Italy
Italy was a country in the continent of Europe on the planet Earth.
The Doctor's travels
The Doctor made several visits to Italy. In his first incarnation, he even lived there for several weeks, taking an extended holiday near Rome with Barbara Wright, Ian Chesterton and Vicki Pallister in the 1st century AD. During this visit he was responsible giving Nero the idea for starting the Great Fire of Rome. (TV: The Romans)
Venice, a city built on marshland by the sea, (TV: The Vampires of Venice) was also of interest to the Doctor. He made several trips to the city in his first, (PROSE: The Empire of Glass) eighth (AUDIO: The Stones of Venice) and eleventh incarnations. (TV: The Vampires of Venice)
Pompeii also attracted the Doctor's attention because of its famed volcanic eruption on 24 August 79. The Seventh (AUDIO: The Fires of Vulcan) and Tenth Doctors were present during the eruption itself. Indeed, the Tenth Doctor and Donna Noble were the proximate cause of the explosion that wiped out the city. (TV: The Fires of Pompeii)
History
Early history
In 500 BC, the Thirteenth Doctor, Graham O'Brien, Yasmin Khan and Ryan Sinclair visited the Pythagorean commune of Crotone in Italy. (PROSE: The Pythagoras Problem)
In 451, the Thirteenth Doctor, Graham O'Brien, Yasmin Khan and Ryan Sinclair visited Gaul. The Thirteenth Doctor noted that Gaul comprised part of Northern Italy, although they visited the region that would later become France. (PROSE: Combat Magicks)
In 493, the Fifth Doctor, Nyssa and Tegan Jovanka visited Ravenna. (PROSE: Goths and Robbers)
In the 15th century, the Fourth Doctor visited the city-state of San Martino in the 15th century. (TV: The Masque of Mandragora)
In the 16th century, the Fourth Doctor visited the workshop of Leonardo da Vinci in Florence in the 16th century. (TV: City of Death)
20th century
During the 1910s, Italy was caught up in the First World War. In 1917, George Newman fought on the Italian Front. (AUDIO: Fiesta of the Damned)
The 1930s saw the emergence of the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini in Italy. (AUDIO: The Rapture) Like Adolf Hitler in Germany, Mussolini rose to power with the help of his charisma. He had a distinctive, angled chin which helped to project this charisma. (PROSE: Warchild) He was, however, regarded as a "fatso" by people in the United Kingdom. (PROSE: Players)
He was famously able to keep trains running on time, by, rumour had it, keeping the clocks running a few minutes fast (PROSE: Instruments of Darkness) and by always keeping the lights on at the stations. (PROSE: Parallel 59) The Seventh Doctor also pointed out that it was a question of how the trains were run and what happened to the drivers who were late. (AUDIO: A Thousand Tiny Wings)
Mussolini expressed that ruling Italy was easy but utterly pointless. He had a vision of returning the nation to greatness. He allied himself with Hitler's Nazis, for which Edward Greyhaven later branded him a "fool". (PROSE: The Dying Days)
In 1936, Winston Churchill tried to warn people about the danger both Hitler's Germany and Mussolini's Italy posed to Europe. (PROSE: Players) However, his warning went unheeded. (PROSE: Log 384)
Mussolini's armies invaded Albania in 1939. (PROSE: Deadly Reunion) Later, during World War II, they marched into the Democratic Republic. (PROSE: The Earwig Archipelago) They also engaged the Allies in the Sahara Desert (PROSE: The Dying Days) alongside their German allies in 1941. (COMIC: The Instruments of War)
In 1943, the Allies invaded Italy. (PROSE: Deadly Reunion) Mussolini's own people rose up against him and a mob strung him to a lamp post, (PROSE: The Dying Days) followed by Italy's change of allegiance. Around the time of the Battle of Monte Cassino in 1944, Italian partisan groups had begun fighting the Germans in the north of the country. (COMIC: Treasure Trail) Mussolini was executed on 28 April 1945. (PROSE: Just War)
In the late 20th century, the Third Doctor spent some time on San Stefano Minore — near Sicily — with Sarah Jane, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart and the Brigadier's cousin. (AUDIO: The Ghosts of N-Space)
After millennia of legend, archaeologists eventually rediscovered the lost city of Pompeii, and humanity remembered its fate. (TV: The Fires of Pompeii)
In 1980, an earthquake damaged Pompeii and uncovered the TARDIS, which had apparently been buried in the eruption. This discovery was reported to UNIT and investigated by the Fifth Doctor, but he departed before he could learn anything more about his future. In reality, however, the Seventh Doctor and Mel had simply entered the ship before the lava reached it, waited inside while the lava hardened around it, and then took the ship forward in time 1900 years to the moment when it had been discovered. (AUDIO: The Fires of Vulcan)
On 11 July 1982, Italy beat West Germany 3-1 in the World Cup. The Eighth Doctor and Charley Pollard visited the Italian town of Ferrara during the celebrations there. (AUDIO: Living Legend)
Later history
In 2294, the Eighth Doctor and Charley visited Venice. It was expected to finally sink into the sea as a result of a curse 100 years previously. However, this was reversed by Duchess Estella and Duke Orsino, and the city was returned to its former state, albeit suffering much damage. (AUDIO: The Stones of Venice)
People from Italy
As a populous country with a strong tradition of emigration, Italy had an influence upon the development of the planet Earth that was difficult to quantify. For example, any number of persons of Italian origin passed through the gates at Ellis Island to populate New York City in the 19th and 20th centuries. (TV: Immortal Sins)
Despite the anonymity of the American immigration, a number of specific Italians were known by name. A few of her more famous sons, daughters, and direct descendants included Angelo Colasanto, an immigrant to the United States, and his family, (TV: Immortal Sins) Leonardo da Vinci, a renowned artist (TV: City of Death, Mona Lisa's Revenge) Giuseppe di Cattivo, an artist friendly with Leonardo (TV: Mona Lisa's Revenge) Duke Giuliano, an Italian nobleman, and his friends and enemies (TV: The Masque of Mandragora), Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, who was 1/8th Italian (AUDIO: The Ghosts of N-Space) and Marco Polo, a Venetian who travelled extensively through China. (TV: Marco Polo)
Lucia Moretti of Torchwood Three was Italian. In 1975, she gave birth to Alice Carter, fathered by Jack Harkness. (TV: Children of Earth: Day Three)
Alternate timelines
Rocco Colasanto and his Italian family stayed in Leeds with Donna's family and were sent to a "labour camp" in the alternate reality created by the Time Beetle. (TV: Turn Left)
