Internet The Internet was a worldwide computer network on Earth . It was developed at some point after 1973 . ( PROSE : " Verdigris " ) According to Iris Wildthyme , " You can get anything from the Internet . " ( PROSE : " Verdigris " ) The Fourth Doctor called it " a 21st century human obsession " . ( AUDIO : " Energy of the Daleks " ) Iris was quite fond of it . ( PROSE : " Verdigris " ) The Internet was a useful research tool . ( PROSE : " The Dying Days " , " Instruments of Darkness " , TV : " Rose " ) Internet café s existed by 1997 . ( PROSE : " The Dying Days " ) UNIT maintained a website with restricted access sections that allowed remote launch of non - nuclear UK missiles . ( TV : " World War Three " ) search - wise . net was a search engine operational in 2005 . Rose Tyler used it to look for information about the Doctor , which led her to whoisdoctorwho . co . uk . ( TV : " Rose " ) Mickey tracked information about the Doctor between 2005 and 2006 . ( TV : " Aliens of London " ) The Ninth Doctor , realising this would make him noticed , devised a computer virus , designed to delete all references to the Doctor from the Internet , and asked Mickey to run the program . ( TV : " World War Three " ) Rose Tyler , from this time , claimed that nobody owned the Internet . ( TV : " Dalek " ) In 2006 , Mr Cleaver put up his concerns about the safety of the Blaidd Drwg nuclear power plant on the Internet . Cathy Salt discovered these results . ( TV : " Boom Town " ) In 2008 , the Eleventh Doctor used a webchat feature to communicate with a number of world organisations using Jeff Angelo ' s laptop ; he later advised Jeff to delete his Internet history . ( TV : " The Eleventh Hour " ) This incarnation of the Doctor had a particular disdain for the popular messaging service Twitter . ( TV : " The Power of Three " ) In 2012 , Henry van Statten was the self - proclaimed owner of the Internet . At that time , connections throughout the Internet were fast enough for a Dalek to download its entire contents within seconds . ( TV : " Dalek " ) Also in 2012 , the Fourth Doctor instructed Sarah Jane Smith and Harry Sullivan to browse the net , at a Prague internet café , for any information on a Mr Drak . He later scolded them for not thinking of translating the words " Bojan Novak " and " Ctislav " into English while they were there . ( PROSE : " The Dragons of Prague " ) By 2013 , nearly everyone had some form of social media account . ( TV : " The Bells of Saint John " ) In 2016 , Miss Quill remarked of the internet , " Have you seen what this species puts about themselves online ? So much genitalia . " ( TV : " The Coach with the Dragon Tattoo " ) By 2025 , GlobeSphere provided holographic Internet access , and charged for time spent online to one ' s personal account . Accounts were recognised by fingerprint . The system did not recognise the Fourth Doctor ' s fingerprint , until he used the sonic screwdriver on it . ( AUDIO : " Energy of the Daleks " ) The Internet , in some form , was still in use on Earth in the very late 21st century , as webpages relating to the Bowie Base One crew and Adelaide Brooke ' s granddaughter existed . ( TV : " The Waters of Mars " ) Donna Noble , desiring to go shopping , once asked the Tenth Doctor if the TARDIS had broadband . ( COMIC : " The Greatest Mall in the Universe " ) The Twelfth Doctor told Clara that the internet would eventually rebel against humanity . " Oh , that was a war ! " he noted . ( TV : " Hell Bent " ) Behind the scenes . The Internet has played a major role in promoting both the classic and revival " Doctor Who " series since the late 1990s . The BBC ' s website offered original story content ( " Scream of the Shalka " , " Real Time " , " Death Comes to Time " , etc . ) for the Internet , with exclusive - to - Internet short stories also uploaded from time to time . The " Doctor Who " website is also maintained , with both " Doctor Who " and its spin - off " Class " having official Twitter , Facebook and Instagram feeds . The spin - off series " Torchwood " , " The Sarah Jane Adventures " and " Class " had official websites and exclusive online content uploaded over the years they were running as well . Since 2016 , the BBC Three channel — and by extension , " Class " — became Internet streaming only , with episodes of " Class " available via the BBC iPlayer service . When the series returned to TV in 2005 , the BBC launched a " viral marketing " campaign by creating faux websites based upon characters and organisations featured in the series , such as the aforementioned UNIT site , which fans could visit . The primary viral site during the 2005 season was Mickey ' s " Defending the Earth ! " site , which was updated each week with teasers or background information ( all presented in an in - universe style ) relating to that week ' s episode . The site included a message board that occasionally featured messages from recognisable characters , such as Sarah Jane Smith a year before she returned to the series in " School Reunion " . A large number of books and audio dramas are currently available for download via the Internet , with a growing number of official and unofficial books also being made available only as e - books and thus available only via the Internet . The search - wise . net website used by Rose actually exists . It is a " dummy site " for use by movie and TV producers in lieu of using recognisable sites like Google , although , increasingly since the start of the Steven Moffat era of the programme , explicit references have been made in " Doctor Who " scripts to real - life websites such as Facebook , Twitter , and Flickr . Tumblr is seen being " used " on an iPhone in " Kill the Moon " . The " Class " episode " For Tonight We Might Die " also mentions Instagram .