Newbies Guide to Doctor Who

Doctor:

The Third The third Doctor has white hair, a large nose, and tends to dress as a society dandy. He has a love of technology, historical name-dropping, and vehicles.

Companions:

Professor Elizabeth Shaw: Liz Shaw is a brilliant scientist with degrees in a wide variety of fields. She was recruited into UNIT as its scientific advisor during Spearhead from Space (Classic Series Season 7), and ended up serving as the Doctor's assistant for some time after he was also appointed as scientific advisor. She left UNIT to return to Cambridge between Inferno (Classic Series Season 7) and Terror of the Autons (Classic Series Season 8).

Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart The Brigadier is commander of the British branch of UNIT - the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce. He first met the second Doctor whilst in the regular army in The Web of Fear (Classic Series Season 5). He met the second Doctor again in The Invasion (Classic Series Season 6), by which point he was commander of UNIT. He met the third Doctor in Spearhead from Space (Classic Series Season 7), just after the Doctor had been exiled to Earth. During that story, the Brigadier appointed the Doctor as scientific advisor to UNIT.

Sergeant John Benton Sergeant Benton is an officer in UNIT. He first met the Doctor in The Invasion (Classic Series Season 6). He has frequently worked with the Doctor and is fiercely loyal to both the Doctor and the Brigadier.

Sergeant Mike Yates: Yates is a young officer in UNIT. He first met the Doctor in The Eye of the Giant (Virgin Missing Adventure), and had been was promoted to Captain by Terror of the Autons (Classic Series Season 8).

Recurring Characters:

Corporal Carol Bell Female UNIT officer who appeared onscreen in The Mind of Evil (Classic Series Season 8) and The Claws of Axos (Classic Series Season 8).

Corporal Tom Osgood UNIT officer with a talent for technical issues. He appeared in The Eye of the Giant (Virgin Missing Adventure) and, later, in The Dæmons (Classic Series Season 8).

The United Nations Intelligence Taskforce UNIT is an international organisation formed to combat alien invasions and the like. Its members are mostly soldiers from the countries in which they operate. We first saw UNIT in The Invasion (Classic Series Season 6), and the Third Doctor became scientific advisor to UNIT in Spearhead from Space (Classic Series Season 7). In addition to the characters listed above, there are a large number of other UNIT officers in this story.

Fiona and Kate Lethbridge-Stewart Fiona and Kate are the Brigadier's wife and daughter. Kate appears in Downtime (BBV Video/Virgin Missing Adventure) many years after these events.

The Silurians The Silurians were a race of sentient reptiles who ruled the Earth during the Ecocene era (the name "Silurians" was a mistake by the human who discovered them). Their civilisation went into hibernation to avoid a major catastrophe, but they never woke up. The Doctor encountered a shelter that had been woken by human activity in The Silurians (Classic Series Season 7). He attempted to negotiate peace, but distrust on both sides wrecked his attempts. Despite the Doctor's insistence that they should be talked to, the Brigadier ordered that the shelter be buried by using explosive charges.

The Sea Devils The Sea Devils are aquatic relatives of the Silurians. They first appeared in The Sea Devils (Classic Series Season 9), but that story takes place some time after this one.

Icthar, Scibus, Tarpok The Silurian Triad are authority figures amongst the "Silurian" community. The fifth Doctor met Icthar over a century after this book in Warriors of the Deep (Classic Series Season 20).

The Myrka Myrka are amphibious monsters which the Silurians and Sea Devils have been known to use as weapons. They are vulnerable to light. The Doctor would later meet a Myrka in Warriors of the Deep (Classic Series Season 21).

Recommended Viewing:

In The Silurians (Classic Series Season 7) UNIT uncovered a Silurian shelter. The Doctor tried to broker a peace between the humans and the Silurians, but a coup on the Silurian side prevented that dream. The Silurians went back into hibernation and, contrary to the Doctor's wishes, the Brigdier entombed the shelter with high explosives.

In The Sea Devils (Classic Series Season 9), the Doctor encountered a group of aquatic Silurians ('Sea Devils') who refused to deal in peace. Their shelter is almost certainly the one in which Auggi D'jo's aquatic relatives live.

In Warriors of the Deep (Classic Series Season 20), the fifth Doctor helped defeat a plan by Silurians and Sea Devils to start a war between two human power blocks. During this story, he again met Icthar - the last survivor of the Silurian Triad.

In Remembrance of the Daleks (Classic Series Season 25), the seventh Doctor helped Group Captain Ian Gilmore, scientist Rachel Jenson, and the rest of an organisation called the ICMG to defeat a force of time-travelling Daleks.

The video version of Downtime (BBV Video/Virgin Missing Adventure) features a grown-up version of the Brigadier's daughter Kate.

Recommended Reading:

The Author's Notes, available with the BBC's e-book version of the story provide lots of background information. They also come with a flowchart detailing the story, and an alternative ending for the story.

Although they are only minor references, the story carries on the UNIT set-up from The Eye of the Giant (Virgin Missing Adventure). A grown-up version of the Brigadier's daughter Kate appears in Downtime (BBV Video/Virgin Missing Adventure).

The Glasshouse and the dark side of C-19 also appear in Who Killed Kennedy (Virgin Novel). The story of the core of this group within C-19 is picked up in Business Unusual (BBC Past Doctor Adventure) and Instruments of Darkness (BBC Past Doctor Adventure).

Recommended Listening:

None.