UNIT: Series 1 – Pitch

What would Doctor Who look like if I were to be running the show, is a question fans ask themselves all the time. Over the course of the last few articles, I’ve given you an outline of what the Whoinverse would look like if I were to be showrunner. And alongside the series proper, I’ve also got a few spin-off series in mind to create, UNIT is the second of these. Others include, A Charitable Earth, Torchwood and Gallifrey, all of which weave together in various aspects and use a number of characters from all over the Doctor Who landscape and a few new ones!

UNIT will see the current UNIT team as we know them, headed really by Kate Stewart and Osgood. With many villains to choose from as the overall baddie for the series, I’ve decided to not do a big alien baddie, instead I’ve gone back to the Wilderness Years of the 1990s, much like I did with A Charitable Earth and bring in C19, first mentioned in Time-Flight and perhaps more importantly, Project: Glasshouse, first mentioned in the books, Who Killed Kennedy and The Scales of Injustice.

This being UNIT and not Doctor Who properly, Project:  Glasshouse is a little more violent, not to Torchwood levels, but there are some near the knuckle scenes in the books mentioned above. Glasshouse would also be a little more in keeping with the tone of the UNIT series, which I would like to be a little more like The X-Files, so an organisation within the government trying to take them down is just the sort of thing to open the debut series!

Glasshouse will work in much the same way it did in the Virgin Books. They are a repository for the alien equipment that UNIT have recovered over the years, its overseen the shadowy C19, who employ the deadly ‘Pale-Man’ to deal with loose ends. Of course as the conspiracy at Glasshouse becomes clear and going into the next series of UNIT, Glasshouse will loose control of many of the alien equipment and it will form a base for the following series of the show, with UNIT having to deal with those aliens once again.

Of course, with UNIT having been closed down in Resolution of the Daleks, this would be explained that with the death of Stephen Fry’s ‘O’, the government have decided to refund UNIT once again, as more alien threats return to Earth. It’ll be explained that they made a mistake and they actually need an authorised organisation to fight alien menaces when the Doctor, who is known to the high-high ups in power only, isn’t around.

UNIT will also feature, as well as some well known characters from around the Whoinverse, some of the characters from the Big Finish series, which will mark the first onscreen appearances of these characters. So without further ado, lets jump into the characters and see what they’ll be up to through the debut series and then onto the list of episodes, all which come with a blurb so you can see the direction they’ll take!

Main Players

Kate Stewart: Having been put, once again, in charge of UNIT, she is first tasked with putting together a great team to deal with the growing alien menace once again. But she is answerable to the mysterious Minister, who will be playing a part through the rest of the ongoing series. But things are a lot more dangerous this time around and she has to face the idea that in her team, there is a traitor and when Glasshouse make themselves known, the sins of UNIT’s past come back to haunt Kate. With the world in danger once again, Kate has to keep her wits about her as conspiracies threaten to unravel the very government that put her in charge!

Osgood: Like Kate, Osgood finds herself being drafted back into UNIT. As the second in command, she finds herself involved once again in a lot of the field missions. But she is still a scientist and soon finds her particular talents and skills are also needed by the strange C19 and Glasshouse. But do C19 have something in mind for Osgood aside from her science skills? There is still the question of her true identity, is she human or is she Zygon? Glasshouse intend to find out once and for all.

Sergeant Abigail Bell: Her mother, who once worked for UNIT as Corporal Bell, doesn’t like Abigail working for the same people. But Abigail when finds herself drafted into UNIT out of the army, she quickly is swept up in the exciting life, after all who wouldn’t want to meet aliens, even if there was death and danger that follow them around? Its a small price to pay. But Abigail quickly discovers exactly why her mother left. And being an outside commodity, not someone that Kate has personally vouched for, could she be the mole for C19?

Luke Smith: Following the death/disappearance of Sarah Jane, Luke continues to work for UNIT as one of their scientific advisors. Brought in by Kate, Luke finds himself thrown right back into the world of aliens and monsters once again. But this time he’s different, he understands the dangers of these creatures and he’s married to a man he really loves. So when he finds Sanjay is in trouble and having possibly been taken by Project Glasshouse, Luke finds himself under the microscope. Will he be the traitor who betrays UNIT to C19 or will his Bane heritage mean he’s a new acquisition for Glasshouse?

Josh Carter: Originally from the Big Finish UNIT, series, Josh Carter, is much the same, he never finished his training at Sandhurst because he has a disruptive personality and questions authority. But in truth he doesn’t follow orders blindly and thinks outside of the box, something that Kate approves of. Carter is someone that can be counted on when things get really bad and that’s good, because things will get a lot worse before they get better. But when Kate uncovers conspiracy after conspiracy, she has to question if Carter had been indoctrinated into C19 years before she ever knew him.

