United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ( abbreviated as the UK ) was a Europe an nation which was composed of the Kingdoms of England and Scotland , the Principality of Wales and the Province of Northern Ireland . Each of these countries were represented on the Union Flag . The Doctor frequently visited the United Kingdom throughout his incarnations . Due to this association , the UK was often the first line of defence against alien invasion . Geography . The United Kingdom largely consisted of Great Britain ; the largest island composed of England , Scotland and Wales . The province of Northern Ireland was to its west . At one time , the whole of Ireland had been under British rule . ( AUDIO : " The Settling " ) The UK was in northern Europe with only the English Channel between itself and the mainland . ( TV : " The Reign of Terror " , et al . ) Climate . According to Susan Foreman , the United Kingdom was characterised by short mild winter s , with London being a relatively temperate climactic zone . ( PROSE : " Time and Relative " ) The UK was known for its frequent rain ing . When it was raining in a Scottish car park , Amy Pond deduce d that it must be Great Britain . ( PROSE : " Apollo 23 " ) The presence of rain cloud s told the Second Doctor that he , Jamie McCrimmon and Zoe Heriot had arrived in England during the summer . ( TV : " The Invasion " ) It constantly rained in Cardiff , ( TV : " Everything Changes " , " Ghost Machine " , " They Keep Killing Suzie " , " Kiss Kiss , Bang Bang " , " Meat " , " Adam " ) as well as in Colchester . ( PROSE : " Byzantium ! " ) Wellington was also well - known for its rain ; hard , torrential rain was in fact dubbed " Wellington rain " . ( PROSE : " World Game " ) Government . The government of the United Kingdom was led by a Prime Minister who was appointed by a democratic vote . Together , the Prime Minister and ministers formed the Cabinet . The Cabinet traditionally operated out of the Houses of Parliament . ( TV : " The Dalek Invasion of Earth " , " Aliens of London " ) Members of Parliament each had their own constituency where they were also empowered by a vote . ( TV : " Aliens of London " ) By 2027 , the monarchy had been restored to full power and once again ruled England , and hence the UK . ( AUDIO : " A Death in the Family " ) In a parallel UK the Third Doctor visited , the Republic of Great Britain was in control . ( TV : " Inferno " ) In a parallel world in which Donna Noble turned right on Little Sutton Street , the UK fell into chaos and an Emergency Government acting on martial law came into power . ( TV : " Turn Left " ) Military . Military power was a significant feature of the UK ' s prowess . It allowed the British Empire to stretch to far off lands such as India . ( TV : " Tooth and Claw " ) The British Army formed the primary ground force . Early troops were given the name Redcoats , because of the colour of their uniform . ( TV : " The Highlanders " ) The term " Tommies " was applied to British troops during World War I and World War II . ( TV : " To the Last Man " , " Victory of the Daleks " ) The Royal Navy ( TV : " The Sea Devils " ) and Royal Air Force ( TV : " The Seeds of Doom " ) each held their own roles in the military . UNIT also acted in the defence of the UK , largely against alien threats and in association with the Doctor . ( TV : " The Invasion " , " Spearhead from Space " , " The Ambassadors of Death " , " Terror of the Autons " , " The Mind of Evil " , et al . ) The Torchwood Institute was formed by Queen Victoria to fight alien threats . As opposed to UNIT , Torchwood was solely based in the British Empire , and later the United Kingdom after 1924 . ( TV : " Tooth and Claw " , " Everything Changes " , AUDIO : " Golden Age " ) Its success led to it developing an almost mythical state and it branched off into several divisions . ( TV : " Army of Ghosts " , " Everything Changes " ) MI5 was a similar organisation . Although it was not directly created to deal with alien threats , it still did so upon occasion . It was based in Thames House , London . ( TV : " " ) External influence . Influence on the Doctor . The Doctor had an obsession with the United Kingdom . Most of his journeys to Earth brought him to the UK . For this reason , he had an intimate knowledge of the countries ' history