London

London is the capital and most populous city in England and the extended United Kingdom. It has been a provincial setting for many sci-fi films and television programs since the inception of the genre.

Points of Interest

 * 76 Totter's Lane: 76 Totter's Lane is a street that runs through Shoreditch. On the TV series Doctor Who, it is the location of the I.M. Foreman junkyard, which is where the TARDIS first materialized in the series. 76 Totter's Lane is also the registered home address of Susan Foreman, which is listed among her student records at the Coal Hill School.


 * Coal Hill School: The Coal Hill School is a comprehensive school located in Shoreditch. Fifteen-year-old Susan Foreman attended classes there and learned science under her teacher Ian Chesterton and history under Barbara Wright. Ian and Barbara took note of Susan's unparalleled academic aptitudes, but found it curious that she was wholly ignorant of modern European customs.


 * Chelsea: Chelsea is a district of Central London that runs along the Thames River. On the 2005 Doctor Who revival series, it was the home of the character Rose Tyler, her mum Jackie Tyler and her friend Mickey Smith.


 * Hammersmith: Hammersmith is an urban centre in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London approximately 5 miles (8 km) west of Charing Cross on the north bank of the River Thames.


 * I.M. Foreman Junkyard: Presumably owned by someone named I.M. Foreman, this junkyard was located on 76 Totter's Lane in Shoreditch. It is here that the First Doctor first hid the TARDIS on Earth, disguising it as a police call box. Coal Hill School teachers Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright followed their student, Susan Foreman, here and encountered the Doctor for the first time. Unwilling to compromise his identity and secrets, the Doctor felt it best to abduct Ian and Barbara inside the TARDIS whereupon they became his new companions.


 * London Institute of Electronics: In A for Andromeda, this was where Doctor John Fleming met a young woman named Christine. He used their resources to decode a string of singals he had picked up with a radio telescope at the Bouldershaw Fell observatory.


 * Piccadilly Circus: Piccadilly Circus is a road junction and public space of London's West End in the City of Westminster, built in 1819 to connect Regent Street with the major shopping street of Piccadilly. In this context, a circus, from the Latin word meaning "circle", is a round open space at a street junction.


 * Shoreditch: Shoredtich is a district located in the city of London in England. It is located in the East End of the city within the borough of Hackney. On Doctor Who, Shoreditch was the location of the Coal Hill School, which served as the vehicle by which the Doctor and his granddaughter Susan Foreman first met their future companions, Barbara Wright and Ian Chesterton.


 * Tower of London: The Tower of London is a castle structure located in the city of London on the shore of the River Thames. It was constructed by William the Conqueror circa 066 as a fortification during the Norman Conquest. The tower has served as a grand residence and was also a prison from 1100 until 1952. In addition, the tower has been used as treasury and an armory. On the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, the Tower of London became the headquarters for the Unified Intelligence Taskforce, aka UNIT.


 * University of London: In The Day of the Triffids, the University of London is where Bill Masen and Jo Payton sought shelter after surviving being attacked by both hungry Triffids and a mob of blind civilians. A community organizer named Michael Beadley helmed a meeting at the university to coordinate a mass exodus from the city. A radical named Jack Coker staged a siege at the university, kidnapping Bill Masen in the process.

Doctor Who
London is a quintessential location featured in numerous episodes of both the original 1963-1989 Doctor Who television series as well as the 2005 Doctor Who relaunch series. In the revival series, Rose Tyler, her mother Jackie Tyler and best friend Mickey Smith live in London. Before becoming a companion of the Ninth Doctor, Rose worked at a department store in Chelsea called Henrik's.

London was also presented in a parallel reality. In this alternate timeline, Great Britain was governed by a President, rather than a Prime Minister. It was largely viewed as something of a corporate state with the global juggernaut Cybus Industries dominating nearly every capital interest. Cybus CEO and founder John Lumic tried to convince the President of Great Britain to approve his project to grant humanity immortality through cybernetic conversion. When the President disapproved of his plan, he initiated his scheme by force, brainwashing more than 6,000 Londoners via ear pods into becoming his willing drones, whereupon they were converted into Cybermen.

Time After Time
In the 1979 film Time After Time, noted Victorian author and futurist H.G. Wells invents a time machine. However, his colleague, John Leslie Stevenson, secretly the mysterious serial killer known as Jack the Ripper steals the machine and uses it to travel to the future. Wells chases Jack the Ripper across time to bring him to justice.

