Belgium

Belgium
Also called:	Belgie Belgique Belgien
Type:	Nation
Location:	Western Europe
First appearance:	Autumn Mist
Appearances:	see list

Belgium (Belgie, Belgique, Belgien) (TV: The Bounty Hunter) was a nation in western Europe within the Northern Hemisphere of Earth.

Geography

Belgium was situated to the east of the prime meridian and thus located within the Eastern Hemisphere. (TV: Fear Her ^[+]Loading...["Fear Her (TV story)"]) Wallonia was the southern part of Belgium, and located there were Waterloo and Plancenoit. (AUDIO: The Curse of Davros ^[+]Loading...["The Curse of Davros (audio story)"])

Ostend and Brussels were cities in Belgium, (AUDIO: Year of the Pig ^[+]Loading...["Year of the Pig (audio story)"]) the latter of which served as its capital. (PROSE: Escape Velocity ^[+]Loading...["Escape Velocity (novel)"])

The forests of Soignes (AUDIO: The Curse of Davros ^[+]Loading...["The Curse of Davros (audio story)"]) and Mormal were both located there. (COMIC: Warfreekz! ^[+]Loading...["Warfreekz! (comic story)"])

History

Early history

The Doctor in the Ardennes. (TV: The Unicorn and the Wasp)

Belgium was located in the same region as 5th century Gaul. (PROSE: Combat Magicks ^[+]Loading...["Combat Magicks (novel)"])

The Tenth Doctor rescued the kidnapped Charlemagne from Momus, an insane computer, in 800. (TV: The Unicorn and the Wasp ^[+]Loading...["The Unicorn and the Wasp (TV story)"], PROSE: The Lonely Computer ^[+]Loading...["The Lonely Computer (short story)"])

19th century

Belgians were among the Allied army which opposed Napoléon Bonaparte in 1815. (PROSE: World Game ^[+]Loading...["World Game (novel)"]) The Battle of Waterloo took place on 18 June, with both the Sixth Doctor (AUDIO: The Curse of Davros ^[+]Loading...["The Curse of Davros (audio story)"]) and the Second Doctor present, and ended in victory for the Allies. (PROSE: World Game ^[+]Loading...["World Game (novel)"])

In 1865, Leopold II was crowned King of the Belgians. (AUDIO: Assassin in the Limelight ^[+]Loading...["Assassin in the Limelight (audio story)"])

20th century

In 1913, the Sixth Doctor and Peri Brown encountered Toby the Sapient Pig and Marcel Proust in a hotel in Ostend. (AUDIO: Year of the Pig ^[+]Loading...["Year of the Pig (audio story)"])

In 1914, Belgium was allied with France. Following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Germany invaded Belgium. As the United Kingdom was also allied with France, it declared war against Germany. (PROSE: The Time Traveller's Almanac ^[+]Loading...["The Time Traveller's Almanac (reference book)"])

The Tenth Doctor visited the battlefields of the First World War in Belgium twice, once with Rose Tyler and once with Daniel Francis Thompson. (COMIC: Warfreekz! ^[+]Loading...["Warfreekz! (comic story)"], PROSE: Deep and Dreamless Sleep ^[+]Loading...["Deep and Dreamless Sleep (short story)"]) Belgium was notable for being a key location on the Western Front. Its towns and cities, including Mons, (COMIC: The Weeping Angels of Mons ^[+]Loading...["The Weeping Angels of Mons (comic story)"]) Ypres (TV: Twice Upon a Time ^[+]Loading...["Twice Upon a Time (TV story)"]) and Antwerp saw much of the action during the conflict. (AUDIO: Brotherhood of the Daleks ^[+]Loading...["Brotherhood of the Daleks (audio story)"])

In October 1914, Germany bombarded Antwerp. Using her yacht, a British woman named Jessica Borthwick evacuated numerous Belgians across the English Channel while under German fire. (AUDIO: Brotherhood of the Daleks ^[+]Loading...["Brotherhood of the Daleks (audio story)"])

Georges Prosper Remi was a Belgian cartoonist who created the character of Tintin. (PROSE: Torchwood: The Encyclopedia ^[+]Loading...{"page":"175","1":"Torchwood: The Encyclopedia (reference book)"})

In 1939, the Seventh Doctor told Adolf Hitler that Belgium was one of the countries Germany would conquer. By 1940, the Wehrmacht had overrun Belgium. (PROSE: Timewyrm: Exodus ^[+]Loading...["Timewyrm: Exodus (novel)"])

On 7 June 1941, the German fleet was preparing to depart harbours all along the Dutch and Belgian coast when Koenig and Wyckham's plot to use Chronosteel to enable the German invasion of Britain was thwarted by Clyde Langer and George Woods in Little Malding. (TV: Lost in Time ^[+]Loading...["Lost in Time (TV story)"])

In 1944, the country faced further conflict in the Second World War, when the region of Ardennes became the location of the Battle of the Bulge. The Eighth Doctor, Sam Jones and Fitz Kreiner become involved in this battle. (PROSE: Autumn Mist ^[+]Loading...["Autumn Mist (novel)"])

21st century

Belgium as seen on a digital map of Europe. (TV: The Bounty Hunter)

In February 2001, Anji Kapoor and her boyfriend Dave Young encountered Kulan agents whilst in Brussels. Fitz Kreiner met them, suspecting the Eighth Doctor's involvement. Also in February 2001, Pierre-Yves Dudoin attempted to launch his Star Dart, but it was destroyed. (PROSE: Escape Velocity ^[+]Loading...["Escape Velocity (novel)"])

The sale of Dogon eyes were somewhat popular with collectors of alien artefacts, especially in Belgium. (TV: Random Shoes ^[+]Loading...["Random Shoes (TV story)"])

Around the 2010s, Missy ordered the Cybermen to blow up Boat One as well as Belgium. She said they "might as well" kill some Belgians because they weren't even French. (TV: Death in Heaven ^[+]Loading...["Death in Heaven (TV story)"])

Culture

According to the Tenth Doctor, Belgium had the finest chocolatiers in all the galaxy. (COMIC: Warfreekz! ^[+]Loading...["Warfreekz! (comic story)"]) According to Agatha Christie, they made "such lovely buns". (TV: The Unicorn and the Wasp ^[+]Loading...["The Unicorn and the Wasp (TV story)"])

References

The collision of the TARDISes of the tenth and fifth incarnations threatened to blow a hole in the space-time continuum the exact size of Belgium, a somewhat anticlimactic apocalypse. (TV: Time Crash ^[+]Loading...["Time Crash (TV story)"])

The Tenth Doctor's psychic paper convinced an Alexandra Palace security guard that the Doctor was the King of Belgium. (TV: The Idiot's Lantern ^[+]Loading...["The Idiot's Lantern (TV story)"])

Agatha Christie made her fictional detective Hercule Poirot a Belgian. (TV: The Unicorn and the Wasp ^[+]Loading...["The Unicorn and the Wasp (TV story)"])