New Zealand

New Zealand was an island nation located near Australia.

Geography
Napier was a city in New Zealand. Other locations included the Foveaux Strait and Lake Taupo. (PROSE: Autaia Pipipi Pia)

Culture
Rugby was very popular in New Zealand. James Stevens claimed that an interest in the sport was drilled into him at an early age. (PROSE: Who Killed Kennedy)

20th century
In 1915, as part of World War I, New Zealand soldiers took part in the Gallipoli campaign. (PROSE: Direct Action)

The investigate journalist James Stevens was born in New Zealand on 22 November 1945 and emigrated from there to Great Britain in 1968.

On 24 December 1953, a train bound for Auckland derailed near Tangiwai. The Sixth Doctor saved Matiu (a time traveller from 2004) from the onrushing water the next day, and helped bring him to Tangiwai. (PROSE: Water's Edge)

In December 1980, the Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith visited Napier. (PROSE: Autaia Pipipi Pia)

During the Cybermen invasion in December 1986, the crew of the Zeus IV mentioned that they were over the South Island of New Zealand. (TV: The Tenth Planet)

21st century
Matiu was a Maori man who lived in Auckland in the 21st century. In Christmas 2004, Matiu travelled back in time to 1953 to find out what happened to his grandfather. (PROSE: Water's Edge)

Due to the Myloki conflict of 2066-8, Japan invaded New Zealand. (PROSE: The Indestructible Man)

Sam Becket, a crew member aboard the weather station on the moon during another Cyberman invasion in 2070, was a New Zealander. (TV: The Moonbase)

Behind the scenes

 * Both Anna-Louise Plowman, who portrayed Diana Goddard, and writer David Bishop were born in New Zealand.
 * New Zealand was the first country in Oceania and the world to buy Doctor Who.