Captain Mike Yates is a

fictional character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life perso ...

in the British

science fiction television Science fiction first appeared in television programming in the late 1930s, during what is called the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary ...

series ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the ...

'', played by Richard Franklin. He was adjutant of the British contingent of

UNIT Unit may refer to: Arts and entertainment * UNIT, a fictional military organization in the science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' * Unit of action, a discrete piece of action (or beat) in a theatrical presentation Music * ''Unit'' (a ...

, an international organization that defends

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's sur ...

from

alien Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...

threats.

Character history

Yates first appeared in the

Third Doctor The Third Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He was portrayed by actor Jon Pertwee. Within the series' narrative, the Doctor is a centuries-old alien Time Lord fr ...

serial '' Terror of the Autons'', the latest in a line of Captains assisting

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'', created by writers Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln and ...

, although the Doctor implies that he was around for previous stories. He proved more durable than his predecessors, appearing semi-regularly on the programme from 1971 to 1974 alongside the Brigadier and

Sergeant Benton Sergeant John 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 Earth f ...

. Together with the Doctor and his companions, Yates fought off alien invasions, the machinations of the renegade

Time Lord The Time Lords are a fictional ancient race of extraterrestrial people in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', of which the series' main protagonist, the Doctor, is a member. Time Lords are so named for their command ...

known as the Master, rogue computers and mutated maggots. Little is known of him outside of his time with UNIT. He was cool under fire, efficient, and both gave and carried out his orders with a minimum of fuss. He appeared to have a relatively good rapport with his men, although he did remind Benton on occasion that "rank hath its privileges." The Third Doctor's assistant, Jo Grant, was dressed up to go on a night on the town with Mike at the start of '' The Curse of Peladon'', only to be taken on a trip in the

TARDIS The TARDIS (; acronym for "Time And Relative Dimension In Space") is a fictional hybrid of the time machine and spacecraft that appears in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' and its various spin-offs. Its exterior a ...

by the Doctor. Yates's fall from grace started when he was brainwashed by the

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech ...

BOSS in the 1973 serial ''

The Green Death ''The Green Death'' is the fifth and final serial of the tenth season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in six weekly parts on BBC1 from 19 May to 23 June 1973. It was the last regular appe ...

''. The brush with ecological disaster apparently made Yates very concerned about the future of the planet, and he was easily recruited by Sir Charles Grover into a conspiracy to reverse time and return

to a "golden age" ('' Invasion of the Dinosaurs''). The conspiracy was thwarted by the Doctor, and in return for his past service to UNIT, the Brigadier allowed Yates to take medical leave and then quietly resign (actor Richard Franklin believes the initial plan for this story was to kill off Yates). Trying to recover, Yates attended a

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm ...

centre but uncovered strange goings-on, which he reported to

Sarah Jane Smith Sarah Jane Smith is a fictional character played by Elisabeth Sladen in the long-running BBC Television science fiction on television, science fiction series ''Doctor Who'' and two of Doctor Who spin-offs, its spin-offs. Sarah Jane is a dogged in ...

, since he felt that UNIT would find him untrustworthy. Sarah communicated this back to the Doctor, leading into the rest of the events of the Third Doctor's last serial, '' Planet of the Spiders''. Richard Franklin returned as an illusory image of Yates in the 20th Anniversary special ''

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 20th anniversary. It had its world premiere in the United States, on the Chicago ...

'' and reprised the role of Yates in the 1993 charity special ''

Dimensions in Time ''Dimensions in Time'' is a charity special crossover between the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' and the soap opera '' EastEnders'' that ran in two parts on 26 and 27 November 1993. It was filmed on location at Greenwi ...

''. A photo of Yates meeting Special Space Security agent

Sara Kingdom Sara may refer to: Arts, media and entertainment Film and television * ''Sara'' (1992 film), 1992 Iranian film by Dariush Merhjui * ''Sara'' (1997 film), 1997 Polish film starring Bogusław Linda * ''Sara'' (2010 film), 2010 Sri Lankan Sinhal ...

was seen amongst a collection of companion photographs kept by UNIT's Black Archive in the 50th anniversary story, ''

The Day of the Doctor ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

''. As one of the more prominent

recurring Recurring means occurring repeatedly and can refer to several different things: Mathematics and finance *Recurring expense, an ongoing (continual) expenditure *Repeating decimal, or recurring decimal, a real number in the decimal numeral syste ...

supporting characters in the television series, Yates is often listed as a companion of the Doctor and indeed is listed as such on the official BBC ''Doctor Who'' website. However, he is not always listed as such -

John Nathan-Turner John Nathan-Turner (''né'' Turner; 12 August 1947 – 1 May 2002) was an English television producer. He was the ninth producer of the long-running BBC science fiction series ''Doctor Who''. He was also the final producer of the series' firs ...

's book ''Doctor Who: The Companions,'' for instance, excludes Yates.