The X-Files
In the mythology of the X-Files television and film franchise, London was one of the headquarters of the Syndicate - an international consortium of key figures in the highest reaches of power whose wealth and influence have governed societal structure. The Syndicate were behind most of the government cover-ups surrounding the existence of extraterrestrials on Earth. In 1998, the Syndicate held an emergency meeting in one of the London halls to discuss their options on how to combat an ancient alien contagion that had been let loose in Northern Texas.

Films that take place in

 * Core, The (partially)
 * Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (partially)
 * Quatermass Xperiment, The
 * Quatermass II
 * Time After Time

TV shows that take place in

 * The Day of the Triffids (1981)

Books that take place in

 * War of the Worlds

Characters from

 * Bill Masen
 * Dodger
 * Frank North
 * Jack Coker
 * Jackie Tyler
 * Jackie Tyler (II)
 * Jack the Ripper (possibly)
 * Jake Simmonds
 * John Lumic
 * Jo Payton
 * Kate Lethbridge-Stewart
 * Kevin Plunder
 * Michael Beadley
 * Michael Kamen
 * Mickey Smith
 * Pete Tyler
 * Pete Tyler (II)
 * Ricky Smith
 * Rose Tyler
 * Rita-Anne Smith

Organizations from

 * London Institute of Electronics
 * Ministry of Defence

People who were born in

 * A. Edward Sutherland
 * Adrian Biddle
 * Alan Scarfe
 * Alec Guinness
 * Alison Leggatt
 * Andrew Paul
 * Ann Davies
 * Anthony Sharp
 * Arnold Yarrow
 * Barry Morse
 * Camille Coduri
 * Charlie Cox
 * Chiwetal Ejiofor
 * Christopher Nolan
 * Colin Baker
 * Colin Bucksey
 * David Hemblen
 * David Heyman
 * Denis Quilley
 * Douglas Hickox
 * Eddie Powell
 * Ernest Hare
 * Freddie Francis
 * Freema Agyeman
 * Geoffrey Dunn
 * Gerry Anderson
 * Harry Bromley Davenport
 * Harry Fielder
 * Hayley Atwell
 * Ivor Powell
 * Jack Purvis
 * Jamie Bamber
 * Jane Asher
 * Janina Faye
 * John Nettleton
 * Jonathan Hales
 * Jeffrey Gardiner
 * Joely Richardson
 * Jon Amiel
 * Jon Pertwee
 * Julian Glover
 * Lalla Ward
 * Leslie Norman
 * Margaret Tyzack
 * Mary Shelley
 * Nick Copus
 * Nick Hurran
 * Olivia Williams
 * Pamela Stirling
 * Patrick Troughton
 * Peter Egan
 * Peter Packer
 * Ray Austin
 * Roddy McDowall
 * Stephanie Leonidas
 * Susan Hampshire
 * Sylvia Anderson
 * Ted Burnett
 * Terry Duggan
 * Terry Rawlings
 * Tim Roth
 * Tom Hardy
 * Tom Hiddleston
 * Troy Glasgow
 * Tudor Gates
 * Vanessa Redgrave
 * Victor Brooks
 * William Morgan Sheppard

People who died in

 * Adrian Biddle
 * Alison Leggatt
 * Anthony Sharp
 * Barry Morse
 * Bessie Love
 * Brian Glover
 * David King
 * David Maloney
 * Denis Quilley
 * Douglas Hickox
 * Edward Bishop
 * Elisabeth Sladen
 * Esmond Knight
 * Ewan Roberts
 * Geoffrey Dunn
 * H.G. Wells
 * Ian Marter
 * James Hazeldine
 * John Hollis
 * John Wyndham
 * Ken Hannam
 * Leonard Rossiter
 * Leslie Norman
 * Mary Shelley
 * Miki Iveria
 * Patricia Kneale
 * Pippa Steel
 * Robert Beatty
 * Robert S. Young
 * Shelagh Fraser
 * Ted Burnett
 * Terry Duggan
 * Victor Brooks
 * Walter Gotell
 * William Heinemann

Notes & Trivia

 * Not to be confused with London, Ontario, Canada.


 * London was also the name of a starship from the Terran Federation in Blake's 7.