United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (also known as 'Britain' or, more simply, 'The UK') was an Earth nation which was composed of the Kingdoms of England and Scotland, the Principality of Wales and the Province of Northern Ireland.
History
Early history
The origins of the United Kingdom was in 1705, when the Alien Act was passed by the English Parliament, which forced the Scottish Parliament to negotiate full union with England. (DW: The Highlanders)
In 1714, King George I assumed the throne of the United Kingdom, ushering in the Georgian period. The reign of George I also saw the First Jacobite Uprising. (DW: The Highlanders)
In 1738, the passing of the Nemesis statue possibly influenced the War of Jenkin's Ear which involved the United Kingdom. (DW: Silver Nemesis)
There was a Second Jacobite Uprising in 1745, in which the Second Doctor's companion Jamie McCrimmon fought for the rebels. It ended in victory for the government with the Battle of Culloden. (DW: The Highlanders)
In 1752, Faction Paradox bought from London authorities eleven days, 2nd September to 14th September, that never came to pass with the reform of the Gregorian Calendar, and separated them from reality to create the Eleven-Day Empire.
In 1763, the passing of the Nemesis statue possibly influenced the Seven Year's War which involved the United Kingdom. (DW: Silver Nemesis)
On 16th December 1773, was the "Boston Tea Party", an act of rebellion by American colonists against the ruling British Empire, in which they threw crates of imported tea overboard into a harbour. The Doctor recalled having participated in this event. (DW: The Unquiet Dead)
This event precipitated the American War of Independence (1775-1783), thirteen of the British Empire'a North American colonies ultimately won their independence from the Empire and established the United States of America.
During the 18th century, the emergence of the first modern democracies in, among other countries, United Kingdom, began, along with America and France. (DW: The Reign of Terror)
19th century
From 1803-1815 were the Napoleonic Wars with two Alliances at war, with the United Kingdom on one side, and France on the other. The wars ended with victory for Britain's alliance.
From 1811-1820 was the British Regency. (CC: Frostfire)
From 1837-1901, Victoria, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, Empress of India ruled the United Kingdom. Her reign, known as the Victorian era, was marked by tremendous strides in technology and the arts in Britain and elsewhere.
On Christmas Day, 1851, the Doctor, with the help of Jackson Lake, defeated the CyberKing. (DW: The Next Doctor)
From 1853-1856, Britain and its allies fought the Crimean War against Russia.
In 1878, Britain had an Imperial Spacefleet of three ships. However, Kamelion soon convinced Queen Victoria to end the British Space Program and look to domestic concerns. (PDA: Imperial Moon)
Torchwood Institute
In 1879, after an attack by the Lupine Wavelength Haemovariform, Victoria banished the Doctor from her country and leading her to form the Torchwood Institute, as the British Empire's defense against the dark forces which the Doctor seemed to consort. For a period of over a hundred years, Torchwood would have many encounters with aliens. From 1885, a third Torchwood branch located in Cardiff monitored the activity of a Space-Time Rift. (TWN: Slow Decay) In 1899, Jack Harkness, a Time Agent from the 51st century and one of Torchwood Three's most famous employees, with a career lasting over one hundred years, joined the branch. (TW: Fragments)
20th century
In 1901, Edward VII, succeeded Victoria and ruled until his death in 1910.
World War I
On 28th June, 1914 the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary triggered a series of events that rapidly escalated into Earth's first global conflict, World War I, with the United Kingdom and its allies such as France and Russia, against the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. Some of the battlegrounds were Passchendaele, the Somme and Gallipoli. (DW: The Sea Devils, TW: To the Last Man) A million British soldiers died during the war. (TW: To the Last Man)
The immortal Jack Harkness fought in the war (DW: Utopia, IDW: The Forgotten), as did Tim Latimer. (DW: The Family of Blood) Tommy Brockless also served, and was eventually executed in 1918, when, suffering from shell shock, he refused to return to the front lines. (TW: To the Last Man) Solomon and the older men of his Hooverville fought in "the Great War," (DW: Evolution of the Daleks), as did Diagoras. (DW: Daleks in Manhattan)
Several soldiers were kidnapped by the War Lords for use in their War Games. (DW: The War Games)
The Doctor visited the war several times. (DW: Planet of Giants, The Sea Devils ) (TVC: The Amateur) (DWM: Front Line) (IDW: The Forgotten) (DWAM: Warfreekz!)
Fighting ended on 11th November, 1918, however the war would not formally end until the fifth anniversary of the Archduke's assassination in 1919.
World War II
On 1st September 1939, Nazi Germany invaded Poland which caused Britain, France and Russia to declare war.
