NICHOLAS COURTNEY - IN MEMORIAL

Hard to believe that it's been four years since Doctor Who lost one its greatest stars - the Brigadier himself, Nicholas Courtney.

December 16th 1929, William Nicholas Stone Courtney was born in Cairo, Egypt, the son of a British diplomat. Courtney went into acting in the late '50s after eighteen months of National Service as a private. His first television role was in 1957. He first brush with Doctor Who came in 1965 was he played Brett Vyon in the twelve-part serial, The Daleks' Masterplan (although prior to that he was considered for the role of Richard the Lionheart in The Crusade). He returned to Doctor Who in 1968 in the six-part serial The Web of Fear as the intended one-off role of Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart of the Scots Guards. He was cast by Douglas 'Dougie' Camfield, the same director who had earlier considered him for the role of Richard the Lionheart. The happenstance that brought him to the role of Lethbridge-Stewart is something that cannot be forgotten, since it led him to him returning the following year as the now-promoted Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, commander of the British devision of UNIT in The Invasion. 

It was a role that would see him returning as a semi-regular cast member for the following six years, right up until 1975s Terror of the Zygons. Neither Courtney nor the Brigadier were ever forgotten, and both returned in 1983 for two appearances alongside Peter Davison's Doctor and reuniting him with both Patrick Troughton and Jon Pertwee in The Five Doctors. He returned once more to television Doctor Who in 1989 to star alongside Sylvester McCoy in Battelfield. Although the character never returned to Doctor Who, he was never forgotten and made appearances in many short stories, comics and novels over the following years. Courtney even returned to the role in several audio dramas produced by Big Finish. The character has been mentioned several times since Doctor Who returned in 2005, and Courtney even returned as Brigadier Sir Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart in the spin-off series The Sarah Jane Adventures in 2008. Ill health prevented any further appearances, and shortly after his death in 2011, the passing of the Brigadier was noted on screen in the episode The Wedding of River Song.

The legacy of the character continues, of course, in the shape of Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, now head of UNIT in the current series. She has appeared three times since 2012, and will return later this year in the opening episodes of series nine and later heading her own audio series of adventures for Big Finish.

Although the Brigadier himself is no longer with us, Candy Jar Books are all set to chronicle the history of this legendary character in the Lethbridge-Stewart series of novels, the first of which can be ordered directly from Candy Jar now (any orders now taken will be dispatched almost immediately) and is officially launched on Thursday 26th February (only four days away!) with an event at The Who Shop in London on Saturday 28th (in attendance will be author and range editor Andy Frankham-Allen, licensor Hannah Haisman, Terrance Dicks [the script editor who oversaw most of Nicholas Courtney's appearances during the late '60s and 1970s] and Ralph Watson who played Captain Knight alongside Courtney in The Web of Fear. Also popping by will be other Lethbridge-Stewart authors David A McIntee, Nick Walters and Jonathan Cooper).

Please do enjoy the following video put together by BabelColour, and remember that legend that was, and always will be, Nicholas Courtney.

We salute you, Nick!

BEST BRIGADIER STORY

Everybody loves the Brigadier, but what are your favourite stories? Please vote below (you can vote for more than one story). The poll will run until the New Year, at which point the results shall be announced.

TV Stories

The Web of Fear

The Invasion

Spearhead from Space

The Silurians

Inferno

Terror of the Autons

The Mind of Evil

The Claws of Axos

The Daemons

Day of the Daleks

The Time Monster

The Three Doctors

The Green Death

The Time Warrior

Invasion of the Dinosaurs

Planet of the Spiders

Robot

Terror of the Zygons

Mawdryn Undead

The Five Doctors

Battlefield

Enemy of the Bane

Poll Maker

Lethbridge-Stewart series now available for pre-order...

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO... THE BRIGADIER, part 3

Chris McKeon returns with the third and final part of his look at the Brigadier's influence, and absence, in Nu Who. Taking us full circle, back to his very first appearance.

My Dad often has this perspective to share: ‘If you don’t have a health problem, you don’t have a problem.’ Well, Nicholas Courtney had a problem, and a pretty terrible one. In January 2009, the legendary actor suffered a stroke and therefore could no longer take part in filming his return appearance for The Sarah Jane Adventures, series three. When that two-part adventure aired on 29 and 30 October 2009, the Tenth Doctor alone saved Sarah. Sir Alistair was again on assignment in Peru.

Nicholas Courtney - a true gentleman.

Over five years after this televised loss, I still cannot completely describe or dwell upon how much Courtney’s absence devastated my feelings as a fan and as a person. As a Brigadier fan I was heartbroken, shocked and deep in mourning: what should have been a celebrated reunion between two beloved television icons became an omission, an emptiness, an inexplicable loss. Even when Clyde Langer informed the viewer of Sir Alistair’s Peruvian whereabouts during Sarah’s wedding I felt my emotions almost swell with helpless turmoil. Even now, I still feel that story should have given the Brigadier’s absence a greater sense of loss and longing, maybe at least one moment where the Tenth Doctor asks someone, ‘Where’s the Brigadier?’

