Perivale Perivale was a suburb in the west of London , in the Borough of Ealing , and was immediately north of the village of Ealing . ( TV : " The Gift " ) St Benedict ' s School was located in Perivale . ( PROSE : " " ) Perivale had also been known as Greenford Parva and Pear Tree Valley . ( PROSE : " Ghost Light " ) In 1883 , young adult Ace McShane and the Seventh Doctor visited Gabriel Chase , a mansion in Perivale , and encountered the alien Light . ( TV : " Ghost Light " ) Sometime after 1971 ( PROSE : " Ace of Hearts " ) Audrey McShane ( née Dudman ) moved to Perivale with her daughter Dorothy , later known as Ace . ( TV : " Dragonfire " ) In December 1978 , young Chad Boyle picked up a half - brick in the playground of St . Benedict ' s School , intending to injure Dorothy who said she wanted to be an astronaut . He was stopped by adult Ace . ( PROSE : " " ) In 1983 , 13 - year - old Ace burned down Gabriel Chase after her friend Manisha Purkayastha was wounded in a racial fire bombing of the latter ' s flat . This was partly influenced by her feelings of unease about the building due to Light ' s lingering presence . ( TV : " Ghost Light " ) In the 1980s , the local school ' s art room was blown up by Ace as a " creative statement " ; she was expelled as a result . ( TV : " Battlefield " ) " Circa " 1986 , Tegan Jovanka and Diva were ejected from a McDonald ' s in or near Perivale for not ordering anything , by Ace ( PROSE : " The Crystal Bucephalus " ) who was then a waitress . ( PROSE : " Head Games " , " Matrix " ) In 1987 , Ace disappeared from Perivale in a time storm and was transported to Iceworld . ( TV : " Dragonfire " ) After a while , having heard nothing from her , friends and family began to assume she was dead . ( TV : " Survival " ) During Ace ' s absence , the coffee bar was removed from Perivale ' s youth centre . Meanwhile , Sergeant Paterson of the British Territorial Army began teaching self - defence martial arts there to the young people on Sundays , and fitness to older men on Mondays . ( TV : " Survival " ) Perivale ' s young adults , dissatisfied with the village , tended to move away , marry , and search for satisfaction elsewhere . Consequently , the 1989 disappearances of Midge , Shreela Govindia , Stuart , and others raised little suspicion . That year , Ace returned to Perivale with the Seventh Doctor and discovered that most of the locals had gone missing . She and the Doctor discovered that was using Kitling s to abduct them to the Cheetah World so he could use one to escape that planet . ( TV : " Survival " ) In 1993 , Ace returned to Perivale to attend the funeral of her friend Julian Milton . ( PROSE : " Love and War " ) In 2009 , Rakweed spores affected Perivale and other areas around London , but were destroyed by Mr Smith . ( TV : " The Gift " ) By the 24th century , Perivale , along with the rest of West London , was a forest . ( PROSE : " The Dimension Riders " ) Known residents . In 1883 , Josiah Samuel Smith , Nimrod , Lady Pritchard , Gwendoline Pritchard , Redvers Fenn - Cooper , the Reverend Ernest Matthews , Inspector Mackenzie , Mrs Grose , Control , and Light resided in Perivale . ( TV : " Ghost Light " ) In the 1970s , residents of the town included Audrey Dudman , her husband Harry McShane , and their children Ace and Liam , ( AUDIO : " The Rapture " ) as well as Ace ' s school mates Chad Boyle and Shreela Govindia . ( PROSE : " " ) In the 1980s , Ace and her mother were still living in Perivale ( TV : " Dragonfire " , " Survival " ) as well as Ace ' s friends Ange , Midge , Squeak , Shreela , ( TV : " Survival " ) Manisha Purkayastha , ( TV : " Ghost Light " ) Paul Tanner , ( AUDIO : " The Fearmonger " ) and Julian Milton . ( PROSE : " Love and War " , AUDIO : " Love and War " ) Other residents included Sergeant Paterson , Stuart , Harvey , Len , Dave Aitkin , Dave ' s mother , Mrs Bates , a neighbour , and a milkman . ( TV : " Survival " , PROSE : " Survival " )