| The following article is written from an In Universe perspective. |
The United Nations Intelligence Taskforce, commonly referred to as UNIT was a military organisation which operated under the auspices of the United Nations.
History
Roots
The roots of UNIT itself, lay in later alien encounters. The Intrusion Counter-Measures Group headed by Group Captain and Ian Gilmore, which got involved in the Shoreditch Incident, served as a specialised military force with scientific assistance would seem almost a trial run for UNIT, though not an international organisation. Though Gilmore did have two scientific advisors serving much as the third incarnation of the Doctor and Dr Elizabeth "Liz" Shaw would later, the seventh incarnation of the Doctor did most of the work on the technical end. (DW: Remembrance of the Daleks, Who Killed Kennedy?)
An incident which led directly to the creation of UNIT was the takeover of London by the Great Intelligence, with robot Yetis and a deadly cobweb-like fungus. Assisted by the Second Doctor, another group of British infantrymen, led by then-Colonel Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, beat back the Yeti from the tunnels of the London Underground. (DW: The Web of Fear) In reaction to the London Event, the British government formed the Home-Army Fifth Operational Corpsto combat alien threats, headed by Lethbridge-Stewart. Lethbridge-Stewart was part of the organisation until the formation of UNIT in 1969 (DW: Who Killed Kennedy?)
20th Century
Early history
Formation
The United Nations were aware the world faced threats from extraterrestrial sources. As space programmes sent probes deeper and deeper into space, mankind was drawing attention to itself. (DW: Spearhead from Space) Unable to get the British government to form a permanent special operations force for alien threats, Lethbridge-Stewart went over their heads to the UN Security Council, who proved more receptive. (DW: Who Killed Kennedy?) The UN established UNIT with the mandate to investigate, monitor and combat such threats. At the suggestion of Gilmore from the ICMG, (DW: The Scales of Injustice) Lethbridge-Stewart was put in charge of the British contingent. (DW: The Invasion) This contingent was organisationally known as Department C19 within the British government. (DW: The Scales of Injustice)
Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart
One of UNIT's first missions was an intensive investigation of International Electromatics, which turned violent. UNIT agents were killed and UNIT launched a helicopter raid to liberate prisoners at an Electromatics' facility. With the help, again, of the Second Doctor, UNIT discovered the company was a front for a Cybermen invasion, and was able to defend against it. (DW: The Invasion)
Lethbridge-Stewart became convinced of the necessity of scientific advice in battling extraterrestrial threats. He recruited Liz Shaw from the University of Cambridge. Around that same time, the Third Doctor had been exiled to Earth by the Time Lords. He agreed to join UNIT as its scientific advisor just in time to help defeat the Nestene Consciousness' invasion of Earth using its Autons in an attack on the Auto Plastics factory. (DW: Spearhead from Space)
The Doctor continued to assist UNIT. In Wenley Moor, UNIT soldiers guarded the cave entrances to prevent the Silurians from getting out. Against the Doctor's wishes, the Brigadier ordered Corporal Nutting to blow up the Silurian base beneath Wenley Moor, permanently sealing the base off. (DW: Doctor Who and the Silurians) While the third incarnation of the Doctor stated in some accounts that this tribe had all died, (DW: Doctor Who and the Silurians) According to another account, the Ninth Doctor said they were only entombed. (DW: The Scales of Injustice) UNIT also encountered the Primords. (DW: Inferno)
The Doctor gained a new assistant in Jo Grant. Not a scientist, Jo had only managed to take science up to A level, of which she later stated, "I never said I passed". As Jo began assisting the Doctor, UNIT met and made an enemy out of another Time Lord — the Master. (DW: Terror of the Autons) UNIT eventually caught and imprisoned him after several attempts to destroy Earth. (DW: The Dæmons)
When the Doctor's exile was ended, (DW: The Three Doctors) his association with UNIT became more sporadic, especially after his regeneration into his fourth incarnation. (DW: Planet of the Spiders, Robot, Pyramids of Mars)
The Doctor did return to Earth with Sarah Jane Smith, but would work less with the Brigadier and more with such other officers as Colonel Faraday (the Brigadier having gone to Geneva) (DW: The Android Invasion) and Major Beresford. (DW: The Seeds of Doom)
As a United Nations group, UNIT often served as security at peace conferences, (DW: The Mind of Evil, Day of the Daleks) and the British contingent had foreign soldiers such as Sergeant Zbrigniev. (DW: Battlefield)