But on the personal level I felt worse for Nicholas Courtney and his well-being. I was not a personal friend or a family friend, or even a distant acquaintance, but the man and his character had been and still was – and is – one of my childhood heroes, perhaps in some ways more than the Doctor, simply because there was only one Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart. And it was suddenly very real that he was a nearly eighty-year-old man.

One silver-lining in this darkening time for Brigadier fans was when the character managed to make one final on-screen appearance in a BBC-produced mini-episode, Liberty Hall, filmed in the early autumn of 2008 as part of the Mawdryn Undead DVD release for the following year. The nostalgic, seven-minute story features the Brigadier’s return to Brendan School to share some vague details of his storied UNIT career with a local reporter, including some sly references to the 1995 BBV-produced drama Downtime, as well as a few of the Big Finish audio adventures. When I watched that mini-episode I felt such a joyous swell to see Nicholas Courtney in, if not action, then at least in presence once more.

Sir Alistair returns for 'Liberty Hall'

But every presence, no matter how welcome, fades to black, even for the Brigadier. Nicholas Courtney’s health struggles in 2009 and 2010 are now a matter of public record and private feelings, and of which I don’t wish to dwell too much. It suffices to write that although the good man eventually recovered from his stroke and bravely continued to attend various conventions and public appearances throughout 2009, by the early months of 2010 he announced an even graver health condition, that of cancer. This affliction was the final monster, the last battle for the storied gentleman and cultural hero, who entered hospice care in the final days of 2010 before dying peacefully on 22 February, 2011.

Before his death Nicholas Courtney never returned to Doctor Who or The Sarah Jane Adventures, although the character was mentioned once more during Courtney’s lifetime in latter programme’s fourth series adventure Death of the Doctor (according to Russell T Davies’s book The Writer’s Tale, Courtney was approached to feature in that story but the actor’s then rapidly failing health prohibited any further filming). In the months following Courtney’s death there was a tremendous online outpouring of grief and remembrance for the actor as a professional and as a gentleman. I was at the time too devastated to share my feelings too much online, but almost exactly a year later I had the privilege of being selected to participate in the Nicholas Courtney tribute panel at the GallifreyOne convention in Los Angeles, California in February 2012. It was there I had the chance, before a few kind people, to share how much Nicholas Courtney and his famous character had meant to me as a child and as a young adult: that alongside my Dad and Grandfathers, I wanted to be the type of person that Nicholas Courtney had been, someone good and kind of whom other people spoke well. And I told the audience that it was my childhood dream to be not like the Doctor but to be like the Brigadier.

In the months following Nicholas Courtney’s there as for me as a Doctor Who fan a sense of deep loss but also of cautious hope. For even without Nicholas Courtney  to return onscreen as the Brigadier there was the knowledge that the series would continue and in such a vast and ever-possible vault of fiction there was still room for some future expectations. Indeed, I consoled myself with the certainty that although the actor had died the character of the Brigadier was still alive out there in the Doctor’s reality and perhaps would reunite with the Eleventh Doctor and his successors one future day in other story-telling media, such as the comics, novels or audiobooks.

But when the finale for Doctor Who’s sixth series, The Wedding of River Song, aired on 1 October 2011, I received one of the worst shocks I have ever experienced as a Doctor Who fan. Matt Smith’s Doctor learned by telephone that the Brigadier had died some months earlier. I will be very honest: although at the time I could see why the series decided to pay tribute to Courtney’s passing by having the Brigadier also pass away, I also felt it was somehow wrong or off. Perhaps it was how the Brigadier died that disturbed me: he waited every day for the Doctor’s return but the Doctor never came. Or perhaps it was the sense that there was no need to kill off the character of the Brigadier in-universe to honour the actor’s passing, such as when the series had honoured the passing of Elisabeth Sladen with a memorial title card after the airing of The Impossible Astronaut but explicitly kept Sladen’s character of Sarah alive in later-produced spin-off media. It may be enough to say that I hope not to see another Doctor Who episode with the words ‘The Wedding of’ in its title.

Now I am still a Doctor Who fan and I will be always be a fan. But I cannot deny that on some emotional level I enjoy the programme less without the Brigadier, without the chance that maybe, perhaps, possibly, somewhere, some-when, the character can and might return. Not even the main-series debut of Sir Alistair’s daughter Kate in the series seven episode The Power of Three on 22 September 2012 could shift my sense that something fundamental was missing within the contextual structure and sentiment of Doctor Who. Perhaps that sense stems from my perception that Kate Stewart oversees a very different, almost overly-scientific version of UNIT, or perhaps it is my extreme difficulty in believing that even in his final days Sir Alistair would ever declare that science leads over soldiering. Or maybe, at the end of the day, a cosmos without the Brigadier is just unthinkable.

This thought brings me to a final point of discussion regarding the Brigadier’s status in the new series. When Doctor Who’s eighth series concluded on 8 November 2014 there was already a massive stir and shift amongst fandom, thanks to the introduction of a new, female version of the Master (which definitely holds enough material for another article). During the episode Death in Heaven, the Twelfth Doctor, as played by Peter Capaldi, was reunited once more Kate Stewart and UNIT. As had happened when Kate and UNIT appeared in the 50th anniversary episode The Day of the Doctor, there was a lovely picture of Lethbridge-Stewart on display to recall the great man’s legacy. And then, without going into too much detail for those who haven’t yet seen the episode, both Kate and the Doctor’s life were in turn saved by a lone Cyberman, a Cyberman who somehow reminded Kate of her father and who reminded the Doctor of his oldest friend.

