Blackpool
Blackpool was a town on the coast of Lancashire, England, which looked out over the Irish Sea. It was a seaside resort famous for the Blackpool Tower.
Blackpool was the home town of two of the Doctor's companions: Lucie Miller and Clara Oswald.
Attractions
Blackpool was a seaside resort which benefitted from a range of attractions, most prominent of which was the Blackpool Tower: an observation tower complete with a ballroom and a circus. (AUDIO: The Nightmare Fair, PROSE: All the Empty Towers) Other attractions included Blackpool Pleasure Beach - a local amusement park, (AUDIO: The Nightmare Fair) Blackpool beach (COMIC: Seaside Rendezvous, TV: The Rings of Akhaten) and the Golden Mile. (PROSE: Autonomy) The town also had its own football team, which competed in tournaments including the FA Cup. (TV: Out of Time)
Fish and chips were commonly served in Blackpool. (AUDIO: The Skull of Sobek) Local attractions sold toffee apples and candy floss. (PROSE: The Nightmare Fair, AUDIO: The Nightmare Fair) Merchandise was also available, including "Kiss me quick" hats. (PROSE: All the Empty Towers)
Geography
Blackpool was located on the coast of Lancashire, (TV: Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS, Robot of Sherwood) beside the Irish Sea. (COMIC: Seaside Rendezvous) Nearby cities included Preston to the east. There was a motorway from Preston which terminated at Blackpool. (TV: The Categories of Life)
The town's hospital was Blackpool General. (AUDIO: Death in Blackpool) Waterloo Road and the Palatine were located there. (AUDIO: The Revolution Game)
History
20th century
At some point in the latter half of the 20th century, the Third Doctor magnetised Blackpool Tower to stop a swarm of metal-eating insects. (COMIC: The Metal-Eaters)
1930s
In the summer of 1936, Tom Wake met his future wife Alice in Blackpool. (PROSE: The Hopes and Fears of All the Years)
1960s
In the late 1960s, Mary Wake and her husband, an Indian lawyer, moved to Blackpool. (PROSE: The Hopes and Fears of All the Years)
1980s
In 1981, Ellie Ravenwood saved Dave Oswald from being hit by a car in the town after a leaf blew into his face. They later married and had a daughter, Clara Oswald, (TV: The Rings of Akhaten) who was born on 23 November 1986. (TV: Death in Heaven)
The Sixth Doctor and Peri Brown visited Blackpool in 1985 where they encountered the Mandarin. (PROSE: The Nightmare Fair, AUDIO: The Nightmare Fair)
In the mid-80s, Iris Wildthyme was lured to Blackpool by the Cosmic Puppet Master, who tried to kill her with real Space Invaders brought to life from an arcade game. (PROSE: From Wildthyme with Love)
Lucie Miller, companion of the Eighth Doctor, was born in Blackpool on 31 July 1988. (AUDIO: Brave New Town)
1990s
In 1991, the Seventh Doctor and Ace encountered an Ogri on Blackpool beach. (COMIC: Seaside Rendezvous)
As a child, Clara Oswald got lost on Blackpool beach on a bank holiday and was terrified until her mother found her and helped her to conquer her fear of getting lost. (TV: The Rings of Akhaten)
The Eleventh Doctor unknowingly talked to a young Clara at a Blackpool park, while searching for her. (WC: The Bells of Saint John: A Prequel)
21st century
Ellie Oswald died in Blackpool on 5 March 2005. The Eleventh Doctor watched from a distance as Clara and Dave mourned at her graveside. (TV: The Rings of Akhaten)
After a series of adventures with the Eighth Doctor, Lucie Miller asked him to return her to Blackpool for Christmas. However the Doctor accidentally arrived a year early, in 2008. While spending her Christmas in Blackpool, she discovered that her Auntie Pat was a Zygon. Learning that the Doctor had deceived her after Pat's death in the Lake District, Lucie declined the Doctor's offer to continue her travels with him. (AUDIO: Death in Blackpool)
In 2009, calls to the emergency services from Blackpool suggested that children were frozen. (TV: Children of Earth: Day Three)
In Summer 2009, (AUDIO: Death in Blackpool) after being returned home to Blackpool, Lucie received a late night visit from an old foe. The Headhunter raised an alien gun and threatened to kill her. When Lucie protested, she was shot. (AUDIO: The Vengeance of Morbius) The Headhunter later revealed that she had used quantum-tipped time bullets to shoot Lucie and then un-shoot her. (AUDIO: Orbis)
By 2089, climate change had caused Blackpool to be overtaken by jungle and abandoned. The animals from the circus ran loose and Blackpool Pleasure Beach could be rented out for hunting. The Twelfth Doctor and Clara arrived there by accident and were nearly killed by Triss's hunting party. The Doctor indicated to Clara this future was not fixed. (PROSE: All the Empty Towers)
References
The Fourth Doctor recalled a previous visit to the town when Leela told him that the Trogs ate processed rock. (TV: Underworld) The Sixth Doctor attempted to return to Blackpool with Evelyn Smythe after she suggested he needed a holiday; a suggestion which the Doctor reluctantly accepted. The TARDIS instead materialised in Brighton. (AUDIO: Pier Pressure) The Eighth Doctor once ushered Charlotte Pollard and C'rizz back into his TARDIS with an offer to take them to Blackpool, after bursting into a room full of Daleks. (AUDIO: Terror Firma)
