Oh, The Places We've Seen: Part 4

Sadly, this year's trip to England will skirt the wonderful, bustling city of London, one of the great metropolises of the world. (In case you're interested, on the day we arrive in Heathrow, instead of taking the underground to London, we'll be driving our rental car in the opposite direction, toward the historic rock formation of Stonehenge). So I thought I'd reminisce with this series of posts about some of the great places we've visited on our previous trips to England, and in this post I continue from Part 3, still concentrating on the city of London.

On the day we cruised the River Thames, we boarded the river taxi from a dock located directly across from Millbank Tower. Tony Blair rented this building, for two years, to house the Labour Party, and it was from here that he launched the victorious 1997 campaign that swept the Labour Party into power. 

As the former Prime Minister said in his memoir, A Journey, the party had been out of power so long that it had to learn how to rule again, instead of just criticizing everything the majority party (the Conservatives) did. Had Jean Price, the protagonist in the TV series "No Job for a Lady," been an MP during that time, she would have found her day-to-day mode of operating changed considerably. 

It's a real shame they didn't film a sequel series, like they did with "Yes, Prime Minister." While Tony Blair accomplished much during his ten years in Number 10 Downing Street, his failure to orchestrate the return of such an educational and entertaining sitcom (or Britcom) remains a regrettable blot upon an otherwise enviable record. 

Millbank Tower also holds an important place in Doctor Who. While it features in no Dalek stories (at least none of which I am aware), it served as the headquarters of Tobias Vaughn, who uses the might of his company International Electromatics to help the Cybermen take over the world in "The Invasion." Later, it housed the World Energy Conference, which a strange alien race hopes to disrupt in "Terror of the Zygons." In order to achieve this, they send a dreaded Scarasen, better known as the Loch Ness monster, to attack the building.

Thankfully, the Doctor manages to outwit the Zygons, thereby saving Millbank Tower, and allowing this important conference to continue. But then, what else would you expect from such a wise and able Timelord?

Dragon Dave

Related Dragon Cache entries
The Dreaded Scarasen of the River Thames

Related Internet Links
Watch the trailer for "No Job for a Lady"
Watch "Terror of the Zygons: Part 1"
Watch "The Invasion: Part 1" (Note: this is a reconstruction of a missing episode using still photos and short film sequences. If you buy the DVD, you can see an animated version of this episode).