The Doctor salutes Sir Alistair, finally.

I cannot yet say exactly how I feel about this moment. On the one hand there is the distinct sense that the Brigadier is still alive and out there in the Doctor’s reality once more, which should give me nothing but joy. But I cannot forget that this version of Sir Alistair came about through a rather gruesome and horrific process of Cyber-Conversion, and that what remains is arguably not the Brigadier at all but a friendly ghost. And the thought of Sir Alistair as an eternally wandering ghost is too terrible to consider. I suppose my best takeaway thought is while I am grateful for some version of the Brigadier, I don’t really want to see CyberBrig again.

All I know for certain is that the Doctor needs Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart and Doctor Who needs the Brigadier. I know I am not the only fan who holds this to be true. When the announcement came in October 2013 that nine previously-thought lost Second Doctor television episodes had been discovered in Africa, what I read in blog posts and forum exclamations to be the most tangible and ebullient rejoicing amongst fandom was that five of these recovered episodes were from The Web of Fear, the very first appearance of Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart. I feel that one particular YouTube comment that I read summarizes this sensational time perfectly: ‘The Brigadier. I’m going to cry.’ And I’m not ashamed to say when I saw The Web of Fear for the first time I cried, too.

So now, with the first of Lethbridge-Stewart’s episodes restored and the most recent episode of Doctor Who featuring a return-of-sorts of the Brigadier, it feels that now is a time of rising and renewed interest in the Doctor’s best military friend. And in a few short months there will be a new narration of the Brigadier’s life: On 8 December 2014, Type 40’s own Andy Frankham-Allen announced the upcoming publication of the Lethbridge-Stewart novels, which will cover the events in the Brigadier’s life after the events of The Web of Fear. The series has received full approval and licensing from the estate of Mervyn Haisman and the endorsement of Henry Lincoln, who are the co-creators of Lethbridge-Stewart. The first novel, titled The Forgotten Son, will be available out on 22 February 2015, the fourth anniversary of Nicholas Courtney’s death, and will also feature the return of the Great Intelligence, the principal villain of the classic series adventures The Abominable Snowmen and The Web of Fear, as well as the 2012/2013 series episodes The Snowmen and The Name of the Doctor. I’m looking forward to purchasing my copy of this and subsequent novels and I’m confident that through this book range new fans of Doctor Who will come to learn just how fundamentally important Lethbridge-Stewart is to the programme.

Returning to where it all began...

And this now begs the question: will the Brigadier return again? Before Death in Heaven I would have said no, at least not onscreen. But now that Steven Moffat has, to be very honest, risked the feelings of fandom by reviving and cyber-converting one of the programme’s most, if not the most, beloved iconic characters after already giving the character an on-screen farewell, then it easily stands to reason that he could and perhaps should recast the role. And who could possibly fill Nicholas Courtney’s UNIT boots? That, like all important and, I feel, necessary decisions I leave to the experts, just as long as they make sure he can hit five rounds rapid.

RARE VIDEO INTERVIEW WITH NICHOLAS COURTNEY

A rare treat for fans of the Brigadier... An uncut interview with Nicholas Courtney from 1996, filmed shortly after the Doctor Who TV Movie was transmitted, and conducted by Shaun Russell, editor-in-chief of Candy Jar Books.

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO... THE BRIGADIER, part two

Chris McKeon returns for the second part of our look at the Brigadier's presence in Nu Who, detailing the events that led to his triumphant return in 2008!

As 2007 began fans knew a few things about the upcoming series three: there would be Daleks, there would be Martha, there would be Jack, and there would be Saxon. But there was still no sign of the returning Brigadier to claim his presence on our screens. But then with a printed battle cry Lethbridge-Stewart made a triumphant return in the pages of Doctor Who Magazine issues 378-380, The Warkeeper’s Crown. This three-part comic reunited the ‘seventy-odd’ Lethbridge-Stewart, clad once more in his military uniform, with the Tenth Doctor (incidentally donning his blue costume for the first time in public) in a wild-paced romp against orcs, dragons, demons, and harpies.

Two old friends reunite - but not on TV!

This comic, for me, and I am convinced for others, was a heaven-sent joy. At last we saw the Brigadier in action with the Doctor of the new series. It was an equal excitement to what I had experienced when Nicholas Courtney had teamed with Paul McGann’s Doctor in the Big Finish audio Minuet in Hell some six years previously, except this time the action was visible, albeit unmoving on the printed page. The story itself was fun and engaging and even managed to touch on the Brigadier’s consideration that his oldest, most peace-keeping friend was now a veteran of war.

