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St Luke's University was a university in Bristol. By 2017, the Twelfth Doctor had spent almost seventy years working there as a lecturer, while both he and Nardole guarded a secret vault hidden beneath the university campus. It was here where the Doctor first met Bill Potts. (TV: The Pilot)

History[]

In the 1940s, (AUDIO: Regeneration Impossible) the Twelfth Doctor and Nardole integrated themselves into the university, with Nardole serving as the Doctor's valet as he taught at the university under the guise of a science professor. Bill Potts also got a job serving in the canteen. Bill regularly attended the Doctor's lectures despite not being a student there, leading him to invite her to his office and offer to be her personal tutor, the pair regularly meeting there at 6pm. (TV: The Pilot)

Given that St Luke's was one of the few places where the Doctor had been stationary, Jenny tracked him down there, though crashing her bowship into the library. After being introduced to Bill and Nardole, she informed them of the threat from the Void, with the lingering white energy on her bowship being used to infect the students. When three separate incarnations of the Doctor flew into the Void to stop the threat, the companions held the line at St Luke's until the threat passed, the Ninth Doctor returning everyone who shouldn't be there to their proper places in time. (COMIC: The Lost Dimension)

After Bill had reunited with Heather, she convinced her girlfriend to try being human again, (PROSE: Twice Upon a Time) Bill taking the opportunity to resume her studies at St Luke's. (WC: The Best of Days)

Shadow World[]

In the Shadow World, a virtual reality designed by the Monks to be a perfect copy of the Doctor's universe, simulacra of the Twelfth Doctor and Nardole worked at St Luke's University. His companion, Bill Potts was a student.

The Pope visited the university, inviting the Doctor to the Vatican to read the Veritas. (TV: Extremis)

Other Dimensions[]

St Luke's existed in other dimensions. Among these include one where the clock tower was never built, one where it was ruined by a war and one where it was in a desolate wasteland. (AUDIO: Dead Media)

Campus[]

In 2017, the campus of St Luke's University varied in architectural style. While the main building at the entrance to the university appeared fairly old, some of the architecture around the campus looked as if it had been built more recently. (TV: The Pilot)

St Luke's lecture hall (The Pilot)

One of St Luke's University's lecture halls. (TV: The Pilot)

The Twelfth Doctor had a private office in the main building of the university, where he also kept his TARDIS. The building also contained a large lecture hall.

The quadrangle outside the main building, where Bill Potts first met Heather, led to a secret entrance to a mysterious vault, which was located beneath the university. A canteen and a kitchen were also somewhere on campus, where Bill Potts worked. (TV: The Pilot, World Enough and Time)

The university was also home to the Terrance Dicks Library, (COMIC: The Lost Dimension) and to a clock tower which was visible from the quad. (AUDIO: Dead Media)

Building D contained the A/V club. (AUDIO: Dead Media)

Staff and students[]

Staff[]

By 2017, the Twelfth Doctor had been a lecturer at the university for several decades. (TV: The Pilot, Knock Knock) He lectured on topics as diverse as poetry, the physics of time (TV: The Pilot) and was even supposed to do a lecture on crop rotation, though he opted for space. (TV: Oxygen) Nardole was acting as his valet. Bill Potts worked at the university as a canteen assistant. (TV: The Pilot)

Students[]

Bill Potts became a student after the Doctor took a shine to her. Heather was also a student there. (TV: The Pilot) Bill's friend Shireen, as well as her friends Harry, Felicity, Paul and Pavel also attended St Luke's. (TV: Knock Knock) Another student questioned the Doctor during one of his lectures. (TV: Oxygen) Derek also attended the Twelfth Doctor's lectures. (PROSE: Diamond Dogs)

Behind the scenes[]

  • In reality there are two universities in Bristol: the University of Bristol and the University of the West of England. In age and architecture, St Luke's more closely resembles the former.
  • Earlier in production, this location was named St Jude's University.[1]
  • Most of the students in lectures were extras from the general public such as Joe of the YouTube channel TARDISArchives.[2]
  • The majority of buildings used for exterior shots of the University are buildings owned by Cardiff University.

Footnotes[]

  1. BBC One (19 April 2017). The Pilot: Production Artwork. BBC Doctor Who. Retrieved on 19 April 2017.
  2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITB0CLZoQ8c
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