Martian invasion of Earth

The Martian invasion of Earth was a war between Martian invasion forces and a human resistance during the late 19th century.

The invasion began on a Thursday in June of 1894, when a Martian cylinder landed in a cemetery near the Moulin Rouge. Iris Wildthyme, Panda, Simon, and Kelly witnessed this event, as they were dining at the Moulin Rouge at the time. Not wanting to get involved, Iris and her friends left, and shortly afterwards, Anthony Marvelle gave two Martian Time Agents front-row tickets to a Vince Cosmos concert in 1973, instructing them to assassinate Cosmos. (PROSE: Enter Wildthyme)

During the reign of King Edward VII, (PROSE: The Book of the Enemy) seven years after the initial invasion, an ealier Iris had been instrumental in the final battles with the Martians. (PROSE: Enter Wildthyme) Afterwards, the Martians established an uneasy peace with Great Britain. Many in the British Empire were uneasy with allying with such recent would-be invaders, but it was generally thought slightly preferable to an alliance with the Germans. Mars' great scientists inspired a 1905 reorganisation of Russia's government into a paragon of rationality and enlightenment. Sherlock Holmes and Tom visited the Martian Embassy in Stepney.

However, the invasion and its aftermath was erased from history, along with Martian civilisation, by the action of The Book of the Enemy during the War in Heaven. After erasure from the timeline, its events were captured in the novel The War of the Worlds. (PROSE: The Book of the Enemy)