Petronella Osgood

UNIT stands for United Nations Intelligence Taskforce, a fictional entity in ''Doctor Who''.

UNIT first appeared in the Second Doctor serial '' The Invasion'', (1968), although Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart had appeared earlier in ''The Web of Fear'' (1968) as a colonel.

UNIT went on to feature in many Third Doctor stories, as the Doctor is shown being exiled to Earth in ''Spearhead from Space'' (1970), and becomes UNIT's Scientific Advisor following the Auton attack. The Doctor would maintain this post in subsequent incarnations. UNIT is a large organisation and many personnel have featured in ''Doctor Who'' over the years. Some lead, supporting and recurring characters have worked for or have been affiliated with the organisation. The most notable personnel include The Brigadier, Sergeant Benton, Mike Yates, Petronella Osgood, Kate Stewart, and Martha Jones.

B

Brigadier Winifred Bambera

Brigadier Winifred Bambera, played by Angela Bruce, appeared in the Seventh Doctor serial ''Battlefield'' (1989) as UNIT's commanding officer. She works alongside the Seventh Doctor, Ace and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart in defeating the extra-dimensional forces of Morgaine and Mordred in Carbury. She is in command during the mid-1990s and is tasked with transporting a nuclear missile across Britain. Bambera is shown able to fight with weapons and in hand-to-hand combat. She takes a no-nonsense, by-the-book approach to command that warrants the respect of those under her. Major Husak and Sergeant Zbrigniev reports directly to her. She uses the word "shame" as an expletive.

Bambera appears briefly twice in the Virgin New Adventures novels, in '' Head Games'' (1995) and ''The Dying Days''. It is revealed that she has married Ancelyn, the Arthurian knight from ''Battlefield'', and that the couple have twins. She is mentioned as having served as a Colonel under Brigadier Crichton in the novelisation of ''Downtime'' (1996). Her later life is seen in th
Prelude
to ''Transit'' (where she holds the rank of General) and the short story "Excalibur of Mars" in the Bernice Summerfield anthology ''Present Danger'' (2010).

In the IDW comic ''The Forgotten'' (2008–09), the Ninth Doctor uses the name "Brigadier Bambera" as an alias when visiting World War I.

She reunites with the Seventh Doctor and Ace in the Big Finish Productions ''Lost Stories'' audio ''Animal'' (2011).

Corporal Bell

Corporal Bell, played by Fernanda Marlowe, is one of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart's administrative support staff. She appeared in the Third Doctor serials ''The Mind of Evil'' (1971) and ''The Claws of Axos'' (1971). In the ''Virgin Missing Adventures'' novel ''The Eye of the Giant'' (1996) by Christopher Bulis, her first name is given as Carol.

Sergeant Benton

D

The Doctor

UNIT's principal scientific advisor since his third incarnation was exiled to Earth (having periodically collaborated with UNIT during his second incarnation). The Doctor departed from UNIT's full-time employment during his fourth incarnation, leaving a space-time telegraph (and, later, the TARDIS's telephone number) with which he could be summoned in emergencies. He retains his credentials, still bearing his third incarnation's portrait; and, initially, UNIT personnel Surgeon-Lieutenant Harry Sullivan and Sarah Jane Smith as his companions. Despite the looseness of his UNIT affiliation and his frequent disagreements with the organisation, the Doctor continues to consider UNIT's scientific advisor to be his job, even into his eleventh incarnation; when advising UNIT leader Kate Stewart in "The Day of the Doctor" (2013), the Eleventh Doctor insists to a sceptical Clara Oswald, "I work for them. … This is my job." Kate echoes this sentiment in "Death in Heaven" (2014) when warning an invading Cyberman that Twelfth Doctor is "on the payroll".

Despite enjoying UNIT's confidence and admiration, the Doctor's extraordinary abilities and independence concern UNIT to the point that the Black Archive is designed to be impenetrable by his TARDIS, although it remains vulnerable to his subterfuge.

G

Jo Grant

Jo Grant is a civilian employee of UNIT who was assigned as assistant to the Scientific Advisor, the Third Doctor. The character appears from the serial ''Terror of the Autons'' in 1971 until ''The Green Death'' in 1973. According to the novelisation of ''Terror of the Autons'', she holds the rank of Corporal. She maintained communication with her former UNIT colleagues, as discussed in ''Invasion of the Dinosaurs'' (1974), but was not seen again until 2010 when she met her old successor, Sarah Jane Smith, and the Doctor's eleventh incarnation in the ''Death of the Doctor'' serial of the spin-off series ''The Sarah Jane Adventures''. It is shown at that time that UNIT still knows how to reach her thirty-seven years later, and invited her to their Snowdon base for the purported funeral of the Doctor.

