Scotland

Scotland
Type:	Country
Location:	United Kingdom
First mentioned in:	Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks
First appearance:	The Highlanders
Appearances:	see list

British Isles
British IslandsUnited Kingdom
Channel Islands

Scotland was a constituent country of the United Kingdom.

According to the Eleventh Doctor, it "never conquered anywhere, [...] not even Shetland." (TV: Let's Kill Hitler) The capital of Scotland was Edinburgh, although the largest city was Glasgow, which was home to Torchwood Two. (PROSE: The Twilight Streets)

The Fourth Doctor once described Scottish as "haggis, bagpipes. Robbie Burns and deep-fried Mars Bars". (PROSE: The Very Last Picture Show) The Twelfth Doctor described Scottish weather as changeable in the extreme. (COMIC: Terrorformer)

According to the Twelfth Doctor, Scotland was always seeking independence, no matter which planet they landed on. (TV: Smile) Indeed, on leaving the Earth, they even took a separate ship from the Starship UK. (TV: The Beast Below)

The Doctor and Scotland

It was referenced many times when the Eleventh Doctor, Rory Williams or Amy Pond herself were making jokes about Amy's personality. (TV: The Eleventh Hour, The Beast Below, A Good Man Goes to War, Let's Kill Hitler, Asylum of the Daleks)

Both the Seventh and Twelfth Doctors had noticeable Scottish accents, with the latter making note of it as part of his persona following his regeneration. He initially complained about the accent of English company, namely Clara Oswald and Jenny Flint, describing it as infectious and incomprehensible. However, he was relieved when he found he could understand the accent of the Silurian, Vastra, saying that he finally found someone who was talking properly. Upon accidentally landing in Glasgow while attempting to take Clara home, she noted he would be right at home with his new persona. (TV: Deep Breath) Robin Hood later stated that the Doctor was pale as milk, since "Scots are strangers to vegetables." (TV: Robot of Sherwood) Bernice Summerfield observed that the Twelfth Doctor had more of a Glaswegian accent as opposed to the Seventh Doctor's Highlands accent. (PROSE: Big Bang Generation)

The Tenth Doctor could easily mimic a Scottish accent. (TV: Tooth and Claw) George Litefoot also detected "hints of Scots" in his natural Cockney English accent. (AUDIO: The Jago & Litefoot Revival)

Geography

Loch Lomond was located in Scotland, and located in it were Inchfad Isle, Inchconnachan Isle, and Aldochlay. (AUDIO: Wirrn Isle)

History

Early history

The Twelfth Doctor and Nardole in Scotland (TV: The Eaters of Light)

The Twelfth Doctor, Nardole and Bill Potts visited Aberdeen in the 2nd century to settle an argument about the Ninth Legion of the Roman army. (TV: The Eaters of Light)

The Sixth Doctor sent the Borad back to Scotland in the 12th century implying he might end up as the Loch Ness Monster. (TV: Timelash)

In the 13th century, Scotland took over Orkney. (AUDIO: The Revenants)

The English seized the castle of Edinburgh from the Scottish, only for it to be retaken by Thomas Randolph in 1314. (PROSE: The Many Hands)

In the mid-15th century, the Scottish Border Wars were a series of territory conflicts fought between Scotland and England. In 1447, a minor battle was fought in Alnwick which was won by a Scottish warlord. Iris Wildthyme visited Scotland and participated in a caber tossing contest. (PROSE: Iris at the V&A)

In 1540, during the reign of James V, a "shooting star" carrying a Lupine Wavelength Haemovariform crashed in Scotland. (WC: Tardisode 2, TV: Tooth and Claw)

Mary, Queen of Scots was beheaded because her cousin, Elizabeth I of England, suspected that she was plotting against her. (PROSE: Girl Power!)

17th century

King James of Scotland and England. (TV: The Witchfinders)

In 1603, King James VI of Scotland succeeded Elizabeth I, becoming King James I of England. He continued her Protestant reforms. According to the Eighth Doctor, his accent was so thick, members of his new English court required a translator. A close advisor to the new king was William Lethbridge-Stewart, an ancestor of Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart. (PROSE: The Dying Days, Birthright) Over his reign, James granted Royal Charters for various organisations such as universities. (PROSE: Girl Power!)

An influential version of the Bible was ordered by him, and eventually bore his name. The First Doctor and Vicki Pallister once passed by the room where the translators were busy working on what would become the King James Bible. According to Barbara Wright, James' rule was characterised by relative religious tolerance. Though a staunch Protestant, he discouraged persecution of Catholics. Barbara claimed that he realised that "to govern well it made sense to unify people rather than drive them apart". (PROSE: The Plotters)

On 5 November 1605, Guy Fawkes and other Catholic conspirators planned to blow up the Houses of Parliament and kill James and his sons, Henry and Charles, installing his daughter Elizabeth as a puppet queen, in what was known as the Gunpowder Plot. The attempt was thwarted by James's men (GAME: The Gunpowder Plot) and Fawkes's failure was celebrated every year as Bonfire Night. (PROSE: The Night After Hallowe'en)

Upon James' death in 1625, he was succeeded by his son Charles I, who ruled England, Scotland and Ireland.

