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Tardis
Volcano
Volcano

Flames bursts from a volcano on Sarn. (TV: Planet of Fire [+]Peter Grimwade, Doctor Who season 21 (BBC1, 1984).)

A volcano was an opening in a planet's surface, usually mountainous, which allowed hot lava, ash and gases to escape from below the surface. The word was coined by Pompeiian Lobus Caecilius on witnessing Vesuvius' eruption in 79. He believed that the "great god Vulcan must [have been] so enraged" and described the eruption as "so volcanic" and that it was "like some sort of volcano". (TV: The Fires of Pompeii [+]James Moran, Doctor Who series 4 (BBC One, 2008).)

Volcanoes on Earth[]

Earth at an early stage of its development had many active volcanoes which constantly erupted for millions of years, resulting in the formation of the planet's granite crust. This was observed by the Fourth Doctor, who found the process marvelous, and Sarah Jane Smith, who found it horrible. (AUDIO: Exploration Earth [+]Bernard Venables, BBC Audio Dramas (BBC Radio, 1976).)

The First Doctor, John and Gillian once visited a South Seas island and witnessed a volcanic eruption. (COMIC: Guests of King Neptune [+]Roger Noel Cook, TV Comic Holiday Special stories (1966).)

On 24 August 79, the Roman city of Pompeii was destroyed in the eruption of the volcano Vesuvius. (AUDIO: The Fires of Vulcan [+]Steve Lyons, Main Range (Big Finish Productions, 2000)., TV: The Fires of Pompeii [+]James Moran, Doctor Who series 4 (BBC One, 2008).) The eruption was set off by the Tenth Doctor and his companion Donna Noble, destroying the Pyroviles and opening a rift in time for a second. The event was also a fixed point in time and could not be changed. (TV: The Fires of Pompeii [+]James Moran, Doctor Who series 4 (BBC One, 2008).)

In the 9th century, a Haemovore working with the Twelfth Doctor detonated a volcano on an island in the North Atlantic to destroy the Flood on Earth and avert Fenric's plot to replace the Haemovores with the Flood. (COMIC: The Wolves of Winter [+]Richard Dinnick, Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor (Titan Comics, 2017).)

The Year Without a Summer in 1816 was blamed on volcanic ash, however, the Thirteenth Doctor pondered whether it was really something else which caused it. (TV: The Haunting of Villa Diodati [+]Maxine Alderton, Doctor Who series 12 (BBC One, 2020).)

In 1883, the Doctor witnessed the eruption of the volcano Krakatoa. (TV: Inferno [+]Don Houghton, Doctor Who season 7 (BBC1, 1970)., Rose [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 1 (BBC One, 2005).) The explosion released at least one captive Xylok to the surface. (TV: The Lost Boy [+]Phil Ford, The Sarah Jane Adventures series 1 (CBBC, 2007).)

In 1984, the Dominator Haag set up base in an Icelandic volcano and attempted to acquire Earth's core for his fleet, causing an increase in volcanic activity. UNIT soldiers investigated and turning his equipment against him, creating an explosion which destroyed the aliens and causing the volcano to erupt. (COMIC: The Fires Down Below [+]John Peel, DWM backup comic stories (Marvel Comics, 1982).)

In 2011, Professor Saurian attempted to raise the Earth's temperature by causing all the planet's volcanoes to erupt at once. The plan was stopped by the Eleventh Doctor, who limited the eruptions to the volcano containing Saurian's base. (COMIC: Extinction Event [+]Steve Lyons, DWA comic stories (BBC Magazines, 2011).)

In 2018, Salamander triggered volcanic eruptions in Hungary as part of his plan to take control of Earth. (TV: The Enemy of the World [+]David Whitaker, Doctor Who season 5 (BBC1, 1967-1968).)

In 2022, as part of the Master's Dalek Plan, the Daleks attempted to trigger several of Earth's volcanoes. When the volcanoes erupted, the Thirteenth Doctor used the cyber-conversion planet to transmute the lava into steel. (TV: The Power of the Doctor [+]Chris Chibnall, Doctor Who Centenary Special 2022 (BBC One, 2022).)

On 27 February 2069, an undersea volcano which Stingray was investigating erupted, though the submarine was well clear of the danger zone. The pressure from the eruption caused a tidal wave on the Portuguese coast, and International Rescue subsequently attended to devastated coastal towns. (PROSE: January to June [+]Dateline stories (City Magazines, 1969).)

In 2167, the Daleks' attempt to mine Earth's core resulted in a volcanic eruption in Bedfordshire. (TV: The Dalek Invasion of Earth [+]Terry Nation, Doctor Who season 2 (BBC1, 1964).) Human historians in the post-Time War universe believed that this eruption had destroyed the Dalek command saucer overseeing the invasion. (PROSE: Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe [+]George Mann, Justin Richards and Cavan Scott, Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe (Ebury Publishing, 2017).)

Volcanoes on other worlds[]

On Dulkis, the Dominators' attempt to turn the planet into starship fuel resulted in a volcanic eruption that threatened the Second Doctor's TARDIS. (TV: The Dominators [+]Norman Ashby, Doctor Who season 6 (BBC1, 1968).)

A massive volcano on Mars created the Olympus Mons crater. (PROSE: Transit [+]Ben Aaronovitch, Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1992).)

On Skaro, the invading Monstrons made their base inside an extinct volcano. A Dalek sacrificed its life to set off a volcanic eruption that destroyed the Monstrons. (COMIC: The Menace of the Monstrons [+]unclear authorship, The Daleks comics (City Magazines, 1965).)

On one planet, a volcano served as the Extortioner's secret base. (COMIC: The Extortioner [+]Roger Noel Cook, TVC comic stories (1966-1967).)

On Spiridon, the city that the Daleks used as a base was cooled by molten ice from the ice volcanoes. (TV: Planet of the Daleks [+]Terry Nation, Doctor Who television stories season 10 (BBC1, 1973).)

Planets with high levels of volcanic activity included Gehenna, (PROSE: Mean Streets [+]Terrance Dicks, Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1997).) Krop Tor, (TV: The Impossible Planet [+]Matt Jones, Doctor Who series 2 (BBC One, 2006). / The Satan Pit [+]Matt Jones, Doctor Who series 2 (BBC One, 2006).) Sarn (TV: Planet of Fire [+]Peter Grimwade, Doctor Who season 21 (BBC1, 1984).) and Tigus. (TV: The Daleks' Master Plan [+]Terry Nation and Dennis Spooner, Doctor Who season 3 (BBC1, 1965-1966).)

An unknown incarnation of the Master ended the Monks' rule of a planet by throwing their "lynchpin", a young girl, into a volcano. As Missy, she later told Bill Potts and the Twelfth Doctor of this when they asked about the Monks due to their rule over Earth. (TV: The Lie of the Land [+]Toby Whithouse, Doctor Who series 10 (BBC One, 2017).)

Hallucination of a volcano[]

Clara Oswald, after entering a dream-like state with a mood patch, believed that she visited a volcano to destroy the TARDIS keys in lava to blackmail the Twelfth Doctor into saving Danny Pink's life. (TV: Dark Water [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 8 (BBC One, 2014).)

References[]

When teleported into Big Brother, the Ninth Doctor baited the system to disintegrate him. When it did not, the Doctor triumphantly noted that if his abductor had been trying to kill him, they could have just dumped him into a volcano. (TV: Bad Wolf [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 1 (BBC One, 2005).) When he found himself teleported to Mira, the Tenth Doctor made the same comparison. (AUDIO: Buying Time [+]John Dorney, Dalek Universe (Big Finish Productions, 2021).)

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