Earth
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Earth, also known as the Earth (TV: The Christmas Invasion, AUDIO: The Beginning) and Planet Earth, (TV: World War Three, The Long Game, Bad Wolf) was a planet in the solar system whose native sapient species were primarily the human race (TV: The End of Time) and the Silurians, (TV: Doctor Who and the Silurians) though they were by no means the only intelligent species to develop there. The twin planet of Mondas, it was the third planet from its sun and therefore also known as Sol III, though mainly to extra-terrestrial cultures.
It was a planet in which the the Doctor had a "particular interest" (TV: The War Games) and may even have been the origin of some of the Doctor's DNA. (TV: Doctor Who) Certainly, it was the planet from which the Doctor drew most of his travelling companions. It was also a planet about whose complete history the Doctor had demonstrated expertise, often knowing minutiae about it and being able to sense which points in its history and in its solar system's history were able to be altered, and which not. (TV: The Waters of Mars) The Fourth Doctor once referred to it as his "home from home". (AUDIO: The Devil's Armada) Although the Twelfth Doctor for a time claimed that the Earth wasn't his home, (TV: Kill the Moon) he later admitted that "[t]his [was his] world too." (TV: In the Forest of the Night)
It attracted many alien invasion attempts throughout its multi-billion year history. Indeed it owed its very existence to a species that hadn't originated there. Its core was formed around a Racnoss webstar, which provided the necessary gravitational pull to coalesce the planet from nearby matter. (TV: The Runaway Bride)
Still, it was not a planet that was merely ripe for invasion. Its history included long periods of time where it was a formidable player in intergalactic politics. At the height of its influence, Earth was the centre of several massive empires and confederations, and its DNA was flung to the furthest reaches of the universe. (TV: Frontier in Space, The Monster of Peladon, Utopia, The Long Game, Planet of the Ood)
Astronomical data
Location
Earth was located in Sector 8023 of the Third Quadrant. (TV: Logopolis) It was the third planet in the solar system. [source needed] At one point the planet was transported to the Medusa Cascade by the Daleks, (TV: The Stolen Earth) and was subsequently towed back to its normal orbit in the Solar system by the TARDIS. (TV: Journey's End) It was later shifted two light years from this position by the Time Lords and renamed Ravolox circa 2,000,000 AD. (TV: The Mysterious Planet)
Moon(s)
For much of Earth's history until 2049, a planetoid-sized egg was a satellite of Earth. This egg, known as the Moon, impacted the Earth's tides and eventually hatched in 2049. The creature replaced the Moon's position with a "new moon" - equal in size to the original - when it laid another egg shortly after hatching. (TV: Kill the Moon) By the time of the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire, the Earth had five moons. (TV: The Long Game)
Geology
Earth was rich in many valuable metals and elements. (PROSE: Doctor Who and the Day of the Daleks) It was one of the few sources of quartz in the galaxy (TV: The Pirate Planet) and was also rich in silicon and carbon. (TV: Four to Doomsday)
The planet was not entirely spherical, which meant that Shanghai and Buenos Aires, while technically antipodes, were slightly off. The Blessing ran through the Earth between those two points. (TV: The Blood Line)
Geography
Earth's surface changed considerably over the course of its long history, owing to its high seismic activity. When native life first appeared on the planet, for example, what later became the middle of the Atlantic Ocean was a vast, rocky wasteland. (TV: City of Death) What follows is a general description of what came to be known as "Classic Earth". (TV: The End of the World)
Through most of its history, two-thirds of the Earth's surface was covered by water. Several large land-masses existed. Changes to the topography were relatively frequent, owing to erosion and seismic and volcanic activity. Two particularly cataclysmic events occurred when Atlantis, already ravaged first by the Dæmons and then Kronos, sank beneath the waves circa 2000 BC (TV: The Underwater Menace, The Dæmons, The Time Monster) and when Krakatoa erupted in 1883. The latter event was witnessed by both the Third (TV: Inferno) and Ninth Doctors. (TV: Rose)
The actions of humans, specifically their pollution, also had a major effect on the geography of the world. By the 26th century, the seas of Earth had been polluted, irradiated, set on fire and boiled off into a thick sludge. (PROSE: Ship of Fools) By the 52nd century, winters never occurred due to global warming. (PROSE: The Frozen) However, in the days of the Second Great and Bountiful Human Empire, the Earth was far less polluted than in the twentieth century. (TV: The Daleks' Master Plan)
Over millions of years, continental drift caused the surface of Earth to change radically, creating such features as the Arctic Desert and the Los Angeles Crevasse. After the 57th Segment of Time and the events of the Ark, the National Trust installed gravity satellites to hold back the expanding Sun, from a now uninhabited Earth. They also shifted the continents back to their earlier positions, a planetary style known as "Classic Earth", which took billions of years. It stayed like this until the planet's final destruction in the year 5.5/Apple/26. (TV: The End of the World)
