Arcadia was, according to theEleventh Doctor, "Gallifrey's secondcity". (TV:The Day of the Doctor^[+]Loading...["The Day of the Doctor (TV story)"]) It was located in theArcadian desert. (AUDIO:Mistfall^[+]Loading...["Mistfall (audio story)"])

History[[edit] |[edit source]]

Early history[[edit] |[edit source]]

During the war with theGreat Vampires, there was a military barracks located outside of Arcadia. (PROSE:The Multi-Faceted War^[+]Loading...["The Multi-Faceted War (short story)"])

TheFirst Doctor once planned to live in Arcadia withSusan Foreman. He and Susan performed a ritual there with a group of rebelliousPrydonians.The Master was also present at the ritual. (AUDIO:The Toy^[+]Loading...["The Toy (audio story)"]) Later, when Susan and the Doctor encountered theSensorites during their travels, Susan told theFirst Elder that her homeplanet was "quite likeEarth, but atnight thesky is a burnedorange, and theleaves on thetrees are brightsilver." (TV:The Sensorites^[+]Loading...["The Sensorites (TV story)"]) By one account, Susan's description of silver trees and an orange night sky was of agarden in Arcadia. (AUDIO:The Shoreditch Intervention^[+]Loading...["The Shoreditch Intervention (audio story)"])The Doctor considered it an industrious city. (PROSE:How to be a Time Lord^[+]Loading...["How to be a Time Lord (novel)"])

In an avertedtimeline,Narvin once dined in the palace of Arcadia with a delegation ofSunari. (AUDIO:Intervention Earth^[+]Loading...["Intervention Earth (audio story)"])

One account, which knew Arcadia only as the site of theFall of Arcadia in theTime War, acknowledged that theEleventh Doctor andAmy Pond had visited Arcadia and presumed that they did so in an earliertime zone. (PROSE:Doctor Who: The Encyclopedia^[+]Loading...["Doctor Who: The Encyclopedia (2011 reference book)"]) However, another account established the existence of ahumancolonyplanet, which was also namedArcadia. (PROSE:Deceit^[+]Loading...["Deceit (novel)"])

During the Last Great Time War[[edit] |[edit source]]

Main article:Fall of Arcadia

Dalek Attack Ships descend on Arcadia (PROSE:The Whoniverse)

During theLast Great Time War, Arcadia was thought to be "the safest place on Gallifrey", protected by 400sky trenches. (TV:The Last Day^[+]Loading...["The Last Day (TV story)"]) A posting in Arcadia, scanning the sky trenches, was considered an easy and secure job, desirable among soldiers. (AUDIO:The Conscript^[+]Loading...["The Conscript (audio story)"]) It was believed that nothing could get through their defences. (TV:The Last Day^[+]Loading...["The Last Day (TV story)"])

The Daleks created ahypnoscape simulation of Arcadia which was visited bySusan Foreman and theEighth Doctor. (AUDIO: 'The Shoreditch Intervention^[+]Loading...["The Shoreditch Intervention (audio story)"])

Despite the city's defences,Dalek forces managed to breach these supposedly impregnable defences on the last day of the War. While one alone was enough to lay waste to Arcadia, countless others descended to destroy everything and sent Arcadia's residents fleeing for their lives, with soldiers desperately trying to fight off the enormous fleet in a losing battle. This led to the fall of the city, which was depicted in apainting. TheWar Doctor was present; extremely weary by this point in his life from combat, loss and suffering, he chose this location to serve notice to both Daleks and Time Lords alike that he was going to end the Time War today. (TV:The Last Day^[+]Loading...["The Last Day (TV story)"],The Day of the Doctor^[+]Loading...["The Day of the Doctor (TV story)"])

The Doctors bare witness to the ruined state of Arcadia. (TV:The Day of the Doctor)

During theFall of Arcadia, the War Doctor borrowed the gun of aTime Lord soldier to blast the message to both Daleks andTime Lords on a wall — "No more". Once the message was completed, he flewhis TARDIS through a wall and into a group of Daleks before fleeing the city. (TV:The Day of the Doctor^[+]Loading...["The Day of the Doctor (TV story)"])Bowships were used in the battle, but failed to prevent the city's fall. (PROSE:A Prologue^[+]Loading...["A Prologue (short story)"])

The Moment showed the War Doctor,Tenth Doctor, Eleventh Doctor, andClara Oswald the ruined state Arcadia had been left in by the Time War. Among these images were innocent civilians screaming and crying in terror as Arcadia was torn apart by Dalek invasion. This was a deliberate choice so the Doctors and Clara would understand the ultimate consequences of destroying Gallifrey. This helped convince them to find a more peaceful solution to end the war. (TV:The Day of the Doctor^[+]Loading...["The Day of the Doctor (TV story)"])

After the Time War[[edit] |[edit source]]

Before theBattle of Canary Wharf, the Tenth Doctor later mentioned that he was present at the Fall of Arcadia, and that he still hadn't recovered from it. He hoped one day to come to terms with it. (TV:Doomsday^[+]Loading...["Doomsday (TV story)"])

Whena Time Lordauthor wroteA Brief History of Time Lords, he regardedthe Capitol and Arcadia as Gallifrey's two main cities. (PROSE:A Brief History of Time Lords^[+]Loading...["A Brief History of Time Lords (novel)"])