United Nations Intelligence Taskforce
Encyclopedia
UNIT is a fictional military organisation from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who
, Torchwood
and The Sarah Jane Adventures
. Operating under the auspices of the UN, its purpose is to investigate and combat paranormal
and extraterrestrial
threats to the Earth
. In the original Doctor Who series, several UNIT personnel (such as The Brigadier
) played a major role in the programme.
Following the broadcast of the 2005 series, executive producer Russell T Davies claimed that the UN were no longer happy to be associated with the fictional organisation, and the UN's full name could now no longer be used. However, the "UNIT" and "UN" abbreviations could be used, as long as it was not explained what the letters stood for. In 2008, he announced that the organisation's name had been changed to the "Unified Intelligence Taskforce". This new name was first mentioned on-screen in The Sontaran Stratagem
, in which it was indicated in a line of dialogue that the United Nations still supports UNIT with funding.
serial The Web of Fear
(1968) and the Seventh Doctor
serial Remembrance of the Daleks
(1988).
Following these incidents, the newly-formed UNIT's baptism of fire
was an invasion by the Cybermen
, in The Invasion
(1968). The contribution of scientific advice in battling extraterrestrial threats was recognised and both Dr Elizabeth Shaw and the exiled Third Doctor
joined UNIT just in time to help defeat the Auton
s in Spearhead from Space
.
UNIT continued to feature in Doctor Who for the next three years, but when the Third Doctor's exile was lifted, his association with UNIT became more sporadic, especially after his regeneration
into his fourth incarnation
. The last appearance of UNIT in the series for many years was in The Seeds of Doom
(1976); however, the organisation continued to execute its mandate to investigate and combat alien activity. The final appearance of UNIT during the original run of Doctor Who was the Seventh Doctor serial, Battlefield
.
UNIT was mentioned by both its acronym and full name in the 2005 series episodes Aliens of London
and World War Three
, where it sent a delegation to a gathering of experts at 10 Downing Street
. UNIT appeared again the same year in The Christmas Invasion
. In addition to Doctor Who, UNIT continues to be featured in the spin-off series Torchwood
and The Sarah Jane Adventures
.
powers when necessary (The Green Death
). Although it operates under the authority of the United Nations, its members are seconded from the host country's military and are still bound to obey that chain of command
(Spearhead from Space). Ranks, within the UK section of UNIT at least, thus mirror those in the British Army
– Lethbridge-Stewart is a Brigadier, a Major appears in The Christmas Invasion
, and a Colonel and Captain (although Mike Yates, also ranking at Captain, had been a regular in the third doctors tenure in the 1970s) appear in The Sontaran Stratagem
/ The Poison Sky
. UNIT personnel are seconded from the Royal Navy
, British Army
and Royal Air Force
, and are still bound by the UK chain of command
, and the commander reports to the Prime Minister
and the Ministry of Defence
through Department C-19. However, if the commander feels it appropriate and necessary, the commander can request that Geneva overrules the national government. Lethbridge-Stewart, for example, reported to the Ministry of Defence
and the Prime Minister, and Major Blake reported to the Prime Minister in The Christmas Invasion. Due to the international nature of the organisation, it is sometimes viewed with suspicion by local military and national security agencies, who feel that it might impinge on their sovereignty (The Ambassadors of Death
). UNIT's existence is known to the public, but mainly as a security organisation with scientific expertise (The Three Doctors); its actual agenda is classified, some believing it to be some kind of covert counter-terrorist
unit. UNIT has the authority to detain persons indefinitely without trial, appeal, outside contact or legal representation as experienced by Toshiko Sato
before she was recruited to work for the British government by the Torchwood Institute
.
to call on, some custom-made to combat specific threats. Among these are special ammunition described by the Brigadier as armour-piercing
rounds with a solid-core and Teflon coating which "could go through a Dalek". Other munitions include explosive rounds for Yetis, other armour-piercing rounds for robots, and gold-tipped rounds for use against the Cybermen
(as well as silver-bullets as suggested by the Doctor), and rad-steel coated bullets to neutralise Sontaran anti-bullet fields that target copper. In the 1970s produced serials, the British troops of UNIT are armed with standard British Army
weapons such as the L1A1 Self Loading Rifle
, Sterling submachine gun
, Browning Hi-Power
pistol and wear 58 pattern webbing
. For Battlefield in the 80s, they have the Steyr AUG
assault rifle while the Brigadier uses a Webley Revolver
, and in the 2000s, they use special-forces weaponry such as Heckler & Koch G36C carbines, the M4 Carbine
(with different scopes used such as ACOG
and holographic weapon sight
s, as well as equipping CQB receivers
for indoor use), SIG P226
pistols, and wear PLCE
pouches on police tac-vests. They also wear riot-protection arm pads and gloves, and have side-handle batons and quick-cuffs for arrests.
In The Invasion, UNIT had a command centre established in the cargo hold of a Lockheed Hercules military transport aircraft. The Dæmons
featured the UNIT Mobile HQ, a large bus-like vehicle that could be driven to the site of an incident. A mobile command centre is also shown in The Sontaran Stratagem
and The Poison Sky
, where it is depicted as a black articulated lorry
with UNIT insignia.
Prominent members of the British contingent of UNIT included Liz Shaw, Sergeant Benton
, Captain Mike Yates, Jo Grant
and later, Harry Sullivan
. Civilians who have worked with UNIT include the journalist Sarah Jane Smith
. In The Claws of Axos
(1971), an American agent named Bill Filer was sent from Washington to assist in the hunt for the Master
.
In The Christmas Invasion, UNIT is shown to have translation software which can decipher alien languages with great accuracy. The software, or at least the results from the translation, can be loaded on a hand-held device. In The Sound of Drums
, the flying aircraft carrier
Valiant is introduced.
In The Poison Sky, UNIT is shown to be able to command and co-ordinate the world's combined nuclear arsenal for strategic strikes on orbiting alien craft. The Valiant is also shown to be equipped with a scaled down version of the Torchwood weapon that destroyed the Sycorax ship in The Christmas Invasion.
It is mentioned in the Sarah Jane Adventures story, Death of the Doctor
, that UNIT has a Moonbase.
, Bobi Bartlett designed two different styles of uniform. Privates and corporals wore tan shirts and trousers, while ranks of sergeant and above had a jacket and tie to go with them. There was also the assault team, who wore generic army fatigues and berets with UNIT insignia. For UNIT's next appearance, Spearhead from Space
, Christine Rawlins had more of the suits produced which became uniform for all ranks, except for two officers seen in the opening who wear tan shirts and a tie with a UNIT logo printed on. That style of uniform stayed throughout Doctor Who and the Silurians
, but Christine Rawlins had a new design produced for The Ambassadors of Death
which featured only in this story: all ranks – except for the Brigadier, who retained his regular uniform – were given new zip-up jackets without lapels which were worn over a rolled-neck sweater to give them a futuristic look. For Inferno
, UNIT infantry wore Paratrooper camouflage, but from Terror of the Autons
up to Terror of the Zygons
, Barry Letts decided to have UNIT wearing uniforms based on the contemporary army, which consisted of plain green fatigues made by Ken Trew, while the Brigadier, Benton and Yates also wore appropriate contemporary uniform. These were changed for Terror of the Zygons
, as director Douglas Camfield reckoned the green uniforms "looked too soft." For this serial, they wore DPM camouflage
. The Android Invasion
saw them wearing barrack-dress sweaters.
UNIT then had a lengthy absence from the screen, but their small cameo appearance in The Five Doctors
saw a few members wearing contemporary army uniforms with UNIT patches stitched to the sleeves. For their full return in Battlefield
, their look was completely updated. Their appearance in this serial is close to the real-world United Nations Peacekeeping troop outfits. UNIT were represented by a nuclear missile convoy wearing sky-blue berets (beige had been the standard colour up until then) and DPM camouflage with a new insignia of a globe and a pair of wings stitched to the sleeves and beret. There is also a Czech
engineer team wearing Czech camouflage with the same beret as the convoy.