Sapient native species
Several sapient and semi-sapient species evolved on Earth, though the most important and influential ones were the humans and Earth Reptiles. (PROSE: Love and War, TV: Cold Blood)
Flora and fauna
In its long history, many species had evolved on Earth. By the 21st century, over three hundred billion species of animals had already evolved and gone extinct. (PROSE: The Last Dodo)
The Fourth Doctor stated that Earth was the only planet in its galaxy where oak trees grew. (TV: The Android Invasion)
Religion
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Without specifying the species, the Tenth Doctor said that Earth, like a million other worlds "right across the universe", had "the representation of the horned beast" in its myths and legends. The Beast claimed to be this "devil", along with all of the others in every religion which had such a figure. (TV: The Satan Pit)
The ancient Romans worshipped several gods, including Vulcan and Venus. (TV: The Fires of Pompeii)
Historical significance
Early history
Before life
Earth formed circa 4.6 billion years BC around a Racnoss spacecraft which carried the last of their ancient race. The craft drew in surrounding asteroids and shaped them into a planetary body. (TV: The Runaway Bride)
Soon afterwards, the Eleventh Doctor arrived on a Tuesday, in what he described as "6 billion years ago." At that time, the Earth was hot and volcanic. (TV: Hide)
Around 3 billion BC, the consciousness of the Sou(ou)shi settled on Earth and went into dormancy. (PROSE: Venusian Lullaby) At much the same time, the Sentience was also trapped in the forming Earth. (PROSE: Nightshade)
Creation of life
Native life eventually developed due to the explosion of a Jagaroth spaceship circa 400 million BC, (TV: City of Death) the experiments of the Archaeons using red lightning to seed the Earth and turn it into an ordered "garden" circa 450 million BC, (AUDIO: The Beginning) or both.
Dinosaurs and Homo Reptilia
Various species of saurian creatures dominated the planet until circa 65 million BC, when a freighter from 2526 time-warped to this period and exploded in the upper atmosphere. The resulting clouds of dirt and smoke obscured the Sun, lowering the temperature and causing mass extinctions. (TV: Earthshock)
An intelligent species of reptiles flourished and then went extinct. (PROSE: All-Consuming Fire)
100,000 years later, Silurians and Sea Devils (later known collectively as Earth Reptiles), intelligent reptiles with biotechnology, were also active. (TV: Doctor Who and the Silurians, The Sea Devils)
During this time, the red leech also existed and was the Silurians' most virulent enemy. They were believed to have gone extinct during this period, but at least one survived to the year 1893. (TV: The Crimson Horror)
The reign of the reptiles came to a final end when the rogue planet (later known as Earth's primary satellite, the Moon) entered Earth's orbit. The Earth Reptiles feared it, and entered into suspended animation. (TV: Doctor Who and the Silurians) One account implied that the Moon was already in orbit before intelligent life had developed, (AUDIO: The Beginning) while another stated that it was an egg laid by an alien species around 100 million BC. (TV: Kill the Moon)
Apes, regarded by the reptiles as pests, eventually evolved into the species known as human, given a substantial jolt forward when the Fendahl Core arrived in Africa circa 12 million BC. (TV: Image of the Fendahl)
The Eleventh Doctor believed that the inaccurately named Silurians had lived not in the Silurian Age, but during the Eocene. (TV: The Hungry Earth)
Human age
Rise of human civilisation
Human civilisation evolved quickly, assisted (either accidentally or directly) by the Dæmons, (TV: The Dæmons) the various temporal fragments of Scaroth, (TV: City of Death) the predatory nature imparted to humans by the Fendahl, (TV: Image of the Fendahl) the occupation by the Silence, (TV: Day of the Moon) and some visits [which?] by the Doctor. [which?] [additional sources needed] Scaroth claimed responsibility for the inventions of fire and the wheel; (TV: City of Death) the Silents claimed they were on Earth since that point. (TV: Day of the Moon) The Osirians apparently had an influence on Earth around 5000 BC, inspiring many aspects of Ancient Egypt and imprisoning one of their number, Sutekh, in Egypt. (TV: Pyramids of Mars)
Human beings' predatory and aggressive nature was evident in the many conflicts which humans fought amongst themselves throughout much of their early history, such as during the siege of Troy, the Dark Ages and the American War of Independence. (TV: The Mark of the Rani) The conflicts led to mighty empires and nations such as the Roman Empire, the British Empire,and the United States of America, which had great influence on humanity. It was also exploited by the War Lords, who kidnapped human soldiers from various conflicts in Earth history for use in their war games. (TV: The War Games)
20th and 21st centuries
The First Doctor's companion Vicki Pallister, who was from the 25th century, did not consider early 20th century Earth to be much more advanced than Rome in the 1st century. Barbara Wright took offence at this remark. (AUDIO: Starborn)
The conflicts known as the First and Second World Wars and the Cold War would be particularly significant in the 20th century.
