Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart - Character History

Character History

Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart was born in Scotland, according to dialogue in Terror of the Zygons. He first encountered the Second Doctor in The Web of Fear (1968), when he appears as a colonel commanding a British Army detachment sent to investigate the Yeti in the London Underground. By his next appearance in The Invasion (1968), he had been promoted to Brigadier and was working with UNIT. When the Doctor was forcibly regenerated and exiled to Earth, Lethbridge-Stewart gave him a position as UNIT's scientific advisor after he helped defeat the Auton invasion. Other military members of UNIT included Captain Mike Yates, Sergeant Benton and Royal Navy Lieutenant Harry Sullivan.

The Brigadier always faced the unknown with unflappable British aplomb. He has shown himself to be a true warrior in combat, ruthless when he has to be, and heroic in the face of the often overwhelming odds that he and UNIT faced over the years. He eventually retired from the military to teach mathematics at an English public school in 1976, as seen in Mawdryn Undead (1983).

Most of the Third Doctor stories were set on Earth and feature UNIT and the Brigadier heavily. While not as ubiquitous in the following years, he appeared alongside every subsequent Doctor in the original television series run with the exception of the Sixth Doctor. Although Lethbridge-Stewart first met the Doctor in his second incarnation, he also met and worked with the First Doctor in the 10th anniversary special, The Three Doctors and again in the 20th anniversary special, The Five Doctors. The Brigadier and the Sixth Doctor, as well as later incarnations of the Doctor, have been paired in numerous spin-off productions (see Other appearances), although the canonicity of these is uncertain.

As one of the most popular recurring supporting characters in the television series, the Brigadier is often listed among the Doctor's companions. He is listed as such by the BBC and included in John Nathan-Turner's (a former producer of Doctor Who) book discussing all of the Doctor's companions.

Lethbridge-Stewart's last appearance in a Doctor Who television episode was in 1989, in the Seventh Doctor serial Battlefield. Called out of retirement to deal with an other-dimensional invasion of armoured knights led by Morgaine, he found himself once again at the Doctor's side. Lethbridge-Stewart served as his world's champion as he faced down and killed the demonic Destroyer of Worlds armed only with his service revolver and a load of silver-tipped bullets. (Battlefield was stated to be a few years into Ace's future but not a specific date. The Virgin New Adventures books place it in 1997.)

Little was shown of Lethbridge-Stewart's life outside UNIT in the television series. Planet of the Spiders referred to a relationship with a woman called Doris. By Battlefield, he was married to her (played by Angela Douglas). It was Courtney's own belief that the Brigadier had been in a previous marriage to a woman named Fiona, and that he and Doris were having an affair; his first marriage ended due to his work.

Although Lethbridge-Stewart never appeared in the revived series, the character is still alive during the Tenth Doctor's tenure. In the spin-off series The Sarah Jane Adventures story "Revenge of the Slitheen", Sarah Jane Smith says to "give love to the Brig". In the Tenth Doctor episode "The Poison Sky", the Doctor mentions that he could use "the Brigadier". He is then told that "Sir Alistair" is "stranded in Peru", indicating that the Brigadier has been knighted. The first film footage from the classic era to appear in the revived era was his photograph displayed in the slow pan across Sarah Jane Smith's attic in the opening scene of The Sarah Jane Adventures’ première, "Invasion of the Bane".

In 2008, Courtney again reprised the role in a The Sarah Jane Adventures story, "Enemy of the Bane", and confirmed his knighthood repeatedly: Major Kilburne and Sarah Jane each address him as "Sir Alistair" and he later introduces himself fully as "Brigadier Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart" to Mrs. Wormwood. This episode refers back to the Peru mission as there is mention of him being de-briefed about it. Sarah Jane asks Lethbridge-Stewart to assist her in accessing UNIT's "Black Archive", a top secret alien artefact facility. Sarah Jane prefers to avoid seeking official clearance, so as to avoid awkward questions about Luke, her artificially-grown son. In his old age, the Brigadier has developed a dislike for the new way UNIT works and often refers to events that happened in "his day". He walks with a walking stick now, but is seen driving a Bentley to UNIT's "Black Archive". His wife, presumably Doris, is mentioned in this episode. The Brigadier assists Sarah Jane and Rani in escaping UNIT and later confronts a Bane disguised as a UNIT officer, shooting him dead with a gun hidden within his cane.

In The Sarah Jane Adventures episode "The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith", Clyde Langer tells Peter Dalton that the Brigadier cannot make it to the wedding because he is back in Peru. It had been intended by the production team that Lethbridge-Stewart would indeed appear in the story and meet the Tenth Doctor, but Courtney was recovering from a stroke and unable to take part. He is reported to be in Peru for a third time in "Death of the Doctor". Clyde describes him as being Sarah Jane's oldest friend; Sarah Jane met both the Doctor and Sir Alistair in the first episode of the Third Doctor serial, The Time Warrior. Sometime following the events of "Death of the Doctor", Sir Alistair himself becomes ill and is moved into a nursing home.

In "The Wedding of River Song", the Eleventh Doctor rings Sir Alistair's nursing home to have him made ready for a trip; a nurse regretfully informs him that the Brigadier died peacefully 'a few months ago' and had spoken well of him often. The fact that the Doctor assumed the person on the other end of the telephone line would recognise his voice would at least imply that the Eleventh Doctor had previously visited the Brigadier in his nursing home. He is the second Whoniverse character to be so eulogised as a proxy for his deceased actor, after his former subordinate Dr. Harry Sullivan (the late Ian Marter) was remembered fondly by their UNIT colleague Sarah Jane Smith a year earlier in "Death of the Doctor".