Other fans at the time had a two-fold reaction to the Brigadier’s return: excitement and, like me, another equally potent emotion; anticipation. Could the comic return of Lethbridge-Stewart be a harbinger for his television revival, perhaps even as early as series three? Sadly, although the 2007 series was a wonderful collection of stories (perhaps my favourite group since the program returned to television), which featured not only the known quantities of Martha, Jack and the Daleks, but also the welcome return of the Macra and the Master, UNIT was only used as a plot-device in the series finale, and there was not even a single mention of the Brigadier.

The summer of 2007 passed kindly but a little heavily for me as a Doctor Who fan. I think this may have been the nadir of my Brigadier hopes, in part ironically because of his return in the comics; for if Lethbridge-Stewart had returned already off-screen in a media that required only an artist’s hand and a writer’s words then perhaps was there less incentive to recall the then 77-year-old actor to reprise his television role? And then, on 24 September, 2007, something small but significant happened in the then newly-produced Doctor Who spin-off series The Sarah Jane Adventures.

It was the closing minutes of Revenge of the Slitheen. Sarah Jane Smith, along with her teenage friends from Bannerman Road, had just defeated the Slitheen, and she had received some help from friends in UNIT and was giving them a thank-you call. It was then that she said the words which shook fandom from its summer slumber: ‘Give my love to the Brig.’ Now there was no onscreen appearance of the Brigadier, no voice-over from Nicholas Courtney, but there was his presence, his location, his affirmation: the Brigadier was alive, was active, and was…somewhere close. This affectionate nod recalled several wonderful Brigadier-related moments from that series’ debut episode Invasion of the Bane on 1 January, 2007, including a UNIT-era photo of the Brigadier (alongside an image of the old-fashioned stalwart Harry Sullivan) pinned on the wall in Sarah’s secret attic headquarters, and a moment when Sarah considered naming her newly-adopted son Alistair. I was personally crushed she chose Luke instead and I am confident that I was far from alone in that sentiment.

Colonel Mace and the Doctor miss the Brigadier.

Once more the forums began to buzz with excitement over the potential return of the Brigadier: his character had been mentioned on-screen in the new series era for the first time, so was there any chance this was a sign of his impending return? When it emerged that UNIT, fighting against the Sontarans, would be making a full return to television during series four of Doctor Who in 2008, the pitch of many fans’ excitement exponentially increased. On 3 May, 2008, during the frenzied events of The Poison Sky, the second part of UNIT’s two-part return, David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor muttered a rather marvellous line: ‘At times like this I could do with the Brigadier.’ And then UNIT’s then-commander Colonel Mace eulogized the Brigadier, or rather ‘Sir Alistair’ and revealed a gold mine of information: ‘Unfortunately he’s stranded in Peru.’

I honestly feel this was the watershed moment for Doctor Who fans hoping for the Brigadier’s return. Close on the heels of Sarah’s affectionate shout-out to her old friend, there in the parent series was a direct reference not only to the Brigadier’s past but to his then-current whereabouts! Although the rest of the 2008 series came and went without a further mention of the Brigadier, fans at the time were brimming with hope that all these little mentions and nods to Lethbridge-Stewart were signs of his coming home to television. A Radio Times interview with Nicholas Courtney published on 1 April 2008 gave no hints for the Brigadier’s future in Doctor Who, but it gave a clear window into the then 78-year-old actor’s thoughts on the prospect: ‘If the script were right, I’d love to do one story. It’d be great fun. And they’ve brought back Sarah – of course, Lis Sladen is still very pretty. And the Master.’

And so fandom hoped for a wonderful uncertainty, but not for long. In late June, 2008, set reports and photos from the filming of The Sarah Jane Adventures’ series two finale episodes declared a certainty: Sir Alistair had returned. At long last Nicholas Courtney’s Brigadier was recalled to active service to assist Sarah Jane Smith and her friends against a sinister Sontaran/Bane alliance in the two-part adventure Enemy of the Bane. These episodes, filmed in June and July of 2008 and broadcast on 1 and 8 December of that year (just days before Courtney’s 79th birthday) were a joy to behold. Brigadier Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart (a Knighthood he received in the 1997 novel The Dying Days) was on our screens once more. He was older, he was slower, he walked with a cane and left most of the action to Sarah and her teenager friends, but he was still the Brigadier through and through and he could fire a great shot!

Brigadier Sir Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart returns - at last!

It was a dream made true: the Brig was back even if the Doctor could not be there, too. But now fans had hope for their long-awaited onscreen reunion. Fans had onscreen evidence, a precedent, a certainty that the Brigadier had returned and could return again, and this time with the Doctor. As 2008 drew to a close some small rumours began circulating that Sir Alistair would indeed return to The Sarah Jane Adventures series three. Around Christmas time there were further rumours that the old soldier would feature in a story centred on Sarah’s disastrous wedding and that the Doctor would be an unexpected guest.

As 2009 dawned there was a very special sense of hope and gladness in fandom both old and new, a sense that good things had come and better things were yet to come. And the best thing of all was that Sir Alistair had returned and he would return again.

And then, he didn’t. And for reasons far worse than I ever expected.

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO... THE BRIGADIER, part one

Our Brigadier theme continues with a new three-part article looking at the Brigadier's presence, or lack thereof, in the series since it returned in 2005, with guest contributor, Chris McKeon...