and had acquainted himself with many of its historical figures and was even a friend of the monarchy . ( TV : " Voyage of the Damned " , et al . ) The Doctor took on much of the UK ' s culture . He frequently drank tea and even took on the accents , whether English or Scottish . ( TV : " An Unearthly Child " , " Time and the Rani " , " Deep Breath " ) The Eighth Doctor even decided that he " was " British because of this attachment . ( TV : " Doctor Who " ) When visiting other countries , it was often suggested that he was British either because of his appearance , mannerisms , accent or all three . ( PROSE : " History 101 " , TV : " Doctor Who " ) The United Kingdom was also the most common source of his companion s , with the vast majority originating from the region . ( TV : " An Unearthly Child " , " The Massacre of St Bartholomew ' s Eve " , " The War Machines " , " The Highlanders " , " The Evil of the Daleks " , et al . ) The Doctor singled out England to be his favourite place , specifically during the 19th century . ( PROSE : " The Banquo Legacy " ) After the Doctor was exiled to Earth , he lived in the UK and carried on defending the Earth by assisting UNIT in their various operations . ( TV : " Spearhead from Space " ) While posing as a human , the Seventh Doctor appeared to be of British nationality , ( PROSE : " Human Nature " ) and this was again the case under a similar situation where the Tenth Doctor believed he " was " British as he became John Smith , a teacher at Farringham School for Boys . ( TV : " Human Nature " ) In 1963 , the First Doctor lived in the UK for some time , enrolling his granddaughter , Susan Foreman , in education . During this time he operated out of his TARDIS which he had stored in 76 Totter ' s Lane . ( TV : " An Unearthly Child " ) The Doctor visited the UK throughout its history , from the joining of Scotland ( TV : " The Highlanders " ) to the region ' s departure from Earth . ( TV : " The Beast Below " ) The vast majority of these visits saw him defending the UK from alien threats , sometimes with the assistance of UNIT . ( TV : " The Dalek Invasion of Earth " , " The Faceless Ones " , " The Ice Warriors " , " The Web of Fear " , " The Invasion " , " Spearhead from Space " , et al ) Influence on the Master . The Doctor ' s association drew to the UK ( TV : " Terror of the Autons " ) and he became trapped there following his imprisonment at Fortress Island . ( TV : " The Sea Devils " ) In , he chose to run for Prime Minister of the United Kingdom . He won through use of the Archangel Network . ( TV : " The Sound of Drums " ) Like the Doctor , the Master visited the UK throughout its history . ( TV : " The Mark of the Rani , et al . ) " History . Early history . The origins of the United Kingdom was in 1705 , when the Alien Act was passed by the English Parliament , which forced the Scottish Parliament to negotiate full union with England . By 1707 , England and Scotland had formed the Kingdom of Great Britain . ( TV : " The Highlanders " ) In 1714 , King George I assumed the throne of the United Kingdom , ushering in the Georgian period . The reign of George I also saw the First Jacobite Uprising . ( TV : " The Highlanders " ) In 1738 , the passing of the Nemesis statue possibly influenced the War of Jenkin ' s Ear which involved the United Kingdom . ( TV : " Silver Nemesis " ) There was a Second Jacobite Uprising in 1745 , in which the Second Doctor ' s companion Jamie McCrimmon fought for the rebels . It ended in victory for the government with the Battle of Culloden . ( TV : " The Highlanders " ) In 1752 , Faction Paradox bought from London authorities eleven days , 2 September to 14 September , that never came to pass with the reform of the Gregorian Calendar , and separated them from reality to create the Eleven - Day Empire . ( PROSE : " Interference - Book One " ) In 1763 , the passing of the Nemesis statue possibly influenced the Seven Years ' War which involved the United Kingdom . ( TV : " Silver Nemesis " ) During the 18th century , the emergence of the first modern democracies in , among other countries , United Kingdom , began , along with America and France . ( TV : " The Reign of Terror " ) 19th century . In the early part of the century were the Napoleonic Wars with two Alliances at war , with the United Kingdom on one side , and