London London was the capital city of the United Kingdom on Earth . History . By the late 19th century , London was hundreds of square kilometers in size . It was the most populous city in the world . The Sherlock Holmes novels and stories were largely based in this city . ( ; ) From 1888 to 1891 , seventeen women were killed in London by the Redjac entity incarnated as " Jack the Ripper " . ( ) When an away team from the had traveled back to San Francisco in 1893 , Captain Picard claimed to lead a group of actors which had played in full houses in London , Paris , and Milan . ( ) In 1924 , a major publishing house with branches in this city and New York City published the story " The Listening Man " by John A . Moroso . ( ) In 1941 , this same publishing house published the story " The Long Dark Tunnel " , a Dixon Hill detective novel , by Tracy Tormé . ( ) In 1953 , a United Nations meeting took place in London . ( ) In 2005 , Marina S . Despina , the future wife of Jonathan F . Raymond , was born in this city . ( , okudagram ) In 2365 , a holographic representation of 19th century London was recreated by Lieutenant Commander Data for his recreation of the role he played of Sherlock Holmes . ( ) In 2374 , in a holoprogram set in France in 1944 , British radio reported the sky over London was grey with a chance for rain in the afternoon . The entire broadcast , however , included an encrypted message to the French Resistance cell in Sainte Claire . ( ) Alternate reality . In 2259 of the alternate reality , London was the location of the Kelvin Memorial Archive , which was secretly a Section 31 facility . Commander John Harrison approached one of the personnel , Thomas Harewood , who was visiting his terminally ill daughter at the Royal Children ' s Hospital . Harrison offered a blood transfusion for Harewood ' s daughter , if he would plant a bomb at the Archive . After the transfusion proved successful , Harewood walked into work and detonated the bomb , destroying the facility and claiming 42 lives . From the debris , Harrison recovered a portable transwarp beaming device , which he used to escape from his subsequent attack on Starfleet Headquarters . Notable London landmarks in this reality included St Paul ' s Cathedral , the London Eye , the Kelvin Memorial Archive , and Nelson ' s Column . ( ) Literature . In " The Big Good - Bye " , the master criminal Silent Forrester , when introducing himself to the desk clerk at the Plaza , identified himself as , " " I ' m Mr . Forrester , London " " . ( ) Background information . During the 21st century , London might have been the home of a professional baseball team , the London Kings , who were established in and . However , since the team was a member of Major League Baseball ( they played in the World Series , which was an MLB trademark ) , whose teams have traditionally been based in North America , it was equally likely the team could have been based out of London , Ontario , Canada . The current home baseball team of London , UK , was known as the London Warriors . An unseen portion of the Picard family album had a letter by " KT " who expected Jean - Luc Picard to visit London in the future . It also mentioned the Barbicon Theatre . The visual effects team that worked on based much of the film ' s depiction of London on how it currently was , while also imagining how the city might have changed by the time of the movie ' s setting . " " If you look historically at the way somewhere like London has changed in the last 100 years , " " stated Visual Effects Supervisor Roger Guyett , " " there are many buildings that would potentially still exist [ . . . ] At the same time , you want a few landmarks in those shots to get the sense of what city you are in . In that case , there ' s St . Paul ' s Cathedral and the River Thames . " " ( ) Director J . J . Abrams reflected , " " We retained historical buildings along the River Thames , and then hypothesized what they might look like in 300 years . " " Guyett , from London himself , impressed upon the visual effects artists at Industrial Light & Magic the importance of retaining some of the city ' s original architecture . " " The challenge , " " explained ILM Environments Supervisor Barry Williams , " " was how to differentiate London buildings from San Francisco [ . . . ] We introduced the iconic St . Paul ' s Cathedral , the London Eye , the ' Gherkin ' building , as well as some styles of architecture not present in San Francisco , to create a London vibe . " " ( " Cinefex " , No . 134 , pp . 72 & 74 ) While preparing to show London in " Star Trek Into Darkness " , Roger Guyett accompanied an environment survey team on a visit to the city . The group captured views from high - rise structures as well as visual effects plates and reference images of the city and its environs . ( " Cinefex " , No . 134 , p . 72 ) " " We [ . . . ] took a lot of pictures from different angles , " " stated Guyet , " " to try to maintain the real geography of it . " " ( ) For " Star Trek Into Darkness " , parts of London required a digital construction of areas in the city . This model of London involved twenty - five high - resolution buildings clustered around the Thames . ( " Cinefex " , No . 134 , p . 74 ) The writers of " Star Trek Into Darkness " additionally intended for , in the alternate reality , to have grown up in London . On , to promote " Star Trek Into Darkness " , s were flown into the sky following the end of and formed the Starfleet insignia .