Yuri Gagarin

Yuri Gagarin was a 20th century Soviet cosmonaut who became, as far as the majority of humanity was aware, the first human being to journey into outer space circa 1960. (TV: The Seeds of Death, AUDIO: 1963: The Space Race)

In 1903, after receiving a wealth of information from the future, Grigori Rasputin foresaw, among other things, Gagarin's achievement. (AUDIO: The Wanderer)

Before travelling to the Moon aboard a Soviet lunar capsule in November 1963, the Sixth Doctor told Peri Brown that he was far more qualified for space travel than Gagarin. (AUDIO: 1963: The Space Race)

The Seventh Doctor, Ace, Markus Creevy and Lt Raina Kerenskaya saw both Gagarin and Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space, on a podium in Red Square, Moscow, in the Soviet Union at a ceremony marking the fiftieth anniversary of the October Revolution on 7 November 1967. (AUDIO: Thin Ice)

Behind the scenes

 * Gagarin appears briefly in one of the screens inside the room that houses the Monks' propaganda machine in The Lie of the Land. However, no connection has been made between him and his face in-universe.
 * Gagarin featured heavily in the Doctor Who annual features, appearing in Doctor Who Annual 1968 feature Men Who Made History, the Doctor Who Annual 1969 feature Pioneers of Flight, and the Doctor Who Annual 1977 feature Reach For The Sky. In these features, it is explained that on 12 April 1961, Gagarin was launched into space in Vostok 1, orbitting the Earth for an hour and 48 minutes.