After the series was cancelled and recommissioned, UNIT first had a minor appearance in the episode Aliens of London
. In this episode, UNIT were represented by a small number of high-ranking officers, wearing decorated service-dress with UN patches on the sleeves. UNIT's first major appearance in the new series was in The Christmas Invasion
. Here, a new insignia has been designed based on the Battlefield version, and the infantry wear black uniforms consisting of police clothing and equipment and red berets. Commanding officers wear No. 2 service dress. Other uniforms in post-2000s UNIT include a uniform for scientists, a lab-coat with the UNIT insignia on the chest, and decorated black coats worn by female Captains.
saw the Doctor visit a parallel universe. In this reality, Great Britain has been a republic since at least the 1940s (though probably much earlier) when a fascist revolution overthrew the government and executed the Royal Family. On the international front, the Confederacy
won the American Civil War
, Stalin
was a Menshevik
, the Empire of Japan
successfully built its Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere
, there was no Second World War (Europe having been divided into peacefully co-existing British and Russian spheres of influence) and India
apparently won independence without the partition of the country into separate Hindu and Muslim states. The parallel version of the British contingent of UNIT is an SS
-like state paramilitary organisation known as the Republican Security Forces (RSF). Their uniforms consist of contemporary US Army olive green military fatigues and black garrison caps with white piping. They are armed with a mixture of Russian and German weapons, such as the SKS
rifle and the Walther P1 pistol. Their rank system uses titles based to some extent on the SS: Sergeant Benton is Platoon Under Leader Benton, Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart is Brigade Leader Lethbridge Stewart, and Elizabeth Shaw, a soldier rather than a scientist in their dimension, has the rank of Section Leader (which is apparently a commissioned officer rank, while SS Section Leaders were equal to Lance Corporal). The organisation has full authority to interrogate, court-martial, and formally execute prisoners as they see fit. By the end of the story, most of the members of the RSF were killed when a volcanic cataclysm engulfed Great Britain and left much of their world devastated.
. Different spin-offs have made varying attempts to be consistent with other stories.
(Captain Yates) who reprised his character in the play. The cast also included John Levene
as Benton, and the play was performed between 20 August and 24 August as part of the Edinburgh Fringe
Festival. Due to other commitments, Nicholas Courtney was unable to appear as the Brigadier, but pre-recorded a telephone message from Lethbridge-Stewart which was written into the plot.
mentioned that the troops that Gilmour commanded were from the "Intrusion Counter-Measures Group". UNIT Exposed, the 1991 Doctor Who Magazine
Winter Special, suggested that the ICMG was a forerunner of UNIT. This was picked up on and expanded in the spin-off novel Who Killed Kennedy
by David Bishop
, which provides a fictional history of UNIT from an investigative journalist's
perspective. The novel also reveals Lethbridge-Stewart's role in proposing the formation of UNIT after the Yeti incident.
Both Virgin Publishing's Missing Adventures
and BBC Books
' Past Doctor Adventures
have set stories in the UNIT era and have revealed new information about UNIT's past, present and future. The New Adventures
novel Just War
by Lance Parkin
mentions "LONGBOW", a world security organisation set up by the League of Nations
that encountered the occasional extraterrestrial incident but was disbanded after it and the League failed to prevent World War II
.
No Future
by Paul Cornell
featured an intelligence section of UNIT called Broadsword. Broadsword agents wore plain clothes and were "hand-picked to offer us lateral and non-military solutions, backed up by SAS
training and sheer common sense". Since the novel was set in an alternate 1970s with subtle diĀfferences from the main continuity Whoniverse
, it is not clear if Cornell intended Broadsword to exist in normal continuity.
The Dying Days
, also by Parkin named the French division of UNIT as NUIT (Nations Unies Intelligence Taskforce), and the Eighth Doctor Adventure
Emotional Chemistry
by Simon A. Forward
named the Russia
n division ОГРОН (OGRON)
(Оперативная Группа Разведки Объединённых Наций, or, Operativnaya Gruppa Razvedki Obyedinyonnih Natsiy, which roughly translates as "United Nations Reconnaissance Operations Group"). The Southeast Asian contingent was identified in David A. McIntee
's Bullet Time
as UNIT-SEA.
The Devil Goblins from Neptune
by Keith Topping
and Martin Day
introduced a division within the Central Intelligence Agency
headed by a man known only as Control, which has featured as a rival to UNIT in several subsequent novels. Alien Bodies
by Lawrence Miles
introduced a more ruthless UN division called UNISYC (United Nations Intelligence Security Yard Corps), which by the 2040s has replaced UNIT. By the 26th century, UNIT has transformed into a secret society
called the Unitatus, pledged to defend the Earth against alien threats, first seen in Parkin's Cold Fusion
. The Unitatus lasts at least until the 30th century (So Vile a Sin
by Ben Aaronovitch and Kate Orman
).
David McIntee's aforementioned The Face of the Enemy had the British branch of UNIT facing a menace without the Doctor to help them, as he and Jo Grant were elsewhere (and elsewhen) experiencing the television serial The Curse of Peladon
.
also frequently featured UNIT, and in the 1980s introduced a new UNIT officer, Muriel Frost
. One story, Final Genesis, was set in a parallel universe
in which humanity has made peace with the Silurians
, and UNIT has become the United Races Intelligence Command. The Eighth Doctor
comic strip The Flood established that the British Secret Intelligence Service
(MI6) viewed UNIT with some degree of contempt in the early 21st century, and deliberately did not inform them when it detected a Cyberman
incursion due to this and other unspecified problems with the United Kingdom's relationship with the United Nations. The Tenth Doctor
comic strip The Age of Ice is set in UNIT's Australian base, beneath Sydney Harbour. The Eleventh Doctor
strip The Golden Ones introduces UNIT Japan.
UNIT has also appeared in cameo roles in unrelated comics. In at least one issue of Uncanny X-Men
, where a character identified as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart was seen briefly from behind, addressing a Sergeant-Major Benton; 2000 AD's
Caballistics, Inc.
strip has Lethbridge-Stewart (referred to solely by rank) appearing in several adventures as a military liaison and referring to The Web Of Fear; and Hip Flask
has a 22nd Century UNIT tied into the origins of the Elephantmen. Marvel Comics
also has two major characters called Dr Alistaire Stuart
(who has claimed to know "a chap from Gallifrey") and Brigadier Alysande Stuart
, Scientific Advisor and commander respectively of Britain's Weird Happenings Organisation (W.H.O.) taskforce. W.H.O. has since been disbanded and Alysande killed, but Alistaire Stuart is still a recurring character in Marvel's United Kingdom.
version of UNIT and the Brigadier (played once again by Courtney) appeared in the Doctor Who Unbound audio play Sympathy For The Devil
, produced by Big Finish Productions
. In this story, UNIT was commanded by the abrasive Colonel Brimmicombe-Wood, played by David Tennant
(later to be cast as the Tenth Doctor
in the revived television programme). The story concerned a UNIT that never had the Third Doctor working for it, with many different outcomes; Terror of the Autons
resulted in "the Plastic Purges", Mike Yates died on a time-travel mission to destroy the Silurians, and so on.
In December 2004 Big Finish released UNIT: Time Heals
, the first of a new series of UNIT audio plays, featuring a retired General Sir Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart as an advisor to a new generation of officers. A preview episode (given away free with Doctor Who Magazine
#351), UNIT: The Coup
, had Lethbridge-Stewart finally breaking decades of secrecy by informing a press conference of UNIT's true purpose as humanity's first line of defence against the unknown (although, as it turned out, the general public believed this to be a hoax). The series also introduced another rival division, this time within the British government, the Internal Counter-Intelligence Service, or ICIS. In September 2008, The Coup was re-released as a free download.
The protagonists for most of this series were Colonel Emily Chaudhry (a public-relations specialist played by Siri O'Neal), Lieutenant Will Hoffman (Robert Curbishley) and Colonel Robert Dalton (a veteran of the British Army temporarily assigned to UNIT, played by Nicholas Deal). Hoffman and Dalton were killed in the third instalment, UNIT: The Longest Night
. The fourth and so far final play, UNIT: The Wasting
, features this Universe’s version of Brimmicombe-Wood (again played by Tennant). The short story "The Terror of the Darkness" in the collection Short Trips: A Day in the Life
revealed that Chaudhry and Hoffman had previously travelled with the Sixth Doctor
. Their adventures then continued in "Incongruous Details" (Short Trips: The Centenarian
) before ending in Short Trips: Defining Patterns
.
reprised his role as Benton for a made-for-video film entitled Wartime
. Produced by Reeltime Pictures
, this was the first independently made Doctor Who spin-off film and would be followed by many others over the next 20 years. In 1997, the film was revised with voice-over dialogue provided by Nicholas Courtney in character as Lethbridge-Stewart. The Brigadier would himself get a made-for-video film, Downtime
, which also saw appearances from UNIT and a corrupt UNIT officer named Captain Cavendish.
BBV
have made a trilogy of UNIT videos involving the Autons
, although they feature none of the original members, with the main character being Lockwood (a codename for the otherwise nameless UNIT Operative 8954B) – an investigator with psychic powers. The trilogy introduced one of UNIT's facilities (the Warehouse) for containing the remains of alien technology; the Containment Team responsible for these facilities and preventing alien outbreaks at them; and the Internal Security Division.
animation Scream of the Shalka
, Major Kennet hands the Doctor
a folder with a UNIT crest on it.
