California

California was a state of the United States of America.

Geography
According to the Tenth Doctor, California was built on the San Andreas Fault. (TV: Utopia) Its major cities included Los Angeles and San Francisco. During the 20th century it was the location of the Mount Palomar Observatory.

History
The Seventh Doctor regenerated into his eighth incarnation in San Francisco on 31 December 1999. (TV: Doctor Who)

In 2006, the First Doctor lost the TARDIS in a bet in Chicago. He and his companions Ian Chesterton, Barbara Wright and Susan Foreman were forced to travel 2,500 miles down Route 66 in a purple Oldsmobile 88 (which the Doctor won in another bet) to California in order to retrieve it. (PROSE: The Mother Road)

In 2011, the Californian town of San Pedro contained an overflow camp that was investigated by Torchwood. (TV: The Categories of Life)

Notable residents
Peri Brown was a resident of California at the time of her trip to Lanzarote in 1984, according to the unofficial, handwritten information at the beginning of her passport. (TV: Planet of Fire) Another account suggests her family was from Baltimore, Maryland. (PROSE: Blue Box, AUDIO: The Reaping)

Dr Grace Holloway was a homeowner and practising heart surgeon in San Francisco at the start of the 21st century. (TV: Doctor Who)

Before joining the CIA, Rex Matheson had lived in Los Angeles. After the CIA turned against him in 2011, he returned here with Torchwood to investigate PhiCorp. (TV: Rendition, Escape to LA)

New California was named for this state. (PROSE: Synthespians™)

Behind the scenes
Several stories have been set in California, including TV: Doctor Who, PROSE: Vampire Science, Unnatural History; and PROSE: Wonderland — all set in San Francisco —and the Los Angeles-based tales, PROSE: The King of Terror; and TV: Escape to LA, The Categories of Life, and The Middle Men.