World War III


 * For the TV story of the same name, see World War Three.

World War III (also known as the Third World War) was a conflict that broke out at some point during the history of planet Earth. During the second half of the 20th century and into the 21st century, fear of a third world war was usually connected to it being a potentially civilisation-destroying nuclear war.

The Doctor prevented this war from breaking out prematurely on several occasions (DW: The Mind of Evil, Robot), most notably when he prevented individuals from an alternate timeline in which the war did occur in the late 20th century from making it happen. (DW: Day of the Daleks)

Adam Mitchell claimed he nearly caused World War III when, in the late 1990s, he hacked into American Department of Defense computers. (DW: Dalek) The Slitheen family tried to cause World War III in 2006 so they could sell Earth's radioactive remains as fuel. They nearly succeeded but were killed when Mickey Smith blew up 10 Downing Street with a missile on the Doctor's orders, killing them. (DW: World War Three)

It is known that at some point in Earth's history, a conflict known as World War III did occur, followed by a fourth, as a World War V took place on Earth prior to the year 5000. (DW: The Talons of Weng-Chiang) The exact nature of the conflict has yet to be chronicled, although human civilisation clearly did not end as a result.

Alternate timelines
In one timeline, Shura, a 22nd century anti-Dalek resistance fighter, travelled back to the late 20th century and set off a dalekanium bomb which destroyed the World Peace Conference. World War III started as various global factions accused each other. In the aftermath, the Daleks took over Earth, ruling over the survivors, resulting in the world Shura had tried to prevent in the first place. However, the Doctor undid the damage by ensuring that when the bomb went off, the delegates had left safely. The Daleks and Ogrons that had travelled back to the Conference were killed by Shura's bomb. (DW: Day of the Daleks)