For the new television series, BBC created a faux website
for UNIT, complete with "easter eggs" that can be accessed by the reader with the passwords "bison" and "buffalo" (the latter mentioned on screen in World War Three). The 'public' part of the website advertises UNIT Conferences and publications relating to "extra-territorial threats", as well as press releases on the establishment of a central New York Liaison office; the press releases and publications also make reference to off-screen adventures, such as the Skaniska Incident and Jersey Tollgate Situation, with the most recent covering the events of The Christmas Invasion ("Alien Life Confirmed"). The Secure Login link, using the password "badwolf" (originally "bison") uncovers a 'private' section which provides UNIT point-of-view reports about various events in the 2005 series, as well as mention of missions such as The Fourth Reich and Guatemala "Big Locust" Problem. The website's canonical status, like that of the spin-off media, is debatable. Due to the objections by the United Nations as noted above, the letters "UN" are no longer expanded to "United Nations" on the website.
explicitly states that the Brigadier retired from UNIT in 1976 and that Sergeant Benton left the army in 1979. Whether the stories take place contemporaneously with the broadcast dates or a few years in the future is therefore highly debatable – with the exception of Battlefield, which is explicitly set in an unspecified near future. A reference to this confusion appeared in the 2008 episode The Sontaran Stratagem
, where the Doctor was unsure if his time on the UNIT staff took place during the 1970s or the 1980s. Similarly, an episode of The Sarah Jane Adventures
displayed a UNIT file on Sarah Jane Smith which says, "The service quickly expanded, making our presence felt in a golden period that spanned the sixties, the seventies, and, some would say, the eighties."
's Through Time: An Unauthorised and Unofficial History of Doctor Who, the sharp contrast between the Doctor's eccentric personality and the seriousness and normality of UNIT is described by Cartmel as an "inspired stroke".
The organisation is often seen within the context of other international organisations which featured in science fiction of the post-war era. Among others, these included SMERSH
and SPECTRE
from the James Bond
novels, and U.N.C.L.E.
from The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
– like UNIT, intended as a fictional United Nations intelligence agency.
The original association with the UN has sometimes been criticised for supposedly reflecting left-wing sentiment within the BBC:
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
, Torchwood
Torchwood
Torchwood is a British science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. The series is a spin-off from Davies's 2005 revival of the long-running science fiction programme Doctor Who. The show has shifted its broadcast channel each series to reflect its growing audience, moving from...
and The Sarah Jane Adventures
The Sarah Jane Adventures
The Sarah Jane Adventures is a British science fiction television series, produced by BBC Cymru Wales for CBBC, created by Russell T Davies and starring Elisabeth Sladen...
. Operating under the auspices of the UN, its purpose is to investigate and combat paranormal
Paranormal
Paranormal is a general term that designates experiences that lie outside "the range of normal experience or scientific explanation" or that indicates phenomena understood to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure...
and extraterrestrial
Extraterrestrial life
Extraterrestrial life is defined as life that does not originate from Earth...
threats to the Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
. In the original Doctor Who series, several UNIT personnel (such as The Brigadier
Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart
Brigadier Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, generally referred to simply as the Brigadier, is a fictional character in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, played by Nicholas Courtney...
) played a major role in the programme.
Following the broadcast of the 2005 series, executive producer Russell T Davies claimed that the UN were no longer happy to be associated with the fictional organisation, and the UN's full name could now no longer be used. However, the "UNIT" and "UN" abbreviations could be used, as long as it was not explained what the letters stood for. In 2008, he announced that the organisation's name had been changed to the "Unified Intelligence Taskforce". This new name was first mentioned on-screen in The Sontaran Stratagem
The Sontaran Stratagem
"The Sontaran Stratagem" is the fourth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 26 April 2008...
, in which it was indicated in a line of dialogue that the United Nations still supports UNIT with funding.
Fictional history
The roots of UNIT in the Doctor Who universe lie in extraterrestrial incursions featured in the Second DoctorSecond Doctor
The Second Doctor is the second incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by character actor Patrick Troughton....
serial The Web of Fear
The Web of Fear
The Web of Fear is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from 3 February to 9 March 1968. This serial — which marks the return of the Yeti, the Great Intelligence, and Professor Travers — is the sequel to The Abominable...
(1968) and the Seventh Doctor
Seventh Doctor
The Seventh Doctor is the seventh incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by the actor Sylvester McCoy....
serial Remembrance of the Daleks
Remembrance of the Daleks
Remembrance of the Daleks is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 5 October to 26 October 1988....
(1988).
Following these incidents, the newly-formed UNIT's baptism of fire
Baptism by fire
The phrase baptism by fire or baptism of fire, known in English since 1822, is a translation of the French phrase baptême du feu and is a reference to a soldier's first experience under fire in battle....
was an invasion by the Cybermen
Cyberman
The Cybermen are a fictional race of cyborgs who are amongst the most persistent enemies of the Doctor in the British science fiction television series, Doctor Who. Cybermen were originally a wholly organic species of humanoids originating on Earth's twin planet Mondas that began to implant more...
, in The Invasion
The Invasion (Doctor Who)
The Invasion is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in eight weekly parts from 2 November to 21 December 1968...
(1968). The contribution of scientific advice in battling extraterrestrial threats was recognised and both Dr Elizabeth Shaw and the exiled Third Doctor
Third Doctor
The Third Doctor is the third incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by actor Jon Pertwee....
joined UNIT just in time to help defeat the Auton
Auton
The Autons are an artificial life form from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and adversaries of the Doctor. First appearing in Jon Pertwee's first serial as the Doctor, Spearhead from Space in 1970, they were the first monsters on the show to be presented in colour.Autons...
s in Spearhead from Space
Spearhead from Space
Spearhead from Space is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 3 January to 24 January 1970. The serial opened Series 7 of the show and was the first to be produced in colour. The serial introduced Jon Pertwee as the...
.
UNIT continued to feature in Doctor Who for the next three years, but when the Third Doctor's exile was lifted, his association with UNIT became more sporadic, especially after his regeneration
Regeneration (Doctor Who)
Regeneration, in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, is a biological ability exhibited by Time Lords, a race of fictional humanoids originating on the planet Gallifrey. This process allows a Time Lord who is old or mortally wounded to undergo a transformation into a new...
into his fourth incarnation
Fourth Doctor
The Fourth Doctor is the fourth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC British television science-fiction series Doctor Who....
. The last appearance of UNIT in the series for many years was in The Seeds of Doom
The Seeds of Doom
The Seeds of Doom is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from 31 January to 6 March 1976...
(1976); however, the organisation continued to execute its mandate to investigate and combat alien activity. The final appearance of UNIT during the original run of Doctor Who was the Seventh Doctor serial, Battlefield
Battlefield (Doctor Who)
Battlefield is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from September 6 to September 27, 1989. It was the last appearance of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart in Doctor Who....
.
UNIT was mentioned by both its acronym and full name in the 2005 series episodes Aliens of London
Aliens of London
"Aliens of London" is the fourth episode of the first series of the British science fiction television show Doctor Who that was first broadcast on 16 April 2005. The Doctor takes Rose back to 21st century London, just in time to witness a spaceship crashing into the River Thames, triggering a...
and World War Three
World War Three (Doctor Who)
"World War Three" is the fifth episode of the first series in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who that was first broadcast on 23 April 2005. It is the second of a two-part story. The first part, "Aliens of London", was broadcast on 16 April...
, where it sent a delegation to a gathering of experts at 10 Downing Street
10 Downing Street
10 Downing Street, colloquially known in the United Kingdom as "Number 10", is the headquarters of Her Majesty's Government and the official residence and office of the First Lord of the Treasury, who is now always the Prime Minister....
. UNIT appeared again the same year in The Christmas Invasion
The Christmas Invasion
"The Christmas Invasion" is a 60-minute special episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It is Christmas, but there is little cause for celebration as planet Earth is invaded by aliens known as the Sycorax...
. In addition to Doctor Who, UNIT continues to be featured in the spin-off series Torchwood
Torchwood
Torchwood is a British science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. The series is a spin-off from Davies's 2005 revival of the long-running science fiction programme Doctor Who. The show has shifted its broadcast channel each series to reflect its growing audience, moving from...
and The Sarah Jane Adventures
The Sarah Jane Adventures
The Sarah Jane Adventures is a British science fiction television series, produced by BBC Cymru Wales for CBBC, created by Russell T Davies and starring Elisabeth Sladen...
.
Organisation
UNIT's status is supported by enabling legislation that allows it to assume emergencyState of emergency
A state of emergency is a governmental declaration that may suspend some normal functions of the executive, legislative and judicial powers, alert citizens to change their normal behaviours, or order government agencies to implement emergency preparedness plans. It can also be used as a rationale...
powers when necessary (The Green Death
The Green Death
The Green Death is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, first broadcast in six weekly parts from 19 May 1973 to 23 June 1973. It was the last to feature Katy Manning as companion Jo Grant in Doctor Who...
). Although it operates under the authority of the United Nations, its members are seconded from the host country's military and are still bound to obey that chain of command
Chain of Command
Chain of Command may refer to:* Chain of command, in a military context, the line of authority and responsibility along which orders are passed* "Chain of Command" , the fifth episode of the first season of Beast Wars...
