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Tardis
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Tardis
Pluto

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Pluto was a celestial body in the Sol system between Neptune and Cassius, which was at various points in history considered to be either a planet (TV: The Sun Makers) or a dwarf planet. (AUDIO: The Anachronauts) K9 called it the ninth planet of the solar system. (TV: The Sun Makers) It had a moon called Charon. (PROSE: Pluto, GodEngine)

Classification

While it was considered a planet in the 20th century, it was classified as a dwarf planet by Steven Taylor's time. (AUDIO: The Anachronauts) However, some still called it a planet in later eras. (TV: The Sun Makers)

Gillian Roberts apparently had no idea that Pluto was a planet. She thought that it was a cartoon dog. (PROSE: Time and Relative)

History

In 2050, Professor Alistair Gryffen revealed that Pluto was home to voracious, omnivorous microbes that devoured anything in their path, the worst bacteria in all the cosmos. They had been spliced with ordinary yeast cells to create a monster. (TV: Black Hunger)

In the 22nd century it hosted the Lowell Depot, which was attached to the Sol Transit System, and over three cities. The settlements of Yamaha, Dentsu and Nagorno-Karabakh were Japanese colonies. (PROSE: Transit)

Pluto supported a 30,000 year old civilisation of crystalline humanoids until they were wiped out by a flood of ionising radiation in 2157. (PROSE: GodEngine)

After the Earth's resources were exhausted, the humans, in dire need of help, made a deal with the Company to settle Mars. After that planet was depleted, the Usurians moved the humans to Pluto. To this end the planet was terraformed with an atmosphere, and a city which the Doctor found quite impressive, Megropolis One. Later five more Megropolises were constructed. Each Megropolis was lighted by one of six artificial suns, in the form of fusion satellites. At the end, the planet housed 300 million humans.

Megropolis One was the main administrative centre, where the Collector administered the operation through human underlings from his palace. Other cities were Megropolis Three, which housed miners, and Megropolis Four. All Megropolises had extensive industrial capacity.

As a side-effect of the perpetual day caused by the artificial suns, many inhabitants were afraid of the dark. The monetary unit was the talmar.

Humans in the colony were ruthlessly exploited. They were drugged through the air with a substance called PCM, making them subservient. Furthermore they were taxed extensively, with tax evasion or simply being unable to pay the high fees a grave crime. Criminal offences were curbed through screening with an extensive surveillance system, and caught criminals were deported to a detention centre in Megropolis One, where they usually did not survive very long. A more severe form of punishment was execution by steamer, often public.

A freer society of outlaws existed in the undercity though, where PCM was not distributed and people were able to think more freely. They eventually, with the help of the Fourth Doctor, managed to sabotage the PCM dispersion system in Megracity one, which led to a successful uprising against the company. Once the company retreated, declaring their branch to be no longer profitable, the humans intended to re-settle the Earth, which the Doctor thought to have been regenerated. (TV: The Sun Makers)

The First Doctor moved the Cold to the far future of Pluto. (PROSE: Time and Relative)

On Charon, a living shadow was captured by the combined telekinesis of a septet of extraterrestrial beings who had been placed in stasis within the shadow's lair. A scientific expedition to the planet disturbed this and ruined the whole system with the overzealous Professor Magellan murdering all the aliens when they took one of his men to replace their own and keep the shadow under mental lock and key. Luckily the Doctor and the team combined their will power to purge the shadow of all aggression and hatred, neutralising its threat forever. (PROSE: Pluto)

When asked about her holiday experiences, Donna Noble listed Pluto among the locations which she had visited. (COMIC: The Widow's Curse)

Behind the scenes

  • As a matter of fact, Pluto is also a cartoon dog — in fact, one that K9 was almost named after before Disney refused to give permission.[1]
  • Pluto is also noteworthy for recently being declassified as a planet. Although most stories since this reclassification occurred have attempted to stay true to this belief, some stories made before this occurred set in the future featured references to it as a planet.

Footnotes

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