Grand Serpent

H

Private Carl Harris

Private Carl Harris played by Clive Standen codename "Greyhound 15", appeared in 3 episodes of ''Doctor Who'' fourth series. His first appearance in "The Sontaran Stratagem" and "The Poison Sky" (2008). He leads the UNIT operation into the ATMOS facility and teams up with Private Gray to secure the basement of the factory where they stumble across a cloning tank (complete with embryonic clone) and the Sontaran leader General Staal. Staal is impressed with Harris's courage, and declares him an "above average soldier" before disparaging Harris's heightist jokes against him and brainwashing Harris to act as a double agent for the Sontarans. He sets about capturing Martha Jones and assisting Commander Skorr with her cloning and then commandeering the TARDIS. Still hypnotised, he and Gray later reported to Skorr to fight alongside the Sontarans but are casually gunned down.

He returned in the episode "Turn Left" (2008), leading a UNIT operation in a parallel universe and announcing the Tenth Doctor's death during the events of the attempted Racnoss invasion, the events of which occurred previous to the Sontaran invasion.

On Page 129 of the reference book ''The Time Traveller's Almanac'', Harris's first name is given as Carl.

Captain Hawkins

Captain Hawkins, played by Paul Darrow, fights against the Silurians before being killed by the Young Silurian when he comes to Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart's rescue in the Third Doctor serial '' Doctor Who and the Silurians'' (1970). According to the Doctor Who: Missing Adventures novel ''The Scales of Injustice'' (1996) by Gary Russell, his first name is Sam.

J

Jac

Jac, played by Jaye Griffiths, is a UNIT operative, who appears in "The Magician's Apprentice" and "The Zygon Invasion". She is seemingly killed when tricked into a Zygon lair by a duplicate of Clara Oswald.

Dr. Martha Jones

After her adventures with the Doctor, Martha Jones codename "Greyhound 6", becomes a medical doctor, and subsequently a Medical Officer for UNIT (revealed during an appearance on the spin-off series ''Torchwood''). She contacts the Doctor so he could help UNIT in the episode "The Sontaran Stratagem" (2008). She becomes trusted enough in UNIT to be given the Osterhagen Key, part of a mechanism for a program to destroy Earth, as shown in "Journey's End" (2008). Martha resigns following the events of "Journey's End".

L

Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart

Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart (later Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart) is a founder of UNIT and the original commander of UNIT's British contingent. During the Doctor's exile on Earth, he hires the Doctor as his Scientific Advisor. He was the father of Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, another UNIT commander. As ''Doctor Who'' show-runner Steven Moffat noted, "Out of all the people the Doctor has met, in all of space and time, Nicholas Courtney's Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart was the only one who was ever his boss."

Kate Lethbridge-Stewart

M

Colonel Mace

Colonel Mace is the commanding officer of a large contingent of UNIT, appearing in "The Sontaran Stratagem" / "The Poison Sky" (2008). He originally seems to view the Doctor as a superior officer, saluting him and taking his orders; however, the two clash and Mace begins to be irritated by the Doctor's manner and repeated casual dismissals of him and UNIT, while simultaneously irritating the Doctor through his overtly militaristic manner and insistence on a combat solution to the situation brought on by the Sontarans (Although both agree that the presence of ' Sir Alistair' would be of great assistance at this time).

Despite repeatedly being told UNIT could not face the Sontarans, he organises the troops for an assault on a Sontaran position, telling the Doctor he is not listening any more, and rallies the troops with a speech about how they would show "every passing alien with an axe to grind" to not mock them and see "what the human race is capable of". He even manages to impress the Doctor by having the ''Valiant'' clear away the poison gas surrounding the factory. He then successfully leads the recapture of the area, managing to personally kill the Sontaran second-in-command, Commander Skorr.

Although Colonel Mace's first name was never mentioned on screen, the letter initial of A can be seen on the I.D. Card displayed on his uniform. On Page 129 of the reference book ''The Time Traveller's Almanac'', it says that the A stands for Alan.

