Valiant (spacecraft)

Valiant was a name given to a human space-based fighter carrier in the very late 2190s. She patrolled the reaches of the Solar System to prevent incursions by Andosian pirates and other non-human threats. (AUDIO: The Nowhere Place)

Valiant was a response to a decade-long problem Earth was having with alien raiding parties — principally Andosian pirates — attacking human shipping. Consequent to this assignment, it patrolled the outer Solar System, near Pluto. It was commanded by Captain Tanya Oswin, and carried a full complement of Damocles-class fighters.

On 16 January 2197, the Sixth Doctor and Evelyn Smythe materialised on Valiant. There, they found some of its crewmembers were hearing a mysterious bell, just as they had in the TARDIS. They quickly ran afoul of Captain Oswin in trying to investigate the incongruous sound.

The Doctor and Evelyn soon discovered the ship had a mysterious, ancient door in its cargo hold. It led out into open space. The bell seemed to be a kind of "siren call" which led the crewmembers who heard it through the door and out to their deaths.

Realising the grave danger this door posed, Captain Oswin sent a distress call to Earth, but could not hope that backup would arrive any sooner than about two months. This suggested that Valiant was likely not a faster-than-light ship.