For eleven years Charles ruled without regard for the Parliament, ultimately causing the English Civil War, which was fought from 1641 to 1651. The Civil War brought down the King and saw the rise of Oliver Cromwell. By December 1648, Charles Stuart was a prisoner on the Isle of Wight and then in the Hurst Castle. Despite his successful escape aided by Polly Wright, he was eventually executed. According to the Second Doctor, no mention of his escape was left in history and his trial was to happen on 20 January 1649. (PROSE: The Roundheads)

James II was overthrown in the Glorious Revolution in November 1688. (AUDIO: The Glorious Revolution)

The United Kingdom

18th century

Jamie McCrimmon in his native 18th century Scottish garb. (TV: The War Games)

In 1705, the Alien Act was passed by the English Parliament. This forced the Scottish Parliament to negotiate full union with England. Later, the two countries' governments united to form the United Kingdom. This was opposed by Jacobite rebels.

On 16 April 1746, during the final battle of the Second Jacobite Rebellion, the Battle of Culloden, the Second Doctor first met his companion Jamie McCrimmon, a native Scot. By this point, George II was King of the United Kingdom. (TV: The Highlanders) Originally from Hanover, George II was contemptuously referred to by Jamie as "a German king". (AUDIO: The Mouthless Dead) Ultimately, Jamie was returned to his own time by the Time Lords. (TV: The War Games)

Bound to England by the Act of Union, (PROSE: The Many Hands) Scotland was drawn into battle against France in the Seven Years' War , a conflict which Slitheen disguised as Sir Edward Scott Cameron would describe as a prequel to World War I and "a glorious affair" that "spanned continents" and "consumed countless lives". (AUDIO: Death on the Mile) By 1759, Scotland's best soldiers were fighting the French across Europe. Those that were left on the Scottish home front were compared by the Tenth Doctor to Dad's Army. (PROSE: The Many Hands)

The wearing of tartan was banned in Scotland after the Jacobite Rising. (AUDIO: Night's Black Agents)

In 1788, a representative of the Celestial Intervention Agency visited Scotland and questioned Jamie about his involvement in the Glorious Revolution in 1688 after restoring his memories of his travels with the Second Doctor. (AUDIO: The Glorious Revolution)

19th century

Torchwood House. (TV: Tooth and Claw)

In 1879, the Tenth Doctor and Rose Tyler battled a werewolf at the Torchwood Estate in Scotland. Also present was Queen Victoria, who was inspired by the events to establish the Torchwood Institute. (TV: Tooth and Claw) Among the branches of the Torchwood Institute was Torchwood Two, based in Glasgow. (TV: Everything Changes)

20th century

Scottish Highland regiments were part of the British Army in World War I. The Highlanders gained a reputation as fierce soldiers in the conflict. The Germans called them "the devils in skirts" and "the ladies from hell". (AUDIO: The Mouthless Dead) Highland regiments were also a part of World War II. (AUDIO: Resistance, The Forsaken)

In 1965, Torchwood agents, including Torchwood Three's Jack Harkness, gave twelve orphan children from near Arbroath to the 456 in exchange for an anti-virus. (TV: Children of Earth: Day Four)

In 1970, the Third Doctor visited Professor Logan's space centre and castle home in Scotland. (COMIC: Doctor Who and the Rocks from Venus)

In 1975, the Fourth Doctor encountered the Zygons and the fabled Loch Ness Monster in the north of Scotland, presumably near Inverness. (TV: Terror of the Zygons)

21st century

In 2003, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart acted as an advisor to the newly established U.S. state of Malebolgia, due to the role he played in the recently devolved Scottish Parliament. (AUDIO: Minuet in Hell)

In 2007, a weatherman anticipated that ghosts would be spreading from London into Scotland. (TV: Army of Ghosts)

In 2030, Scotland played England in the World Cup final in Wembley Stadium, with the Eleventh Doctor calling it "one of the greatest football matches in history!" He meant to take Amy Pond here, but instead they ended up on a space station. (COMIC: Apotheosis)

Later history

In 2119, an underwater mining base called the Drum had been built in Scotland. (TV: Under the Lake)

Scotland was enslaved with the rest of the world during the 22nd century Dalek occupation of Earth, though pockets of resistance existed on the outer islands. The Sixth Doctor and Peri Brown visited occupied Scotland in 2163. (AUDIO: Masters of Earth)

During the 29th century, when the nations of the Earth were evacuating the planet due to solar flares, Scotland refused to be a part of Starship UK, instead building their own ship. (TV: The Beast Below)

In the 162nd century, Scotland was home to the most northerly of Nerva City colonies, on the banks of Loch Lomond. The Sixth Doctor and Flip Jackson arrived on Inchfad Isle by transmat from Nerva City, where they helped colonists Veronica and Roger Buchman to defeat a Wirrn invasion of all the Earth colonies. (AUDIO: Wirrn Isle)

References

According to Ian Chesterton, Susan Foreman thought Japan was a county in Scotland before she was tutored by Barbara Wright. (PROSE: Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks)

Behind the scenes

• The newly regenerated Twelfth Doctor finding solace in being able to understand Vastra's speech, as seen in Deep Breath, is a reference to Vastra's actor, Neve McIntosh, who portrays the Silurian with her natural Scottish accent.