Nelson ' s Column Nelson ' s Column was a monument in Trafalgar Square , London , consisting of a tall column with a statue situated on top . History . On 23 October 1843 , the Fifth Doctor climbed the column and confronted two Sevakrill who had taken over the bodies of the column ' s builders : Samuel Morton Peto and Thomas Grissell . They had built a missile inside the column and planned to detonate it in 2017 , destroying the Earth and distracting the Charnal horde , with whom they were at war . To protect this operation , they had several stone lion s , hidden by perception filter s , patrol the area . The Doctor managed to appeal to Peto and Grissell and they broke free . The Doctor spent two weeks lowering the missile into a shaft beneath the column and building a floor to cover it . By this time it was November , and the statue of Nelson was being added when the Doctor departed . ( PROSE : " The Lions of Trafalgar " ) Barbara Wright and Ian Chesterton climbed about the Column and its lions when sightseeing upon their return to London in 1965 . ( TV : " The Chase " ) The Seventh Doctor materialised his TARDIS around Nelson ' s Column in 1976 . The Monk caused the Doctor ' s TARDIS to change its appearance from that of the column to that of the Statue of Liberty . ( PROSE : " No Future " ) The Eleventh Doctor visited Nelson ' s Column with Amy and Rory in 2012 . He stated that one of the four plinths was empty because there had not been enough money to put a statue on it . Amy believed that they had been showing works of art on the empty plinth and changing them out every year or two . The Doctor believed they were looking for a permanent piece of art for the space . ( PROSE : " Magic of the Angels " ) Around the 2010s , Nelson ' s Column was toppled by a forest that grew overnight . As it fell , it almost crushed the Twelfth Doctor and Clara Oswald and broke the statue of Nelson . ( TV : " In the Forest of the Night " ) By the late 21st century , a T - Mat cubicle was installed in Trafalgar Square , just north of Nelson ' s Column . ( TV : " The Seeds of Death " ) Around 2167 , a Dalek patrol passed the column while chasing Barbara Wright , Dortmun and Jenny . ( TV : " The Dalek Invasion of Earth " ) In 2254 , Nelson ' s Column survived a Dalek invasion of Earth which saw London liberated by the Doctor . ( GAME : " Dalek Attack " ) Other realities . In an alternate timeline , Nelson ' s Column was destroyed by the Daleks when they invaded Earth in 1903 . After the invasion was defeated , it was replaced by the English Empire with Doctor ' s Column , a statue of the Sixth Doctor , who had aided in their victory . ( AUDIO : " Jubilee " ) In a timeline where the Dalek s exterminated human ity in 1963 , Nelson ' s Column , along with London and presumably the rest of the world , was in ruins . When the Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond arrived in the Square in 1963 , the Doctor ' s TARDIS landed next to the statue ' s toppled head . The timeline was restored when the TARDIS crew travelled to Skaro to destroy the Eye of Time . ( GAME : " City of the Daleks " ) In the Eleven - Day Empire , the statue of Nelson was replaced by a statue of Grandfather Paradox . It was destroyed during the Seventy - Ninth Sontaran Assault Corps ' initial attack on the Empire . ( AUDIO : " The Eleven Day Empire " ) Minor references . The Ninth Doctor mentioned that an alien spaceship could be placed in front of Nelson ' s Column , and humans would just walk around it . Rose Tyler responded that she was there when he did it . ( COMIC : " The Love Invasion " ) On her blog , Rachel Edwards punningly called her articles about Matt Nelson " Nelson columns " . ( PROSE : " Head of State " ) Behind the scenes . It was suggested that the top of Nelson ' s Column should be seen sticking out of the landscape of the future Earth in " The Sontaran Experiment " , but the idea was dropped for reasons of cost .