I am a Doctor Who fan. Although this is always special to say in late 2014 it is nothing unique to state – since the program’s return to television in early 2005 (or really mid-2004 if you were lucky enough to see Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper filming in person) practically everyone in the world is either a fan of the show or will be tomorrow. It’s just that popular to be a Who fan in modern life.

I can remember very clearly when it wasn’t. I may be one of many today, but not too long ago I was the only person in my school, my city, maybe even (as I probably flattered myself), my entire country, who proudly claimed to be a Doctor Who fan. Although these days I don’t attract so much constant attention to myself about my personal program preferences, I still think I am one of the few American twenty-somethings who was an active and unashamed Who fan during the series’ barren Wilderness Years, or as real-life calls it, the 1990s.

Bret Vyon, descendent of the Brigadier?

So if there is anything I can claim rightfully, it is I am a lifelong Doctor Who fan. I am also a never-say-die supporter of the series’ arguably (but in my opinion there is no such argument) greatest supporting character: Brigadier Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart.

Anyone who reads this article probably already knows who the Brigadier is and that he was portrayed on-screen and in audio adventures by the late and sorrowfully missed Nicholas Courtney. Therefore I need not rehearse in detail Courtney’s roughly forty-six year association with the program, during forty-three of which years he played Lethbridge-Stewart (if someone reading this wonders what Mr Courtney was doing with Doctor Who before there was a Brigadier and UNIT, I recommend a fun internet search with the words ‘Bret Vyon’). 

I will take a moment, but only a moment, to describe how much I love the character. Never mind that my formative years watching the program were the repeat airings of Jon Pertwee’s UNIT Years, where the Brigadier and other stalwart UNIT friends helped the Doctor and companions defeat monsters, madmen and the Master; never mind that while watching every story between Planet of Evil and Snakedance not an episode passed that I didn’t wonder (as Tom Baker’s Doctor forcefully demanded in The Seeds of Doom) ‘Where’s the Brigadier?’. Never mind that when Lethbridge-Stewart finally returned in Mawdryn Undead my heart swelled with joy; and certainly never mind that when the adventure Battlefield reached my screens something special happened that made my less than ten-year-old self leap across the room. If I may, I will recreate the moment here in prose (please keep in mind I somehow missed the opening scene at first viewing).

“This is a nice story. Future knights and that lady from Willow and Ace and Merlin is the Doctor. And there’s now a grey-haired man with a moustache in a military uniform. Wait, that grey-haired moustache man looks like – IT’S THE BRIGADIER!”

Never mind all of that (although I will always remember it). I love the Brigadier’s character so much because he reminds me of my Dad and my Grandpa, men I hope to emulate in my life. My Dad I still have. My Grandpa I don’t, not since March of 2002. That was a sad day that I had to accept emotionally, and which I have, but as long as Nicholas Courtney (whom as I grew up I became happily aware was a kind and good man deservedly beloved by countless people) and his Lethbridge-Stewart character were both still alive I felt, in some small way, that I still had a part of Grandpa (who amongst many things was a World War II naval veteran) still alive with me.

Memories of good people sweeten my life; in fact, I think those flavoured memories are what keep me alive and happy. So let’s take a trip down a recent alley of Memory Lane, through a brief corridor I saw as leading to something special, which really led to something more bitter than sweet, but which I now feel may one day have a sweeter, if uncertain future.

Wind back the clock just over eleven years to 25^th September, 2003. On this date the world heard the official announcement of Doctor Who’s approaching return to television. Now for me this date of destiny was deferred to 8^th June, 2004, when I learned about the good Doctor’s return in a postcard from a friend (I was serving as a church missionary during 2003 in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas and so was mostly removed from all matters science fiction). But from that day onwards I was more than excited, I felt liberated, almost vindicated: all those teenage years of waiting and hoping and defending the good Doctor with the honest, heartfelt anticipation that one day I would hear of his imminent – and I considered inevitable – return had finally proven the adage of waiting for good things.

The Brigadier and the woman from WILLOW

First and foremost on my mind were all the old friends and foes that would return to reunite with the Doctor. I was honestly never worried about the chances of creatures like the Daleks, Cybermen or the Master – I was nearly certain those most frequent of villainous favourites would drive children behind their sofas once more. In fact, although I wanted all of the great monsters and allies to strike the screen again (and some of those greats have only recently arrived to terrorise; is there no love for Ice Warriors and Zygons?) these are the few characters that I felt were either secure in their returns, simply because to me without their presence Doctor Who almost cannot be Doctor Who:

• The Daleks
• The Cybermen
• The Master
• Davros
• The Time Lords
• The Brigadier

Almost from the beginning the Daleks proved their essentiality to the series’ renaissance in the spring on 2005. On 5^th March, 2005 I was happily surprised to see the Autons return even before the horrible pepperpots, but seeing the Nestene soldiers awaken in a manner shatteringly similar to their first appearance in Spearhead in Space made me long for the stalwart presence of the Brigadier even more. UNIT’s brief cameo in the Aliens of London/World War Three two-parter did nothing to make me forget that Nicholas Courtney’s signature role was absent from the main proceedings of the 2005 series. And this absence worried me, for although Lethbridge-Stewart was undoubtedly on my list of ‘must-returns’ to Doctor Who, I could not then nor can I now deny that his space on that most wanted list came with not only the most heart-warmth but also the least guarantee.

