Nineteen Eighty-Four

Nineteen Eighty-four was a book by George Orwell. (PROSE: The Eleventh Tiger)

In 1969, Justin, having read the novel, knew what the Tenth Doctor was talking about when the Doctor insinuated what might happen afterwards, if a country using the alien species' gifts could rule the world and be able to destroy cities, when "there are no more people to conquer". (PROSE: Blue Moon) Upon arriving at InterCom's Studio City, resembling a giant theme park with towering skyscrapers and a ninety-foot-high representation of the company logo, Mark Barrington could not help but think of Nineteen Eighty-four. (PROSE: The King of Terror)

The Sixth Doctor, upon arriving in the year, claimed that 1984 was "never as good as the book." (AUDIO: The Reaping) He had acquired a first edition of the book from a classified ad. (PROSE: Business Unusual)

Behind the scenes

The novel PROSE: The Winning Side was a crossover between Doctor Who and the real-life novel, depicting the universe of Nineteen Eighty-four as an alternate timeline in the Doctor Who universe.

John Hurt, later cast as the "War" incarnation of the Doctor, played the part of Winston Smith in a notorious 1984 film adaptation of the novel. Jonathan Morris revealed on Twitter in 2020 that back when AUDIO: The Lords of Terror was supposed to be a War Doctor rather than Eighth Doctor story, the premise was intended to be a play on this earlier role of Hurt's, with the actor "finding himself back in Nineteen Eighty-Four" — or, rather, in circumstances reminiscent of Orwell's dystopia.