Rome Rome was a city in Italy . It played an important role in Earth history because it was the centre of the Roman Empire , a large empire in early human history . Amongst its main attractions were its seven hills , the Colosseum , the Pantheon and the Circus Maximus . ( TV : " The Romans " , " The Fires of Pompeii " , " The Pandorica Opens " ) In later times , Rome had an airport named after Leonardo da Vinci . ( PROSE : " Cultural Firsts " ) History . On 17 December 47 BC , the Seventh Doctor and Ace visited Rome . ( PROSE : " The Best of Days " ) The First Doctor and Susan Foreman once travelled to Rome prior to meeting Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright . They visited the city broadly around the time of Jesus Christ , and the Doctor found it a " brutal and murderous place . " He called it " terrible , " replete with " slavery , crime in the streets , everybody stabbing everyone else in the back . " He held the same views of Jerusalem and Antioch , two other ancient Earth cities which the two Gallifreyan s visited together . ( PROSE : " Byzantium ! " ) Later , the First Doctor took Ian Chesterton , Barbara Wright , and Vicki Pallister to Rome in 64 , and accidentally inspired the Great Fire of Rome . ( TV : " The Romans " ) According to his tenth incarnation , he didn ' t have much time for sightseeing on that particular visit . He therefore tried to return with Donna Noble , but ended up instead in Pompeii . ( TV : " The Fires of Pompeii " ) In August 79 , the Caecilius family moved to Rome after the Tenth Doctor and Donna helped them escape the destruction of Pompeii . ( TV : " The Fires of Pompeii " ) The family apparently left behind a record of their escape . In 1923 , a British archaeological survey of Rome by Professor Livesy - Smythe turned up a scroll by Caecilius telling of the true fate of Pompeii . This expedition ' s findings alerted Torchwood Three to the existence of the Pyrovile s . ( WC : " " ) In an alternate timeline , the Pandorica was kept in Rome for many years : first brought there in 120 and taken in raid by the Franks in 420 . It came into the possession of the Knights Templar in 1120 and subsequently was given to the Vatican in 1231 . ( TV : " The Big Bang " ) Both the Eleventh Doctor and Rory Williams attested to being present at the fall of Rome . ( TV : " Day of the Moon " ) In 1966 , the city was a destination of the villainous Chameleon Tours , where the brother of Samantha Briggs was supposed to go . ( TV : " The Faceless Ones " ) In 2006 , Rome was one of the many locations affected by the Sycorax ' s blood control , causing people to stand on the top of the Colosseum , ready to jump . ( TV : " The Christmas Invasion " ) Rome was among the world ' s major cities where forces of flying Cybermen emerged led by . Taking to the skies , they created a cloud of cyber - pollen above the city . These pollen clouds would then rain upon the grave s , recruiting the dead of the Earth into a new Cyberman army . When control of the Cyberman army went to the hands of the recently - converted Danny Pink , he ordered all Cybermen to return to the skies and self - destruct , taking the pollen clouds with them in their combined explosions . ( TV : " Death in Heaven " ) In 2096 , Rome was an independent city - state on a destitute Earth . ( PROSE : " The Indestructible Man " ) Behind the scenes . In 2007 , Rome ' s Cinecittà Studios played host to production of the episode " The Fires of Pompeii " ( CON : " The Italian Job " ) . Discounting some minor second unit work done for " Daleks in Manhattan " , this was the first " Doctor Who " adventure to be filmed outside the UK since " Doctor Who " in the 1990s .