In July 1969, the Eleventh Doctor made the humans subconsciously turn against the Silence and drove them off the planet, leaving behind their network of underground tunnels and several of their crafts. It was at this time that humans sent their first people on the Moon. (TV: Day of the Moon) Scaroth was killed in 1979. (TV: City of Death)
The space race, partially inspired by the Silence, (TV: Day of the Moon) was of great significance: while Earth had been visited by aliens many times throughout its history, the launching of space probes made such visits more frequent, as Homo sapiens began drawing attention to themselves. (TV: Spearhead from Space) These visits also tended to be more openly hostile. Earth was saved from conquest or outright annihilation often only through the intercession of the Doctor or the secret (prior to the 21st century) organisation Torchwood. An attack by the Great Intelligence would finally force the Earth's governments to agree on a unified response to aliens: the United Nations body known as UNIT. (TV: The Web of Fear, The Invasion) Despite this increase in invasions, a number of aliens arrived that were benevolent.
The governments of Earth, as well as the Doctor, UNIT, Torchwood, and (by the 21st century) Sarah Jane Smith and her Ealing group, tried to keep these invasions a secret. UNIT was officially a counter-terrorist group and several incidents explained as terrorism and accidents, though this caused political scandals throughout the 1970s. (PROSE: Who Killed Kennedy) Torchwood used mind-wiping drugs to cover up some incidents, (TV: Everything Changes) while Sarah Jane used her computer Mr Smith to deliberately falsify evidence and news reports. (TV: Revenge of the Slitheen, TV: The End of Time) The Seventh Doctor would remark that these coverups were helped by the fact humans didn't want to notice, and were performing self-deception on themselves. (TV: Remembrance of the Daleks)
In the early 21st century, starting with the Slitheen infiltration of 10 Downing Street (TV: Aliens of London), alien incidents became far more blatant. The governments and UNIT would have a random policy of alternately admitting that some aliens existed (TV: The Christmas Invasion, The Sound of Drums, AUDIO: The Coup) and trying to desperately cover things up, such as claiming the Battle of Canary Wharf was because of terrorists planting drugs in water. (TV: Everything Changes) Many humans acknowledged the aliens, while others tried to claim they were fake. (TV: Smith and Jones) However, several further events, most notably the forced relocation of Earth and a global Dalek assault (TV: The Stolen Earth/Journey's End) and the 456 crisis (TV: Children of Earth) served to finally convince the populace at large that humanity was not alone in the universe. Subsequent events, however, in particular the manifestation of the Time Field, removed some of these events from the memories of many, if not all humans; (TV: Flesh and Stone, The Big Bang) the Doctor ultimately rebooted the universe and Earth's history. (TV: The Big Bang)
In 2011, Earth's political and social climate changed heavily following Miracle Day, where the human race stopped dying as a result of a morphic field and yet continued to age. (TV: The New World, Rendition) This ended when Jack Harkness' blood was fed into the Blessing's antipodes. (TV: The Blood Line)
From 2019 to at least 2059, Earth went through a period of chaos: climate change, ozone degradation, the "oil apocalypse", the Great Cataclysm, a Korven invasion (TV: The Waters of Mars, The Eclipse of the Korven) and the increased weight of the Moon causing high tide everywhere all at once. (TV: Kill the Moon) Humanity faced extinction, but not only survived, they achieved major advances in space travel (TV: The Waters of Mars) and developed weather control technology. (TV: The Moonbase) In 2058, Earth's first colony on Mars was established by Adelaide Brooke; (TV: The Waters of Mars) humanity would go on to create an early form of transmat (TV: The Seeds of Death) and lightspeed travel. (TV: The Waters of Mars) To cope with the depleted oil supply, humans began drilling offworld, taking oil from other planets. (TV: The Infinite Quest)
According to one account, from 2086 to 2088, Earth would win the genocidal Thousand Day War against Mars. (PROSE: Transit)
However, other accounts differed on this, stating that, among other things, Mars was entirely populated by human colonists by the 23rd century, with the native Martians, the Ice Warriors, already becoming — in the words of Ice Warrior expert, Professor Schooner — "extinct for hundreds of years", when, according to what Gregson Grenville had learnt from school, "they were all melted when their invasion fleet spiralled into the sun".