The Doctor ensured Hitler would fail to prevent the British evacuation of Dunkirk, thus ensuring Britain would remain in the war. (NA: Timewyrm: Exodus)
In 1940 and 1941 Germany bombed Great Britain, an event known as the Blitz. The Royal Air Force carried out its own systematic bombings of Germany.
During this period, Edwin Bracewell approached a desperate Winston Churchill, offering what to all appearances were robotic war machines of a futuristic design that Churchill could use first to fend off Luftwaffe air raids on London and later, in mass numbers, take the war to Germany. Churchill summoned The Doctor and Amy Pond to view the new weapon. The Doctor realized immediately that the "Ironsides" that Bracewell had "created" were actually a resurfacing of the Daleks, who had used themselves as bait to get the Doctor to aid in the creation of the Progenitor Daleks. A small number of Spitfire fighters were briefly upgraded with Dalek technology to fight a Dalek saucer, but all tech was subsequently removed by the Doctor to prevent wide-scale tampering with history. The Daleks attempted to destroy Earth with a powerful explosive in their android, Edwin Bracewell but the Doctor and Amy defused it. The new Daleks then escaped to rebuild their race. (DW: Victory of the Daleks)
In 1941, the Ninth Doctor and Rose Tyler, with the help of pre-Torchwood Jack Harkness, stopped the Empty Child Plague from infecting the world.(DW: The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances)
From 1940 to 1945, the Channel Islands were occupied by German forces. (NA: Just War)
In 1943, Fenric was working with his Haemovores at Maiden's Point. Russia and Britain, while nominally allies, were plotting against each other in preparation for post-war conflicts . (DW: The Curse of Fenric)
The war ended in 1945.
Mid-20th century
In 1952, Elizabeth II became Queen of the United Kingdom. She would reign well into the early 21st century.
From the mid-20th century until the early 1990s, tensions rose between the Capitalist nations of the world (particularly the United States and the United Kingdom) and the Communist nations of the world (particularly the Soviet Union) in which, though the tensions were high, no actual fighting occurred.
In late 1963, a Russian spy ring aided by a double agent from MI6, operated in London. (K9TV: The Cambridge Spy)
Shortly after 23rd November, 1963, Shoreditch became the site of the end of the Dalek Civil War between Davros' Imperial Daleks and Renegade Daleks loyal to the Dalek Supreme. Both sides were fought by the Doctor, aided by the Human Intrusion Countermeasures Group. The Renegade forces (bar the Supreme) were destroyed by the Imperials, while they in turn were tricked and destroyed by the Hand of Omega. After leaving Earth, the Doctor then taunted the Supreme Dalek into self-destruction. (DW: Remembrance of the Daleks)
In 1965, the British government was secretly contacted by an alien race dubbed The 456, who demanded a dozen children in exchange for an anti-virus for an influenza outbreak that wouls otherwise kill millions. Jack Harkness of the Torchwood Institute delivered a busload of children from an orphanage in Scotland. The children were delivered delivered, bar one, the anti-virus was provided, and the flu outbreak was quelled. (TW: Children of Earth)
UNIT Era
Around the late 60s or early 1970s, Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart created the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce. An acquaintance of his, the Doctor, would encounter him again along with UNIT and help fight off a Cyberman invasion of London. (DW: The Invasion)
Sometime later, the newly regenerated Third Doctor returned to Earth after his Exile by the Time Lords. He helped UNIT defeat the Nestene Consciousness' and its Auton servants' attack on Earth. During the next few years, the Doctor would mainly stay on Earth as UNIT's scientific advisor. (DW: Spearhead from Space)
Later, the British Space Programme sent a manned mission to Mars. (DW: The Ambassadors of Death)
After this, Lethbridge-Stewart and the Doctor faced many threats from the Doctor's old enemy, the Master. Facing a return from the Autons (DW: Terror of the Autons); the Keller Machine disrupting the World Peace Conference almost causing World War III, (DW: The Mind of Evil); an attempted Axon invasion (DW: The Claws of Axos); and the rise of Azal. (DW: The Daemons)
The Second World Peace Conference was later threatened by Daleks from an Alternate timeline where they ruled Earth. (DW: Day of the Daleks)
Late 20th century
In late 1997, Queen Elizabeth was temporally deposed by the Ice Lord Xznaal in the Ice Warrior invasion of Earth. The invasion was later defeated by the Doctor and Elizabeth was restored to the throne. (NA: The Dying Days)
21st century
In 2001, the Doctor defeated an invasion of Earth by Cybermen from the future. (DWM: The Flood)
