13 Doctor Who Earth Invasions Everyone Should Really Remember

All over Doctor Whomany series and episodes, Planet Earth has been invaded several times, but some of these cases were more memorable than others. Many of the biggest Doctor Who stories of all time have seen an alien species descend on the Doctor's favorite planet and cause all manner of destruction and chaos. However, only a select number of these events were so chaotic that the population took notice.

Happily, Doctor WhoUNIT was, most of the time, available to help the titular character save the day. These invasions often resulted in incredible Doctor Who villain revealsespecially in adventures where the Doctor's rival has made an unexpected or anticipated return to the show. There have been many notable invasions of Earth in Doctor Whobut only a selection were so savage that humanity remembered them – raising questions about why certain invasions didn't have a more lasting impact.

13

The Daleks occupy London

"The Dalek Invasion of Earth" (1964)

The classic Doctor Who The Dalek story “The Dalek Invasion of Earth” saw the Doctor's granddaughter Susan depart the TARDIS. When the TARDIS team landed in 22nd century London, Daleks have been seen emerging from the River Thames and lining the streets.

“The Dalek Invasion of Earth” was a surprising invasion of Earth that remained with the population long after it was stopped. The Daleks completely destroyed London and left it in pieces, and the physical damage took time to repair. This played a role in why Doctor Who said goodbye to Susan, as she fell in love with a human and decided to help him rebuild society, along with the remaining survivors of Dalek tyranny, marking the story as a pivotal episode in the series' human chronology.

12

UNIT faces the cybermen

"The Invasion" (1968)

While the classic Doctor Who The period series “The Invasion” was not the first time that the Doctor encountered the Cybermen, it was the first occasion that the villains invaded Earth on such a large scale. With the help of Tobias Vaughn, the Cybermen took control of London's sewers and began killing the population or analyzing them for conversion.

This resulted in a huge street battle between the Cybermen and UNIT soldiers, and later the Cybership heading to Earth was destroyed by a government rocket. Although humanity was unaware of the spacecraft's arrival, anyone on the ground would have undoubtedly spotted the hundreds of Cybermen storming the streets, making this a theoretically unforgettable invasion.

11

The Ice Warriors disperse their pods across Earth

"The Seeds of Death" (1969)

Doctor WhoThe Ice Warriors returned in "The Seeds of Death" and attempted to take over Earth using the planet's own T-Mat system. In the year 2086, Earth had access to instant travel, and the Ice Warriors took command of their lunar base before sending their seeds across the planet.

The capsules reached several cities in the United Kingdom, killed many people and ruined local areas with their foam. The mysterious foam caused anyone who inhaled it to drastically lose oxygen, an image that whoever found one should not have forgotten so soon. This was an occurrence on Earth that technically could have been ignored, but the circumstances were so strange that doing so seemed realistically impossible.

10

Dinosaurs roam London

"Invasion of the Dinosaurs" (1974)

The titular event of the “Invasion of the Dinosaurs” series was so wild that it bordered on the unbelievable, even for Doctor Who patterns. Sarah Jane and the Third Doctor were surprised to find 1970s London in complete despair, as the population ransacked the streets and UNIT tried to regain some form of control. However, the various species of dinosaurs that also inhabited the area were even more surprising.

Anyone who wasn't part of UNIT didn't know that dinosaurs were transported back in time as part of a plan to wipe out civilization. Any time aliens arrived on Earth was memorable enough, but there was no way humanity would ever have forgotten the dinosaurs on the streets. Doctor Who I strangely didn't reference this series again after that, but the events were not reversed too, then it would have remained a memorable occasion.

9

The Auton Shop mannequins wake up

"Rose" (2005)

The Ninth Doctor's first encounter with Rose Tyler also involved him facing the Nestene Consciousness again. After Nestene brought every window mannequin in the UK to life, the Autons attacked the population and brutally killed many, although one lucky survivor was Rose's mother, Jackie.

This raid on “Rose” was a great way to Doctor Who return to screens after decades off the air, and it was a moment humanity would not quickly forget. One moment, everything was peaceful and people were shopping happily, but within seconds families were being slaughtered by Nestene's excited lackeys. Those affected should have remembered this forever, although they probably forced themselves to ignore any mannequins while shopping afterwards.

8

The Slitheen take over Downing Street

"Aliens Of London" and "World War III" (2005)

The first season of Doctor Who After its 2005 reboot, it was a busy time for invasions of Earth. The Slitheen made their first appearance in the episode “Aliens of London”, which saw his ship collide with Big Ben and plunge into the River Thames. This was broadcast publicly for the world to see, and there was constant coverage of the ship's mysterious arrival throughout the escapade.

The world unknowingly watched the true threat be exchanged for nuclear launch codes and huddled in fear of what the consequences would be. At the end of the “Third World War”, 10 Downing Street was blown up and Doctor Who It technically broke the Geneva Convention, something the population should never have forgotten. These events led to Harriet Jones' campaign for Prime Minister, although many seemed to forget her experience with aliens when it came to her fall at the hands of the Doctor in "The Christmas Invasion."