This account showed extant Ice Warriors, but all were in suspended animation for — according to the Eighth Doctor — "many millions of years" at the time both the destruction of the fleet and the Thousand Year War were purported to have happened. (AUDIO: Deimos)
Humanity travels to the stars
In 2089, Earth made its first interstellar flight which was flown by Susie Fontana Brooke and it lead her to Proxima Centauri. In 2095 a full-scale human colonisation of Mars began to be colonised for the wealthy minority humans. (PROSE: Beige Planet Mars) Four years later, the governments of Earth, in answer to global warming, had taken vast sections of the Arctic and Antarctic and placed them inside huge domes called Snowglobes. (PROSE: Snowglobe 7) By the year 2100, Earth had colonised a few nearby star systems for the common and poor human majorities to reduce the overpopulation of Earth. This had truly began humanity's great diaspora across the universe. (TV: The Waters of Mars)
In the 22nd century, Earth suffered the rise of large corporations which would occasionally wage active war against each other, energy crises and the collapse of the tourist trade. In 2156, Earth Central declared bankruptcy and the corporations (under the Earth Alliance of Corporations) took control of the planet. Despite this, Earth's colonisation of the galaxy continued to advance. The Adjudicators were established to enforce Earth law on the colonies. (PROSE: Lucifer Rising)
22nd century Dalek invasion
The 22nd century Dalek invasion proved devastating to Earth. First, the Daleks wiped out fifteen colonies; (PROSE: Lucifer Rising) next, they released a plague across the Earth. Over a six month period, Africa, Asia and South America were almost wiped out; humanity was barely able to resist when the Daleks arrived. (TV: The Dalek Invasion of Earth) New York City and many other cities were destroyed. (TV: The Chase) For ten years, the remaining inhabitants of earth were terrorised by the Dalek forces, who enslaved many and turned others into Robomen, while the Daleks attempted to turn Earth into a mobile dreadnought. Only a handful of resistance groups existed.
Following the defeat of their grand scheme (TV: The Dalek Invasion of Earth) and the shattering of their solar system blockade in the Battle of Cassius, the Daleks left Earth. The planet remained divided into feudal kingdoms for a time, as Earth refused assistance from the colonies; (PROSE: Legacy of the Daleks) large conglomerates, however, stepped in to rebuild the Terran Security Forces. (PROSE: The Final Sanction) The invasion killed about two-thirds of Earth's population. (AUDIO: An Earthly Child) Thirty years after the invasion, the Earth Council existed as a fledgling government, but anti-alien organisations like Earth United began to attract many youths to their cause. (AUDIO: An Earthly Child) Earth was finally rebuilt when other ships from other human colonies arrived to offer their aid. (PROSE: The Janus Conjunction) The Daleks, during the 2190s, invaded Earth again under the Leadership of the Dalek Time Controller, after the renegade Time Lord the Meddling Monk spread another virus. They dug up much of North America, hoping this time to move Earth through time and space for the viruses from the Amethyst Viral Containment Station, turning Earth into a plague planet. This plan was averted when Lucie Miller crashed a Dalek Saucer into the mines at the cost of her life. (AUDIO: Lucie Miller/To the Death)
Earth empires
By the 23rd century, Earth had recovered and a major "break-out" of colonisation took place. (PROSE: The Romance of Crime) In time the planet formed a unified government and an Earth Empire emerged. This dominated most of Mutter's Spiral for over 500 years. This empire at times came into military conflict with other space powers, particularly the Draconians, (TV: Colony in Space) Cybermen (TV: Earthshock) and the Korven. (TV: The Korven) It often employed oppressive and disenfranchising policies on the indigenous inhabitants of its colonies. (TV: The Power of Kroll, The Mutants) Alongside Draconia, Earth would fight and win the Second Dalek War. Before the war, Earth and the Empire was overseen by a president, (TV: Colony in Space) but from the late 26th century it was ruled by a Divine Empress. (PROSE: Cold Fusion)
Unrest among the subjugated alien races, instabilities in the Empire's political and economic structure, and ecological damage to Earth eventually led to the dissolution of the Empire, (TV: The Mutants, PROSE: The Sorcerer's Apprentice) which in time gave way to the Galactic Federation, headquartered on Io. (PROSE: Legacy)
