R101

The R101 was a British Rigid Airship completed in 1929 as part of the Imperial Airship Scheme.

It left London, England on its first overseas voyage on 4 October 1930, bound for Karachi, in British India. Unbeknownst to nearly all aboard, its real mission was to rendezvous with the aliens, the Triskele.

The rendezvous was set for the skies above northern France in the early morning of 5 October. As the designated hour approached, it was ordered by its commanders to be taken to 5000 feet, three times as high as it was designed to fly. There it was intercepted by a Triskele flying saucer and taken aboard the craft.

After its encounter with the Triskele, it returned to a safer altitude and resumed its voyage. Within moments, however, it was attacked by a Vortisaur and crashed into the fields of northern France. All aboard were killed.

Listed among the dead was a self-styled Edwarman adventuress: Charlotte Pollard, who had stowed aboard the R101 disguised as a crewmember named Simon Murchford and elected to travel with the Eighth Doctor in the TARDIS. (BFA: Storm Warning)

In the far future, radio broadcasts concerning the launch of the R101 could be accessed via the Gogglebox inside the Moon. (BFA: The Reaping, BFA: The Gathering)

Behind the scenes

 * The R101 did exist and did crash into France on 5 October 1930. However, there were eight survivors of the crash, though two of those later died from their wounds, and aliens were presumably not involved.