Nelson's Column was a monument in Trafalgar Square, London, consisting of a tall column with a statue of Lord Horatio Nelson situated on top.
The column was 46 metres tall, with a 5.5 metre statue of Horatio Nelson. At the base of the statue were four bronze panels which showed Nelson's greatest naval victories. The panels were made from melted down cannons captured from French ships. (GAME: City of the Daleks [+]Phil Ford, The Adventure Games (BBC Wales Interactive, 2010).)
History[]
19th century[]
On 23 October 1843, the Fifth Doctor climbed the column and confronted two Sevakrill who had taken over the bodies of the column's builders: Samuel Morton Peto and Thomas Grissell.
They had built a missile inside the column and planned to detonate it in 2017, destroying the Earth and distracting the Charnal horde, with whom they were at war. To protect this operation, they had several stone lions, hidden by perception filters, patrol the area. The Doctor managed to appeal to Peto and Grissell and they broke free.
The Doctor spent two weeks lowering the missile into a shaft beneath the column and building a floor to cover it. By this time it was November, and the statue of Nelson was being added when the Doctor departed. (AUDIO: The Lions of Trafalgar)
20th century[]
Barbara Wright and Ian Chesterton climbed about the Column and its lions when sightseeing upon their return to London in 1965. (TV: The Chase)
The Seventh Doctor materialised his TARDIS around Nelson's Column in 1976. Mortimus caused the Doctor's TARDIS to change its appearance from that of the column to that of the Statue of Liberty. (PROSE: No Future)
21st century[]
The Eleventh Doctor visited Nelson's Column with Amy and Rory in 2012. He stated that one of the four plinths was empty because there had not been enough money to put a statue on it. Amy believed that they had been showing works of art on the empty plinth and changing them out every year or two. The Doctor believed they were looking for a permanent piece of art for the space. (PROSE: Magic of the Angels)
In 2013, as his TARDIS was transported over Trafalgar Square by helicopter, the Eleventh Doctor noted that Nelson had seen "better days". At this time, the statue stood atop a weathered old column, (PROSE: The Day of the Doctor) which remained intact. (TV: The Day of the Doctor)
Sometime later in the 2010s, Nelson's Column was toppled by a forest that grew overnight. As it fell, it almost crushed the Twelfth Doctor and Clara Oswald and broke the statue of Nelson. (TV: In the Forest of the Night)
By the late 21st century, a T-Mat cubicle was installed in Trafalgar Square, just north of Nelson's Column. (TV: The Seeds of Death)
22nd century[]
A Dalek patrol at the foot of Nelson's Column (TV: The Dalek Invasion of Earth)
Around 2167, a Dalek patrol passed the column while chasing Barbara Wright, Dortmun and Jenny. (TV: The Dalek Invasion of Earth)
23rd century[]
The Seventh Doctor hangs from a wire over Nelson's Column. (GAME: Dalek Attack)
In 2254, Nelson's Column survived a Dalek invasion of Earth which saw London liberated by the Doctor. (GAME: Dalek Attack)
Other realities[]
In an alternate timeline, Nelson's Column was destroyed by the Daleks when they invaded Earth in 1903. After the invasion was defeated, it was replaced by the English Empire with Doctor's Column, a statue of the Sixth Doctor, who had aided in their victory. (AUDIO: Jubilee)
In a timeline where the Daleks exterminated humanity in 1963, Nelson's Column, along with London and presumably the rest of the world, was in ruins. When the Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond arrived in the Square in 1963, the Doctor's TARDIS landed next to the statue's toppled head. The timeline was restored when the TARDIS crew travelled to Skaro to destroy the Eye of Time. (GAME: City of the Daleks)
In the Eleven-Day Empire, the statue of Nelson was replaced by a statue of Grandfather Paradox. It was destroyed during the Seventy-Ninth Sontaran Assault Corps' initial attack on the Empire. (AUDIO: The Eleven Day Empire)
Minor references[]
On Vortis, Ian Chesterton noted that the figure on top of the pyramid he and the First Doctor discovered wasn't Nelson. (TV: The Web Planet)
When the Sixth Doctor attempted to fix his TARDIS's chameleon circuit, the out-of-control rapid-fire transformations that ensued (before the Ship returned to its familiar police box shape, though with a new coat of paint) included a brief moment in the form of the Nelson Column. (COMIC: Quick Change)
The Ninth Doctor mentioned that an alien spaceship could be placed in front of Nelson's Column, and humans would just walk around it. Rose Tyler responded that she was there when he did it. (COMIC: The Love Invasion)
On her blog, Rachel Edwards punningly called her articles about Matt Nelson "Nelson columns". (PROSE: Head of State)