By the 28th century, Earth was commonly referred to as "Old Earth" by the inhabitants of its colonies such as Nocturne. (AUDIO: Nocturne)
In the 29th century, Earth's environment was largely destroyed by solar flares. Humanity fled the planet on giant spaceships, returning when the solar flares stabilised. Autonomous nations returned during the crisis, as countries like the United Kingdom constructed their own, specific refuge ships. (TV: The Beast Below)
By 4000, Earth and its dominions were ruled by a Guardian of the Solar System, with the Space Security Service handling military intelligence. Following the death of the incumbent Guardian, Mavic Chen, (TV: The Daleks' Master Plan) however, his descendants brought down the Galactic Federation's democracy (PROSE: The Crystal Bucephalus) and the Earth-ruled Second Great and Bountiful Human Empire took its place. During this time the enslavement of the Ood as a servant class occurred. (TV: Planet of the Ood) The Empire was succeeded by the Earth Alliance. (AUDIO: Invasion of the Daleks) However, the brutal Dalek invasion of 4162 (AUDIO: Dalek Empire I) saw Earth conquered and occupied by Daleks once again and would result in the Great Catastrophe that devastated Earth and its colonies. (AUDIO: Dalek Empire II)
Earth recovered yet again, forming advanced national alliances before a new Ice Age and World War VI struck it in the 51st century. However, it still triggered the Great Breakout of space colonisation and created the Time Agency. (TV: The Talons of Weng-Chiang, The Invisible Enemy)
Later events
Earth, in its later history, was abandoned numerous times by its human inhabitants, first in 6087 when solar flares bombarded the planet, leaving Earth uninhabited for 10,000 years. (TV: The Ark in Space) The population of Earth was evacuated in vast starships, while a small number of people were left behind aboard Nerva Beacon to begin the repopulation of the planet once conditions on the surface were suitable for life. Humans elsewhere carried on with another period of colonial expansion under GalSec. (TV: The Ark in Space, The Sontaran Experiment) While Earth was uninhabited and damaged, it was occupied by the Charrl, who renamed the world Antýkhon. Humans who had survived the flares, referred to as "Hairies", had mutated to adapt to the depleted atmosphere and soil caused by the Charrls' industrial activities. The Charrl occupation lasted some 3,497 years. (PROSE: Birthright) Nerva Beacon's evacuees returned to Earth after ten thousand years had passed. They recolonised the planet. (TV: The Ark in Space)
Some time after, Earth was visited by the Usurians, who relocated the dying human population first to Mars and then Pluto. Generations later, humans had thrown off the yoke of Usurian exploitation and returned to Earth. (TV: The Sun Makers)
By the year 200,000, Earth was at its height, covered with megacities and a population of 96 billion. It was the centre of the galactic domain of the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire that stretched across a million planets and species. The Empire had been secretly manipulated and its progress hindered by Dalek survivors of the Last Great Time War, who allowed an alien known as the Jagrafess and his consort, the Editor, control over the planet until they were caught and overthrown. (TV: The Long Game, Bad Wolf, The Parting of the Ways) Earth underwent a century of social collapse and pollution before a full-scale invasion commenced in 200,100, including a bombing campaign which disfigured the continents. The Dalek fleet was destroyed by the Bad Wolf entity. (TV: The Parting of the Ways)
About the year 2,000,000, Earth was relocated two light-years from its proper position by the Time Lords to prevent the escape of aliens from the constellation of Andromeda who had stolen information from the Matrix on Gallifrey. Most of the humans remaining on Earth were wiped out. Those that survived degenerated to a primitive, tribal culture. The planet came to be known as Ravolox, with Earth being completely forgotten. The inhabitants of Ravolox eventually came to know of the true nature and history of their planet and to rebuild their civilisation. (TV: The Mysterious Planet) The prophecy of the Vampire Messiah also used the name Ravolox for Earth. (PROSE: Goth Opera).
