [+]Loading...["The Sea Devils (TV story)"])
Prior to or during his tenth incarnation, the Doctor swam the English Channel naked as he lost a bet with Oliver Reed. (COMIC: The Betrothal of Sontar [+]Loading...["The Betrothal of Sontar (comic story)"])
21st century[[edit] | [edit source]]
When John Harrison purchased a group of Skullion slaves who had crash landed in Central Asia, they were brought across Europe and then across the Channel to him. (TV: The Man Who Never Was [+]Loading...["The Man Who Never Was (TV story)"])
The Fourth Doctor once referred to it as "a glorified shipping lane." (AUDIO: The Devil's Armada [+]Loading...["The Devil's Armada (audio story)"])
Alternate timelines[[edit] | [edit source]]
In the history in which the Ironsides were never discovered by the Eleventh Doctor, the Ironsides landed on the Normandy beaches long before the summer of 1942, traveling along the seabed of the English Channel to avoid detection. (PROSE: The Ironside Advance [+]Loading...["The Ironside Advance (short story)"])