The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, more commonly known as the United Kingdom, is a country in Europe. It appears in The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon.
Pre-Apocalypse
The lands of the UK have been inhabited continuously since the Neolithic. In AD 43 the Roman conquest of Britain began; the Roman departure was followed by Anglo-Saxon settlement. In 1066, the Normans conquered England. With the end of the Wars of the Roses the English state stabilized and began to grow in power, resulting by the 16th century in the annexation of Wales, the domination of Scotland, and the establishment of the British Empire. Over the course of the 17th century, the role of the British monarchy was reduced, particularly as a result of the English Civil War. In 1707, the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland united under the Treaty of Union to create the Kingdom of Great Britain. The Acts of Union 1800 incorporated the Kingdom of Ireland to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801. Most of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922 as the Irish Free State, and the Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927 created the present United Kingdom.
The UK became the first industrialized country and was the world's foremost power for the majority of the 19th and early 20th centuries, particularly during the "Pax Britannica" between 1815 and 1914. At its height in the 1920s, the British Empire encompassed almost a quarter of the world's landmass and population, and was the largest empire in history. However, its involvement in the First World War and the Second World War damaged Britain's economic power and a global wave of decolonization led to the independence of most British colonies. It was also a founding member of the United Nations (UN), World Health Organization (WHO), and North Atlantic Treaty Organization. By 2010 before the outbreak, United Kingdom had became a global power although it faced some economic challenges including questioning of EU membership and immigration debates.
Elizabeth Kublek was an attaché for the UK Ministry of Defense. It's unknown who was the prime minister as of the outbreak, but it can be presumed that it was David Cameron who became prime minister following the Conservative Party's victory in the 2010 General Election on May 6, 2010. The current monarchy of the United Kingdom at that time, was ruled by Queen Elizabeth II, having ascended the throne on February 6, 1952.
Post-Apocalypse
According to Angus and Fiona, during the onset of the outbreak, the British Military "locked down" the island to prevent societal collapse, securing it against the undead. This would make the United Kingdom one of the only countries known to have survived well into the Wildfire Virus pandemic. This could also indicate that the UK's governmental systems have remained largely intact or that it survived under martial law. Despite this, it's also known that there are large areas of the UK that had been left desolate by the apocalypse. It's unclear what happened to the National Health Service (NHS) though it can be presumed that it was on the frontlines during the start of the outbreak.
Within the first few years, the British Army secured the Channel Tunnel, setting up a checkpoint near the French end with the intention of allowing surviving British citizens to return while keeping the French out. Angus and Fiona were able to use the Channel Tunnel to travel to France in order to get married, but the British checkpoint eventually fell after the soldiers went insane and killed each other due to the psychoactive effects of bat guano in the tunnel.
According to Losang, England has access to boats that can travel as far as Newfoundland, Canada. Losang arranges for one of these boats to transport Daryl Dixon in order to help him get home, but Daryl ultimately remains behind in France instead. Daryl, Carol Peletier, Codron, Angus, and Fiona later decide to use the Chunnel to cross from France to England in the hopes of finding a way back to America in England. Due to the same psychoactive effects of bat guano that had caused the British soldiers to go crazy, Daryl and Carol are ultimately the only ones to complete the journey to England.
However, England eventually fell to the point that Julian Chamberlain believes himself to be the last Englishman in England for many years. While sealing off the country worked at first, both the walkers and the people got out of control, leading to the collapse of the UK. The survivors went after each other, broke off into tribes, and started looking for someone to blame. People tried to get out, but the country was sealed up, meaning that at first no one could get in and then no one could get out when things went bad. Although the British Military has at least one armed checkpoint guarding the city of London, the checkpoint either fell or was abandoned, and London became overrun by the undead, with Queen Elizabeth II likely dying and reanimating as one of them. The fate of the rest of the British Isles is unknown; it's possible Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland continue to survive albeit severely infested.
When Daryl and Carol arrive in England, they find no sign of people or walkers at first and much of what they pass through in ruins and reclaimed by nature, including London. In London, Daryl and Carol are trapped by a massive herd of thousands of walkers in a London Apartment Building with the walkers having been dormant for so long that many had vegetation growing on them. Daryl and Carol meet Julian who reveals the fall of the country and the fact that he is seemingly the last survivor. Daryl and Carol convince Julian to leave with them in a sailboat that he had been intending to use before his friends died years before. Julian uses Big Ben to lure the herd away and he, Daryl and Carol depart England for America. However, a storm wrecks the sailboat on the shores of Spain and Julian dies.
Notable Locations
- London, England
- Big Ben
- London Apartment Building
- Tower Bridge
- Westminster Bridge
- Channel Tunnel - Partially Located Here
Inhabitants
TV UniverseFormerly |
Comic Universe |