7

Humans with A+ blood climb to the roof

"The Christmas Invasion" (2005)

Christmas Day 2006 was busy in London, especially when a third of the world's population randomly climbed onto the roof of the nearest building while possessed by the Sycorax. The species' ship hovered over the city and taunted humanity in "The Christmas Invasion", the Doctor's first story in his tenth incarnation, and when the Sycorax found an A+ human blood sample on a space probe, they used it to control them.

With so many people at risk, including the British Royal Family, the United Kingdom faced one of the most stressful Christmas days of its lifetime. Many panicked as they tried to calm their loved ones, while others didn't even remember it as they were in a trance. Most of humanity should have remembered this Doctor Who Christmas forever, even if it was just because it snowed after the aliens left.

6

The Domination of Cybus Industries

"Rise Of The Cybermen" and "Age Of Steel" (2006)

Although John Lumic's EarPods initially seemed like a groundbreaking invention, the surviving residents of Pete's World deeply regret purchasing them at the end of “Age of Steel.” Cybus Industries' invention allowed the company to control the free will of anyone using them and obtain any personal data they wanted to access.

EarPods eventually took control of users' brains and forced them to walk the streets in a daze and straight to the nearest conversion center. Those who didn't jump on the EarPods trend, if they were lucky enough to be lost to the metal villains, were forced to watch Cybermen line the streets and march others straight to their deaths. Lumic was stopped and humanity may have continued peacefully, but those who paid attention would know that there were other cybernetic factories out there with millions of inactive cybermen.

5

Ghosts and the Daleks vs. The cybermen

"Army of Ghosts" and "Doomsday" (2006)

With the exception of Donna Noble, who was diving in Spain at the time, the entire world should have remembered Earth's skies full of Daleks and Cybermen. Humanity was amazed when their loved ones returned to visit them in the form of blurred ghosts in “Army of Ghosts”, but it was later revealed that these figures were actually Cybermen.

Within Torchwood, the Cult of Skaro emerged and an all-out war began. between the two Doctor Whothe best recurring villains. As both tyrannical groups killed as many as possible, the streets below suffered as well, and many humans were needlessly killed in the crossfire or directly by the Cybermen and Daleks. The death toll from the Battle of Canary Wharf was monumental, but there was also damage to the entire world because of the millions of Daleks and Cybermen who were violently torn apart across the planet and into the void, creating what should have been a lasting legacy.

4

The Sontarans poison the Earth with ATMOS

"The Sontaran Strategy" and "The Poisonous Sky" (2008)

While much of humanity didn't realize an alien invasion was happening in "The Sontaran Stratagem" and "The Poison Sky," they did remember choking on the poisonous gas emitted by their cars' ATMOS. The system was a creation of the Sontarans, who used it to poison the Earth with clones. for an entirely new army.

Although Planet Earth was unaware of the Sontarans' presence, they knew that ATMOS spitting dangerous gases at them was not normal. Humanity may have attributed these events to global warming and general pollution, although its enormous quantity and the chaos it caused clearly proved otherwise. The Doctor also ignited the atmosphere to burn off the clone's power supply, and it must have been incredibly difficult for anyone looking out the window not to notice him.

3

The Daleks test the reality bomb

"The Stolen Land" and "Journey's End" (2008)

Out of everything Doctor WhoAfter Israel's invasions of the Earth, humanity should remember the events of “The Stolen Land” and “Journey's End” more than any other. The sudden arrival of dozens of planets in the sky was impossible to miss, and the Daleks' dominance of suburban streets has resulted in the deaths of many.

The Daleks used humans to test the Reality Bomb, and several people died during the experiments or were shot down when they refused to follow orders. These events impacted human historyespecially for Adelaide Brooke, who became commander of Bowie Base One after a Dalek spared her as a child around this time. The trauma of these events may have forced humanity to forget for their own peace of mind, but the one person who definitely didn't remember it was Donna Noble.

2

The CyberKing invades Victorian London

"The Next Doctor" (2008)

The cyber invasion of Victorian London in “The Next Doctor,” an initially implied story featuring multiple doctors, was briefly forgotten by humanity but was later remembered. The CyberKing was a ship that looked exactly like a Cyberman, which, when activated, towered menacingly over London.. Due to CyberKing's size, it was physically impossible for anyone nearby to miss him.

The massive structure ripped through the city, creating panic on the ground below, spraying water from the Thames and crushing everything in its path. The Eleventh Doctor was later surprised in “Flesh and Stone” that no one remembered this, but after Big Bang Two, the rifts in time were sealed, and these forgotten events were reestablished, as he confirmed in The Adventures of Sarah Jane. Despite this brief moment, it was possible that the history books simply thought this moment was so unbelievable that it was ignored.

1

The toymaker manipulates the minds of humanity

"The Laughter" (2023)

“The Giggle” saw the most recent invasion of Earth in Doctor Whoalthough it was humanity itself that created problems. The toy manufacturer in Doctor Who has always been a manipulative and complicated figure, but in “The Giggle”, he drove humans mad, made them turn against each other, and made them believe that they were always right.

UNIT would remarkably remember these events, especially because of Toymaker singing the Spice Girls, but also because of the destruction humanity caused itself. Doctor Who season 14 didn't mention it outside of UNIT afterwards, and it seemed that the Toymaker's meddling did not make much of a lasting impact, although this could be because there was no visible threat that the humans could place blame on. Still, the population was likely to remember the general chaos of the situation.