In 2002, as the United Kingdom headed for a general election, Sherilyn Harper's far right New Britannia Party threatened to hold the balance of power in a volatile political climate. Several assassination attempts were made against Harper, first by unknown gunmen and then by a terrorist organisation called United Front - which also firebombed some district NBP offices in the southeast. These assassination attempts were later discovered to have been staged by the NBP itself. As the crisis deepened, riots broke out in London just before polling day. (BFA: The Fearmonger)
During the first half of the 2000s, the UK branch of UNIT faced the serious threat of the Internal Counter-Intelligence Service. (BFU: U.N.I.T. (audio series))
In March 2005, the Nestene Concioussness again invaded Earth, basing itself in London where the first Auton attacks were. The invasion was foiled by the Ninth Doctor and Rose Tyler. (DW: Rose)
In March 2006, the Passameer-Day Branch of the Slitheen family killed the Prime Minister and also murdered several government officials whom they used as disguises. They crashed their own ship into the Thames to convince the world there was an alien threat so they would be given the codes for Nuclear weapons by the United Nations, which they would then use to destroy Earth and then sell its remains for starship fuel. This plot was foiled by the Ninth Doctor and Rose. (DW: Aliens of London/World War Three) A surviving Slitheen, posing as Mayor of Cardiff, exploited the Cardiff rift and advocated a plan for a proposed nuclear power plant called Blaidd Drwg. Secretly, she wanted to cause an "accident" at Blaidd Drwg. This disaster, located so near the rift, would destroy the Earth. This plot was again foiled by the Doctor and Rose, along with Jack Harkness and Mickey Smith. (DW: Boom Town)
After the Slitheen plot of March, Harriet Jones soon became Prime Minister, but the newly regenerated Tenth Doctor plunged her career into downfall on Christmas Day after she destroyed a Sycorax ship fleeing Earth after an attempted invasion. (DW: The Christmas Invasion) In the period of government paralysis (DW: Love and Monsters) that followed, Harold Saxon became popular with the government and the people. (DW: The Sound of Drums)
In Summer 2007, Torchwood One caused Ghosts to appear across Earth. These were revealed to be Cybermen from a parallel universe. The Cult of Skaro, having survived the Last Great Time War, also arrived and fought the Cybermen. Dalek Sec then released millions of Dalek prisoners from the Genesis Ark, causing a catastrophic battle across London resulting in many deaths and the near-destruction of the Torchwood Institute. (DW: Army of Ghosts/Doomsday)
In late 2007, in the aftermath of the destruction of Torchwood One, Torchwood Three in Cardiff under Jack Harkness was forced to operate on it's own, facing many threats in Cardiff throughout the next few years. (TW: Torchwood)
On Christmas Day 2007, the Empress of the Racnoss' Webstar briefly attacked London. After the Doctor drowned her children, Harold Saxon ordered the Webstar destroyed. (DW: The Runaway Bride)
During the fourth quarter of the 2000s, the United Kingdom, along with most of the world, suffered from an economic recession. (DW: Planet of the Dead,The End of Time)
In 2008, Harold Saxon continued his campaign for Prime Minister. He was given high support after the Royal Hope Hospital's disappearance and reappearance. (DW: Smith and Jones) A few days later, he was elected Prime Minister. He presented the Toclafane to the public, saying they were peaceful aliens offering friendship with Earth. However this turned out to be an invasion and the Toclafane ruled over Earth for a year. This year was then negated by the Doctor. (DW: The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords)
In 2008, Sarah Jane Smith formed a group of friends including her adopted son. Based in 13 Bannerman Road, they fought many alien threats for the next few years in Ealing. (SJA: The Sarah Jane Adventures)
In 2008, Miss Foster, exploiting the serious weight problems in the United Kingdom, created Adipose Industries, using the Adipose Pill so it would kill Humans and replace them with Adipose. However, due to the intervention of the Doctor and Donna Noble, only one Human was killed and merely 10'000 Adipose were born in the March of the Adipose. (DW: Partners in Crime)
In 2009, the UK branch of UNIT fought the Sontaran's invasion when ATMOS caused gases to poison the world. (DW: The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky)
In the Dalek Invasion of Earth in 2009, most of the action was centred in Britain where most of the Children of Time were located. (DW: The Stolen Earth/Journey's End)
On Christmas Day, The Master was captured by soldiers working for Joshua Naismith so that the Master could help him use the Immortality Gate. However, the Master betrayed him and as Barack Obama gave a speech on the Recession, used the Gate's abilities, intended to heal planets, to turn every single Human on Earth except for Wilfred Mott and Donna Noble into copies of the Master: the Master Race. Rassilon, who was on Gallifrey on the final day of the Time war, sent a White-Point Star to Earth. There it was retrieved by the Master, who used it to open a portal that allowed Rassilon and other Time Lords to escape the Last Great Time War. The Doctor and, ultimately, the Master, foiled their plans. Before this occured, however, Rassilon reverted the Master race, returning the human race to normal. Almost immediately, they were faced with the spectacle of a giant planet appearing in the sky on a collision course; but this, too, was soon undone. (DW: The End of Time)