France on the other . The wars ended with victory for Britain ' s alliance . ( PROSE : " World Game " ) From 1811 - 1820 was the British Regency , a time in which the region was ruled by a prince regent as the king was unfit to do so . ( AUDIO : " Frostfire " ) From 1838 , Victoria , Queen of Great Britain and Ireland , Empress of India ruled the United Kingdom . Her reign , known as the Victorian era , saw Britain make huge territorial gains across the globe . ( TV : " The Curse of Peladon " , " Tooth and Claw " , " Ghost Light " ) On Christmas Day , 1851 , the Tenth Doctor , with the help of Jackson Lake , defeated the CyberKing . ( TV : " The Next Doctor " ) From 1853 - 1856 , Britain and its allies fought the Crimean War against Russia . ( AUDIO : " The Angel of Scutari " ) In 1878 , Britain had an Imperial Spacefleet of three ships . However , Kamelion soon convinced Queen Victoria to end the British Space Programme and look to domestic concerns . ( PROSE : " Imperial Moon " ) Torchwood Institute . In 1879 , after an attack by the Lupine Wavelength Haemovariform , Victoria banished the Tenth Doctor from her country and formed the Torchwood Institute , as the British Empire ' s defence against the dark forces which the Doctor seemed to consort . For a period of over a hundred years , Torchwood had many encounters with aliens . From 1885 , a third Torchwood branch located in Cardiff monitored the activity of a Space - Time Rift . ( PROSE : " Slow Decay " ) In 1899 , Jack Harkness , a Time Agent from the 51st century and one of Torchwood Three ' s most famous employees , with a career lasting over one hundred years , joined the branch . ( TV : " Fragments " ) 20th century . In 1901 , Edward VII succeeded Victoria and ruled until his death in 1910 when he was succeeded by George V . ( TV : " Inferno " , PROSE : " Revenge of the Judoon " ) World War I . On 28 June 1914 , the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria - Hungary triggered a series of events that rapidly escalated into Earth ' s first global conflict , World War I , with the United Kingdom and its allies such as France and Russia , against the Central Powers of Germany and Austria - Hungary . Some of the battlegrounds were Passchendaele and the Somme . A million British soldiers died during the war . ( TV : " To the Last Man " ) The immortal Jack Harkness fought in the war ( TV : " Utopia " , COMIC : " The Forgotten " ) , as did Tim Latimer and Hutchinson . ( TV : " The Family of Blood " ) Tommy Brockless also served , and was eventually executed in 1918 , when , suffering from shell shock , he refused to return to the front lines . ( TV : " To the Last Man " ) Several soldiers were kidnapped by the War Lord s for use in their war games . ( TV : " The War Games " ) The Doctor visited the war several times . ( TV : " Planet of Giants " , PROSE : " Front Line " , COMIC : " The Amateur " , " The Forgotten " , " Warfreekz ! " ) Between the wars . In 1922 , Ireland was divided into the Republic and the north . The north remained a province of the United Kingdom . ( AUDIO : " The Settling " ) World War II . On 1 September 1939 , Nazi Germany invaded Poland which caused Britain , France and Russia to declare war . The Seventh Doctor ensured Hitler would fail to prevent the British evacuation of Dunkirk , thus ensuring Britain would remain in the war . ( PROSE : " ) " In 1940 and 1941 Germany bombed Great Britain , an event known as the London Blitz . ( PROSE : " Illegal Alien " , TV : " The Empty Child " / " The Doctor Dances " ) The Royal Air Force carried out its own systematic bombings of Germany . ( PROSE : " The Turing Test " ) During World War II , when it appeared that the United Kingdom would be invaded by Nazi Germany , four citadels were built under the surface of London . They were intended to allow the British government to continue operations if the worst happened . After the war , the citadels were maintained due to the threat posed by the Soviet Union in the Cold War . ( AUDIO : " The Fifth Citadel " ) During this period , Edwin Bracewell approached a desperate Winston Churchill , offering what to all appearances were robotic war machines of a futuristic design that Churchill could use first to fend off Luftwaffe air raids on London and later , in mass numbers , take the war to Germany . Churchill summoned the Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond to view the new weapon . The Doctor realised immediately that the " Ironsides " that Bracewell had " created " were actually a resurfacing of the Dalek s , who had used themselves as bait to get the Doctor to aid in the creation of the Progenitor Daleks . A small number of Spitfire fighters were briefly upgraded with Dalek technology to fight a Dalek saucer , but all tech was subsequently removed by the Doctor to prevent wide - scale tampering with history . The Daleks attempted to destroy Earth with a powerful explosive in their android , Edwin Bracewell but the Doctor and Amy defused it . The new Daleks then escaped to rebuild their race . ( TV : " Victory of the Daleks " ) The Ninth Doctor and Rose Tyler , with the help of pre - Torchwood Jack Harkness , stopped the Empty Child Plague from infecting the world . ( TV : " The Empty Child " / " The Doctor Dances " ) From 1940 to 1945 , the Channel Islands were occupied by German forces . ( PROSE : " Just War " ) In 1943 , Fenric was working with his Haemovore s at Maiden ' s Point . Russia and Britain , while nominally allies , were plotting against each other in preparation for post - war conflicts . ( TV : " The Curse of Fenric " ) Mid - 20th century . In 1953 , Elizabeth II was crowned Queen of the United Kingdom . She reigned well into the early 21st century . ( TV : " Voyage of the Damned " , " The Idiot ' s Lantern " ) During the Cold War , the United States of America , China and Russia gave their nuclear destructor codes to the UK . ( TV : " Robot " ) In late 1963 , a Russian spy ring aided by a double agent from MI6 , operated in London . ( TV : " The Cambridge Spy " ) From 29 to 30 November of the same year , Shoreditch became the site of the end of the Dalek Civil War between Davros ' Imperial Dalek s and Renegade Dalek s loyal to the Dalek Supreme . Both sides were fought by the Seventh Doctor , aided by the human Intrusion Countermeasures Group . The Renegade forces ( bar the Supreme ) were destroyed by the Imperials , while they in turn were tricked and destroyed by the Hand of Omega . After leaving Earth , the Doctor then taunted the Supreme Dalek into self - destruction . ( TV : " Remembrance of the Daleks " ) The Conservative Party was in office during the early 1960s . Harold Macmillan served as Prime Minister until his resignation in 1963 . He was succeeded by Sir Alec Douglas - Home . ( AUDIO : " The Pelage Project " ) In 1964 , the Conservative Party was defeated by the Labour Party in the UK general election and the latter ' s leader Harold Wilson became Prime Minister . In the immediate aftermath of the election , General Peters led a military coup against Wilson ' s government . However , it was defeated by the Intrusion Countermeasures Group . ( AUDIO : " State of Emergency " ) In 1965 , the British government was secretly contacted by an alien race dubbed the 456 , who demanded a dozen children in exchange for an anti - virus for an influenza outbreak that would otherwise kill millions . Jack Harkness of the Torchwood Institute delivered a busload of children from an orphanage in Scotland . The children were delivered delivered , bar one , the anti - virus was provided , and the flu outbreak was quelled . ( TV : " " ) UNIT era . Around the late 1960s or early 1970s , Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge - Stewart played an instrumental role in the creation of the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce . With the assistance of the Second Doctor , they defeated the Cyberman invasion of London . ( TV : " The Invasion " ) During the 1970s , the Irish Republican Army was active in the United Kingdom , including England and Northern Ireland . In 1971 , the UK fought the Cod War with Iceland . ( PROSE : " Who Killed Kennedy " ) Sometime later , the newly regenerated Third Doctor returned to Earth , forced into exile by the Time Lords . He helped UNIT defeat the Nestene Consciousness and its Auton servants ' attack on Earth . During the next few years , the Doctor mainly stayed on Earth as UNIT ' s scientific advisor . ( TV : " Spearhead from Space " ) According to one account , the British Space Programme later sent a manned mission to Mars . However , they lost contact with the craft for seven months . ( TV : " The Ambassadors