In the ''Torchwood'' serial ''Children of Earth'' (2009), John Frobisher and Colonel Oduya discuss Mace's posting in Vancouver. There is also a reference to Colonel Mace's posting in Vancouver in the Eleventh Doctor novel ''The Forgotten Army'' (2010).

Captain Erisa Magambo

Captain Erisa Magambo is the UNIT officer in Donna Noble's parallel universe, working with Rose Tyler to restore the correct universe in the 2008 episode "Turn Left". Her UNIT team helps construct a time machine from the TARDIS to send Donna back into the past.

Magambo returns in the 2009 episode "Planet of the Dead", this time on a non-parallel Earth, as a senior officer of a UNIT patrol. She leads a team of UNIT soldiers and Doctor Malcolm Taylor who were investigating a wormhole which was, unbeknownst to them, created by the deadly Swarm. Taylor and Magambo aid the Doctor's attempt to return to planet Earth from San Helios from the Earth side of the wormhole; however, when the Doctor refuses to give full details of the impending Swarm, she considers shutting the wormhole down to save the planet. Malcolm refuses to shut the wormhole without the Doctor coming back through and resists even under the threat of Magambo shooting him. Yet the Doctor was able to come back through with the aid of the modified 200 Bus and Magambo leads her troops in destroying the three Swarm aliens that come through the wormhole before its closure. After thanking the Doctor and bringing his TARDIS back to him (apparently it had been found in the gardens of Buckingham Palace), she comments on having to clear up the mess, to which the Doctor refused to help in the paperwork.

O

Sergeant Osgood

Sergeant Osgood, played by Alec Linstead, serves in Devil's End as UNIT's Technical Adviser, during the Master's interference there, as seen in the Third Doctor story ''The Dæmons'' (1971). He fights against Azal and Bok. He has the unenviable task of trying to build a device designed by the Doctor to be used against Azal. According to the Doctor Who: Missing Adventures novel ''The Eye of the Giant'' (1996) by Christopher Bulis, his first name is Tom. There has been no indication in aired canon whether he is related to Petronella Osgood (see below), although showrunner Steven Moffat has indicated in an interview that he did intend her to be Tom Osgood's daughter but deliberately left it ambiguous.

Petronella Osgood

Petronella Osgood, played by Ingrid Oliver, is a UNIT scientist and assistant to Kate Stewart in "The Day of the Doctor" (2013). She wears a long, knitted scarf of many colours, reminiscent of the Fourth Doctor's scarf, and suffers from a respiratory ailment for which she uses an inhaler when over-excited. In "The Day of the Doctor", she comes to be impersonated by a Zygon, and the two get along rather well, which they keep secret from the other Humans and Zygons. Osgood returns, working with Kate Stewart and the Twelfth Doctor, in the episode "Death in Heaven" (2014), wearing a bow tie reminiscent of the Eleventh Doctor and Converse reminiscent of the Tenth Doctor. She is shown to be eager to please the Doctor and admires him. The Twelfth Doctor hints that he might consider making her a companion, but she is disintegrated by Missy in "Death in Heaven"; Osgood displayed a great deal of self-control as she near-calmly tried persuading Missy to spare her with logical explanations.

Despite her apparent death, a surviving Osgood returned alongside the Zygons again in the two-part story "The Zygon Invasion" / "The Zygon Inversion", this time wearing a question mark shirt, reminiscent of the Sixth Doctor. It is revealed in that she and her Zygon duplicate from the "Day of the Doctor", who constantly refer to each other as sisters, had orchestrated the peace treaty between humans and Zygons; Missy killing one of the pair caused a breakdown in the treaty. Once the crisis is resolved in "The Zygon Inversion", Osgood gains a new "sister" in another Zygon named Bonnie who assumes her form to renew the treaty. Throughout the two-parter, the surviving Osgood adamantly refused to confirm whether she was the original human or her original Zygon sister, such that the species of the Osgood killed by Missy is never revealed.

P

Captain Marian Price

Captain Marian Price first appeared in the background in "The Sontaran Stratagem" (2008) and was introduced fully in "The Poison Sky" (2008). She is in charge of monitoring systems and reports on how the planet was coping under the Sontaran gas, and controls the launching of UNIT-coordinated nuclear weaponry. After the Doctor clears the atmosphere with an atmospheric converter, she kisses Colonel Mace in excitement, only to remember herself afterward and awkwardly turns away. Like Colonel Mace she salutes the Doctor upon meeting him. Her collar dogs indicate that she is a member of the Royal Engineers.