(Spearhead from Space). Ranks, within the UK section of UNIT at least, thus mirror those in the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
– Lethbridge-Stewart is a Brigadier, a Major appears in The Christmas Invasion
The Christmas Invasion
"The Christmas Invasion" is a 60-minute special episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It is Christmas, but there is little cause for celebration as planet Earth is invaded by aliens known as the Sycorax...
, and a Colonel and Captain (although Mike Yates, also ranking at Captain, had been a regular in the third doctors tenure in the 1970s) appear in The Sontaran Stratagem
The Sontaran Stratagem
"The Sontaran Stratagem" is the fourth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 26 April 2008...
/ The Poison Sky
The Poison Sky
"The Poison Sky" is the fifth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 3 May 2008. The episode features both former companion Martha Jones and the alien Sontarans...
. UNIT personnel are seconded from the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
, British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
and Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
, and are still bound by the UK chain of command
Chain of Command
Chain of Command may refer to:* Chain of command, in a military context, the line of authority and responsibility along which orders are passed* "Chain of Command" , the fifth episode of the first season of Beast Wars...
, and the commander reports to the Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
and the Ministry of Defence
Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....
through Department C-19. However, if the commander feels it appropriate and necessary, the commander can request that Geneva overrules the national government. Lethbridge-Stewart, for example, reported to the Ministry of Defence
Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....
and the Prime Minister, and Major Blake reported to the Prime Minister in The Christmas Invasion. Due to the international nature of the organisation, it is sometimes viewed with suspicion by local military and national security agencies, who feel that it might impinge on their sovereignty (The Ambassadors of Death
The Ambassadors of Death
The Ambassadors of Death is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in seven weekly parts from March 21 to May 2, 1970.-Plot:...
). UNIT's existence is known to the public, but mainly as a security organisation with scientific expertise (The Three Doctors); its actual agenda is classified, some believing it to be some kind of covert counter-terrorist
Counter-terrorism
Counter-terrorism is the practices, tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, militaries, police departments and corporations adopt to prevent or in response to terrorist threats and/or acts, both real and imputed.The tactic of terrorism is available to insurgents and governments...
unit. UNIT has the authority to detain persons indefinitely without trial, appeal, outside contact or legal representation as experienced by Toshiko Sato
Toshiko Sato
is a fictional character from the television series Doctor Who and its spin-off Torchwood, played by Naoko Mori. After a one-off appearance in the Doctor Who episode "Aliens of London" , Toshiko is re-introduced as a series regular in the Torchwood 2006 premiere episode "Everything Changes"...
before she was recruited to work for the British government by the Torchwood Institute
Torchwood Institute
The Torchwood Institute is a fictional secret organization from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who and its spin-off series Torchwood. It was established in 1879 by Queen Victoria after the events of "Tooth and Claw". Its prime directive, is to defend the earth against...
.
Equipment
UNIT's personnel have a wide range of weaponryFirearm
A firearm is a weapon that launches one, or many, projectile at high velocity through confined burning of a propellant. This subsonic burning process is technically known as deflagration, as opposed to supersonic combustion known as a detonation. In older firearms, the propellant was typically...
to call on, some custom-made to combat specific threats. Among these are special ammunition described by the Brigadier as armour-piercing
Armor-piercing shot and shell
An armor-piercing shell is a type of ammunition designed to penetrate armor. From the 1860s to 1950s, a major application of armor-piercing projectiles was to defeat the thick armor carried on many warships. From the 1920s onwards, armor-piercing weapons were required for anti-tank missions...
rounds with a solid-core and Teflon coating which "could go through a Dalek". Other munitions include explosive rounds for Yetis, other armour-piercing rounds for robots, and gold-tipped rounds for use against the Cybermen
Cyberman
The Cybermen are a fictional race of cyborgs who are amongst the most persistent enemies of the Doctor in the British science fiction television series, Doctor Who. Cybermen were originally a wholly organic species of humanoids originating on Earth's twin planet Mondas that began to implant more...
(as well as silver-bullets as suggested by the Doctor), and rad-steel coated bullets to neutralise Sontaran anti-bullet fields that target copper. In the 1970s produced serials, the British troops of UNIT are armed with standard British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
weapons such as the L1A1 Self Loading Rifle
FN FAL
The Fusil Automatique Léger or FAL is a self-loading, selective fire battle rifle produced by the Belgian armaments manufacturer Fabrique Nationale de Herstal . During the Cold War it was adopted by many North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries, with the notable exception of the United States...
, Sterling submachine gun
Sterling submachine gun
The Sterling submachine gun is a British submachine gun which was in service with the British Army from 1944 until 1994, when it was phased out with the introduction of the L85A1 assault rifle.-History:...
, Browning Hi-Power
Browning Hi-Power
The Browning Hi-Power is a single-action, 9 mm semi-automatic handgun. It is based on a design by American firearms inventor John Browning, and completed by Dieudonné Saive at Fabrique Nationale of Herstal, Belgium. Browning died in 1926, several years before the design was finalized...
pistol and wear 58 pattern webbing
58 pattern webbing
1958 pattern webbing was a modular based personal equipment system issued to the Armed Forces of the United Kingdom from the 1950s up until the mid 80s. It replaced the 1937 Pattern Web Equipment that had served the UK's Armed Forces through the Second World War and the first decade of the cold war...
. For Battlefield in the 80s, they have the Steyr AUG
Steyr AUG
The AUG is an Austrian bullpup 5.56mm assault rifle, designed in the early 1970s by Steyr Mannlicher GmbH & Co KG . The AUG was adopted by the Austrian Army as the StG 77 in 1977, where it replaced the 7.62mm StG 58 automatic rifle...
assault rifle while the Brigadier uses a Webley Revolver
Webley Revolver
The Webley Revolver was, in various marks, the standard issue service pistol for the armed forces of the United Kingdom, the British Empire, and the Commonwealths from 1887 until 1963.The Webley is a top-break revolver with automatic extraction...
, and in the 2000s, they use special-forces weaponry such as Heckler & Koch G36C carbines, the M4 Carbine
M4 carbine
The M4 carbine is a family of firearms tracing its lineage back to earlier carbine versions of the M16, all based on the original AR-15 designed by Eugene Stoner and made by ArmaLite. It is a shorter and lighter variant of the M16A2 assault rifle, with 80% parts commonality.It is a gas-operated,...
(with different scopes used such as ACOG
Advanced Combat Optical Gunsight
Advanced Combat Optical Gunsights are a series of telescopic sights manufactured by Trijicon. The ACOG is designed to be used on the M16 rifle and M4 carbine, but Trijicon has developed ACOG accessories for certain other firearms...
and holographic weapon sight
Holographic weapon sight
A holographic weapon sight or holographic diffraction sight is a non-magnifying gun sight that allows the user to look through a glass optical window and see a reticle image superimposed at a distance on the field of view...
s, as well as equipping CQB receivers
CQBR
The Close Quarters Battle Receiver is a replacement upper receiver for the M4A1 Carbine. The CQBR replaces the M4 with a barrel 10.3 in length making it the modern equivalent of the Colt Commando short-barrel M16 variants of the past....
for indoor use), SIG P226
SIG P226
The SIG P226 is a full-sized, service-type pistol made by SIG Sauer. It is chambered for the 9×19mm Parabellum, .40 S&W, .357 SIG, and .22 Long Rifle. It is essentially the same basic design of the SIG P220, but developed to use higher capacity, staggered-column magazines in place of the...
pistols, and wear PLCE
Personal Load Carrying Equipment
Personal Load Carrying Equipment is the current tactical webbing system of the British Army. It consists of a belt, yoke and a number of pouches. Associated with PLCE webbing is a series of other similar load carrying equipment and rucksacks .The purpose of PLCE is to hold everything a soldier...
pouches on police tac-vests. They also wear riot-protection arm pads and gloves, and have side-handle batons and quick-cuffs for arrests.
In The Invasion, UNIT had a command centre established in the cargo hold of a Lockheed Hercules military transport aircraft. The Dæmons
The Dæmons
The Dæmons is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in five weekly parts from May 22 to June 19, 1971.-Plot:...
featured the UNIT Mobile HQ, a large bus-like vehicle that could be driven to the site of an incident. A mobile command centre is also shown in The Sontaran Stratagem
The Sontaran Stratagem
"The Sontaran Stratagem" is the fourth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 26 April 2008...
and The Poison Sky
The Poison Sky
"The Poison Sky" is the fifth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 3 May 2008. The episode features both former companion Martha Jones and the alien Sontarans...
, where it is depicted as a black articulated lorry
Semi-trailer truck
A semi-trailer truck, also known as a semi, tractor-trailer, or articulated truck or articulated lorry, is an articulated vehicle consisting of a towing engine , and a semi-trailer A semi-trailer truck, also known as a semi, tractor-trailer, or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) articulated truck...
with UNIT insignia.
Prominent members of the British contingent of UNIT included Liz Shaw, Sergeant Benton
Sergeant Benton
Sergeant Benton is a fictional character in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, played by John Levene. He was the senior NCO of the British contingent of UNIT , an international organisation that defends the Earth...
