Earth

Earth is the Doctor's favorite planet, located in the Sol system in Mutter's Spiral. Most of the Doctor's companions have been natives of this planet.

Location
Third planet in the Sol system, 1 AU from the Sun, approximately 27,700 light-years from the center of Mutter's Spiral. (Shifted a few light years from this position and renamed Ravolox by the Time Lords circa 2,000,000 CE.)

Name(s)
There are hundreds of other names for the planet in hundreds of languages, including:


 * Earth - The name derives from Old English word eorthe.
 * Terra - (Latin: terra mater - Mother Earth)
 * Tellus - In Roman mythology, the goddess of the Earth was Tellus - the fertile soil.
 * Sol III - third planet in the Sol System.
 * Ravolox - Name after the planet's relocation by the Time Lords.
 * Mondas - An ancient name for Earth which is also the name of the Cybermen's original home world, Earth's long-lost sister planet. ("The Tenth Planet")
 * New Mondas - Name the Cybermen planned to confer on Earth after colonizing it and cyberizing its inhabitants. ("Silver Nemesis")

It is not known by what name the Silurians and Sea Devils, or the saurian race which preceded them, called this planet.

Moon(s)
Earth has one single moon, usually referred to simply as the Moon, a rogue planet which entered the Sol system and was captured in Earth's gravitational field millions of years ago ("Doctor Who and the Silurians").

Sentient native species

 * Haemovores


 * Humans


 * Sea Devils


 * Silurians

Historical
Earth formed billions of years of ago, around the same time as the first conflict between the Hoothi and the Time Lords ("Love and War"). About 3 billion years ago, the consciousness of the Sou(ou)shi settled on Earth and became dormant, reawakening in the year 1968 CE ("Venusian Lullaby," "Nightshade"). Life developed fairly late in the planet's history, 400 million years ago, the process triggered by the anti-matter explosion of the last Jagaroth battle cruiser as it entered warp drive prematurely during take-off from the planet surface ("City of Death").

Various species of saurian dominated the planet until circa 65 million BCE, when a freighter from the 26th century CE time-warped to this period and exploded in the upper atmosphere ("Earthshock"). A few survived, evolving into the races later known as Silurians and Sea Devils. Another saurian race, of unknown name, predated these reptilian races by about 100,000 years ("All-Consuming Fire"). The Reign of the Reptiles came to a final end when the rogue planet which later became the Moon entered Earth's orbit, creating climatic changes which forced the reptile races into underground hibernation. Apes regarded by the reptiles as pests eventually evolved into the species known as human, given a substantial jolt forward when the Fendhal Core arrived on Earth circa 12 million BCE ("Image of the Fendhal").

Human civilization evolved quickly, assisted by the Daemons, the various fragments of Scaroth, and the predatory nature imparted to humans by the Fendhal. Earth had been visited by aliens many times throughout its history, but the launching of space probes by humans beginnning in the late 20th century made such visits more frequent, as homo sapiens began drawing attention to themselves. These visits also tended to be more openly hostile, and Earth was saved from conquest or outright annihilation often only through the intercession of the Doctor. Such invasions also led to the formation of UNIT, whose functions in time culminated in the first conquest by Earth of an alien world, Mars, in 2086 ("Transit").

Earth developed methods of FTL travel in the late 21rst century and began colonizing nearby star systems soon after. The Dalek invasion of 2157 proved devastating to Earth, with New York and many other cities destroyed and entire regions of Africa and South America depopulated. The expulsion of the Dalek force from Earth and the victorious Battle of Cassius saw the planet reborn. Humans reclaimed their old colonies and in time an Earth Empire emerged which dominated most of Mutter's Spiral for over 500 years.

Related Topics
See Nine Planets for more.