The homeless were people poor enough that they didn't have homes. Homeless people were sometimes called tramps.
During the Great Depression, many homeless people in America lived in shanty towns called Hoovervilles. In 1930, Hooverville residents in New York City were abducted by the Cult of Skaro and converted into pig slaves. (TV: Daleks in Manhattan [+]Helen Raynor, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007). / Evolution of the Daleks [+]Helen Raynor, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007).)
During the Blitz, many children were left orphaned and homeless in London. Nancy looked after them and helped them get food. (TV: The Empty Child [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 1 (BBC One, 2005).)
In 1966, a tramp planned to sleep in an abandoned warehouse, but was killed by labourers under WOTAN's control after he discovered them building War Machines. (TV: The War Machines [+]Ian Stuart Black, Doctor Who season 3 (BBC1, 1966).)
In 1968, the Sentience possessed a homeless man named Billy Coote. (PROSE: Nightshade [+]Mark Gatiss, Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1992).)
In 1969, Melody Pond became homeless after she escaped from the Silents. Six months later, in New York City, a tramp witnessed her regenerate. (TV: Day of the Moon [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 6 (BBC One, 2011).)
Prior to 1971, the documentary Cathy Come Home publicised the issue of homelessness in London. In response, the charity Shelter was established and set up several halfway houses for the homeless in the city. During Dodo Chaplet's period of homelessness following her time at the Glasshouse, she regularly stayed at one such house before moving in with James Stevens. (PROSE: Who Killed Kennedy [+]David Bishop, Virgin Books (1996).)
In the 1970s, a tramp named Pigbin Josh was captured and killed by Axos. (TV: The Claws of Axos [+]Bob Baker and Dave Martin, Doctor Who season 8 (BBC1, 1971).) Some years later, a tramp was run over by a hovercraft driven by the Third Doctor, who was chasing Lupton. (TV: Planet of the Spiders [+]Robert Sloman, Doctor Who season 11 (BBC1, 1974).)
The UNIT-era Master regarded a homeless victim as "a vagrant", of absolutely no consequence. His Skaross ally asked the Master if he had ever been homeless, and he admitted he had never really considered the question. (AUDIO: Terror of the Master [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW.)
In 1992, a tramp nicknamed Leapy helped the Seventh Doctor defeat a Gantac invasion. (COMIC: Invaders from Gantac! [+]Alan Grant, DWM Comics (Marvel Comics, 1989).) Later, another tramp became the Doctor's companion. (PROSE: The Tramp's Story [+]Joseph Lidster, Short Trips: Repercussions (Short Trips short stories, 2004).)
In 1997, vampires killed many homeless people in San Francisco for their blood. (PROSE: Vampire Science [+]Kate Orman and Jonathan Blum, BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 1997).)
On a Christmas Eve in the late 20th century, the Second Doctor, Jamie McCrimmon and Zoe Heriot stopped a desperate homeless man named Charlie from robbing the Midnight Mission in Los Angeles. (PROSE: Goodwill Toward Men [+]Shaun Lyon, Short Trips: A Christmas Treasury (Short Trips short stories, 2004).)
In the early 21st century, with increasing pollution bringing declining health, the Butler Institute acquired homeless people as a source of replacement organs for the corporation's employees. (PROSE: Cat's Cradle: Warhead [+]Andrew Cartmel, Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1992).)
Circa 2006, Torchwood One abducted several homeless people and experimented on them with alien DNA, eventually creating the Chimera. (COMIC: The Legacy of Torchwood One! [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW.)
In 2007, a Bruydac killed several homeless people in Cardiff for their spinal fluid. (PROSE: Another Life [+]Peter Anghelides, BBC Torchwood novels (BBC Books, 2007).)
In 2009, Eve abducted four homeless people for companionship. (TV: The Mad Woman in the Attic [+]Joseph Lidster, The Sarah Jane Adventures series 3 (BBC One, 2009).)
On 24 December in approximately the 2000s,[nb 1] the Saxon Master killed two homeless men, Tommo and Ginger, for their life force. (TV: The End of Time [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who Christmas Special 2009 and New Year Special 2010 (BBC One, 2009-2010).)
In 2011, a homeless man witnessed a Metalkind's arrival on Earth. He later told Sarah Jane Smith and Rani Chandra what he had seen. (TV: Sky [+]Phil Ford, The Sarah Jane Adventures series 5 (CBBC, 2011).)
Later that year, Clyde Langer met and befriended Ellie Faber and other homeless people when he was under Hetocumtek's curse. (TV: The Curse of Clyde Langer [+]Phil Ford, The Sarah Jane Adventures series 5 (CBBC, 2011).)
In 2012, Henry van Statten, who often had his employees mind-wiped and abandoned on the streets of various cities, suffered this fate himself at the hands of Diana Goddard as punishment for all the deaths caused by the Metaltron. (TV: Dalek [+]Robert Shearman, adapted from Jubilee (Robert Shearman), Doctor Who series 1 (BBC One, 2005).)
In the 2010s, homeless people in South Wales were targeted by Oblation. The programme involved reconfigured Sorvix fire drones, which gave the homeless the choice of death or injection with experimental drugs. Tyler Steele was one such person, resorting to prostitution in order to make money. He remarked that regular people ignore the plights of the homeless and himself ignored the existence of a homeless friend after being set up at the Hub. Oblation ended when Tyler tagged its creator, Ben, who was burnt to death. (AUDIO: Hostile Environment [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW.)
In 2050, Darius Pike encountered two tramps in a junkyard. They locked him in a wardrobe for invading their territory. (TV: Fear Itself [+]Everett DeRoche and Graeme Farmer, K9 series 1 (2010).)
On Pete's World, John Lumic had Cybus Industries round up homeless people and convert them into Cybermen. (TV: Rise of the Cybermen [+]Tom MacRae, adapted from Spare Parts (Marc Platt), Doctor Who series 2 (BBC One, 2006).)
On an unnamed planet in the 82nd century, a tramp tried to eat a burger he found in a dustbin, only to find it was actually Avan Tarklu. (COMIC: The Shape Shifter [+]Steve Parkhouse, DWM Comics (Marvel Comics, 1984).)
Footnotes[]
- ↑ Both Planet of the Dead and The End of Time are referred to in dialogue as taking place after the end of Journey's End, which is set in either 2008, according to TV: The Fires of Pompeii, TV: The Waters of Mars, and AUDIO: SOS (and heavily implied by TV: The Star Beast and TV: The Giggle), or six weeks after the middle of May 2009, circa June, according to PROSE: Beautiful Chaos. However, the year of The End of Time is unspecified, as is whether or not it is intended to be the Christmas immediately after Journey's End.