, Captain Mike Yates, Jo Grant
Jo Grant
Josephine "Jo" Grant is a fictional character played by Katy Manning in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
and later, Harry Sullivan
Harry Sullivan
Harry Sullivan is a fictional character from the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who and is a companion of the Fourth Doctor...
. Civilians who have worked with UNIT include the journalist Sarah Jane Smith
Sarah Jane Smith
Sarah Jane Smith is a fictional character played by Elisabeth Sladen in the long-running British BBC Television science-fiction series Doctor Who and its spin-offs K-9 and Company and The Sarah Jane Adventures....
. In The Claws of Axos
The Claws of Axos
-Writing:In late 1969, script editor Terrance Dicks contacted new writing duo Bob Baker and Dave Martin after reading a draft script they had sent around the BBC for another production, A Man's Life. After offering the duo a seven-part story in November 1969 for Doctor Whos eighth season, Baker and...
(1971), an American agent named Bill Filer was sent from Washington to assist in the hunt for the Master
Master (Doctor Who)
The Master is a recurring character in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. He is a renegade Time Lord and the archenemy of the Doctor....
.
In The Christmas Invasion, UNIT is shown to have translation software which can decipher alien languages with great accuracy. The software, or at least the results from the translation, can be loaded on a hand-held device. In The Sound of Drums
The Sound of Drums
"The Sound of Drums" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 23 June 2007, and is the twelfth episode of Series 3 of the revived Doctor Who series...
, the flying aircraft carrier
Airborne aircraft carrier
Airborne aircraft carriers are aircraft which can launch other aircraft. These typically are large aircraft that launch fighter-interceptor planes.-Dirigible aircraft carriers:...
Valiant is introduced.
In The Poison Sky, UNIT is shown to be able to command and co-ordinate the world's combined nuclear arsenal for strategic strikes on orbiting alien craft. The Valiant is also shown to be equipped with a scaled down version of the Torchwood weapon that destroyed the Sycorax ship in The Christmas Invasion.
It is mentioned in the Sarah Jane Adventures story, Death of the Doctor
Death of the Doctor
Death of the Doctor is a two-part story of The Sarah Jane Adventures which was broadcast on CBBC on 25 and 26 October 2010. It is the third story of the fourth series. This episode features the return of Katy Manning to the role of Jo Grant and a guest appearance by Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor...
, that UNIT has a Moonbase.
Uniform
Across the eras, UNIT have been identified with different styles of uniform. For The InvasionThe Invasion (Doctor Who)
The Invasion is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in eight weekly parts from 2 November to 21 December 1968...
, Bobi Bartlett designed two different styles of uniform. Privates and corporals wore tan shirts and trousers, while ranks of sergeant and above had a jacket and tie to go with them. There was also the assault team, who wore generic army fatigues and berets with UNIT insignia. For UNIT's next appearance, Spearhead from Space
Spearhead from Space
Spearhead from Space is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 3 January to 24 January 1970. The serial opened Series 7 of the show and was the first to be produced in colour. The serial introduced Jon Pertwee as the...
, Christine Rawlins had more of the suits produced which became uniform for all ranks, except for two officers seen in the opening who wear tan shirts and a tie with a UNIT logo printed on. That style of uniform stayed throughout Doctor Who and the Silurians
Doctor Who and the Silurians
Doctor Who and the Silurians is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in seven weekly parts from January 31 to March 14, 1970. The story is the first appearance of a recurring family of Earth-dwelling reptiles...
, but Christine Rawlins had a new design produced for The Ambassadors of Death
The Ambassadors of Death
The Ambassadors of Death is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in seven weekly parts from March 21 to May 2, 1970.-Plot:...
which featured only in this story: all ranks – except for the Brigadier, who retained his regular uniform – were given new zip-up jackets without lapels which were worn over a rolled-neck sweater to give them a futuristic look. For Inferno
Inferno (Doctor Who)
Don Houghton came to Terrence Dicks with an idea for the story based on the real life Project Mohole. A smaller budget for the serial drove the idea of a parallel world, where the studio could use the same actors in multiple roles...
, UNIT infantry wore Paratrooper camouflage, but from Terror of the Autons
Terror of the Autons
Terror of the Autons is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, broadcast in four weekly parts from 2 to 23 January 1971...
up to Terror of the Zygons
Terror of the Zygons
Terror of the Zygons is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 30 August to 20 September 1975...
, Barry Letts decided to have UNIT wearing uniforms based on the contemporary army, which consisted of plain green fatigues made by Ken Trew, while the Brigadier, Benton and Yates also wore appropriate contemporary uniform. These were changed for Terror of the Zygons
Terror of the Zygons
Terror of the Zygons is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 30 August to 20 September 1975...
, as director Douglas Camfield reckoned the green uniforms "looked too soft." For this serial, they wore DPM camouflage
Disruptive Pattern Material
Disruptive Pattern Material is the commonly used name of a camouflage pattern used by British forces as well many other armies worldwide, particularly in former British colonies....
. The Android Invasion
The Android Invasion
The Android Invasion is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 22 November to 13 December 1975. It marks the last appearance of UNIT Character Sergeant Benton...
saw them wearing barrack-dress sweaters.
UNIT then had a lengthy absence from the screen, but their small cameo appearance in The Five Doctors
The Five Doctors
The Five Doctors is a special feature-length episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, produced in celebration of the programme's twentieth anniversary. It had its world premiere in the United States, on the Chicago PBS station WTTW and various other PBS member stations...
saw a few members wearing contemporary army uniforms with UNIT patches stitched to the sleeves. For their full return in Battlefield
Battlefield (Doctor Who)
Battlefield is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from September 6 to September 27, 1989. It was the last appearance of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart in Doctor Who....
, their look was completely updated. Their appearance in this serial is close to the real-world United Nations Peacekeeping troop outfits. UNIT were represented by a nuclear missile convoy wearing sky-blue berets (beige had been the standard colour up until then) and DPM camouflage with a new insignia of a globe and a pair of wings stitched to the sleeves and beret. There is also a Czech
Czech people
Czechs, or Czech people are a western Slavic people of Central Europe, living predominantly in the Czech Republic. Small populations of Czechs also live in Slovakia, Austria, the United States, the United Kingdom, Chile, Argentina, Canada, Germany, Russia and other countries...
engineer team wearing Czech camouflage with the same beret as the convoy.
After the series was cancelled and recommissioned, UNIT first had a minor appearance in the episode Aliens of London
Aliens of London
"Aliens of London" is the fourth episode of the first series of the British science fiction television show Doctor Who that was first broadcast on 16 April 2005. The Doctor takes Rose back to 21st century London, just in time to witness a spaceship crashing into the River Thames, triggering a...
. In this episode, UNIT were represented by a small number of high-ranking officers, wearing decorated service-dress with UN patches on the sleeves. UNIT's first major appearance in the new series was in The Christmas Invasion
The Christmas Invasion
"The Christmas Invasion" is a 60-minute special episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It is Christmas, but there is little cause for celebration as planet Earth is invaded by aliens known as the Sycorax...
. Here, a new insignia has been designed based on the Battlefield version, and the infantry wear black uniforms consisting of police clothing and equipment and red berets. Commanding officers wear No. 2 service dress. Other uniforms in post-2000s UNIT include a uniform for scientists, a lab-coat with the UNIT insignia on the chest, and decorated black coats worn by female Captains.
Call Signs
| Call Sign Call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign is a unique designation for a transmitting station. In North America they are used as names for broadcasting stations... |
Rank Military rank Military rank is a system of hierarchical relationships in armed forces or civil institutions organized along military lines. Usually, uniforms denote the bearer's rank by particular insignia affixed to the uniforms... + Name Name A name is a word or term used for identification. Names can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. A personal name identifies a specific unique and identifiable individual person, and may or may not include a middle name... |
|---|---|
| Bluebottle | Police and Law Enforcement |
| Eagle | UNIT Helicopter |
| Greyhound / Jupiter / Greyhound 1 / Greyhound 2 / Greyhound Leader | Brigadier Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart |
| Venus / Greyhound 2 / Greyhound 3 | Captain Mike Yates |
| Greyhound 4 | Josephine Grant / Warrant Officer John Benton |
| Greyhound 6 | Doctor Martha Jones |
| Greyhound 15 | Private Harris |
| Greyhound 16 | Private Steve Gray |
| Greyhound 40 | Private Ross Jenkins |
| Hawk Major | UNIT Carrier Ship Valiant |
| Trap One | Centre of operations |
| Trap Two | Soldiers in the field |
| Trap Three | Sergeant Benton |
| Windmill 123 | UNIT Helicopter |
| Windmill 347 | UNIT Helicopter |
Republican Security Forces
The 1970 serial InfernoInferno (Doctor Who)
Don Houghton came to Terrence Dicks with an idea for the story based on the real life Project Mohole. A smaller budget for the serial drove the idea of a parallel world, where the studio could use the same actors in multiple roles...
saw the Doctor visit a parallel universe. In this reality, Great Britain has been a republic since at least the 1940s (though probably much earlier) when a fascist revolution overthrew the government and executed the Royal Family. On the international front, the Confederacy
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
won the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
was a Menshevik
Menshevik
The Mensheviks were a faction of the Russian revolutionary movement that emerged in 1904 after a dispute between Vladimir Lenin and Julius Martov, both members of the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party. The dispute originated at the Second Congress of that party, ostensibly over minor issues...