of Death " ) According to another account , the Tenth Doctor claimed that the colonists who founded Bowie Base One in July 2058 were the " very first humans on Mars " . ( TV : " The Waters of Mars " ) After this , Lethbridge - Stewart and the Third Doctor faced many threats from the Doctor ' s old friend , . Facing a return from the Autons ( TV : " Terror of the Autons " ) ; the Keller Machine disrupting the World Peace Conference almost causing World War III , ( TV : " The Mind of Evil " ) ; an attempted Axon invasion ( TV : " The Claws of Axos " ) ; and the rise of Azal . ( TV : " The Dæmons " ) The Second World Peace Conference was later threatened by Dalek s from an alternative timeline where they ruled Earth in the 22nd century . ( TV : " Day of the Daleks " ) In later years , Harold Wilson ' s position seemed untenable after the failures of the Wenley Moor nuclear research facility in October 1969 and the Inferno Project in February 1970 were publicised by James Stevens in his " Bad Science " series of articles . Wilson called a general election for June 1970 . The Labour Party lost and the Conservative leader Edward Heath became Prime Minister . Political observers speculated that the publication of the book version of " Bad Science " had coincided not - so - incidentally with the election . ( PROSE : " Who Killed Kennedy " ) By 1976 , Labour was once again in government with Callaghan as Prime Minister . ( AUDIO : " The Oseidon Adventure " ) He served in that position until 1979 , when he was succeeded by the Conservative Margaret Thatcher . ( TV : " Tooth and Claw " ) In June 1982 , the United Kingdom achieved a victory in the Falklands War against Argentina . Argentine troops fled the British Task Force . ( COMIC : " The Infinite Astronaut " ) On 9 June 1983 , Labour lost the general election in a landslide to the ruling Conservative Party . ( AUDIO : " Rat Trap " ) The party was still out of office in 1987 while Thatcher remained Prime Minister . ( TV : " Father ' s Day " ) In October 1987 , there were three million people unemployed in the UK . ( AUDIO : " We Are The Daleks " ) Late 20th century . In late 1997 , Queen Elizabeth was temporarily deposed by the Ice Lord Xznaal in the Ice Warrior invasion of Earth . The invasion was later defeated by the Eighth Doctor and Elizabeth was restored to the throne . ( PROSE : " The Dying Days " ) 21st century . In 2001 , the Eighth Doctor defeated an invasion of Earth by Cybermen from the future . ( COMIC : " The Flood " ) In 2002 , as the United Kingdom headed for a general election , Sherilyn Harper ' s far right New Britannia Party threatened to hold the balance of power in a volatile political climate . Several assassination attempts were made against Harper , first by unknown gunmen and then by a terrorist organisation called United Front — which also firebombed some district NBP offices in the southeast . These assassination attempts were later discovered to have been staged by the NBP itself . As the crisis deepened , riots broke out in London just before polling day . ( AUDIO : " The Fearmonger " ) During the first half of the 2000s , the UK branch of UNIT faced the serious threat of the Internal Counter - Intelligence Service . ( AUDIO : " UNIT ) " In March 2005 , the Nestene Conciousness again invaded Earth using Autons . The invasion was foiled by Rose Tyler after she knocked a vial of anti - plastic into the Consciousness . ( TV : " Rose " ) In March 2006 , the Passameer - Day Branch of the Slitheen family killed the Prime Minister and also murdered several government officials whom they used as disguises . They crashed their own ship into the Thames ( TV : " Aliens of London " ) to convince the world there was an alien threat so they would be given the codes for nuclear weapons by the United Nations , which they would then use to destroy Earth and then sell its remains for starship fuel . This plot was foiled when Mickey Smith fired a Harpoon missile at 10 Downing Street , where the Slitheen awaited the nuclear codes . ( TV : " World War Three " ) A surviving Slitheen , posing as Mayor of Cardiff , exploited the Cardiff rift and advocated a plan for a proposed nuclear power plant called Blaidd Drwg . Secretly , she wanted to cause an " accident " at Blaidd Drwg . This disaster , located so near the rift , would destroy Earth