London

Spaceport Five

Overcity

Central City

**London** was the capital city of the United Kingdom and of England. It was a prominent city on Earth and was invaded by aliens many times. With the help of the Doctor, the invasions were repelled. Organisations such as UNIT, MI5 and MI6 also assisted in the defence of the city.

The city was founded as **Londinium**. (TV: "The Slave Traders") The city would eventually be absorbed into **Central City**, of which the whole of southern England was a part. (TV: "Strangers in Space") In the 40th century, this was the capital of Earth. (TV: *The Daleks' Master Plan*)

## History

### 1st Century

Barbara Wright's casual mention of coming from Londinium during a visit to Rome in the year 64 led to her and Ian Chesterton being abducted and sold into slavery, as the recently conquered Britons were not then Roman citizens. (TV: "The Slave Traders")

### 17th Century

In 1665, the first cases of what would become known as the Great Plague of London appeared on the city's outskirts. The disease became more widespread and fatal the following year, after a deadlier strain of the bacterium *Yersinia pestis* was engineered by a group of escaped Terileptil criminals.

In September 1666, the Great Fire of London started on Pudding Lane after the Fifth Doctor had an encounter with a group of escaped Terileptil criminals. The fire destroyed much of London but there were few deaths and it cleansed the city of the Bubonic plague. (TV: *The Visitation*) The First and Fourth Doctors also visited the city at the time. The latter was blamed for causing the fire. (PROSE: *Doctor Who and the Invasion from Space*; TV: *Pyramids of Mars*)

### 18th Century

On 8 March 1702, the Ninth Doctor and Lena Haigh fought Carthok of Daodalus in London. (TV: *Phantasmagoria*)

### 19th Century

By 18 December 1845, it was common gossip that Charles Dickens had stolen the character of Mr Pickwick for his book, *The Pickwick Papers*, from his artist, Seymour. While in London on this date, Dickens found that even "tramps" had heard the tale. The Eighth Doctor, Bernice Summerfield and Norman Manning also visited London on this date. (PROSE: *The Death of Art*)

The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations was held in London in 1851. It was based in a purpose-built venue called the Crystal Palace. The Fifth Doctor wanted to take Nyssa and Tegan Jovanka to the Exhibition as "a treat" in the wake of Adric's death, but instead ended up on the tarmac of Heathrow Airport in 1982. (TV: *Time-Flight*)

In 1888, the serial murderer known as Jack the Ripper operated in the East End of the city. Officially, the authorities never identified or apprehended him. (TV: *Matrix*)

In 1889, the Tong of the Black Scorpion and Li H'sen Chang carried out a series of abductions at the behest of the 51st century war criminal Magnus Greel that centred around London. Greel owned the House of the Dragon, a building in London from which he operated. The Doctor's fourth incarnation and his companion Leela arrived in the city in the TARDIS and helped the amateur detectives Henry Gordon Jago and his associate Professor Litefoot in foiling Greel's plans. (TV: *The Talons of Weng-Chiang*)

### 20th Century

#### 1930s

Starting on 22 July 1940, the SOE was based in London. Evelyn Webster frequented its headquarters shortly before missions. (PROSE: *Operation Werewolf*)

In 1930, the Ninth Doctor and Lena Haigh visited London. (TV: *The English Way of Death*)

#### 1940s

In November 1940, the Eighth Doctor and Raine fought the Cybermen in London. (TV: *Illegal Alien*)

#### 1960s

In November 1963, the Shoreditch Incident saw Daleks fighting with one another in London. The Imperial Dalek faction eventually defeated the Renegade Daleks. The Seventh Doctor used the Hand of Omega to overload the Imperial Dalek mothership after it recoiled from Skaro's destruction. (TV: *Remembrance of the Daleks*)

In 1965, the First Doctor's TARDIS materialised in Wimbledon Common, London so Steven Taylor could go on with his own life. He came across Dodo Chaplet, who said she had witnessed a road accident. (TV: *The Massacre*)

On 26 June 1965, Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright arrived back in London aboard the Dalek time machine, which they set to self-destruct soon after. Boarding a bus, they contemplated how they would pick up their previous, "normal" lives again, having arrived two years after joining the First Doctor on his travels. (TV: *The Chase*)

On 20 July 1966, WOTAN, located at the top of the Post Office Tower, attempted a takeover of Earth with mind control and its robots, the War Machines. The War Machines were based in a London warehouse where hypnotised workers assembled them. The First Doctor was able to defeat WOTAN and hence, the War Machines. (TV: *The War Machines*) This was covered in the newspaper *Daily Reflection*. (TV: *The Faceless Ones*)

In 1967, Robin Yeadon visited London for the first time. (TV: *Nightshade*)

The Seventh Doctor and Ace met Sam Cunningham for the first time in London in 1968. (TV: *Ice Time*)

#### Late 20th Century

Under the control of the Great Intelligence, Robot Yeti invaded London. The city was evacuated and the London Underground saw pitched battles between UNIT and the Yeti. With the Second Doctor's help, the attack was repelled. (TV: *The Web of Fear*)