, the Empire of Japan
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
successfully built its Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere
Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere
The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere was a concept created and promulgated during the Shōwa era by the government and military of the Empire of Japan. It represented the desire to create a self-sufficient "bloc of Asian nations led by the Japanese and free of Western powers"...
, there was no Second World War (Europe having been divided into peacefully co-existing British and Russian spheres of influence) and India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
apparently won independence without the partition of the country into separate Hindu and Muslim states. The parallel version of the British contingent of UNIT is an SS
Schutzstaffel
The Schutzstaffel |Sig runes]]) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II...
-like state paramilitary organisation known as the Republican Security Forces (RSF). Their uniforms consist of contemporary US Army olive green military fatigues and black garrison caps with white piping. They are armed with a mixture of Russian and German weapons, such as the SKS
SKS
The SKS is a Soviet semi-automatic rifle chambered for the 7.62x39mm round, designed in 1943 by Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov. SKS-45 is an acronym for Samozaryadnyj Karabin sistemy Simonova, 1945 Simonov system, 1945), or SKS 45. The Sks is a scaled down version of the PTRS-41 anti-tank rifle also...
rifle and the Walther P1 pistol. Their rank system uses titles based to some extent on the SS: Sergeant Benton is Platoon Under Leader Benton, Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart is Brigade Leader Lethbridge Stewart, and Elizabeth Shaw, a soldier rather than a scientist in their dimension, has the rank of Section Leader (which is apparently a commissioned officer rank, while SS Section Leaders were equal to Lance Corporal). The organisation has full authority to interrogate, court-martial, and formally execute prisoners as they see fit. By the end of the story, most of the members of the RSF were killed when a volcanic cataclysm engulfed Great Britain and left much of their world devastated.
Other appearances
UNIT has also been featured in many Doctor Who spin-offsDoctor Who spin-offs
Doctor Who spin-offs refers to material created outside of, but related to, the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who....
. Different spin-offs have made varying attempts to be consistent with other stories.
Stage play
In 1984, a stage comedy titled Recall UNIT: The Great Tea-Bag Mystery was produced, written by Richard FranklinRichard Franklin
Richard Franklin is a British actor.He has had various roles in different television programmes including Crossroads and Emmerdale Farm...
(Captain Yates) who reprised his character in the play. The cast also included John Levene
John Levene
John Levene is an English actor. His most famous role was that of Sergeant Benton of UNIT on the television series Doctor Who.He was born John Anthony Woods in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England....
as Benton, and the play was performed between 20 August and 24 August as part of the Edinburgh Fringe
Edinburgh Fringe
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the world’s largest arts festival. Established in 1947 as an alternative to the Edinburgh International Festival, it takes place annually in Scotland's capital, in the month of August...
Festival. Due to other commitments, Nicholas Courtney was unable to appear as the Brigadier, but pre-recorded a telephone message from Lethbridge-Stewart which was written into the plot.
Novels
The novelisation of Remembrance of the Daleks by Ben AaronovitchBen Aaronovitch
Ben Denis Aaronovitch is a London-born British writer who has worked on television series including Doctor Who, Casualty, Jupiter Moon and Dark Knight...
mentioned that the troops that Gilmour commanded were from the "Intrusion Counter-Measures Group". UNIT Exposed, the 1991 Doctor Who Magazine
Doctor Who Magazine
Doctor Who Magazine is a magazine devoted to the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
Winter Special, suggested that the ICMG was a forerunner of UNIT. This was picked up on and expanded in the spin-off novel Who Killed Kennedy
Who Killed Kennedy
Who Killed Kennedy is an original novel written by David Bishop and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who....
by David Bishop
David Bishop
David Bishop is a screenwriter and author. Born in New Zealand, he was a UK comics editor during the 1990s, running such titles as the Judge Dredd Megazine and 2000 AD, the latter between 1996 and the summer of 2000....
, which provides a fictional history of UNIT from an investigative journalist's
Investigative journalism
Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, often involving crime, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years researching and preparing a report. Investigative journalism...
perspective. The novel also reveals Lethbridge-Stewart's role in proposing the formation of UNIT after the Yeti incident.
Both Virgin Publishing's Missing Adventures
Virgin Missing Adventures
The Virgin Missing Adventures were a series of novels from Virgin Publishing based on the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who, which had been cancelled in 1989, featuring stories set between televised episodes of the programme. The novels were published from 1994 to 1997, and...
and BBC Books
BBC Books
BBC Books is an imprint majority owned and managed by Random House. The minority shareholder is BBC Worldwide, the commercial subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation...
' Past Doctor Adventures
Past Doctor Adventures
The Past Doctor Adventures were a series of spin-off novels based on the long running BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who and published under the BBC Books imprint. For most of their existence, they were published side-by-side with the Eighth Doctor Adventures...
have set stories in the UNIT era and have revealed new information about UNIT's past, present and future. The New Adventures
Virgin New Adventures
The Virgin New Adventures were a series of novels from Virgin Publishing based on the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who...
novel Just War
Just War (Doctor Who)
Just War is a novel by Lance Parkin from the Virgin New Adventures. The New Adventures were based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
by Lance Parkin
Lance Parkin
Lance Parkin is a British author, best known for writing fiction and reference books for television series, in particular Doctor Who and Emmerdale...
mentions "LONGBOW", a world security organisation set up by the League of Nations
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
that encountered the occasional extraterrestrial incident but was disbanded after it and the League failed to prevent World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
No Future
No Future
No Future is an original novel written by Paul Cornell and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It features the Seventh Doctor, Ace and Bernice. A prelude to the novel, also penned by Cornell, appeared in Doctor Who Magazine #209...
by Paul Cornell
Paul Cornell
Paul Cornell is a British writer best known for his work in television drama as well as Doctor Who fiction, and as the creator of one of the Doctor's spin-off companions, Bernice Summerfield....
featured an intelligence section of UNIT called Broadsword. Broadsword agents wore plain clothes and were "hand-picked to offer us lateral and non-military solutions, backed up by SAS
Special Air Service
Special Air Service or SAS is a corps of the British Army constituted on 31 May 1950. They are part of the United Kingdom Special Forces and have served as a model for the special forces of many other countries all over the world...
training and sheer common sense". Since the novel was set in an alternate 1970s with subtle diĀfferences from the main continuity Whoniverse
Whoniverse
Whoniverse, a portmanteau of the words "Who" and "universe", is a word used to describe the fictional setting of the television series Doctor Who, K-9 and Company, Torchwood, The Sarah Jane Adventures and K-9, as well as other related stories...
, it is not clear if Cornell intended Broadsword to exist in normal continuity.
The Dying Days
The Dying Days
The Dying Days is an original novel written by Lance Parkin and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was last of that range to feature the Doctor and the only one of that range to feature Paul McGann's Eighth Doctor. Thereafter the series centred around...
, also by Parkin named the French division of UNIT as NUIT (Nations Unies Intelligence Taskforce), and the Eighth Doctor Adventure
Eighth Doctor Adventures
The Eighth Doctor Adventures are a series of spin off novels based on the long running BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who and published under the BBC Books imprint. 73 books were published overall...
Emotional Chemistry
Emotional Chemistry
Emotional Chemistry is a BBC Books original novel written by Simon A. Forward and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It features the Eighth Doctor, Fitz and Trix....
by Simon A. Forward
Simon A. Forward
Simon A. Forward is an author and dramatist most famous for his work on a variety of Doctor Who spin-offs. He currently lives and works in Penzance with his wife as a full-time writer.-Work:...
named the Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n division ОГРОН (OGRON)
Ogron
Ogrons are a fictional extraterrestrial race from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The name may be derived from the mythological ogres....
(Оперативная Группа Разведки Объединённых Наций, or, Operativnaya Gruppa Razvedki Obyedinyonnih Natsiy, which roughly translates as "United Nations Reconnaissance Operations Group"). The Southeast Asian contingent was identified in David A. McIntee
David A. McIntee
-Biography:McIntee has written many spin-off novels based on the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who, as well as one each based on Final Destination and Space: 1999. He has also written a non-fiction book on Star Trek: Voyager and one jointly on the Alien and Predator movie franchises...
's Bullet Time
Bullet Time (Doctor Who)
Bullet Time is a BBC Books original novel written by David A. McIntee and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
as UNIT-SEA.