At some point, the planet was known by the name Tellus and was owned entirely by the mining company, Tellac Inc. During this period, the president of the company was the political leader of the planet as well. (PROSE: K9 and the Missing Planet)
At some point in the far future, Earth was a dead planet. (AUDIO: Voyage to Venus)
Earth's destruction
In the 57th segment of Time the last humans left Earth because of the increasing danger that it would fall into the Sun, fleeing to planets such as Refusis II and Frontios. (TV: The Ark, Frontios) The now uninhabited Earth was preserved by the National Trust. Over the following billions of years it was restored to a "classic" Earth, during which time the Sun exhausted its hydrogen supply and turned into a red giant. As it grew, the Nation Trust financed technology to keep its expansion held back so the Sun would not engulf the Earth. However, funding for the preservation project eventually ran out and the National trust withdrew its protection. Earth was finally destroyed by the expanding Sun (TV: The End of the World) in the year 5,000,000,000. (TV: New Earth) However, at some point, humanity had settled on a planet called New Earth, which had a similar size, orbit, and atmosphere to Earth. According to one account, humanity had relocated to New Earth long before the destruction of Earth. (COMIC: Agent Provocateur) According to another account, the Tenth Doctor said that in 5,000,000,000, "as soon as the Earth burn[t] up", the human race, who at this point were "spread out across the stars", got nostalgic and then found New Earth after forming a big revival movement. (TV: New Earth) Humanity outlived their original homeworld for tens of trillions of years, at least up until the end of the universe itself. (TV: Utopia, Kill the Moon)
Alternate timelines
Earth experienced various alternate timelines.
In one timeline, the Daleks finding the Eye of Time led to them invading Earth in 1963 and wiping out humanity. This timeline was averted by the Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond, by preventing the Daleks from resurrecting their Emperor along with the rest of Skaro and launching the attack in the first place. (GAME: City of the Daleks)
On another occasion, the release of Sutekh in 1911 meant that by 1980 the Earth would be a wasteland. The Fourth Doctor showed this to Sarah Jane Smith, and by causing Sutekh to age to death before he could escape, this timeline was averted. (TV: Pyramids of Mars)
The Bruce Master opening the Eye of Harmony from the Doctor's TARDIS in San Francisco on 31 December 1999 led to Earth being sucked into the Eye at midnight. However, when Grace Holloway helped the Eighth Doctor put the TARDIS into a temporal orbit, this timeline was averted. (TV: Doctor Who)
The Kovarian Chapter of the Silence (TV: The Time of the Doctor) exploding the TARDIS in 2010 led to the collapse of the universe, with Earth's history being barely held together by the TARDIS as it exploded throughout history. The Doctor was able to reboot the universe by flying the Pandorica into the exploding TARDIS. (TV: The Pandorica Opens / The Big Bang)
When River Song refused to shoot the Eleventh Doctor at Lake Silencio on 22 April 2011, time collapsed, creating a timeline where multiple aspects of history were happening at once. The Doctor revealed to River he was really miniaturised and hiding inside an android replica of himself, causing her to perform the shooting. (TV: The Wedding of River Song)
Characteristics
Cultural
Human culture was highly diverse. Natives of the Earth used a wide variety of languages, including Latin (TV: The Fires of Pompeii) , Greek and Hebrew (PROSE: Byzantium!) in the ancient times and English (TV: The Two Doctors), Mandarin (TV: Children of Earth: Day One) and Russian (TV: Cold War) in the 20th and 21st centuries. Some of the Earth languages were later used on other worlds too, for example Hebrew was spoken on the human colony of Ha'olam. (PROSE: Dreamstone Moon)
The diversity of deities worshipped on the planet was equally impressive. Some of these deities were in fact advanced beings from outer space, like the Osirians and Olympians worshipped by the Egyptians and Greeks respectively. Eventually however, these cults started to lose their influence because of the spread of Christianity. (PROSE: Byzantium!)