and allow her to use the tribophysical waveform macro - kinetic extrapolator to escape the planet . Blon was captured by the Ninth Doctor , and her contingency plan of using an alien power source to blow up the world was also foiled when the heart of the TARDIS opened up , regressing Blon into an egg , and the TARDIS absorbed the rift energy . ( TV : " Boom Town " ) After the Slitheen plot of March , Harriet Jones soon became Prime Minister , but the newly regenerated Tenth Doctor plunged her career into downfall on Christmas Day after she destroyed a Sycorax ship fleeing Earth after an attempted invasion . ( TV : " The Christmas Invasion " ) In the period of government paralysis ( TV : " Love & Monsters " ) that followed , became popular with the government and the people . ( TV : " The Sound of Drums " ) In summer 2007 , Torchwood One caused ghosts to appear across Earth . These were revealed to be Cybermen from a parallel universe . ( TV : " Army of Ghosts " ) The Cult of Skaro , having survived the Last Great Time War , also arrived and fought the Cybermen . Dalek Sec then released millions of Dalek prisoners from the Genesis Ark , causing a catastrophic battle across London resulting in many deaths and the near - destruction of the Torchwood Institute . ( TV : " Doomsday " ) In late 2007 , in the aftermath of the destruction of Torchwood One , Torchwood Three in Cardiff under Jack Harkness was forced to operate on its own , facing many threats in Cardiff throughout the next few years . ( TV : " Everything Changes " , " Day One " , " Ghost Machine " , " Cyberwoman " , et al . ) On Christmas Eve , the Empress of the Racnoss ' Webstar briefly attacked London . After the Tenth Doctor drowned her children , Harold Saxon ordered the Webstar destroyed . ( TV : " The Runaway Bride " ) During the fourth quarter of the 2000s , the United Kingdom , along with most of the world , suffered from an economic recession . ( TV : " Planet of the Dead " , " The End of Time " , TV : " The Gathering " ) In 2008 , Harold Saxon continued his campaign for Prime Minister . He was given high support after the Royal Hope Hospital ' s disappearance and reappearance . ( TV : " Smith and Jones " ) A few days later , he was elected Prime Minister . He presented the Toclafane to the public , saying they were peaceful aliens offering friendship with Earth . However this turned out to be an invasion and the Toclafane ruled over Earth for a year . This year was then negated by Martha Jones and Jack Harkness . ( TV : " The Sound of Drums " / " Last of the Time Lords " ) In 2008 , Sarah Jane Smith formed a group of friends including her adopted son . Based in 13 Bannerman Road , they fought many alien threats for the next few years in Ealing . ( TV : " Invasion of the Bane " , " Revenge of the Slitheen " , " Warriors of Kudlak " , " Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane ? " , et al . ) Miss Foster , exploiting the serious weight problems in the United Kingdom , created Adipose Industries , using the Adipose pill so it would kill humans and replace them with Adipose . However , due to the intervention of the Tenth Doctor and Donna Noble , only one human was killed and merely 10 , 000 Adipose were born in the March of the Adipose . ( TV : " Partners in Crime " ) In 2009 , the UK branch of UNIT fought the Sontaran ' s invasion when ATMOS caused gases to poison the world . ( TV : " The Sontaran Stratagem " / " The Poison Sky " ) In the Dalek Invasion of Earth in 2009 , Torchwood Three in Cardiff and Mr Smith in Ealing allied together to use the Earth ' s phones and the Rift to bring the Tenth Doctor into the Medusa Cascade , where the Earth and 26 other missing planets were one second out of sync with the rest of the universe . ( TV : " The Stolen Earth " ) They later helped use the Rift to allow the TARDIS to pilot the Earth home . ( TV : " Journey ' s End " ) On Christmas Day , was captured by soldiers working for Joshua Naismith so that the Master could help him use the Immortality Gate . He was taken to Naismith ' s residence in southern England . There , he used the Immortality Gate to duplicate his appearance and personality into every person in the world . This was reverted when the White - Point Star was destroyed . ( TV : " The End of Time " ) By 2010 , the Torchwood Institute ceased function , though