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Tardis
16 July in

the DWU • production history • vital statistics • releases

16 July

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16 July was a date.

Events

In 1918, the former Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II, and his wife, Alexandra, along with all their children, were murdered by the Bolsheviks in Ipatiev House in Ekaterinburg, at the onset of the Russian Civil War. Very shortly before the event, Thomas Preston, the British consul in Ekaterinburg who hoped to stage a rescue, noted the date in his diary and recorded that he felt everyone was on the edge of a precipice. The First Doctor, Susan Foreman, Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright were also present at this time, but felt they were unable to interfere with events. (AUDIO: Last of the Romanovs [+]Jonathan Barnes, The First Doctor Adventures: Volume Four (The First Doctor Adventures, Big Finish Productions, 2020).)

The instance in 1945, a Monday, was the day in which the United States detonated its first atomic weapon. The Trinity detonation of the Manhattan Project took place at 45 seconds past 5:29 am in the Jornada del Muerto desert in New Mexico. (PROSE: Atom Bomb Blues [+]Andrew Cartmel, BBC Past Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 2005).)

C-Day was set for Monday 16 July 1966, but was cancelled when WOTAN was destroyed following its failed attempt to take over London with its War Machines. (TV: The War Machines [+]Ian Stuart Black, Doctor Who season 3 (BBC1, 1966)., PROSE: Who Killed Kennedy [+]David Bishop, Virgin Books (1996)., Time Traveller's Diary [+]Chris Farnell, BBC Children's Books (2020).)

In 1969, the Saturn V rocket that held the Apollo 11 pod on its mission to the Moon was launched from the Kennedy Space Center. The Tenth Doctor watched this launch from the ground. Meanwhile, after Apollo had picked up a visual of unidentifed objects, the secret agents, Spencer and Milledge, took command of Mission Control. (PROSE: Blue Moon [+]Oli Smith, Doctor Who web short stories (2009).)

Parallel universe

In a parallel universe, N-Space Japanese-American cultists tried to destroy the universe at the second of Trinity on 16 July 1945. However, the Seventh Doctor's interference delayed the detonation by one day and the effort was wasted. (PROSE: Atom Bomb Blues [+]Andrew Cartmel, BBC Past Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 2005).)

Behind the scenes

This was one of very few instances in which an old series Doctor Who television story, namely episode four of The War Machines [+]Ian Stuart Black, Doctor Who season 3 (BBC1, 1966)., took place on the same day as its broadcast: 16 July 1966. Another such example is 28 February 1981. The new series also had such occurrences on 25 December 2009 (TV: The End of Time [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who Christmas Special 2009 and New Year Special 2010 (BBC One, 2009-2010).) and 26 June 2010. (TV: The Big Bang [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 5 (BBC One, 2010).)

Within that same serial, though, the 16th of July is portrayed as a Monday, when in the real world 16 July 1966 was a Saturday.

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