The Earth was home to many influential human artists, such as Leonardo da Vinci (TV: City of Death) or Vincent van Gogh (TV: Vincent and the Doctor). Influential Earth musicians included Ludwig van Beethoven (PROSE: Gone Too Soon), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (AUDIO: My Own Private Wolfgang) and the Beatles. (AUDIO: 1963: Fanfare for the Common Men)
Political
In its early period, the Earth lacked a united planetary government, being organized into nation-states instead. (TV: The Sontaran Stratagem ) Many of those societies were ruled by kings, like Ur (PROSE: Happy Endings), Macedon (AUDIO: Mask of Tragedy) of the ancient era, France in the 18th century (TV: The Girl in the Fireplace) and England well into the 21st (PROSE: Revenge of the Judoon). Other forms of government, like that of the United States of America, which was led by a President, were however by no means unknown. (AUDIO: The Eye of the Scorpion)
The earliest peaceful attempt at unifying the planet under one governing body was the formation of the League of Nations at the close of the First World War. [source needed] The 1930s saw the formation of LONGBOW, an organisation set up under the League to handle matters of international security, occasionally running into threats of an extraterrestrial nature. While never made public, this was the first acknowledgement by the world's leaders that humans were not alone in the universe and their neighbours were not always friendly. LONGBOW ceased operations after it and the League failed to prevent the outbreak of the Second World War, when Adolf Hitler sent German troops to invade Poland. [source needed]
The United Nations was formed at the end of the Second World War, in hopes of succeeding where its predecessor had failed in preventing global conflict. [source needed] After numerous alien attacks, especially those by the Yeti (TV: The Web of Fear) and the Cybermen (TV: The Invasion), the UN, at the suggestion of Colonel (later Brigadier) Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, drew up the charter for the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce, whose duty was essentially the same as LONGBOW's had been. [source needed] [disputed statement]
The development of nuclear weapons and the Cold War increased international tensions in the late 20th century. In the 1980s nuclear war between communist Russia and capitalist United States seemed imminent. (TV: Cold War ) This threat was somewhat alleviated when the great powers entrusted their nuclear launch codes to the United Kingdom for safe-keeping (TV: Robot), and again when the planet came under the rule of the World Zone Authority in the early 21st century. (TV: The Enemy of the World)
As a result of Miracle Day, some countries like India and Pakistan reduced tensions with one another, while others like North Korea started mobilising troops and the legal definition and practical use of attempted murder and suicide werethrown into chaos. (TV: The New World, Rendition, The Categories of Life, The Middle Men) Various governments established the categories of life, throwing category 1s and 2s into overflow camps and incinerating category 1s inside Modules. (TV: The Categories of Life) This quickly became public knowledge. (TV: The Middle Men)
Some time before 2050, a Korven known as Lomax hijacked the British government and ruled over Great Britain. He also used the British government to gain control of many other parts of the world. Those under the British Government's control lived under a corrupt, totalitarian regime. Lomax and his subordinates were killed during their invasion attempt. (TV: The Eclipse of the Korven)
The United States of America and Eurozone began showing hostilities to each other (PROSE: Trading Futures) and by 2084, there were again two vast power blocs in conflict and the threat of nuclear war. (TV: Warriors of the Deep)
According to one account, the tensions between the competing blocs ended with the Martian assault of 2086, when Paris was destroyed. A common, alien enemy united humans and planted the seeds for a united Earth. (PROSE: Transit) However, a different account showed that all of the Martians were either destroyed after — in the words of Harold — "something to do with T-Mat on the Moon" or were inactive and in suspended animation on Deimos and in the Sol system's asteroid belt. (AUDIO: Deimos)
A brief relapse into warring feudal states followed the Dalek occupation before the Earth was again united. (PROSE: Legacy of the Daleks) It was also around this time that Earth formed the Alliance with Alpha Centauri and other nearby systems, its first formal alliance with alien species. (PROSE: Original Sin, Lords of the Storm)