As Doctor Who series one aired on television I enjoyed the Doctor, the companion, the new TARDIS interior, and the new monsters. But my familiar face-longing thoughts kept returning to what Craig Hinton told me at the January 2005 Gallifrey One Los Angeles convention, when I asked him if he thought the producers would ask the then 75-year-old Nicholas Courtney for one more go. I will never forget the sad look in Craig’s eyes as he sighed and said: ‘Well, he’s not getting any younger’. I wanted to hope that what Craig really meant was that the almost-elderly Courtney and his enduring Lethbridge-Stewart were far too valuable to the program to delay their reappearance. But when series one ended with no Brigadier in sight or mention, and a departing Doctor who never (and still has not) met his best military friend, I began to find it hard to ignore that Craig had really meant something else.

Still, Doctor Who was on television again and with a cliffhanger ending that meant there would be more stories to tell. With the casting announcement of the then relatively unknown but highly promising David Tennant in the role of the Tenth Doctor, the future of the series seemed bright with expanding horizons. By the time series two debuted on 15^th April, 2006 fandom was aware of not only the returning Cybermen (another checked for my ‘must-returns’) but also the welcoming home of former 1970s companions Sarah Jane Smith and K9. And their return was a spiking moment of rising hope for me: for not only were two long-departed companions crossing paths with the Doctor again but they were returning after decades of absence and the series was not afraid to show it: Sarah was middle-aged; K9 was rusted and broken down. And as I enjoyed a healthy dose of Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker nostalgia, I felt a swell of hope that if one UNIT-era companion could return then so could another, even a then 76-year-old man called out of retirement. Surely Lethbridge-Stewart could return.

And then, he did. Just not quite in the way I expected.

Part two... soon!

THE BRIGADIER - TOP TEN

In keeping with our current Brigadier theme, Andy Frankham-Allen, author of Companions: Fifty Years of Doctor Who Assistants, shares with us his top ten Brigadier stories. Covering not only the TV series, but also the books and audios. Forty-six years of one of Doctor Who’s biggest icons in ten stories…

#1: The Web of Fear by Mervyn Haisman & Henry Lincoln (1968, BBC TV).

Number one simply has to be the story that started it all off. It’s incredible to think now that the Brigadier, or Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart as he was in this story, was never written to become a regular character in Doctor Who. He was simply another in a long line of one-off allies for the Doctor. It says much about the calibre of the script and characterisation, and the personality of Nicholas Courtney, that the character would go on to have such an important role in the Doctor’s life (even beyond his death in 2012).

#2: Spearhead from Space by Robert Holmes (1970, BBC TV).

This was my first introduction to the Brigadier and so will always hold a special place in my heart; that it is also the first Third Doctor story I ever saw (on video in the late '80s) just adds that little bit of extra special to it. The Brig’s characterisation was at its best here, and much of what we come to know about the character is laid out in this story. Often cynical, but adaptable, ready to accept the Doctor at his word, seeding a true friendship that would last for another forty-four years. A classic in every sense.

#3: Battlefield by Ben Aaronovitch (1989, BBC TV).

Not a story often seen in top ten lists, but taken purely from the point of view of the Brigadier it is easily one of the best stories. This was the opener of the last season of Doctor Who’s original twenty-six year run, so it was apt that it brought the Brigadier back after a six-year absence. At this point the Brigadier is retired, settled with his wife Doris, but when he’s brought out of retirement to help the Doctor you can’t help but be swept away by the blasé attitude and the pure enjoyment he has at being back in the field once again. And of course it features one of the Brig’s best moment when he confronts the Destroyer; ‘Pitiful. Can this world do no better than you as its champion?’ the Destroyer wants to know. ‘Probably. I just do the best I can!’ It is such a triumphant moment – the Brigadier saves the world, showing that his best is good enough.

#4: The Dying Days by Lance Parkin (1997, Virgin Books).

The first novel to feature in this top ten. Parkin’s book is tour de force of adventure, carrying on from where Battlefield left off, explaining why the Brigadier was never made general. The character is at the top of his game here, he meets the Eighth Doctor for the first time, and finally receives the recognition he deserves when he is knighted by the Queen at the end of the novel. Sir Alistair is finally here, something which will be acknowledged in the revived series from 2005.

#5: Terror of the Zygons by Robert Banks Stewart (1975, BBC TV).

This is the first story, since The Web of Fear, to acknowledge the Brigadier's Scottish ancestry. Here we discover that is of the Clan Stewart -- a fact that gives us the wonderful image of the Brigadier in a kilt. It's a lovely moment, which even has Sarah wondering if he's 'doing a Doctor', who himself is wearing a tartan scarf because they're visiting Scotland. After five years of being a foil to the Third Doctor, here was get to see the Brigadier really mellow, as a bemused air seems to hang over almost all his scenes. Bemused at the Fourth Doctor, bemused at Benton's relationship with the pub landlord... Just generally bemused. It is also the last time we see the Brigadier until 1983, although he is referenced a few times over the years.