The Devil Goblins from Neptune
The Devil Goblins from Neptune
The Devil Goblins from Neptune is a BBC Books original novel written by Martin Day and Keith Topping and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
by Keith Topping
Keith Topping
Keith Andrew Topping , is an author, journalist and broadcaster most closely associated with his work relating to the BBC Television series Doctor Who and for writing numerous official and unofficial guide books to a wide variety of television and film series, specifically Buffy the Vampire...
and Martin Day
Martin Day
Martin Day is a screenwriter and novelist best known for his work on various spin-offs related to the BBC Television series Doctor Who, and many episodes of the daytime soaps Doctors and Family Affairs.-Work:...
introduced a division within the Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
headed by a man known only as Control, which has featured as a rival to UNIT in several subsequent novels. Alien Bodies
Alien Bodies
Alien Bodies is an original novel written by Lawrence Miles and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It features the Eighth Doctor and Sam. This story marks the first appearance of Faction Paradox, a time travelling Gallifreyan voodoo cult...
by Lawrence Miles
Lawrence Miles
Lawrence Miles is a science fiction author known for his work on original Doctor Who novels and the subsequent spin-off Faction Paradox...
introduced a more ruthless UN division called UNISYC (United Nations Intelligence Security Yard Corps), which by the 2040s has replaced UNIT. By the 26th century, UNIT has transformed into a secret society
Secret society
A secret society is a club or organization whose activities and inner functioning are concealed from non-members. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence agencies or guerrilla insurgencies, which hide their...
called the Unitatus, pledged to defend the Earth against alien threats, first seen in Parkin's Cold Fusion
Cold Fusion (Doctor Who)
Cold Fusion is an original novel written by Lance Parkin and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It features the Fifth Doctor, with Adric, Nyssa, and Tegan, immediately after Castrovalva...
. The Unitatus lasts at least until the 30th century (So Vile a Sin
So Vile a Sin
So Vile a Sin is an original novel written by Ben Aaronovitch & Kate Orman and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It features the Seventh Doctor, Chris and Roz, Bernice, Jason, Kadiatu Lethbridge-Stewart...
by Ben Aaronovitch and Kate Orman
Kate Orman
Kate Orman is an Australian author, best known for her books connected to the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who.-Biography:...
).
David McIntee's aforementioned The Face of the Enemy had the British branch of UNIT facing a menace without the Doctor to help them, as he and Jo Grant were elsewhere (and elsewhen) experiencing the television serial The Curse of Peladon
The Curse of Peladon
The Curse of Peladon is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 29 January to 19 February 1972.-Synopsis:...
.
Comic strips
The Doctor Who Magazine comic stripComic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
also frequently featured UNIT, and in the 1980s introduced a new UNIT officer, Muriel Frost
Muriel Frost
Muriel Frost is a fictional character who appeared in the Doctor Who Magazine comic strip based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. An officer in the British Army, she worked for UNIT , an international organisation that defends the Earth from alien threats...
. One story, Final Genesis, was set in a parallel universe
Parallel universe (fiction)
A parallel universe or alternative reality is a hypothetical self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own. A specific group of parallel universes is called a "multiverse", although this term can also be used to describe the possible parallel universes that constitute reality...
in which humanity has made peace with the Silurians
Silurian (Doctor Who)
The Silurians are a fictional race of reptile-like humanoids in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The species first appeared in Doctor Who in the 1970 serial Doctor Who and the Silurians...
, and UNIT has become the United Races Intelligence Command. The Eighth Doctor
Eighth Doctor
The Eighth Doctor is the eighth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by Paul McGann...
comic strip The Flood established that the British Secret Intelligence Service
Secret Intelligence Service
The Secret Intelligence Service is responsible for supplying the British Government with foreign intelligence. Alongside the internal Security Service , the Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence Intelligence , it operates under the formal direction of the Joint Intelligence...
(MI6) viewed UNIT with some degree of contempt in the early 21st century, and deliberately did not inform them when it detected a Cyberman
Cyberman
The Cybermen are a fictional race of cyborgs who are amongst the most persistent enemies of the Doctor in the British science fiction television series, Doctor Who. Cybermen were originally a wholly organic species of humanoids originating on Earth's twin planet Mondas that began to implant more...
incursion due to this and other unspecified problems with the United Kingdom's relationship with the United Nations. The Tenth Doctor
Tenth Doctor
The Tenth Doctor is the tenth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is played by David Tennant, who appears in three series, as well as eight specials...
comic strip The Age of Ice is set in UNIT's Australian base, beneath Sydney Harbour. The Eleventh Doctor
Eleventh Doctor
The Eleventh Doctor is the eleventh incarnation of the protagonist of the BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. Matt Smith plays this incarnation, replacing David Tennant's Tenth Doctor in the 2010 episode "The End of Time, Part Two"...
strip The Golden Ones introduces UNIT Japan.
UNIT has also appeared in cameo roles in unrelated comics. In at least one issue of Uncanny X-Men
Uncanny X-Men
Uncanny X-Men, first published as The X-Men, is the flagship Marvel Comics comic book series for the X-Men franchise. It is the mainstream continuity featuring the adventures of the eponymous group of mutant superheroes...
, where a character identified as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart was seen briefly from behind, addressing a Sergeant-Major Benton; 2000 AD's
2000 AD (comic)
2000 AD is a weekly British science fiction-oriented comic. As a comics anthology it serialises a number of separate stories each issue and was first published by IPC Magazines in 1977, the first issue dated 26 February. IPC then shifted the title to its Fleetway comics subsidiary which was sold...
Caballistics, Inc.
Caballistics, Inc.
Caballistics, Inc is a horror/fantasy comic strip, set in the present day, that has been running in the weekly British anthology comic 2000AD since December 2002...
strip has Lethbridge-Stewart (referred to solely by rank) appearing in several adventures as a military liaison and referring to The Web Of Fear; and Hip Flask
Hip Flask (comics)
Hieronymous "Hip" Flask is a fictional anthropomorphic hippopotamus who appears in comic books published by Active Images and Image Comics. He was created by Richard Starkings.-Overview:...
has a 22nd Century UNIT tied into the origins of the Elephantmen. Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
also has two major characters called Dr Alistaire Stuart
Alistaire Stuart
Alistaire Stuart is a fictional character appearing in the Marvel Comics universe. He is a scientist, an ally of the superhero team Excalibur and head of MI-13, an intelligence agency...
(who has claimed to know "a chap from Gallifrey") and Brigadier Alysande Stuart
Alysande Stuart
Alysande Stuart is a fictional character appearing in X-Men stories in the Marvel Comics universe. She first appeared in Excalibur #6 and was created by Chris Claremont and Alan Davis...
, Scientific Advisor and commander respectively of Britain's Weird Happenings Organisation (W.H.O.) taskforce. W.H.O. has since been disbanded and Alysande killed, but Alistaire Stuart is still a recurring character in Marvel's United Kingdom.
Audio plays
An alternate universeParallel universe (fiction)
A parallel universe or alternative reality is a hypothetical self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own. A specific group of parallel universes is called a "multiverse", although this term can also be used to describe the possible parallel universes that constitute reality...
version of UNIT and the Brigadier (played once again by Courtney) appeared in the Doctor Who Unbound audio play Sympathy For The Devil
Sympathy for the Devil (Doctor Who audio)
Sympathy for the Devil is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The Doctor Who Unbound dramas pose a series of "What if...?" questions.-Plot:What if.....
, produced by Big Finish Productions
Big Finish Productions
Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays based, primarily, on cult British science fiction properties...
. In this story, UNIT was commanded by the abrasive Colonel Brimmicombe-Wood, played by David Tennant
David Tennant
David Tennant is a Scottish actor. In addition to his work in theatre, including a widely praised Hamlet, Tennant is best known for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, along with the title role in the 2005 TV serial Casanova and as Barty Crouch, Jr...
(later to be cast as the Tenth Doctor
Tenth Doctor
The Tenth Doctor is the tenth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is played by David Tennant, who appears in three series, as well as eight specials...
in the revived television programme). The story concerned a UNIT that never had the Third Doctor working for it, with many different outcomes; Terror of the Autons
Terror of the Autons
Terror of the Autons is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, broadcast in four weekly parts from 2 to 23 January 1971...
resulted in "the Plastic Purges", Mike Yates died on a time-travel mission to destroy the Silurians, and so on.
In December 2004 Big Finish released UNIT: Time Heals
UNIT: Time Heals
UNIT: Time Heals is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It stars Nicholas Courtney reprising his role as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, the former commander of UNIT...
, the first of a new series of UNIT audio plays, featuring a retired General Sir Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart as an advisor to a new generation of officers. A preview episode (given away free with Doctor Who Magazine
Doctor Who Magazine
Doctor Who Magazine is a magazine devoted to the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
#351), UNIT: The Coup
UNIT: The Coup
UNIT: The Coup is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It stars Nicholas Courtney reprising his role as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, the former commander of UNIT...
, had Lethbridge-Stewart finally breaking decades of secrecy by informing a press conference of UNIT's true purpose as humanity's first line of defence against the unknown (although, as it turned out, the general public believed this to be a hoax). The series also introduced another rival division, this time within the British government, the Internal Counter-Intelligence Service, or ICIS. In September 2008, The Coup was re-released as a free download.
