The third episode of The Web of Fear features an event which will have massive repercussions for the series - even unto the present day: the Doctor meets a soldier named Lethbridge Stewart.
It is a fairly minor incident in the story, which concerns itself more with the fact that Edward Travers from The Abominable Snowmen is back, now as an old Professor, and the Yeti have returned after only a 12 week gap. The significance of the meeting only becomes apparent much later.
We can't even see it these days, unless the allegedly hijacked episode is returned. Until then, we have to make do with an appallingly bad animation, or the telesnap / soundtrack reconstruction.
Nicholas Courtney's first brush with Doctor Who had been when he was considered for the role of King Richard I in The Crusade, should Julian Glover be unwilling or unable to do it. Director Douglas Camfield liked to have a small "rep company" of actors who he relied on, and Courtney was one of that number.
Glover did take on the role, but Camfield found another for Courtney the following year - as Space Security agent Bret Vyon in the first four episodes of The Daleks' Master Plan. The actor later claimed that William Hartnell encouraged him to change agent (Hartnell's son-in-law was one), and he didn't work for a year.
Camfield looked to Courtney again for The Web of Fear, when he needed someone to play a young Captain named Knight. Courtney came from an army background, but he himself had never risen above the rank of Private during his National Service. Actor David Langton was due to play a more senior officer in the Yeti sequel - Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart - but he dropped out when offered something else. Courtney was asked if he would like a promotion - in more ways than one, as Capt. Knight doesn't make it to the end of the story. Naturally he said "Yes".
The Colonel was developed way beyond the Haisman / Lincoln script by Camfield, who added the hyphenated 'Stewart', seeing him as one of those Anglified Scots officers. Lt. Colonel Colin "Mad Mitch" Mitchell of the Argyle and Sutherland Highlanders was a big inspiration.
When we first meet him, we have no idea whether or not we can trust the Colonel. We know that the Great Intelligence uses a human host, and he has turned up in the tunnels with no-one to vouch for his story of being sole survivor of an ambushed convoy. Even when Driver Evans later does seem to recognise him, the Colonel's response is rather ambiguous. He's also the sole survivor of a second Yeti attack at Covent Garden. He is a suspect right up to the appearance of the real host in Part Six.
The following year, despite his intention to get away from the programme as soon as possible, script editor Derrick Sherwin had the idea of basing the Doctor on Earth for a while, inspired by the Quatermass serials. In this, he would need to be allied with a military force to provide a base of operations, as well as a source of additional drama. The format was tested out in a story Sherwin wrote himself - The Invasion. It would have cost a lot to use Travers and his daughter again, as well as Lethbridge Stewart, and not all the actors might be available anyway. A deteriorating relationship with their creators didn't help the situation.
In the end only Courtney was brought back from The Web of Fear, as he was available and willing. To create a new military commander would have meant someone just like him anyway, so they might as well use the already established character.
The Colonel has been promoted to Brigadier, and has been placed in charge of the British branch of UNIT - then the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce. It was always believed that the Brigadier had helped to found the organisation, after his personal experience with the Great Intelligence and the Yeti. Nowadays, attempts have been made to backtrack on this, and have UNIT founded independently, with Lethbridge Stewart joining an already established outfit. Most fans regard this as nonsense.
Camfield was directing again, and was in his element when real life soldiers were used for the climactic battle scenes. Courtney was so convincing in the role that they asked their commander if they should salute him like a real officer.
During filming, Courtney was asked if he would like to come back in Season 7 as a regular - and he once again said "Yes".
With a new Doctor and a new companion being introduced in Spearhead From Space, it was up to the Brigadier to act as continuity with what had come before, so viewers knew that this was still Doctor Who they were watching.
Friendship with Pertwee took time to develop, as the tactless star managed to insult him on their first meeting. Courtney suffered from depression, which led to him being replaced by a double for location scenes on Terror of the Autons. (The Brigadier would never wear white socks in uniform!).
He featured in every story of the first two Earth-bound seasons - even managing two episodes of a story set on an alien planet (Colony in Space), albeit briefly.
Producer and script editor realised that the format couldn't be sustained, and so the Doctor was sent on two missions by the Time Lords in Season 9, and The Sea Devils opted not to include UNIT in favour of the Royal Navy.
The Three Doctors then saw the Doctor's exile lifted. This particular story features some classic Courtney ad libs - but also diminishes the Brigadier as a character. Up to and including Planet of the Spiders, he is increasingly Blimp-like. It is annoying to see him dismissive of aliens and odd events, considering his history and the whole reason for his creation.
When the next producer took over, the writing was on the wall: UNIT were to be phased out. Courtney elected to jump before he could be pushed - going out on a high in Terror of the Zygons.
UNIT limped on until the end of the 13th season without him (he was concentrating on regular stage work).
For the 20th anniversary season, a school-set story was planned to see the return of teacher Ian Chesterton, but William Russell was busy with stage work. Harry Sullivan was next choice, but Ian Marter was working in New Zealand. Third choice to appear in Mawdryn Undead was the Brigadier, uncomfortably shoehorned in to the plot as a retiree, teaching maths.
This return was quickly followed up with an appearance in The Five Doctors, when it was initially hoped that Courtney would feature alongside Pertwee and Katy Manning. JNT wouldn't pay for her to be flown over from Australia plus Tom Baker's refusal to take part led to a rejig and Courtney ended up partnered with his original Doctor. The pair very much steal the show.
Colin Baker's Sixth Doctor had a curtailed existence, and so never had the opportunity to meet the Brigadier (rectified non-canonically in that horrible 1993 CiN / EastEnders crossover).
Courtney's final appearance in Doctor Who came in the final season of the series. Battlefield was originally going to kill the Brigadier off. Courtney had always been fine with this, so long as it was an heroic send-off. The writer got cold feet and just couldn't bring himself to do it. Courtney starred opposite Jean Marsh, who had almost been his sister in The Crusade, and did play that role in The Daleks' Master Plan, though she exited Bret Vyon by killing him.
Attempts to include him in the revived series failed due to ill-health coinciding with the production of UNIT-related stories (such as Series 4's Sontaran two-parter), and a running joke about him being stuck in Peru, now Sir Alistair and an ambassador, was introduced.
However, he was not quite finished with the series. The spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures saw him reunited with Lis Sladen in Enemy of the Bane.
The Seventh Doctor had claimed that the Brigadier was supposed to die in bed, and this is exactly what we heard had happened in The Wedding of River Song. This had been added as a tribute to Courtney, who had died earlier that year. The Brigadier's daughter Kate was then introduced in The Power of Three, and she has run UNIT ever since. We already know that she is definitely in Series 14, and may also pop up in one of the 60th Anniversary Specials, or in the 2023 festive introduction to Ncuti Gatwa's 15th Doctor.
It is a remarkable legacy, which no-one would have dreamed of when an army Colonel encountered the Second Doctor in the darkened tunnels of the London Underground, and by pure chance a certain actor was offered a last minute change of role.
(This piece, and its content, was always planned to be posted today - but I only just realised this morning that 22nd February is the anniversary of Nick Courtney's death, so hopefully a fitting tribute to the actor and his character).
No comments:
Post a Comment