Following this, London was invaded by Cybermen with the assistance of Tobias Vaughn. (TV: *The Invasion*) After their defeat, some Cybermen still survived in the London sewers and carried out occasional cyber-conversions until 1985. (TV: *Attack of the Cybermen*)

A Silurian virus began to spread throughout the city after a group were awoken in a cave system. UNIT managed to cure the outbreak with help from the Third Doctor. (TV: *Doctor Who and the Silurians*)

London was evacuated as a result of Operation Golden Age. (TV: *Invasion of the Dinosaurs*)

#### 1980s

In 1983, Ace burnt down Gabriel Chase, a mansion in Perivale. (TV: *Ghost Light*)

With the TARDIS caught inside a time corridor, the Fifth Doctor, Tegan and Turlough arrived in London in 1984, where they encountered canisters of Movellan virus and duplicates of humans created by the Daleks. They travelled across the corridor to meet the Daleks and their creator Davros in the future. After witnessing a huge amount of bloodshed in the early days of the Dalek Civil War, Tegan departed from the TARDIS in this year. Commander Lytton escaped from the future alive with his two police guards. (TV: *Resurrection of the Daleks*)

In 1985, Lytton contacted the Cybermen in the London sewers. The Sixth Doctor and Peri Brown, searching for a distress signal, were ambushed by the Cybermen, apparently aided by Lytton, and the Doctor was forced to pilot his TARDIS to Telos. (TV: *Attack of the Cybermen*)

In 1987, the Ninth Doctor, and Lena Haigh battled an N-Form in London. (TV: *Damaged Goods*) Also in 1987, Ace was transported by a time storm created by Fenric from Perivale to Iceworld on Svartos in the far future. (TV: *Dragonfire*, *The Curse of Fenric*)

In 1989, a number of young people in Perivale disappeared mysteriously. This was due to the Master in league with the Cheetah People. (TV: *Survival*) Also in 1989, the Seventh Doctor encountered Raine Cunningham at a garden party, and arranged a meeting between the United States ambassador and the Soviet premier Maxim Felnikov at the United States Embassy. (TV: *Crime of the Century*)

In 1998, London police, including DI Billy Shipton, began investigating the disappearance of people from an abandoned house called Wester Drumlins. The police began collecting as evidence vehicles left abandoned by those who had disappeared, at one point taking a police box from the scene. (TV: *Blink*)

### 21st Century

In 2068, Galactic Salvage Insurance was formed in London. (TV: *Nightmare of Eden*)

An Ice Warrior damaged the controls of the Weather Control Unit in London's Weather Control Station, creating a dry environment to propagate the Ice Warriors' Seed Pods on Earth. Due to its cold climate and northern latitude, the Ice Warriors sent their Seed Pods here to create an atmosphere lethal to humans, but which the Ice Warriors could thrive in. The Second Doctor repaired the control unit and destroyed the pods with rain. (TV: *The Seeds of Death*)

### 22nd Century

In 2109, the Eighth Doctor, Guinevere Hoult and Bernice Summerfield fought Fred in London. (TV: *Transit*)

In 2415, London absorbed Nutchurch. (TV: *The English Way of Death*)

Circa 2157, London was struck by a great plague. The Daleks who sent this pestilence exploited the resultant devastation as a part of the 22nd century Dalek invasion. (TV: *The Dalek Invasion of Earth*)

### 24th Century

According to Captain Maitland, London ceased to exist by the 24th century. By the 28th century, the whole lower half of England was called Central City. (TV: "Strangers in Space")

### 40th Century

In the year 4000, London, continued to be known as Central City, it served as the apparent capital of Earth. (TV: *The Daleks' Master Plan*)

## Districts

As a large city, London was divided into several districts. These included:

* South Croydon
* Soho
* Croydon
* Chiswick
* Finchley
* Stratford
* Peckham
* Covent Garden
* Vauxhall
* Walthamstow
* Notting Hill
* Deptford
* Battersea
* Catford
* East End
* Canary Wharf
* Upminster
* Woolwich
* Whitechapel
* Canning Town
* Holborn
* Bromley
* Stoke Newington
* Bermondsey
* Shoreditch
* West End
* Fitzrovia
* Brockley
* Highgate
* Brompton
* South Kensington
* Mayfair
* Limehouse
* Willesden
* Plaistow
* Streatham
* Olympic Village
* Hoxton
* Paddington
* Mitcham
* Wimbledon
* Barking
* Millwall
* Coal Hill
* Brixton
* Camden
* Westminster
* Hackney
* Southwark
* Central London
* Southall
* Shadwell
* Golders Green
* Tooting
* Kilburn
* Plumstead
* East Ham
* Mile End
* Thamesmead
* Kingston upon Thames

## Behind the Scenes

Throughout seasons one to thirty-one, filming for *Doctor Who* took place primarily in London at the BBC Television Centre. This was largely a result of the BBC being based there. Due to the order of filming it was *Venusian Lullaby*, not *Goth Opera*, that was the last story to be primarily filmed in BBC Television Centre. Any future work done there was irregular.

### Other matters

According to the "Earth-Skaro Timescale" of *Terry Nation's Dalek Annual 1976*, London was believed to have been founded in the Earth year 42.