The united Earth government quickly became corrupt and on the payroll of powerful financial concerns like INITEC, the Galatron Mining Corporation, the AMORB Project and especially IMC, looking the other way as these organisations victimised indigenous species and human colonists alike on the outer worlds. (TV: Vengeance on Varos, Colony in Space) In time the business policies of these corporations and the political and diplomatic policies of the Earth government became parallel and laid the foundations for the Earth Empire. Law and order was enforced by the Adjudicators. Although Earth was governed by a democratically elected leader, civil liberties in the mid-third millennium were marginalized and critics of the government were frequently sent to the Moon, which was converted from a civilian colony to a prison. (TV: Frontier in Space) In the last centuries of the third millennium, the Republic became an Imperial monarchy, with the Holy King (or Queen) ruling Earth and its empire. The last Holy Monarch left control of the Earth to a ruling council upon her death, shortly before the Solos Incident. (PROSE: Original Sin, TV: The Mutants)
With the advent of the Second Ice Age and continuing unrest among the colonies, Earth's government collapsed at the turn of the fourth millennium. Feudalism returned on the planet and on many of its colonies. An aristocratic government remained in control of Earth when the Galactic Federation was formed in the later years of the millennium. (TV: The Curse of Peladon) This aristocracy gradually gave way to more democratic forms, but this new era of freedom was short-lived as the Solar System came under the sway of the Chen Dynasty after 4000. (TV: The Daleks' Master Plan, PROSE: The Crystal Bucephalus)
By 4126, Earth was the centre of the Second Great and Bountiful Human Empire, a vast and powerful tri-galactic power. Ood slavery was common and accepted during this period. (TV: Planet of the Ood) By 4162, however, it had been replaced by the Earth Alliance, a powerful Earth-centred bloc. This was the main power fighting another Dalek invasion of the galaxy, (AUDIO: Invasion of the Daleks) though Earth itself was conquered for much of the war. (AUDIO: Dalek War: Chapter One) When it was liberated, it became a victim of the Great Catastrophe. (AUDIO: Dalek War: Chapter Four)
After this, the nations of the Earth became completely independent once more. A Sixth World War loomed by the year 5000 between the superpowers of the Icelandic Alliance and Supreme Alliance. This ended with the Supreme Alliance victorious and Iceland occupied. Other important nations at the time included the Commonwealth of Australia, which itself was occupied and the Philippines, which liberated Iceland and defeated the Supreme Alliance. (TV: The Talons of Weng-Chiang) At the same time, Earth was responsible for a new period of space exploration and colonisation. (TV: The Invisible Enemy)
By the 100th century, the Earth was facing civil wars and by the 102nd century it was reformed into the Junta. (PROSE: Synthespians™)
Information on what forms of government existed on Earth during its later periods was scant, owing to the frequent evacuations and resettlements by humanity which occurred. During Earth's period as the planet Ravolox, the few surviving humans there appeared to live in a tribal matriarchy somewhat similar to that of the ancient Celts. (TV: The Mysterious Planet)
Economy
Variations of capitalism and communism were practised by Earth humans in the 20th century (PROSE: History 101).
From the 20th to at least the 40th centuries, much of Earth's economy was dependent on oil, a non-renewable resource, much to the annoyance of the Fourth Doctor. (TV: Terror of the Zygons, The Infinite Quest)
In 2008, the Earth entered recession. Three years later, the Earth's economy spiralled further following the Miracle, leaving Ireland and Greece bankrupt. (TV: End of the Road, The Gathering)
Towards the end of Earth's history, trees which traced their ancestry to the tropical rainforests had acquired sizeable fortunes, mostly in real estate. (TV: The End of the World)
Place in the universe
The First Doctor was unfamiliar with Earth prior to his departure on Gallifrey. However, his granddaughter Susan Foreman learned of its existence and that of and the solar system in her spacial cartography system. (AUDIO: The Beginning)
Earth was the target for many alien invasions. The conquest of the planet was often for one of three reasons:
- The need for resources [additional sources needed]
- The expansion of empires
- The replacement of a homeworld
The Sontaran invasion of Earth, as well as a previous claim to the planet, were motivated by the actions of the Rutan-Sontaran War. (TV: The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky, The Time Warrior) The Nimon sought control of Earth due to its position in space allowing for multiple expansions in their Great Journey of Life. (AUDIO: Seasons of Fear)
Species that planned on turning Earth into their "New..." planets included the Zygons (TV: Terror of the Zygons, PROSE: Sting of the Zygons), the Cybermen (TV: Silver Nemesis), the Nestene Consciousness (TV: Rose), the Daleks (TV: Evolution of the Daleks), the Pyroviles (TV: The Fires of Pompeii) and the Saturnyns. (TV: The Vampires of Venice)
Behind the scenes
- The first shot of the first scene of Rose (the first story following Doctor Who's extended hiatus) featured a dramatic zoom from Earth orbit into Rose Tyler's apartment. A number of Doctor Who stories have since opened with this same dramatic zoom, including The Eleventh Hour.