S

General Sanchez

Lieutenant General Sanchez, played by Michael Brandon, is the American officer commanding UNIT's Manhattan base in "The Stolen Earth" (2008). His authority includes oversight of Project Indigo, and he directs Martha Jones to use the Sontaran-based technology to find the Doctor. He also entrusts her with one of five Osterhagen Keys for use in case that search failed. Following Martha's escape it is heavily implied that he is exterminated by the Daleks. His right-sleeve shoulder patch shows that he formerly served in a combat theatre with the 82nd Airborne Division.

Years later, a photograph of the late LTG Sanchez with Dr Jones hangs on a bulletin board in UNIT's Black Archive in the Tower of London during the tenure of Kate ethbridgeStewart as Chief Scientific Officer.

Dr. Elizabeth Shaw

Originally drafted as Scientific Advisor, Dr. Elizabeth Shaw accepts the position of Assistant when the Third Doctor took the job of Scientific Advisor.

Sarah Jane Smith

Sarah Jane Smith is an investigative journalist who becomes a UNIT associate by way of her companion relationship with the Third, Fourth, Tenth and Eleventh Doctors. She first gains access to UNIT in the serial ''The Time Warrior'' (1973–74) by posing as her aunt and foster mother, the famous virologist Dr. Lavinia Smith—a guise through which the Third Doctor immediately sees, as he had read papers which Lavinia published when Sarah Jane was but a young child. Sarah Jane maintains contact with, and receives support from, senior UNIT personnel well after leaving their employ.

Kate Stewart

Kate Stewart, sometimes known as Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, is the Chief Scientific Officer and ''de facto'' leader of UNIT in the 2010s. She first appears in "The Power of Three" (2012), introduced by Chris Chibnall, before returning in fiftieth anniversary special "The Day of the Doctor" (2013) and subsequently recurring during the Twelfth and Thirteenth Doctor's eras.

Kate is the daughter of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart (Nicholas Courtney). The character was created for the unofficial spin-off videos ''Downtime'' (1995) and '' Dæmos Rising'' (2004), in which she was played by Beverley Cressman. She is depicted as a single mother to Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, who to date has not been referred to in ''Doctor Who''.

In "The Power of Three", Kate meets the Eleventh Doctor, and his companions Amy Pond and Rory Williams, where UNIT investigates the appearance of small cubes across Earth. Despite her truncated surname, the Doctor recognises her as the Brigadier's daughter through her approach to the organisation's leadership; she, in turn, attributes her "science leads" ethos to her militaristic father's friendship with the more scientific Doctor. In "The Day of the Doctor", Kate summons the Doctor to assist with a Zygon attack, during which she also meets his tenth incarnation and the previously unknown War Doctor, as well as Clara Oswald. When the Doctors cause Kate and her Zygon imposter to temporarily forget which species they belong to, they together create a treaty between humans and Zygons.

Kate's appearances with the Twelfth Doctor and Clara see her assist them against Missy (Michelle Gomez), the Cybermen and the Zygons once more, after the peace treaty breaks down. She is herself aided by UNIT scientist Petronella Osgood, and the latter's Zygon clone "sister", in these situations.

"Survivors of the Flux" reveals that UNIT's closure in 2017 (as previously discovered in "Resolution") was the result of the temporal meddling of the Grand Serpent (Craig Parkinson), whose deception Kate recognised. After evading an assassination attempt, Kate remains in hiding for the next four years before leading the human resistance against a Sontaran invasion. In the course of this struggle, she meets the Thirteenth Doctor and joins her team working to neutralise the Flux. Kate later appears in the Thirteenth Doctor's final episode "The Power of the Doctor", leading a globally resurgent UNIT.

Dr. Harry Sullivan

Dr. Harry Sullivan, a Surgeon-Lieutenant in the Royal Navy, is a medical officer in UNIT at the time of the Doctor's third regeneration and his companion for several adventures.

T

Corporal Tracy

Corporal Tracy, played by Geoffrey Cheshire, fights against the Cybermen in the Second Doctor serial '' The Invasion'' (1968). According to the Doctor Who: Missing Adventures novel ''The Scales of Injustice'' (1996) by Gary Russell, his first name is Jack.

Y

Captain Mike Yates

Captain Mike Yates was Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart's assistant for several adventures during the Third Doctor's tenure with UNIT.

See also

* List of ''Torchwood'' personnel

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:List of Unit Personnel
*
UNIT
UNIT Personnel