The Sixth Doctor once commented that a replica of the town was being built on the rim of the Crab Nebula. (PROSE: The Nightmare Fair; AUDIO: The Nightmare Fair)
Lucie Miller told the Eighth Doctor that she didn't mind the cold, dark atmosphere of Red Rocket Rising as she was used to going clubbing in Blackpool on a November Saturday night. (AUDIO: Blood of the Daleks) When Zeus suggested that the Eighth Doctor was a knowledgable man, Lucie replied "Pheugh! You try getting him to take you to Blackpool". The Doctor later agreed with her stating "You know me - I can't even find Blackpool in a TARDIS". (AUDIO: Immortal Beloved) Hearing that Sash had taken on the mantle of "Glaswegian Kiss" at the Retro Roller Derby, Lucie suggested that her skating name could be "Blackpool Rock". (AUDIO: The Revolution Game) Later, while travelling with the Monk, Lucie threatened to break a sculpture by Michelangelo if he did not return her to Blackpool. He abandoned her on Deimos instead. (AUDIO: The Resurrection of Mars)
The Timey-wimey detector was made up of items including a Blackpool postcard. (TV: Blink)
Blackpool appeared on Mary Cooper's map of overflow camps in and around Wales. (TV: The Categories of Life)
When questioned by the Sheriff of Nottingham in 1190, Clara Oswald implied that she gained her feistiness from the town, telling him that "you can take the girl out of Blackpool...". (TV: Robot of Sherwood) Danny Pink later thought Clara had lied to him about being from Blackpool upon finding out about her other life with the Doctor, instead believing her to be a "space woman". Clara replied that she was telling the truth about being from the town. (TV: The Caretaker)
The Tenth Doctor once attempted to take Donna Noble to Blackpool but they instead arrived in the French Riviera in the 1780s. (AUDIO: Death and the Queen)
Hex was fond of Blackpool. (AUDIO: Shadow Planet, World Apart)
Behind the scenes
The Doctor Who Exhibition at 111 Central Promenade Blackpool, was first opened by Jon Pertwee and Elisabeth Sladen on 9th April 1974. From the outside, the huge crowds that gathered that day, could see only a blue police telephone box, next to a building, but once the doors were opened they found themselves, descending a flight of stairs into a basement exhibition full of the most exciting monsters, aliens, props, costumes and models from the series.
These originally included a Draconian, Silurian, Axon, Yeti, Cybermen, Alpha Centauri, Aggedor and several Eight legs from "Planet Of The Spiders". Of course the most popular exhibits would always be the Daleks in their Dalek cavern, whether this was in their original form or indeed later with their creator Davros. In time K9, Ice Warriors, Sontarons, Morbius, the Keeler-Krynoid, the Total Survival Suit from "Kinda" and many more joined the always thrilling displays.
Visitors walked around a winding corridor with exhibits to either side, most that were changed annually, others that would become old favourites. Eventually they would arrive in the Tardis console room, where pictures of The Doctors looked down on a console that had "working" switches with flashing lights, a feature that also surrounded the main Dalek exhibits, which moved on a track as they yelled out words of extermination. The exhibition was left via a gift shop and a café. The Doctor Who Exhibition closed after the 1985 season, and was gutted out in early 1986.
Andrew Ross Hay formed the first Doctor Who fan group in Blackpool in early 1986. He had been interviewed by the Blackpool Gazette newspaper, for an article that headlined, "Don't Be Tardy, For The Tardis". The first meeting was held at the Central Library, Queen Street Blackpool FY 1PX, with 50 people in attendance, to watch Jon Pertwee in The Daemons. The Blackpool Gazette, further interviewed Hay, about a story writing contest and the group's efforts to raise money for Sports Aid.
The meetings eventually moved to the Butlins Metropole Hotel, Princess Parade, Promenade, Blackpool FY1 1RQ, where they became, "The Good Companions Society", a group specialising not only in showing Doctor Who videos, but also fan films literally from around the globe. This attracted interest from further a field and the monthly meetings always remained well attended. The Sixth Doctor and Peri Brown were to visit Blackpool on screen in a script written for the 1986 season of Doctor Who called The Nightmare Fair. However, the series was placed on hiatus and a dialogue reference to Blackpool intended to close Revelation of the Daleks was replaced by a freeze frame. The intended story was later novelised and adapted as a Big Finish audio play.
Blackpool was once the location of a Doctor Who Exhibition which featured a range of costumes and props from the classic series. In 2018, Madame Tussauds in Blackpool displayed a waxwork of the Thirteenth Doctor, complete with the actual TARDIS used in Series 11.
Actors Jenna Coleman and Nicola Sian were born in Blackpool.
Location information
Though it's possible that a real world location doesn't exist in the same geographic space in the Doctor Who universe, such cases are few and far between. Thus, the map to the right is probably a good indicator of the DWU location of Blackpool.