The protagonists for most of this series were Colonel Emily Chaudhry (a public-relations specialist played by Siri O'Neal), Lieutenant Will Hoffman (Robert Curbishley) and Colonel Robert Dalton (a veteran of the British Army temporarily assigned to UNIT, played by Nicholas Deal). Hoffman and Dalton were killed in the third instalment, UNIT: The Longest Night
UNIT: The Longest Night
UNIT: The Longest Night is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It continues the story of UNIT...
. The fourth and so far final play, UNIT: The Wasting
UNIT: The Wasting
UNIT: The Wasting is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It stars Nicholas Courtney reprising his role as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, the former commander of UNIT...
, features this Universe’s version of Brimmicombe-Wood (again played by Tennant). The short story "The Terror of the Darkness" in the collection Short Trips: A Day in the Life
Short Trips: A Day in the Life
Short Trips: A Day in the Life is a Big Finish original anthology edited by Ian Farrington and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It features a collection of stories that, together, are set over a 24-hour period.-Stories:-External links:* * Trevor...
revealed that Chaudhry and Hoffman had previously travelled with the Sixth Doctor
Sixth Doctor
The Sixth Doctor is the sixth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by Colin Baker...
. Their adventures then continued in "Incongruous Details" (Short Trips: The Centenarian
Short Trips: The Centenarian
Short Trips: The Centenarian is a Big Finish original anthology edited by Ian Farrington and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The collection follows the life of a man, Edward Grainger, from his birth through to his death and explores the history of the...
) before ending in Short Trips: Defining Patterns
Short Trips: Defining Patterns
Short Trips: Defining Patterns is a Big Finish original anthology edited by Ian Farrington and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
.
Direct-to-Video productions
In 1987, John LeveneJohn Levene
John Levene is an English actor. His most famous role was that of Sergeant Benton of UNIT on the television series Doctor Who.He was born John Anthony Woods in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England....
reprised his role as Benton for a made-for-video film entitled Wartime
Wartime (Doctor Who)
Wartime is the title of a short science fiction film, produced direct-to-video in 1987 by Reeltime Pictures. It was the first professionally produced, authorised independent spin-off of the long-running TV series Doctor Who, and the only such production to be made while the originating TV series...
. Produced by Reeltime Pictures
Reeltime Pictures
Reeltime Pictures is a British multimedia film and video production company founded in 1984 by Keith Barnfather.It is known for its many documentaries about the long-running television series Doctor Who and in particular for The Myth Makers, a series of interviews with people associated with the...
, this was the first independently made Doctor Who spin-off film and would be followed by many others over the next 20 years. In 1997, the film was revised with voice-over dialogue provided by Nicholas Courtney in character as Lethbridge-Stewart. The Brigadier would himself get a made-for-video film, Downtime
Downtime (Doctor Who)
Downtime is a direct-to-video spin-off of the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was released direct-to-video and produced by the independent production company Reeltime Pictures...
, which also saw appearances from UNIT and a corrupt UNIT officer named Captain Cavendish.
BBV
BBV
BBV is a video and audio production company specialising in science fiction drama, known for its links with the British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
have made a trilogy of UNIT videos involving the Autons
Auton trilogy
The Auton trilogy is a series of direct-to-video spin-off productions based on the long running BBC science fiction series Doctor Who. The three films in the series are Auton , Auton 2: Sentinel and Auton 3...
, although they feature none of the original members, with the main character being Lockwood (a codename for the otherwise nameless UNIT Operative 8954B) – an investigator with psychic powers. The trilogy introduced one of UNIT's facilities (the Warehouse) for containing the remains of alien technology; the Containment Team responsible for these facilities and preventing alien outbreaks at them; and the Internal Security Division.
Other media
In the internet FlashAdobe Flash
Adobe Flash is a multimedia platform used to add animation, video, and interactivity to web pages. Flash is frequently used for advertisements, games and flash animations for broadcast...
animation Scream of the Shalka
Scream of the Shalka
Scream of the Shalka is a flash-animated series based on the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was produced to coincide with the 40th Anniversary of the series and was originally posted in six weekly parts from 13 November to 18 December 2003 on bbc.co.uk's Doctor Who...
, Major Kennet hands the Doctor
Shalka Doctor
The Shalka Doctor is the common fan name given to the character that appeared as an alternate incarnation of the Doctor in the flash-animated serial Scream of the Shalka in 2003 and the later short story The Feast of the Stone which were based on the British science fiction television series,...
a folder with a UNIT crest on it.
For the new television series, BBC created a faux website
Doctor Who tie-in websites
The 2005 series revival of the long-running British science fiction television programme Doctor Who features several tie-in websites produced by the BBC website team that viewers can access on the Internet...
for UNIT, complete with "easter eggs" that can be accessed by the reader with the passwords "bison" and "buffalo" (the latter mentioned on screen in World War Three). The 'public' part of the website advertises UNIT Conferences and publications relating to "extra-territorial threats", as well as press releases on the establishment of a central New York Liaison office; the press releases and publications also make reference to off-screen adventures, such as the Skaniska Incident and Jersey Tollgate Situation, with the most recent covering the events of The Christmas Invasion ("Alien Life Confirmed"). The Secure Login link, using the password "badwolf" (originally "bison") uncovers a 'private' section which provides UNIT point-of-view reports about various events in the 2005 series, as well as mention of missions such as The Fourth Reich and Guatemala "Big Locust" Problem. The website's canonical status, like that of the spin-off media, is debatable. Due to the objections by the United Nations as noted above, the letters "UN" are no longer expanded to "United Nations" on the website.
UNIT dating
The original 1963–1989 series presented conflicting evidence about when the stories featuring UNIT were meant to take place, and there has been much confusion and continuing fan debate on this subject. Although there is strong evidence that at least some of the production team intended for the UNIT stories to take place in the "near future", this policy was not consistently applied and there is equally strong evidence to suggest the stories took place at the time of their broadcast. The 1983 story Mawdryn UndeadMawdryn Undead
Mawdryn Undead is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was originally broadcast in four twice weekly parts from 1 February to 9 February 1983...
explicitly states that the Brigadier retired from UNIT in 1976 and that Sergeant Benton left the army in 1979. Whether the stories take place contemporaneously with the broadcast dates or a few years in the future is therefore highly debatable – with the exception of Battlefield, which is explicitly set in an unspecified near future. A reference to this confusion appeared in the 2008 episode The Sontaran Stratagem
The Sontaran Stratagem
"The Sontaran Stratagem" is the fourth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 26 April 2008...
, where the Doctor was unsure if his time on the UNIT staff took place during the 1970s or the 1980s. Similarly, an episode of The Sarah Jane Adventures
The Sarah Jane Adventures
The Sarah Jane Adventures is a British science fiction television series, produced by BBC Cymru Wales for CBBC, created by Russell T Davies and starring Elisabeth Sladen...
displayed a UNIT file on Sarah Jane Smith which says, "The service quickly expanded, making our presence felt in a golden period that spanned the sixties, the seventies, and, some would say, the eighties."
Critical reception
The concept of UNIT has been generally well-received by Doctor Who fans. In Andrew CartmelAndrew Cartmel
Andrew Cartmel is a British science fiction writer and journalist, and former script editor of Doctor Who. He has also worked as a script editor on other television series, as a magazine editor, a film studies lecturer and as a novelist.-Biography:...
's Through Time: An Unauthorised and Unofficial History of Doctor Who, the sharp contrast between the Doctor's eccentric personality and the seriousness and normality of UNIT is described by Cartmel as an "inspired stroke".
The organisation is often seen within the context of other international organisations which featured in science fiction of the post-war era. Among others, these included SMERSH
SMERSH (James Bond)
SMERSH is a Soviet counterintelligence agency featured in Ian Fleming's early James Bond novels as agent 007's nemesis. СМЕРШ is an acronym from two Russian words: "SMERt' SHpionam" meaning "Death to Spies"...
and SPECTRE
SPECTRE
SPECTRE is a fictional global terrorist organisation featured in the James Bond novels by Ian Fleming, the films based on those novels, and James Bond video games...
from the James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
novels, and U.N.C.L.E.
U.N.C.L.E.
U.N.C.L.E. is an acronym for the fictional United Network Command for Law and Enforcement, a secret international intelligence agency featured in the TV series The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.. Both were 1960s TV series produced in the United States.U.N.C.L.E. is an organization...
from The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is an American television series that was broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1964, to January 15, 1968. It follows the exploits of two secret agents, played by Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, who work for a fictitious secret international espionage and law-enforcement...
– like UNIT, intended as a fictional United Nations intelligence agency.
The original association with the UN has sometimes been criticised for supposedly reflecting left-wing sentiment within the BBC:
See also
External links
- "Official" UNIT website (BBC-sponsored) [Password="badwolf" Password="buffalo"]