George Challenger

Professor George Edward Challenger (PROSE: The Found World) was a 20th century professional adventurer. He was a large man with a black beard who was easily angered. (PROSE: Mad Dogs and Englishmen) George Litefoot considered him to be a celebrated man. (AUDIO: The Jago & Litefoot Revival)

Journeys to South America
In the early 1910s, Professor Challenger led an unsuccessful expedition to search for dinosaurs in South America. Professor Challenger led an expedition to search for dinosaurs.

Shortly afterward, Challenger led a second expedition (PROSE: The Found World) to the Amazon (PROSE: Mad Dogs and Englishmen) accompanied by Edward Malone and John Roxton. This trip resulted in the discovery of the "lost world", a plateau home to ancient peoples and dinosaurs. Challenger decided that it would be best to keep the location of the plateau a secret from the outside world so that its inhabitants could continue to live in peace. (PROSE: The Found World)

In autumn 1894, Jenny Flint heard that Professor Challenger had returned from his travels and was promising to show some of his discoveries to the public. (PROSE: The Singular Case of the Time Machine) Challenger had a set of blurry photos and a Pterodactyl egg which hatched while Challenger was in Regent Street. (PROSE: Mad Dogs and Englishmen)

After the start of World War I, Herbert Asquith requested that Challenger venture to the plateau and bring back dinosaurs for use in warfare. Although Challenger was initially reluctant to break his promise to never return, he eventually agreed and a third expedition was mounted in 1916 which resulted in three Apatosaurus being brought to London.

After examining the Apatosaurus, Challenger determined that the Brontosaurus was not a real species. (PROSE: The Found World)

Further exploits
One of Challenger's next adventures involved drilling a hole into the centre of the Earth in order to prove that the planet was alive. (PROSE: Mad Dogs and Englishmen)

Sometime in the 1890s, Challenger gave an account of his "startling reports" to the Club for Curious Scientific Men. (AUDIO: The Jago & Litefoot Revival)

In 1942, Challenger attempted to capture the evil genius Fu Manchu. After searching for Manchu in West Yorkshire, Challenger took a train to London which the Eighth Doctor and Char were also on. Challenger sat in the same compartment as Van Helsing. (PROSE: Mad Dogs and Englishmen)

Challenger attended Iris Wildthyme's party at Hobbe's End on May Day 1972. (PROSE: From Wildthyme with Love)

Behind the scenes

 * Challenger originated in Arthur Conan Doyle's novel , of which he is one of the main protagonists. Doyle reused the character in two additional novels and two short stories, and, after the character fell into the public domain, various other works of fiction starring Challenger have been created. Notably, Steve Gallagher, writer of Warriors' Gate and Terminus among other Doctor Who stories, authored an exclusive Professor Challenger novella in 2020, entitled The Governess. This book was also cross-promoted by Bafflegab Productions.
 * Most allusions to Challenger in the DWU suggested that he was a real being in the Doctor Who universe. However, without naming Challenger or The Lost World itself directly, the video game Lost in Time implied that it was a fiction inspired by Doyle's brief captivity by Silurians.