UNIT often faced hostility to its operations when investigating research facilities and companies. A common tactic against them was an appeal to any contacts in the Westminster government. These forced Lethbridge-Stewart either to back down or go over the government's heads to Geneva. (DW: The Invasion, The Green Death, The Claws of Axos)
After Lethbridge-Stewart
Lethbridge-Stewart retired in 1976 to teach mathematics at Brendon Public School. His successor was Colonel Charles Crichton. (DW: The Five Doctors) Benton and medical officer Harry Sullivan also left. (DW: Mawdryn Undead)
In 1997, the Doctor re-united with UNIT in his seventh incarnation against an invasion by Morgaine and her armoured knights. The British contingent was commanded by a new brigadier, Winifred Bambera. Lethbridge-Stewart was called out of retirement to assist them. (DW: Battlefield)
The 21st century
Winifred Bambera
During the course of the 2000's, Brigadier Bambera called upon the Doctor several times to assist UNIT. The Doctor aided UNIT in his seventh (DW: Blood and Iron), his ninth (DW: The Scales of Injustice) and his twelfth incarnation. (DW: The Silurian Awakening, The Scream, Cannon Fodder)
In 2010, Leftover teamed up with UNIT to deal with the sudden immortality that humanity had gained. (LFTR: End of Days)
Caitrin Ryan
At some point prior to 2010, Winifred retired from UNIT and was succeeded by Caitrin Ryan. (MOV: Doctor Who: Until the World Ends)
Caitrin and UNIT aided the Twelfth Doctor in thwarting an invasion by the Daleks who had teamed up with The Rani. (MOV: Doctor Who: Until the World Ends)
In 2013 Caitrin and UNIT, with help from Omega, aided the Fourteenth Doctor in stabilising her new body and reclaiming her TARDIS. (MOV: Doctor Who: Genesis)
The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Doctors aided UNIT on multiple occasions, with Caitrin on occasion getting UNIT to aid the Doctor. (DW: Tomahawk, The Poisoned Sea, The Demons of Madison Road, Chain Reaction, The New Empire)
After the Dalek Invasion
In 2019, UNIT were alerted to the presence of a Silurian in London. (DW: Homeland)
UNIT aided the Doctor in dealing with another invasion attempt by the Nestene Consciousness. (DW: Praxeus)
Headquarters and command centres
UNIT had a command centre in the cargo hold of a C-130 Hercules military transport aircraft and could use the plane itself as a mobile base. (DW: The Invasion)
The British branch of UNIT later operated out of an office building in London. (DW: Spearhead from Space) It also maintained a mobile headquarters in the form of a large bus-like vehicle that could be driven to the site of an incident. (DW: The Dæmons) The HQ subsequently moved a number of times, finally settling in a building in the country that had been built over the ruins of a priory. (DW: Pyramids of Mars)
Rivals
To be added.
Organisation
UNIT's status was supported by enabling legislation that allowed it to assume emergency powers when necessary. Although it operated under the authority of the United Nations, its members were seconded from the host country's military and were still bound to obey that chain of command. Lethbridge-Stewart, for example, reported to the Ministry of Defence and the Prime Minister. (DW: Terror of the Zygons) However, when such orders conflicted, appeals could be made to Geneva. The Enabling Acts helped establishing jurisdictional guidelines: article 17 of the Third Enabling Act set up Geneva's role, while article 18 was "Matters of Domestic Concern" and stated in such cases, UNIT "will place itself at the disposal of the host nation in all respects". (DW: The Time Monster, The Green Death)
In the United Kingdom, its secrecy was guaranteed by the Official Secrets Act. (DW: The Time Monster onwards)
Equipment and Uniforms
Equipment
Its personnel had a wide range of weaponry to call on, some custom-made to combat specific threats.
The standard issue firearm in the 1970s was the L1A1 SLR, a British version of the FN FAL, which was the current rifle used by the British Army. In the late 1990s, UNIT troops were armed with the Steyr AUG assault rifles. (DW: Battlefield) As the Brigadier explained to the Doctor, these could be loaded with armour-piercing munitions for use against robots, explosive rounds for Yetis or silver-tipped and gold-tipped rounds for use against Cybermen. (DW: Battlefield) UNIT had a laser rifle at its disposal to deal with a Krynoid, though the weapon did not manage to kill it. (DW: The Seeds of Doom)
By the late 21st century the standard weaponry of UNIT consisted of G36 and G36C assault rifles, M4A1 assault rifles and limited numbers of K23B-styled M4s. (DW: The Silurian Awakening) They also had access to SIG-Sauer P226 pistols, as well as heavy weapons such as the FIM-92A Stinger and the AT4 rocket launcher.
