H . G . Wells H . G . Wells was an author native to 19th and 20th century Earth . After a life - changing encounter with the Sixth Doctor , he coined the phrase " science fiction " and began to write novels in that genre . Two of his novels in particular — " The Time Machine " and " The War of the Worlds " — later had both subtle and significant impact upon the Doctor ' s life . Biography . Adventures with the Doctor . While holidaying in Scotland during the summer of 1885 , a young H . G . Wells experimented with magic and believed he had summoned both Vena , who had appeared via the Timelash , and the Sixth Doctor , whose TARDIS seemed to follow her . The Doctor found Wells somewhat irritating . Wells accompanied the Doctor to the planet Karfel and helped him defeat the despotic Borad . Along the way , Wells found inspiration for the fiction he would write and publish . After the adventure was completed , the Doctor promised to take Herbert back to his own time . ( TV : " Timelash " ) Soon after , Wells met a temporally - displaced Edward Travers . ( PROSE : " Time and Again " ) However , Wells did not begin writing these adventures until after another meeting with the Doctor , this time in his tenth incarnation , in 1889 . Wells assisted the Doctor against both the time travel ler Jonathan Smith and members of the Torchwood Institute . ( COMIC : " The Time Machination " ) After the Doctor ' s departure , Wells witnessed the arrival of a past incarnation of the Doctor and Leela , but did not make himself known to them . ( COMIC : " The Time Machination " ) At some point in the 1890s , Wells encountered the Second Doctor , who introduced himself as " John Smith " . Wells was unaware that this was the same Doctor whose future incarnations he encountered before . ( AUDIO : " The Piltdown Men " ) The Third Doctor had earlier claimed to have lent Bertie Wells his ion - focusing coil for an invisibility experiment . ( AUDIO : " The Ghosts of N - Space " ) While in Ostend , Belgium in 1913 , the Sixth Doctor ' s companion Peri Brown intended to send a postcard to Wells but never actually got around to doing so . ( AUDIO : " Year of the Pig " ) Other information . Theophilus Tolliver , a friend of Wells , told him about his adventures travelling in time . ( COMIC : " The Eternal Present " ) Other references . While in the process of attempting to start an inter - stellar war between Earth and Draconia , read a copy of H . G . Wells ' " The War of the Worlds " . ( TV : " Frontier in Space " ) Disbelieving in time machines , Laurence Scarman compared the Fourth Doctor ' s assertions to the " scientific romances of Mr Wells . " ( TV : " Pyramids of Mars " ) Other scoffers made similar statements . ( TV : " Black Orchid " ) In answer to the Fourth Doctor ' s claim that an alien was at work on Fang Rock , James Skinsale said that he could " appreciate the scientific romanticism of Mister Wells " . ( TV : " Horror of Fang Rock " ) Shortly before his regeneration , the Seventh Doctor relaxed in his TARDIS reading a copy of Wells ' " The Time Machine " . Later , his next incarnation did the same . ( TV : " Doctor Who " ) As a child , Ian Chesterton loved the works of both Wells and Jules Verne . Their stories inspired him to pursue a career in science . ( PROSE : " The Eleventh Tiger " ) Sarah Jane Smith had a copy of a volume of Wells ' short stories in her library . ( TV : " Invasion of the Bane " ) The Eighth Doctor once noted that Wells was an enthusiast , " especially for the ladies . " ( PROSE : " The Eight Doctors " ) On 30 October 1938 , actor Orson Welles mounted a radio production of Wells ' " The War of the Worlds " , which was presented as a news broadcast ; the resulting production sparked a nationwide panic . Unknown to the public at large , however , an actual invasion attempt occurred during this time which was thwarted by the Eighth Doctor . ( AUDIO : " Invaders from Mars " ) The Eighth Doctor once noted that Wells had " possesse [ d ] a most passionate concern for Man and Society . " ( PROSE : " Casualties of War " ) Marnal was a friend of Wells . ( PROSE : " The Gallifrey Chronicles " ) When Balmoral Castle was taken by the Judoon in 1902 , Captain Carruthers compared the Doctor ' s explanation to the works of Wells . ( PROSE : " Revenge of the Judoon " ) Tommy Morgan had read " The First Men in the Moon " , and was therefore unfazed when the Eighth Doctor claimed to be an alien in 1928 . ( PROSE : " Far from Home " ) In 1942 , Isabella Zemanova was familiar with Wells ' works , even though she suspected they might be illegal under Joseph Stalin . ( PROSE : " The Beast of Stalingrad " ) River Song tried to explain to Bertie the existence of other civilisations by referring to works of H . G . Wells , but he thought of another book about a hole to the centre of the Earth . ( AUDIO : " The Boundless Sea " )