Other appearances

Mike Yates has appeared in the

spin-off Spin-off may refer to: *Spin-off (media), a media work derived from an existing work *Corporate spin-off, a type of corporate action that forms a new company or entity * Government spin-off, civilian goods which are the result of military or gov ...

novels taking place during his time with UNIT. In the

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 pro ...

novels '' The Eye of the Giant'' by

Christopher Bulis Christopher Bulis is a writer best known for his work on various Doctor Who spin-offs. He is one of the most prolific authors to write for the various ranges of spin-offs from the BBC Television series ''Doctor Who'', with twelve novels to his na ...

and ''

The Scales of Injustice ''The Scales of Injustice'' is a Virgin Missing Adventures original novel written by Gary Russell based on the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It features the Third Doctor, Liz Shaw and UNIT. Plot The Doc ...

'' by

Gary Russell Gary Russell (born 18 September 1963) is a British freelance writer, producer and former child actor. As a writer, he is best known for his work in connection with the television series ''Doctor Who'' and its spin-offs in other media. As an a ...

, Yates began as a sergeant in UNIT together with Benton and was promoted to Captain at the end of ''Scales'', which took place between the television stories '' Inferno'' and ''Terror of the Autons''. The novel implies that he was promoted directly from Sergeant to Captain, which would be unusual if not impossible in most real-world militaries. In the

Past Doctor Adventures The ''Past Doctor Adventures'' (sometimes known by the abbreviation ''PDA'' or ''PDAs'') 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 ...

novel ''

The Devil Goblins from Neptune ''The Devil Goblins from Neptune'' is a BBC Books original novel written by Martin Day and Keith Topping (developed from an original idea by Day, Topping and Paul Cornell) and based on the long-running British science fiction television series ...

'' by

Keith Topping Keith Andrew Topping (born 26 October 1963 in Walker, Tyneside) is an author, journalist and broadcaster. He is most well known for his work relating to the BBC Television series ''Doctor Who'' and for writing numerous official and unofficial g ...

and Martin Day it was established that his full name was Michael Alexander Raymond Yates. In the Past Doctor Adventures novel ''

Verdigris Verdigris is the common name for blue-green, copper-based pigments that form a patina on copper, bronze, and brass. The technical literature is ambiguous as to its chemical composition. Some sources refer to "neutral verdigris" as copper(II) ...

'' by

Paul Magrs Paul Magrs (pronounced "Mars"; born 12 November 1969) is a writer and lecturer. He was born in Jarrow, England, and now lives in Manchester with his partner, author and lecturer Jeremy Hoad. Early life Magrs was born in Jarrow, Tyne & Wear, o ...

, Yates is rendered

amnesia Amnesia is a deficit in memory caused by brain damage or disease,Gazzaniga, M., Ivry, R., & Mangun, G. (2009) Cognitive Neuroscience: The biology of the mind. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. but it can also be caused temporarily by the use ...

c and subsequently turned two-dimensional. The Third Doctor later arranges for Yates to be restored to normal. In Past Doctor Adventures novel '' Deep Blue'', we discover that Mike had three brothers, and his mum thought that Mike was the most sensitive. Stories written as in-universe articles in '' Doctor Who Magazine Winter Special'' 1991, (subtitled "UNIT Exposed") described significant post-UNIT activity for Yates. He had founded an organisation called the Cosmic Earth Society; written a book called ''Help From the Stars,'' which detailed the revelations of past extraterrestrial involvement in human evolution discovered by UNIT at Devil's End, and revealed other UNIT-operations information to a reporter from the ''Metropolitan''. His claim that the actual cause of central London's evacuation was dinosaurs having been brought forward in time (part of a plan that he admitted to have been involved in and which was, he claimed, the real reason for his discharge from UNIT) dovetailed with ''Day of the Dinosaurs'', an entry in a series of science fiction novels written by former UNIT associate

, which featured an organization called WIN (World Investigative Network) commanded by General Lutwidge-Douglas. This led another ''Metropolitan'' reporter to doubt that Yates was a crackpot as generally believed. Richard Franklin also wrote an unpublished novel featuring Mike Yates, ''The Killing Stone'', set after the events of ''Spiders''. It was released as an audio book, read by Franklin, by BBV in 2002. In 2009, Franklin reprised the role of Mike Yates for a series of five audio dramas produced by BBC Audio under the umbrella title '' Hornets' Nest''. The series saw Yates partnered with the

Fourth Doctor The Fourth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is portrayed by Tom Baker. Within the series' narrative, the Doctor is a centuries-old alien Time Lord from the ...

, played by

Tom Baker Thomas Stewart Baker (born 20 January 1934) is an English actor and writer. He is well known for his portrayal of the fourth incarnation of the Doctor in the science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' from 1974 to 1981.Scott, Danny. (1 ...

. He reunited with the Fourth Doctor in the subsequent sequel series, ''

Demon Quest ''Demon Quest'' is an audio play in five episodes based on the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It is written by Paul Magrs, and stars Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor and Richard Franklin as Captain Mike Ya ...

