England England was a nation and , since the early 18th century , a constituent country of the United Kingdom on Earth . ( TV : " The Highlanders " ) Frequently visited by the Doctor , it was also his temporary home on a number of occasions , ( TV : " An Unearthly Child " ; AUDIO : " The Haunting of Thomas Brewster " ) as well as the location of his Time Lord - imposed exile . ( TV : " Spearhead from Space " ) The Twelfth Doctor spent several decades lecturing at St Luke ' s University , while guarding a vault . ( TV : " The Pilot " ) Many of the Doctor ' s companion s hailed from England — or at least embarked on their journeys in the Doctor ' s TARDIS from there — beginning with Barbara Wright and Ian Chesterton and continuing on through to Bill Potts . Only a few human companions expressed antipathy towards the country , most of whom were not themselves English . Scot s Jamie McCrimmon and Amy Pond weren ' t fans , the latter of whom called it , flatly , " rubbish " . ( TV : " The Eleventh Hour " ) Egypt ian Erimem visited England only after visiting France first , which she preferred . American Peri Brown , who accompanied the ex - Pharaoh on her visit to the country in the 15th century , said that it " beat her " why the Doctor kept coming back to England ' s " muddy glory " , but admitted that it " got better " in the 20th century thanks to the Beatles and " fashion sense " . ( AUDIO : " The Kingmaker " ) England was also the main base of operations for Sarah Jane Smith ( TV : " A Girl ' s Best Friend " , " Invasion of the Bane " ; AUDIO : " Comeback " ) and for K9 Mark 2 . ( TV : " Regeneration " ) England would be honoured by " English theme " planet s , several of which were visited by the Eighth Doctor and Liv Chenka . ( AUDIO : " Absent Friends " ) Geography . England was south of Scotland , ( TV : " Tooth and Claw " ) and east of Wales . ( TV : " Boom Town " , TV : " " ) It was separated from the mainland of Europe by the English Channel . ( TV : " The Sea Devils " ) The capital of England was London , which , according to Captain Maitland , ceased to exist as an entity by the 24th century , and by the 28th century , had along with the lower half of England become a part of Central City . ( TV : " Strangers in Space " ) Influence on the Doctor . The majority of the Doctor ' s visits to England followed the creation of the United Kingdom , but he still visited the country many times prior to this . ( TV : " The Time Meddler " , " The King ' s Demons " , " The Visitation " , " Silver Nemesis " , " The Shakespeare Code " , " The Pandorica Opens " , " The Day of the Doctor " , " Robot of Sherwood " , AUDIO : " The Marian Conspiracy " , " Seasons of Fear " , " The Kingmaker " , " The Witch from the Well , The Wrath of the Iceni " , " The Doctor ' s Tale " , " Living History " , " " COMIC : " Woden ' s Warriors " , " The Magician " , " Black Death White Life " , " " PROSE : " The Real Hereward " , " The Thief of Sherwood " , " The Nine - Day Queen " , " Mortlake " , " Managra " , " The Plotters " , " The Roundheads " , " The Republican ' s Story " , " Doctor Who and the Invasion from Space " , GAME : " The Gunpowder Plot " ) Of all the countries in the UK , it was England that influenced him the most . He adopted much of its customs , dress , and other cultural elements . Many of the Doctor ' s companion s were English . ( TV : " An Unearthly Child " onwards ) The Doctor once declared 19th century England to be his favourite time and place . ( PROSE : " The Banquo Legacy " ) While his accents in most of his incarnations were English , both the Seventh Doctor and the Twelfth Doctor , spoke with a Scottish accent and persona . Newly regenerate d , he was unaccustomed to the accents of his English company , Clara Oswald and Jenny Flint , initially describing it as infectious and incomprehensible . ( TV : " Deep Breath " ) History . In 1658 , England was at war with Spain . ( AUDIO : " The Waters of Amsterdam " ) There was a time period in the 17th century when England was ruled by the Parliament rather than a king or a queen . ( AUDIO : " The Witch from the Well " ) England was frequently the subject to various alien invasions , attacks , plans , intergalactic battles , experiments or conspiracies , particularly throughout the 20th and 21st centuries . It was the home to Torchwood One and UNIT operated throughout the country . ( TV : " The Dalek Invasion of Earth " , " Army of Ghosts " , " The Invasion " ) The Doctor visited it throughout its history , from the time of the Celt s ( AUDIO : " The Relics of Time " ) to its journey into space as part of Starship UK . ( TV : " The Beast Below " ) Sport . " England " was also frequently the casual name of sporting teams that represented the country in international play . The English cricket team who participated in The Ashes , for instance , was said to simply be " England " . ( PROSE : " Graham Dilley Saves the World " ) Cricket was popular within small communities who often had a village team . ( TV : " Black Orchid " ) Stockbridge was such a village , and one greatly favoured by the Doctor . He would sometimes spend the entire cricket season living in the village and playing for the local club . ( AUDIO : " Summer " ) Still , football was the most popular sport in England , and one of the oldest . ( COMIC : " Doctor Who and the Nightmare Game " , " The Lodger " , TV : " The Lodger " ) In 2030 , Scotland played England ' s football team in the World Cup final in Wembley Stadium , with the Eleventh Doctor calling it " one of the greatest football matches in history ! " He meant to take Amy Pond here , but instead they ended up on a space station . ( COMIC : " Apotheosis " ) Other sports were popular within England . It had a long heritage of golf players and the sport was often played with great seriousness . ( TV : " The Sea Devils " , " Random Shoes " , " Dinosaurs on a Spaceship " , " Last Christmas " )