1938 In 1938 , Adolf Hitler obtained the Validium Arrow , one of the key components of the Nemesis statue . Around the same time , the Nemesis statue passed Earth , heralding Hitler ' s annexation of Austria and the coming outbreak of World War II . ( TV : " Silver Nemesis " ) Dated events . On 3 April , in New York City , Rory Williams was sent back in time by the Weeping Angel s from 2012 . Later , baby Weeping Angels displaced him in space to Winter Quay , a " battery farm " for humans the Angels could send back in time . Seeing an older Rory die in one of Winter Quay ' s rooms that day , Rory and his wife , Amy , created a temporal paradox by jumping off Winter Quay ' s roof , undoing the older Rory ' s death and destroying the hotel . Amy , Rory , their son - in - law , the Eleventh Doctor , and their daughter , River Song , were returned to 2012 . ( TV : " The Angels Take Manhattan " ) On 14 May , Peri Brown was abducted from Hollywood by the Threshold . She was later returned there by the Seventh Doctor . ( COMIC : " The Curse of the Scarab " , " Ground Zero " ) On 30 October , in New York City , Orson Welles and the Mercury Theatre performed an adaptation of H . G . Wells ' " The War of the Worlds " on CBS Radio . The broadcast caused nationwide panic across the United States of America . Although calm soon settled as the American people realised that it was only a play , the public remained unaware that certain elements of the production were based on actual events . The Eighth Doctor and Charley Pollard were present in New York City at the time . ( AUDIO : " Invaders from Mars " ) Shortly after the " War of the Worlds " incident , one of the Laiderplacker radiation guns was retrieved beneath the Brooklyn Bridge and taken to the Leamington Spa Lifeboat Museum . ( GAME : " Security Bot " ) Before Christmas , Alistair Gordon Lethbridge - Stewart and his parents moved from British India to the United Kingdom . ( PROSE : " Island of Death " ) On 25 December , Madge Arwell met a " Spaceman Angel " , in actuality the Eleventh Doctor , stuck back to front in a impact suit . ( TV : " The Doctor , the Widow and the Wardrobe " ) Also on this date , the eight - year - old Alistair Gordon Lethbridge - Stewart was given a box of toy soldiers by his namesake paternal grandfather , who promptly asked , " What do you want to be when you grow up ? " Alistair was not pleased with his present . ( COMIC : " The Warkeeper ' s Crown " ) Undated events . The Eleventh Doctor ' s TARDIS , damaged by Mels ' gun , crash - landed in Hitler ' s study in Berlin , inadvertently stopping the torture of Hitler by the Teselecta . In the confusion , Hitler shot Mels , causing her to regenerate , revealing herself as Melody Pond . Hitler was punched by Rory Williams and forced into a closet . Melody poisoned the Eleventh Doctor , shutting down his regenerative abilities . Having later captured Melody , one of the biggest war criminals in history , the " Teselecta " computer told the Doctor that a religious order called the Silence wanted him dead . Amy Pond caused the crew to evacuate from the ship to escape from the antibodies , releasing her daughter . After the Doctor succumbed to the poison , Melody used up her remaining regeneration energy to revive him , once she learnt that she would become his closest friend River Song one day . The Doctor then took River away to the Sisters of the Infinite Schism to recover . ( TV : " Let ' s Kill Hitler " ) In what became known as " the Cambridge University Fiasco " , an archaeological team attempted and failed to open the Devil ' s Hump . ( TV : " The Dæmons " ) Mr Bayles began working as a butcher in Crook Marsham . ( PROSE : " Nightshade " ) Joe Louis beat German heavyweight challenger Max Schmeling in a New York boxing match . Cody McBride was amongst the spectators . ( PROSE : " Illegal Alien " ) In the Spanish Civil War , the Battle of the Ebro River was a decisive Nationalist victory over the Republicans . It was the crucial battle of the war and paved the way for Francisco Franco to seize power in 1939 . He ruled Spain until his death in 1975 . ( AUDIO : " Fiesta of the Damned " ) The Seventh Doctor , Ace and Melanie Bush arrived in Spain during the Civil War . The Doctor intended to give his companions " a taste of the real Spain " . They ended up with a group of Republicans who were on the run from Franco ' s fascist army and also fought an alien seeding device , the God Seed . ( AUDIO : " Fiesta of the Damned " ) Seth Barnes Nicholson discovered two of the Ancient Twelve moon s of Jupiter , Lysithea and Carme . ( PROSE : " To the Slaughter " ) The Podesta family , which included Victor Podesta and his sister Emmeline Pankhurst , disappeared entirely . ( TV : " The Gathering " )