Garden of Eden The Garden of Eden was supposedly a " paradise " , given to human ity by God . Father Roberto , of the Church of Forgotten Saints , explained that humans messed up this first chance at paradise . ( PROSE : " Halflife " ) According to Robert Ashton Kemp , an Anglican priest from Birmingham , the Garden of Eden had probably been located in the south of France . ( PROSE : " The Adventuress of Henrietta Street " ) An aspect of Eden was that it contained a serpent , ( PROSE : " Prologue " , " Halflife " , " The Gallifrey Chronicles " ) at least in versions of the story which included original sin . ( PROSE : " Halflife " ) This was a fear - inducing figure , and an antagonist within the story . ( PROSE : " Prologue " ) One location was the entrance to paradise : the gate of Eden . A poem once quoted by a delirious Sixth Doctor described that , " One morn , a peri at the gate of Eden stood disconsolate . " ( TV : " The Twin Dilemma " ) According to Reverend Ernest Matthews , the story of the Garden of Eden was contrary to Darwin ' s theory of evolution . He believed that " man has been the same , sir , since he stood in the Garden of Eden , and he was never ever a chattering gibbering ape . " ( TV : " Ghost Light " ) Eden as metaphor . The phrase " Garden of Eden " was a general metaphor for paradise , whether or not the place being so described resembled the Biblical original . For instance , the Ninth Doctor once called a settlement of Stone Age people next to a stream well - stocked with trout " the closest [ Rose Tyler would ] ever get to the Garden of Eden " . His point was that the abundant , easy - to - catch fish made the people " affluent for the period " . ( PROSE : " Only Human " ) Sometimes , a place was called a " new ( Garden of ) Eden " to evoke memories of the original location . ( PROSE : " Halflife " ; TV : " Smile " ) The Second Doctor saw the act of " looking for a new Eden " as a very human pursuit : one in which a group of people recognised that humanity had " come too far from whatever they were before " , and often rejected more recent advances , like technology . Reacting against industrialisation , they would often choose to live outside of cities , " closer to the earth " , like before . He remarked that " they think it ' ll bring them closer to what it means to be human . " ( PROSE : " All of Beyond " ) One idea of Eden , or heaven on Earth , was a world with " no ill health : " no germ s , no cancer , no diabetes " . This could only be achieved by purging the species of those who were ill , leaving only the elite behind to enjoy paradise . ( PROSE : " Culture War " ) Winifred Gillyflower thought of her Yorkshire community , Sweetville , as her " new Eden " . Her daughter Ada referred to it as such , but was herself refused entry , due to her physical disability . Because she was blind , she was therefore not " perfect " . As Mrs Gillyflower explained explained to Ada , " There can be no place for people such as you . That only perfection is good enough for myself and Mister Sweet . " ( TV : " The Crimson Horror " ) In 2059 , Andy Stone commented enthusiastically that the first garden off Earth , on Mars ' Bowie Base One , which he tended to , should have been called Eden . ( TV : " The Waters of Mars " ) The Eighth Doctor felt that many human colonies set out with the ethos of starting anew , choosing to " throw away millennia of human history " , as Father Roberto put it , not to look back " in order to start afresh " among the stars . The Doctor questioned , though , whether this was a strange attitude for a religious organisation , such as the Ecumenical Council . ( PROSE : " Halflife " ) While the Twelfth Doctor inferred that human colonists would be expecting , metaphorically , the " new Garden of Eden " on Gliese 581d , ( TV : " Smile " ) the Ecumenical Council took this idea a lot more seriously . They saw their venture to Espero as an inherently religious mission : " another chance [ at Eden ] . Perhaps our last . " They believed that God was giving them this chance : " God would lead us into the new Promised Land — we needed nothing but faith and the Holy Church . " Due to their " strong Catholic ethic " , they brought nothing with them but sacred writings and some technical manuals . The Ecumenical Council had faith that , on Espero , they would restore the life and practice of the Holy Apostolic Church , and so " reflect God ' s glory " in the Promised Land . Father Roberto suggested , though , that in the end , " It was hell . The colonists arrived in their new Eden to discover that the resources HomeWorld had promised were buried too deep for the minimal equipment that we ' d brought . The climate was hotter than we ' d expected , there were insect s everywhere . Fresh water was hard to find . The first fifty years almost saw Espero wither and die . " ( PROSE : " Halflife " ) The Twelfth Doctor feared that , on arrival to their new Eden , the human colonists on Gliese 581 D would be made into fertiliser for the colony . ( TV : " Smile " ) Though John Robert Ashe had said that they would make the colony on Uxarieus perfect , the colonists were barely fed , and one of them , Martin , complained that , " This isn ' t exactly the Garden of Eden . " ( TV : " Colony in Space " ) Conversely , the failing colonies on Espero , while acknowledging , as Prince Javill did , that " the Catholic heritage on which [ they ] were founded has become a liability " , stuck to their roots in naming their countries . By the time of Javill , two different colonies on the planet were named Eden , and another was Paradiso Grande . " The whole of Esperon culture , the origins of the colony , were based on making a new start — building a new future out here among the stars , not repeating the mistakes of the past . " ( PROSE : " Halflife " ) In another instance , the name " Eden " was used to lure people into a trap . Eden 2 was an virtual world , an " empty paradise planet " , which was used to lure in would - be conquerors , so as to apply the full force of intergalactic law upon them . The Twelfth Doctor brought Clara Oswald there , expecting paradise , but found instead a planet under attack . ( COMIC : " Freeze " )