London Underground
The London Underground was a train network running underneath London, administered by London Transport. (TV: Invasion of the Dinosaurs, PROSE: Joyride)
White City tube station (TV: The Chase) and Marylebone station (TV: Doctor Who and the Silurians) were both on the London Underground.
History
19th century
The construction of part of the London Underground awoke a group of Silurians led by Vastra. She wanted to avenge her deceased sisters on the workers, but the Doctor convinced her not to give in to rage, (TV: A Good Man Goes to War) during his ninth incarnation. (COMIC: The Lost Dimension)
The Second Doctor seemed to believe the Underground was only built after Victoria Waterfield left Earth in 1866. (TV: The Web of Fear)
Parts of the Torchwood Hub were built in a similar style to the old Underground stations. (TV: Everything Changes onwards)
In 1867, the Phantoms from an alternate version of 2008 manipulated Thomas Brewster into constructing a time machine in a tunnel near Great Portland Street tube station. (AUDIO: The Haunting of Thomas Brewster)
In 1868, the First Doctor, Ian and Barbara helped Thomas Huxley investigate disappearances in the London Underground, where they discovered the Zarbi and the Animus settled. They were able to kill the Animus with a train and send the Zarbi back home, but the Doctor soon realised that his companions had gone missing. (COMIC: Unnatural Selection) On 24 December of that year, Westminster station was opened. (PROSE: Favourite Star)
In 1892, the Eleventh Doctor showed the Great Intelligence a map of the London Underground from 1967, and said that it was "a key strategic weakness in metropolitan living." He then went on to say, "but then I've never liked a tunnel." (TV: The Snowmen)
Also in the 1890s, the Paternoster Gang once investigated a house allegedly haunted by a poltergeist. They discovered instead that the house was built on top of the Bakerloo line and everything shook whenever a train went by. (PROSE: Silhouette)
20th century
During World War II, a military transit camp was constructed in Goodge Street tube station. The rooms and corridors remained, shut off from public access, for decades after the war finished. (TV: The Web of Fear) London tube stations were used by the public for protection from the London Blitz. (PROSE: The Time Traveller's Almanac)
On 26 June 1965, Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright walked past White City tube station after their return to Earth. (TV: The Chase, PROSE: The Time Travellers)
During the Cold War, a hidden lift was built, leading from an Underground station to a top-secret nuclear bunker under Whitehall. (TV: Invasion of the Dinosaurs)
The platforms and tunnels of the Underground were used by the Great Intelligence to pull in the Second Doctor and his companions Jamie McCrimmon and Victoria Waterfield in the TARDIS and have them attacked by its robot Yetis. (TV: The Web of Fear)
At some point after this adventure, the Brigadier and the exiled-to-Earth Third Doctor were forced to chase an alien master of disguise throughout the Underground system. The Doctor discovered that the inter-galactic criminal, Hingrad, had dug a secret passage from the bowels of the Tower Hill tube station to the base of the Tower of London. The Doctor followed Hingrad to the Tower, but was unable to capture him. He did, however, succeed in preventing Hingrad from stealing the British Crown Jewels. (COMIC: Secret of the Tower)
21st century
Sarah Jane Smith once saved the Underground from a terrorist attack. (AUDIO: Test of Nerve)
In 2005, Samuel Wilkinson reported to the website Doctor Who? that he once saw the Ninth Doctor on the tube reading a copy of A Brief History of Time and laughing heartily. (PROSE: Have You Seen This Man? [+]Loading...{"writer":"Unknown","1":"Have You Seen This Man? (short story)"}) Later, during the Dummy Massacre, people outside Queens Arcade tube station were amongst those attacked by Autons. (TV: Rose)
In mid-2006, after the Northern and Jubilee London Underground lines began to be refurbished, an exponential quantity of still-active Schlechter Wolves were excavated in Bow, Pimlico, Kennington. Corporal Cameron Walker warned anybody attempting to salvage the shells to sell on ebay, due to the strong market for WWII artefacts, to leave the shells alone due to how lethal they were. The discovery of the shells and Corporal Walker's statements were documented in a press briefing filed by Corp Alex Balfour, embargoed until 08:00am on 28 July 2005. (PROSE: Unexploded WWII Bomb Warnings)