a revival group operated in Swansea and Cowbridge for a time in 2011 . ( TV : " " , " The Categories of Life " , " The Middle Men " , " The Gathering " ) Late 21st century . Sometime before 2050 , Lomax , a Korven from the future , hijacked the British government . MI5 and MI6 were turned into the brutal , totalitarian government agency known as the Department . Lomax needed an ally on Earth and recruited Thorne , who was implanted with Meron DNA as the Korven aided them in their war against the Jixen . ( TV : " The Eclipse of the Korven " ) In 2048 , Inspector June Turner approved the decision to replace all human law enforcement officers with Cyborg s , resulting in the CCPC . ( TV : " The Last Precinct " ) In 2050 , K9 Mark I arrived in Gryffen Manor battling four Jixen . He later self - destructed and regenerated into a brand new model . He later made several friends , saving the Earth many times . ( TV : " Regeneration " ) When one of the last surviving Aeolian s arrived on Earth , she tried to call out to her mate . This caused severe storms across Britain and threatened the whole world . She was found by the Department which attacked her but Starkey was able to play to her mate , who arrived . The Aeolian couple departed . ( TV : " Aeolian " ) Britain was involved in the Bowie Base One colony on Mars , the first off - world human colony . It was captained by Adelaide Brooke . Margaret Cain was also British . The Tenth Doctor claimed that the founding of the base in July 2058 was made up of the " very first humans on Mars " , although according to an obituary of Adelaide , a three - person team including Adelaide landed on Mars when Adelaide was 42 , in the year 2041 . Adelaide inspired her granddaughter , Susie Fontana Brooke , to captain the first human visit to an extrasolar location , Proxima Centauri . ( TV : " The Waters of Mars " ) 22nd century . In 2157 , Earth was beset by meteorite s that carried a plague . This plague was carried across the globe and , when the Earth was sufficiently weak , the Daleks invaded and conquered the planet . While most countries had their populations destroyed , the people of the UK were largely enslaved . The epicentre of this invasion was Bedfordshire , a county in England . There , the Daleks planned to drill through the ground to the Earth ' s core . The First Doctor and his companions thwarted the Dalek plan and helped the inhabitants of Bedfordshire stage a revolution against their conquerors . Soon enough , the humans were once again in control . ( TV : " The Dalek Invasion of Earth " ) 23rd century . London was flooded when sea levels rose due to global warming . ( GAME : " TARDIS " ) The city was visited in this state by Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond , who repelled an incursion of Vashta Nerada . ( GAME : " Shadows of the Vashta Nerada " ) In 2268 , democracy ended in the United Kingdom . ( AUDIO : " Antidote to Oblivion " ) 24th century . In 2382 , the Sixth Doctor and Flip Jackson visited London . ( AUDIO : " Antidote to Oblivion " ) According to Captain Maitland , London ceased to exist by the 24th century . ( TV : " Strangers in Space " ) 25th century . In 2415 , London absorbed Nutchurch . ( PROSE : " The English Way of Death " ) 26th century . In 2595 , Bernice Summerfield visited London . ( PROSE : " The Sword of Forever " ) 28th century . By the 28th century , London , and the whole lower half of England , was incorporated in a very large city called Central City . ( TV : " Strangers in Space " ) In 2789 , the Eleventh Doctor , Amy and Rory visited London . ( PROSE : " Paradox Lost " ) 29th century . By the 29th century , the United Kingdom — with the exception of Scotland , who wanted their own ship — abandoned Earth for a spaceship , Starship UK . ( TV : " The Beast Below " ) 38th century . In December 3738 , the Tenth Doctor and Martha fought the Klytode in London . ( COMIC : " A Klytode Christmas " ) 40th century . In the year 4000 , London , still known as Central City , served as the apparent capital of Earth . ( TV : " The Daleks ' Master Plan " ) 41st century . In January 4039 , the Tenth Doctor fought the Graxnix in London . ( COMIC : " Hotel Historia " ) Alternative timelines . In an alternative timeline in which Adolf Hitler did not lose the power of the Timewyrm , Nazi Germany had conquered