page_title: Tower of London in popular culture
hierarchical_section_title: Tower of London in popular culture
context_page_description: The Tower of London has been represented in popular culture in many ways. As a result of 16th and 19th century writers, the Tower has a reputation as a grim fortress, a place of torture and execution.
  One of the earliest traditions associated with the Tower was that it was built by Julius Caesar; the story was a popular amongst writers and antiquaries. The earliest recorded attribution of the Tower to the Roman ruler dates to the mid-14th century in a poem by Sir Thomas Gray. The origin of the myth is uncertain, although it may be related to the fact that the Tower was built in the corner of London's Roman walls. Another possibility is that someone misread a passage from Gervase of Tilbury in which he says Caesar built a tower at Odnea in France. Gervase wrote Odnea as Dodres, which is close to the French for London, Londres. Today, the story survives in William Shakespeare's Richard II and Richard III, and as late as the 18th century some still regarded the Tower as built by Caesar.
  The Tower of London by William Harrison Ainsworth though written in fictional form, contrives to give a detailed account of the history and architecture of the Tower.
context_section_description: The Tower of London has been represented in popular culture in many ways. As a result of 16th and 19th century writers, the Tower has a reputation as a grim fortress, a place of torture and execution.
  One of the earliest traditions associated with the Tower was that it was built by Julius Caesar; the story was a popular amongst writers and antiquaries. The earliest recorded attribution of the Tower to the Roman ruler dates to the mid-14th century in a poem by Sir Thomas Gray. The origin of the myth is uncertain, although it may be related to the fact that the Tower was built in the corner of London's Roman walls. Another possibility is that someone misread a passage from Gervase of Tilbury in which he says Caesar built a tower at Odnea in France. Gervase wrote Odnea as Dodres, which is close to the French for London, Londres. Today, the story survives in William Shakespeare's Richard II and Richard III, and as late as the 18th century some still regarded the Tower as built by Caesar.
  The Tower of London (1840) by William Harrison Ainsworth though written in fictional form, contrives to give a detailed account of the history and architecture of the Tower. He however included extensive underground passages and dungeons which did not actually exist.
  The Tower of London, as a place of death, treachery and sorrow, is most famously evoked in William Shakespeare's play, Richard III, where it forms the backdrop of Richard's seizure of the throne and the scene of the notorious murder of the Princes in the Tower, and other victims (see above). A classic film version of this is Richard III (1955) with Laurence Olivier in the title role. This story is also reprised in the historical horror film Tower of London (1939) and its 1962 remake.
  Gilbert and Sullivan's 1888 comic opera The Yeomen of the Guard, set at the Tower, has familiarised people throughout the English-speaking world with the Tower for over a century. This is the only Gilbert and Sullivan opera involving an actual historical person, Sir Richard Cholmondeley, Lieutenant of the Tower.
  Apparitions of Anne Boleyn at the Tower are the theme of the song "With Her Head Tucked Underneath Her Arm".
  The Mad Hatter Mystery, a detective novel by John Dickson Carr, where the Tower serves as scene of a murder (Harper & Row Inc., New York, 1933, 1961).
  A Night in Terror Tower, the twenty-sixth book in the Goosebumps series by R. L. Stine (Scholastic, January 1995).  Also adapted into a two-part episode, an audiobook, and a board game.
  There was an adventure computer game called Traitors Gate released by Swedish Daydream Software in 1999. In the game, the player is an American agent who must secretly steal the crown jewels in 12 hours. The game took place in a CGI recreation of the whole Tower area.
  The Tower of London features frequently, and is described in exhaustive detail, in Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle, especially The System of the World, in which the tower is the setting for one of the series' grandest set pieces.
  The Tower of London has featured multiple times in the long-running BBC television science fiction series Doctor Who:
  in the 1964 First Doctor serial "The Sensorites", the Doctor claims to have been sent to the Tower of London by Henry VIII after an argument ended with the king throwing a lump of chicken at him.
  in the 1971 Third Doctor serial "The Mind of Evil", the Doctor mentions having previously met Sir Walter Raleigh in the Tower of London after the latter had gotten in trouble with Queen Elizabeth I.
  in the 2005 Christmas special "The Christmas Invasion", it was the secret headquarters of the fictional military organization UNIT. The UNIT base also reappeared in the 2012 episode The Power of Three.
  in the 2010 episode "The Beast Below" it was shown to be present on "Starship UK", a massive spaceship containing the population of Britain in the 29th century.
  the Tower plays a key role in the show's 50th anniversary special, The Day of the Doctor:
  in 1562, the Tenth Doctor, Eleventh Doctor and War Doctor are imprisoned in the Tower by Queen Elizabeth I while sh
caption: William Harrison Ainsworth's novel The Tower of London was particularly influential in shaping the public's view of the Tower of London.
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