Uniforms
20th century
Early in its history, UNIT troops and officers wore one-piece beige coveralls with a green/grey shirt and silver/green tie with sand-coloured berets not unlike the British Special Air Service. (TV: The Invasion through TV: Doctor Who and the Silurians) Apart from Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, who retained his regular uniform, the exceptions to this were new futuristic-looking uniforms, which consisted of a zip-up jacket without lapels worn over a rolled-neck sweater; (DW: The Ambassadors of Death) and combat gear, as worn by the troops stationed at the Inferno Project in Eastchester. (DW: Inferno)
They reverted to uniforms not unlike that worn by the British Army, but with the addition of UNIT logos and cap badges. (DW: Terror of the Autons through The Seeds of Doom)
In the 1990s they retained the standard military look, with the addition of a blue cap, with blue representing the United Nations. (DW: Battlefield)
21st century
By 2007, UNIT troops had adopted a paramilitary all-black look. (CF: Rivals) Officers wore service dress (such as British Army No. 2 Dress or US Army Class A). (DW: The Silurian Awakening, Burning Books, Cannon Fodder)
By the time of Caitrin Ryan's leadership, troops wore black body armour with tinted goggles. (MOV: Doctor Who: Genesis) Officers such as Colonel Lafayette wore a navy blue jacket with a white shirt and tie. (DW: Tomahawk)
Divisions
UNIT maintained a number of specialised departments. One, the Paranormal Division, in which Lieutenant Hamlet Macbeth investigated psychic powers and phenomena. (DW: The Left-Handed Hummingbird)
Call Signs
UNIT used a variety of call signs and code words for their agents. The most common call sign was Greyhound. By convention the senior officer (usually Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart) was Greyhound One (DW: Invasion of the Dinosaurs) or Greyhound Leader. Other Greyhounds included Mike Yates as Greyhound Two, (DW: The Dæmons) The commander of operations was often called Trap One, with both Lethbridge-Stewart (DW: Invasion of the Dinosaurs) and Colonel Mace (DW: Cannon Fodder) using the call sign at times. An alternative term was Watchtower. (DW: Doctor Who and the Silurians)
More unusual were the call signs used during the first World Peace Conference, which were based on planets of the Sol system, with the Brigadier as Jupiter and Mike Yates as Venus. (DW: The Mind of Evil) Lieutenant Richards, commanding a missile convoy, was designated Salamander Six-Zero. Brigadier Bambera, in the same operation, was Seabird. (DW: Battlefield)
Helicopter call signs included Windmill 347, (DW: The Mind of Evil) Eagle (DW: The Green Death) and "Uniform November Nine-Zero", (DW: Battlefield)
Alternate Timelines and Parallel Worlds
An alternate outcome of the Wenley Moor incident saw the Silurians conquer Earth, with the remnants of UNIT fighting a vicious insurgency against them. (DW: Blood Heat)
In an alternate timeline where Angela Jensen was married to a man named Sebastian Jensen, Earth was invaded and conquered by the Ice Warriors in 2108. UNIT were destroyed. (DW: Operation Salvation)
One alternate timeline saw the Doctor staying on as Lord President of Gallifrey in his twelfth incarnation. Due to this the Silurians conquered Earth and destroyed UNIT. (DW: Mad World)
Behind the Scenes
Copyright
UNIT was created by Derrick Sherwin for the serial The Invasion, which served as a pilot for the Earth-bound years of the Doctor's exile. However, uncharacteristically, the rights for UNIT at least partially stayed with the BBC rather than belonging fully to the writer because at the time Sherwin worked as a BBC staff-member. This prevented him from independently developing a science-fiction series starring UNIT at the end of the 1980s.
List of Appearances
Doctor WhoSeason 6 (1968-1969)Season 7 (1970)Season 8 (1971)Season 9 (1972)Season 10 (1972-1973)Season 11 (1973-1974)Season 12 (1974-1975)Season 13 (1975-1976)20th Anniversary Special (1983)Season 26 (1989)Season 27 (1990)Season 31 (1994)Season 34 (1997-1998)Season 37 (2000)Season 44 (2007)Season 45 (2008)Season 46 (2009)Season 48 (2011)
Season 49 (2014-2015)Season 50 (2015-2016)Season 51 (2017)Season 52 (2018)Season 53 (2019) |
LeftoverSeries 1 (2001) |
Cold FrontSeries 1 (2012)Movies200320132018 |