the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe by 1941 . After visiting the occupied London in May 1951 in this timeline , the Seventh Doctor and Ace prevented this from coming to pass . ( PROSE : " " ) In another alternative timeline created by the Elder Gods in the hope of destroying Earth , World War III broke out on 9 November 1989 between the United States and its allies , including the United Kingdom , on the one hand and the Soviet Union on the other hand . Given that nuclear weapon s were used by both sides , hundreds of millions of people were killed in the conflict . This timeline was ultimately negated by the Seventh Doctor . ( AUDIO : " Protect and Survive " ) Behind the scenes . Name . Often in the series , the term Great Britain ( which is the island upon which England , Scotland and Wales are situated ) will be used to refer to the United Kingdom as a whole , ignoring Northern Ireland . This is a common practice in real life . Only once in the BBC Wales era has the full name of the UK been mentioned , this being " The Beast Below " — which implies Northern Ireland will still be part of the UK in the 29th century . " " intended to give the full name but accidentally said " the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland " . " Doctor Who " and the UK . " Doctor Who " is critically linked to the UK as its homeland . For this reason , the show has often orientated itself around the history and interests of the region . As a result of this connection , " Doctor Who " was occasionally embroiled in the region ' s politics . This was apparent during Sylvester McCoy ' s tenure where it was often suggested that the show aimed to overthrow Margaret Thatcher ' s government . McCoy himself once said : In the same tabloid , both Andrew Cartmel and Sophie Aldred also claimed this was the case . The BBC , however , denied the allegations , firmly stating they had always been impartial from a political view . Ratings . Ratings in the UK have varied over " Doctor Who " ' s history . The Hartnell era drew consistently high viewing figures , primarily because of the " Dalekmania " period , but not restricted to stories featuring them . Patrick Troughton ' s final season had notably low ratings but the show was saved thanks to the popularity of the show in colour . Tom Baker saw the ratings go from strength to strength , peaking at sixteen million during the ITV strike . The Davison era saw above average ratings , but the show had one of the smallest budgets . Following this , particularly after the postponement of season 23 , " Doctor Who " ratings in the UK fell dramatically . The McCoy era saw it fall to three million . Upon its return in 2005 , " Doctor Who " held up viewing figures , securing itself a future on television . Story settings . Many stories have been set in the United Kingdom , starting with the Shoreditch , London setting of " An Unearthly Child " ( identified as Shoreditch in " Remembrance of the Daleks " ) . Setting aside the many unspecified locations , almost every region of the country has been used as a setting . However , no television story has ever been set in Northern Ireland . BBC Classic Doctor Who website . An article on the BBC Classic Doctor Who website , " Party Politics " , notes that the prime minister of the UK in " The Green Death " ( airdate 1973 ) is called " Jeremy " . It claims that due to the various alien invasions of the late 1960s , the 1970 general election produced a . It says that in the early 1970s , a coalition government is led by Jeremy Thorpe . However , after the events involving Global Chemicals , the government ' s involvement in the " Axonite scandal " and the " Operation Golden Age fiasco " , this government collapsed in 1973 , and was succeeded by the Labour government under Shirley Williams . Missions to Mars . The British space programme ' s Mars Probe manned missions are ignored by the " Doctor Who " television story " The Waters of Mars " , which referred to the human colony founded in 2058 as being made up of the " very first humans on Mars " . Further complicating matters , an on - screen obituary in " The Waters of Mars " mentions that the captain of the Bowie Base One colony , Adelaide Brooke , along with two other unidentified astronauts , had already landed on Mars when Adelaide was 42 in the year 2041 .