In 2007, the Tenth Doctor visited Aldgate tube station because it passed close to the chamber where the Water Hive were holding their prisoners. (PROSE: The Feast of the Drowned)
In 2009, the Doctor and Majenta Pryce investigated the "ghosts" haunting the Underground and defeated Mnemosyne. (COMIC: Ghosts of the Northern Line) On two consecutive days, the Second Doctor met Miranda Peel on the Underground. (PROSE: Favourite Star)
In 2011, Thomas Brewster's time machine was used to transport train-loads of commuters (including Evelyn Smythe and Philippa Jackson) from Great Portland Street tube station to the planet Symbios, where they would serve as troops to fight the invading Terravores. (AUDIO: The Crimes of Thomas Brewster)
In 2012, the Eleventh Doctor and River Song found a group of refugees who had evaded Cyber-conversion hiding in the London Underground. They electrified the train rails to stop the Legion Cybermen. (GAME: The Eternity Clock)
During the Hyperion invasion of Britain in summer 2015, the populace were forced to retreat into the Underground, a sight that Clara Oswald likened to the Blitz. (COMIC: The Hyperion Empire)
In 2050, trains in the London area (presumably including the Underground) were under the authority of TubeCorp. (TV: Oroborus)
In 2066, while driving FAB One away from the London Silver Vaults, Parker drove past a London Underground sign. (COMIC: The Great Silver Robbery! (part 2) [+]Loading...{"part":"2","1":"The Great Silver Robbery! (comic story)"})
22nd century
A disused Underground station was used as a base for resistance fighters against the Dalek's Earthforce including their Supreme Controller. The rebels were forced to abandon it when the Daleks decided to firebomb London. (TV: The Dalek Invasion of Earth)
The far future
The tunnels and platforms of Marble Arch station survived the fireball when Earth was moved to become Ravolox. A tribe of primitive humans ruled by the robot Drathro resided here. (TV: The Mysterious Planet)
Alternate universes
The First Doctor, Susan, Ian, and Barbara once landed in Canary Wharf tube station in a universe where WOTAN had never been defeated. (PROSE: The Time Travellers)
In 1950, Mestizer commanded the Subterraneans to kill several individuals across London, setting their King free. Mestizer was killed by the King as it broke free from the London Underground, but after Honoré Lechasseur and Emily Blandish changed history to stop the King, the events leading to Mestizer's death did not occur. (PROSE: The Tunnel at the End of the Light)
The Underground also existed in Pete's World. The Tenth Doctor walked past the entrance to St Paul's tube station there. (TV: Rise of the Cybermen)
When the New Dalek Paradigm conquered Earth in 1963, Sylvia, the last human, hid in the Underground. Unfortunately, she died setting a trap for the Daleks, but her death gave the Doctor and Amy Pond enough time to escape and fix the timeline. (GAME: City of the Daleks)
After their mental avatars were transported to a parallel Earth, Osgood, Shindi and Josh we forced to hide in the Piccadilly Circus tube station after being attacked by converted pigeons. Osgood noted there was a "Magellan line" that did not exist on the Earth of N-Space during the 2010s. Upon encountering the disused Underground rail network, they set about exploring the tunnels. (AUDIO: Telepresence)
Legacy
A map of the London Underground was used as evidence in the Second Doctor's trial. (PROSE: Second Session)
Behind the scenes
On 18 March 2007, BBC Four broadcast a London Underground Night, during which they showed episode one of The Web of Fear — the only episode of this six-part serial known to survive at the time.
External links
- The Web of Fear from The London Underground in Films & TV
- Invasion of the Dinosaurs from The London Underground in Films & TV
- The Dalek Invasion of Earth from The London Underground in Films & TV
- The Chase from The London Underground in Films & TV
- Rose from The London Underground in Films & TV