Sometime before 2050, a Korven from the future known as Lomax, highjacked the British government. MI5 and MI6 were turned into the brutal, totalitarian government agency known as The Department. Lomax needed an ally on Earth and recruited Thorne, who was implanted with Meron DNA as the Korven aided them in their war against the Jixen. (K9TV: Eclipse of the Korven)
In 2048, Inspector June Turner approved the decision to replace all Human law enforcement officers with Cyborgs, resulting in the CCPC. (K9TV: The Last Precinct)
In 2050, K9 Mark I arrived in Gryffen Manor battling four Jixen. He later self-destructed and regenerated into a brand new model. He later made several friends, saving the Earth many times. (K9TV: Regeneration)
When one of the last surviving Aeolians arrived on Earth, she tried to call out to her mate. This caused severe storms across Britain and threatened the whole world. She was found by the Department which attacked her but Starkey was able to play to her mate, who arrived. The Aeolian couple departed. (K9TV: Aeolian)
The Korven later started a failed invasion, but Lomax and his three guards managed to arrive on Earth before Alistair Gryffen terminated the STM. (K9TV: Eclipse of the Korven)
Britain was involved in the Bowie Base One Mars mission as Margaret Cain and more importantly, Captain Adelaide Brooke were British. On 21st November 2059 Adelaide was destined to die when she self-destructed the base to stop The Flood. However the Doctor saved her and took her to Earth where she killed herself. Her grandaughter, Susie Fontana Brooke, was inspired by her and captained Humanity's first lightspeed ship to Proxima Centauri. The rest of her family would follow as well, with one descendant falling in love with a Trandorian prince and creating a new species. (DW: The Waters of Mars)
29th century
By the 29th century, the United Kingdom - with the exception of Scotland, who wanted their own ship - abandoned Earth for a spaceship, Starship UK. (DW: The Beast Below)
For a detailed history on Britain's government, see British government
Influence on the Doctor
The Time Lord known as The Doctor had an obsession with Earth, particularly the United Kingdom. Many of his adventures have been across the history of the Britain. The Doctor has also taken on many Companions from the United Kingdom. When posing as a Human, the Doctor himself appeared to be of British nationality, although across his incarnations, his accent varied across different regions of Britain, including Scotland and Northern England.
Real World
Often in the series, the term Great Britain (which is the island which England Scotland and Wales are situated upon) will be used to refer to the United Kingdom as a whole, ignoring Northern Ireland. This is a common usage in real life.
Only once in the BBC Wales era has the full name of the country been mentioned, The Beast Below - which implies Northern Ireland will still be part of the UK in the 29th century. Children of Earth: Day Three intended to give the full name but accidentally said "the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland".
Story settings
Many stories have been set in the United Kingdom, Starting with the Shoreditch, London setting of An Unearthly Child (identified as Shoreditch in Remembrance of the Daleks). Setting aside the many unspecified locations, almost every region of the country has been used as a setting:
- London - Apart from the general London settings of (eg) The Empty Child there are specific locations and landmarks used in The War Machines (Post Office Tower), The Web of Fear (The London Underground, especially Goodge Street Station) and Voyage of the Damned (Buckingham Palace).
- Southeast England (sometimes called the home counties) - famed as the location of many a quarry and gravel pit used for filming, The Southeast is also the setting for The Claws of Axos and The Sea Devils.
- East of England (including East Anglia) - setting for Shada (Cambridge).
- Locations:The Essex marshes were used in The Power of Kroll.
- Southwest England (also called the West Country) - The Smugglers.
- Locations: Hound Tor, Dartmoor was used in The Sontaran Experiment, and Lulworth Cove, Dorset was used in The Curse of Fenric.
- The Midlands - setting for Doctor Who and the Silurians (Derbyshire's Peak District)
- The North - Setting for The Curse of Fenric and The Time Meddler, among others.
- Wales - its capital city, Cardiff, is the setting for The Unquiet Dead and Boom Town, as well as the Cardiff branch of the Torchwood Institute.
- Locations: Mount Snowdon passed for the Himalayas in The Abominable Snowmen.
- Scotland - The Highlanders, Terror of the Zygons and Tooth and Claw and flashbacks in Children of Earth were set here.
- Northern Ireland - no television stories set here.
See also