'' and

Serpent Crest ''Serpent Crest'' is an radio drama, audio play in five episodes based on the long-running British science fiction on television, science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It is written by Paul Magrs, and stars Tom Baker as the Fourth Do ...

List of appearances

Television

;Season 8 * '' Terror of the Autons'' * '' The Mind of Evil'' * '' The Claws of Axos'' * '' The Dæmons'' ;Season 9 * '' Day of the Daleks'' * '' The Time Monster'' ;Season 10 * ''

'' ;Season 11 * '' Invasion of the Dinosaurs'' * '' Planet of the Spiders'' ;20th anniversary special * ''

'' (cameo) ;30th anniversary special * ''

Audio drama

* ''The Blue Tooth'' (adventure related by the character

Liz Shaw Elizabeth "Liz" Shaw is a fictional character played by Caroline John in the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' and its spin-offs. A civilian member of UNIT, an international organisation that defends Earth fr ...

) by Nigel Fairs * '' The Magician's Oath'' by Scott Handcock * '' Hornets' Nest'' * ''

'' * ''

'' * '' The Rings of Ikiria'' * ''

Destiny of the Doctor ''Doctor Who: Destiny of the Doctor'' is a series of audiobooks produced by Big Finish Productions for AudioGo. They were released monthly through the first eleven months of 2013 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of United Kingdom, British te ...

'': Vengeance of the Stones

Novels

;

* '' Dancing the Code'' by Paul Leonard * '' The Eye of the Giant'' by

* ''

'' by

* ''

Speed of Flight ''Speed of Flight'' is an original novel written by Paul Leonard and based on the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It features the Third Doctor, Jo and Mike Yates. Plot The TARDIS lands on Nooma, a world ...

'' by Paul Leonard ;

Virgin New Adventures The ''Virgin New Adventures'' (NA series, or NAs) are a series of novels from Virgin Publishing based on the British science-fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. They continued the story of the Doctor from the point at which the televisio ...

* '' Happy Endings'' by

Paul Cornell Paul Douglas Cornell (born 18 July 1967) 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. As well as ''Docto ...

; Virgin sidestep novel * '' Who Killed Kennedy'' by David Bishop (letter to a UNIT casualty's next-of-kin is signed by Yates) ;

* ''

'' by Martin Day and

* '' The Face of the Enemy'' by

David A. McIntee David A. McIntee (born 31 December 1968) is a British writer. Career 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: 19 ...

* '' Deep Blue'' by Mark Morris * ''

'' by

* '' Rags'' by Mick Lewis * ''

Deadly Reunion ''Deadly Reunion'' is a BBC Books original novel written by Terrance Dicks and Barry Letts and based on the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It features the Third Doctor, Jo, and UNIT. This novel celebrat ...

'' by

Terrance Dicks Terrance William Dicks (14 April 1935 – 29 August 2019) was an English author and television screenwriter, script editor and producer. In television, he had a long association with the BBC science-fiction series ''Doctor Who'', working a ...

and Barry Letts ;Unlicensed novel, released on CD * ''The Killing Stone'' by Richard Franklin

Short stories

* "Brief Encounter--Listening Watch" by

Dan Abnett Dan Abnett (born 12 October 1965) is an English comic book writer and novelist. He has been a frequent collaborator with fellow writer Andy Lanning, and is known for his work on books for both Marvel Comics, and their UK imprint, Marvel UK, si ...

(''

Doctor Who Magazine ''Doctor Who Magazine'' (abbreviated as ''DWM'') is a magazine devoted to the long-running British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. Launched in 1979 as ''Doctor Who Weekly'', the magazine became a monthly publication the follo ...

Winter Special 1991'') * "Prisoners of the Sun" by Tim Robins ('' Decalog''; parallel universe version of Yates) * "Where the Heart Is" by

Andy Lane Andrew Lane (born 17 April 1963), as Andy Lane, is a British author and journalist best known for the Young Sherlock Holmes series of Young Adult novels. He has written novels in the Virgin New Adventures range and audio dramas for Big Fin ...

('' Decalog 2: Lost Property'') * "Housewarming" by David A. McIntee (''Decalog 2: Lost Property'') * "The Switching" by

Simon Guerrier Simon Guerrier (born June 1976) is a British science fiction author and dramatist, closely associated with the fictional universe of ''Doctor Who'' and its spinoffs. Although he has written three ''Doctor Who'' novels, for the BBC Books range, ...

(''Short Trips: Zodiac'') * "UNIT Christmas Parties: Christmas Truce" by Terrance Dicks ('' Short Trips: A Christmas Treasury'') * "Operation H.A.T.E" by Richard Franklin

References

External links

Captain Mike Yates on the BBC's ''Doctor Who'' website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yates, Mike Television characters introduced in 1971 Recurring characters in Doctor Who UNIT personnel Fictional military captains Fictional British Army officers British male characters in television

Character history

Other appearances

List of appearances

Television

Audio drama

Novels

Short stories

See also

References

External links