#6: The Spectre of Lanyon Moor by Nicholas Pegg (2002, Big Finish).

The first audio play to feature in my top ten sees the Brigadier in Cornwall and encountering, for the first time, the Sixth Doctor. Both the Brigadier and Nicholas Courtney are on fine form here, as we get to see a slightly different dynamic with an incarnation new to him. The Brigadier seems very at home in Cornwall, too.

#7: Mawdryn Undead by Peter Grimwade (1983, BBC TV).

Despite confusing the UNIT dating, this story does feature some sterling development for the Brigadier, as we get to see two different versions of him. One from 1977 who is every bit the Brig of his UNIT days, recently retired and beginning a new career as a math's teacher. The other version is from 1983, older and perhaps a little wiser, alas he's lost his memory and for a while doesn't even remember the Doctor. His relationship with the Fifth Doctor is very relaxed, once his memory is restored, and he is a solid presence throughout the story. It is, arguably, the first Brigadier-centric story in Doctor Who ever. This is every bit about him, in a way that no other story before has been.

#8: The Scales of Injustice by Gary Russell (1996, Virgin Books/2014 BBC Books).

The second novel in this list deserves its place because it is the first time we properly get to see the Brigadier's private life. Here we are introduced to his first wife, Fiona (a name derived from Nicholas Courtney who would tell convention goers that he believed the Brig was married to a woman called Fiona, and here it becomes 'canon'), as well his five-year-old daughter Kate (who would later go on to become an important part of Nu Who). We get to see how terrible the Brig is at balancing his secret life in UNIT with his private life as a husband and a father. And it is this lack of balancing ability that costs him his marriage and, ultimately, alienates him from Kate for many years.

#9: Inferno by Don Houghton (1970, BBC TV).

In this story we get to see a different version of the Brigadier altogether -- Brigade Leader Lethbridge-Stewart from a fascist parallel Earth. This story earns its place in this list for two very good reasons; the Brigadier in an eye-patch is an anecdote that has gone down in history (and was referenced in the 2012 episode The Wedding of River Song in which we learn the Brigadier died in bed), and Nicholas Courtney throwing subtlety out of the window in his performance of the Brigade Leader. It's a dark tale, and Courtney plays a man on the edge of sanity with aplomb.

#10: The Ghosts of N-Space by Barry Letts (1996, BBC Radio).

The most unlikely story to find its way into a best-of list, but I can't help but love this story. Not only is it a lot of fun, but the idea of the Italian ancestry of the Brigadier's is so barmy that it has to heard to be believed. The news that Lethbridge-Stewart has Sicilian blood comes so far out of left field, but it can be forgiven simply because of the chemistry between him and his slightly nuts Uncle Mario. The continuity is this one needs to be taken with a pinch of salt, but if you can do that then I'm sure you'll realise how much fun it all is. But only if you listen to the radio play version -- the novel version is less fun.

There are loads of other stories I wanted to include, but I had to go for those that I feel represent the Brigadier the best. Both as a character and Nicholas Courtney as a performer. I do have to point out that I was tempted to include The Wedding of River Song and Death in Heaven simply because the Brigadier's presence is felt throughout each episode, especially the latter, even though he is not in either. Although, technically, he is resurrected as a Cyberman in the latter and saves his daughter's life.

So, there you have it. My own personal top ten. We'd like to hear if you agree or disagree, and what your favourite Brigadier stories are.

THE BRIGADIER... LIVES

The Brigadier... Lives! An exclusive interview with Hannah Haisman.

Brigadier Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart

This weekend saw the surprise return of one of Doctor Who’s biggest icons. No, not the Master… Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart. The character died a couple of years ago, following the death of the actor who brought him to life, Nicholas Courtney. The Brigadier has been a large part of Doctor Who since 1969 when he appeared in command of UNIT in The Invasion, preparing the way for a five-year run alongside Jon Pertwee’s Doctor beginning the following year. But the character first appeared over a year earlier in the six-part serial, The Web of Fear, as a colonel in the Scots Guard. He was a one-off character never intended for such longevity, created by freelance writers Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln. However, in a recent interview in Doctor Who Magazine, then-script editor Derrick Sherwin has claimed that he created the character ignoring the fact that The Invasion was a result of a gap in the schedule after a couple of other scripts failed to work out. Without some kind of precognition on his part, it does seem a very odd claim. To counter this curious comment, I recently spoke to Mervyn Haisman’s granddaughter, and the executor of his literary estate (which includes, of course, the Brigadier, the Great Intelligence and the Dominators!), Hannah Haisman.

Type 40: Hi there, Hannah. If you could start by telling us a little about your grandfather, and your experience of him.

Hannah Haisman: My Grandad was a truly amazing person. He was one of the most important, special and influential people in my life.  In my teenage years, I spent a lot of time with my nan and Grandad, often spending a night or five with them. I used to love sitting in Grandad’s study whilst he worked. I would spend hours looking at the hundreds of books on the shelves and admiring his RADA certificate hanging on the wall, the Onedin Line flag, the photograph of the Yeti from Doctor Who, the huge poster of Jane and the lost city and various family photographs and portraits. I can remember asking for Grandad’s help when I was studying Shakespeare for my English Literature GCSE. At fifteen years old my idea of a good read did not include Shakespeare. Grandad directed me to the mass of books upon the shelves and it was from there my love of literature grew.

When my grandad passed away in 2010 it broke my heart.  A few months earlier on one of our bi-weekly phone calls, he had told me that I would be left the majority of his literary estate which included the rights of his work and use of characters.  Up until then, I obviously knew that he had written for many well known shows as I was the one who used to chase up the BBC when they hadn’t paid him royalties! But since taking on the role of literary executor, I have learned so much more about his many writing credits, the much-loved characters he created and what people thought of him.

Type 40: Including Derrick Sherwin?

Hannah: I knew that they had a hate hate relationship. It has been well documented in the past, but the latest interview Sherwin has given that slanders the memory of my grandad has rendered me gobsmacked. In DWM (issue 479) Sherwin calls my grandad and Henry ‘hacks’.  Now in the writing world, that is about the worst thing you could call a writer.  My grandad had over eighty writing credits to his name and Henry is an extremely successful author. This in itself should show that they are not ‘hacks’.  Compare this to Sherwin’s credits.  I am not 100%, but to the best of my knowledge he has twelve writing credits to his name, of which three were re-writes at the time of his short tenure as script editor on Doctor Who. He then got the producer gig for about a year before being replaced and spent a total of only five years in television! That somehow makes him someone who is qualified to make the comments he has about my grandad and Henry? As for them being bloody-minded and un-enthusiastic; this may have had something to do with who they were working with and his attitude, which is evident in most of his interviews.

Type 40: Regarding his claim that he, in fact, created Lethbridge-Stewart, how do you respond?

Hannah: This is laughable; the man must be deluded.

Type 40: It is a well documented fact that the character of Lethbridge-Stewart was created by your grandfather and Henry Lincoln. Sherwin, almost certainly without intention, secured their legacy by bringing the character back the following year. Looking back on this, how does this make you feel, considering Sherwin's public bad mouthing of your grandfather and Lincoln?

Hannah: He obviously thought he was in the right. I know Grandad was pissed off with him using the Brig and that he had to fight with the BBC for many years to secure royalties. I'm over the moon that by doing this, bringing the Brig back, Sherwin secured Grandad’s legacy, and I know Grandad would be chuckling about it.

Sir Alistair

Type 40: The Brig, and indeed the Great Intelligence, has been around in Who for a very long time now. The Brig even made it to Nu Who, via The Sarah Jane Adventures. Russell T Davies approached your grandfather about this... Do you know how he felt to be finally asked beforehand?

Hannah: Very emotional. He was over the moon and held Russell T Davies in very high regard as he had taken the time to ask him. That is all he ever wanted; recognition for what he had created.

Type 40: Fans have recognised his contribution for many years. Indeed, when the 1995 independent film Downtime was made, the producers approached Haisman for permission. In that film, author Marc Platt created a daughter for the Brig. You only discovered this last week. What did you think of the news that the Brig continues on through his daughter?

Hannah: I'm extremely happy that the Brig lives on; sad that they dropped the Lethbridge in the surname to save money. But in all seriousness, seeing an offspring of a character my grandad created is like seeing a part of him on screen.

Kate Lethbridge-Stewart

Type 40: In fact, you could say art imitates life. While Kate carries on her father's legacy, you carry on your grandfather's. Women now run the house.

Hannah: To an extent that has always happened, though not in the public eye. My nan always ran the house and Grandad just agreed with her

Type 40: You saw last weekend's episode, and was surprised, as many were, by the return of the Brig. What did you think of that moment? The whole episode seemed to be haunted by his ghost.

Hannah: I cried. Happy cries but as soon as Capaldi saluted I got it. I was so proud that grandad’s character was still being used.

Type 40: How do you think your grandfather would have taken it?

Hannah: He would of poured another scotch, swore, giggled and said ‘why a Cyberman!’ Grandad would even have raised a toast to Sherwin for helping his character live on.

Type 40: One way to gain immortality.

Hannah: Very true.

Type 40: It seems the Brig is always out there in some way. Do you think we've heard the last of this icon of Doctor Who?

Hannah: NOOOOOO! I'd hate it if he were to remain a Cyberman: that is the only monster that has had me hiding behind a pillow! I have high hopes for the Brig and I'm sure this won't be the last time you see him.

Type 40: But do you not think that if they bring him back again, it would cheapen the moment? The idea that he lives forever?

Hannah: Yes and no. I'd hate for him to be a Cyberman, but maybe a form of a higher consciousness to Kate. I say this as a daddy’s girl.

Type 40: Higher consciousness... A great intelligence perhaps?

Hannah: You got it!

Type 40: So, your grandfather's legacy has lasted forty-six years. It seems the Brig's story is over.

Hannah: The Brig will always be around, if I have any say in the matter, and I do. There is a time in his life that nobody knows about…YET!

And with that intriguing remark, it seems our time is up. Thank you for talking with us, Hannah. Here’s to another forty-six years of Sir Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart, and your grandfather’s legacy!

Mervyn and Hannah, their last weekend together in 2010