Sam Bishop: Another character from the Big Finish series, Sam Bishop provides much of the military might that UNIT might need. He often finds himself in the heat of battle but is another trust-worth addition to the team, who does have a thing for Osgood. But there is a period of time when he’s unaccounted for, he soon finds himself thrown into action again as members of the team are put under scrutiny. But could he, in that period of time have been placed in C19 or Glasshouse. He finds that lines are drawn quickly in the team as everyone tries to work who they can trust, Sam must face having the rescue Osgood and Luke all by himself.

The Pale Man: An enigma wrapped in a mystery, The Pale Man has no known name and he seems to have been with Project Glasshouse since its creation. He possesses super strength and his senses have been augmented as he found himself an early experiment for the mad scientists that worked for Glasshouse in the 1970s/80s. He’s part human/Cyberman but no one what else he’s had done to him. He’s a skilled assassin and thug and makes it his personal mission to take down UNIT either through direct action or indirect, but Kate has to pull out all the stops to stop the mysterious Pale Man, whose origins become known as the series goes on.

The Minister: Much like the Pale Man, not much is known about The Minister, despite the fact he’s at the top of the totem pole when it comes to alien affairs and UNIT. Even Kate doesn’t know him. But one thing is certain, he is at the centre of the conspiracies, like a spider in a web, weaving many different outcomes. What’s his connection to UNIT, C19 and Glasshouse, we’ll discover over the course of the series. But one thing is certain, he’s not trust worthy in the slightest.

Dorothea Chaplet: Dorothea, or Dodo as she was once known, is now an elderly lady enjoying her retirement. But she lives a sad life, though she has a family who loves her, she never said goodbye at the end of The War Machines, something she’s regretted ever since. Now she lives in a town house opposite where the TARDIS landed at the beginning of her ordeal with WOTAN. But that wasn’t the only ordeal she had. In the 1980s, she came up close and personal with Glasshouse when she and her husband were kidnapped by The Pale Man. They were ruthlessly interrogated over their involvement with various alien beings and races and then left, half-dead on the street. Her husband, a journalist known to UNIT for trying to expose them, died a few years ago and all his research is stored in boxes in the attic. But with Glasshouse on the prowl again, will Dorothea be safe this time and when UNIT come knocking, will be in any shape to help them?

The Series:

1. This Life We Choose

This is it, a brand new beginning for UNIT. Kate is rehired as its head and she quickly sets about recruiting her elite team. Barely assembled, they find themselves headed for a secret research base, continuing the work of one Professor Stahlman and the Inferno Project.

In theory trying to harness the powers of the Earth isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but when things go predictably wrong, the UNIT team find their lives endangered as Primords begin to stalk the base, and green ooze begins to climb out of the Earth, Kate finds herself facing the primordial powers of the Earth itself. Will they be able to put the cork back in the battle before the Earth literally tears itself apart?

2. Seeing Double

Kate is called to the office of the Minister and has some questions to answer about the events in the previous episode. While she’s away, she leaves Osgood in charge, but they are called away to investigate a series of armed robberies where the hostages and robbers seem to be the same.

What is going on, how can the robbers and the victims be the same people? Osgood knows a thing or two about seeing double and they uncover a gang of black market thieves who managed to get their hands on alien cloaking technology, but the only way to take the gang down is from the inside and Sam Bishop quickly finds himself in the thick of the action.

3. The Sound of the Underground

When a strange noise is heard coming out of the London Underground, Kate and the team find themselves in the rabbit warren of passages and tunnels, last occupied like this in the Yeti incident. That’s something that is playing on Kate’s mind, could this be the Great Intelligence trying to break through into our universe once again or something else entirely?

But when the sound is begun to be heard all over the city, Kate will need the whole team to stop London from coming to a complete standstill.

4. Rags

In the late 1970s a punk band were tearing across the English countryside, their music causing people to die and inflict pain on others. UNIT discovered that it was a interdimensional entity trying to find a way into our plane of existence and with the help of the Doctor, stopped it.

But in recent times that music has begun to play among the hills of the countryside once again, people in local villages are dying horrifically or murdering each other, literally tearing one another apart. Will the ghostly band be stopped or will the Ragman finally manage to break into our world?

5. Fear

Following the Ragman incursion, something isn’t right with Luke. When his husband Sanjay brings his worries to Kate and UNIT, Luke is placed under supervision and it doesn’t take long to notice that things aren’t right. When Luke’s eyes turn into inky black pools and he begins to mutter in alien dialects, UNIT soldiers find themselves killing one another.

The Ragman managed to find a home in Luke’s head and now Kate has to try an exorcise the evil before it destroys Luke’s mind. But the exorcism might end up making things a lot worse…

6. Conversion -Part 3

The first epic crossover between Who-Shows continues here!

With the population of London being sent to the Mass Cyber-Conversion chambers, the Cybermen seem to have won and humanity has to face the idea of defeat.

Hidden away in World War 2 bunkers, the resistance is growing, now with the combined might of the Doctor and his companions, The Master, UNIT, A Charitable Earth and Torchwood, the human race might just stand a chance. But the Cybermen have tracked them all to the bunker and are surrounding them. Will the combined might of some of Doctor Who’s mightiest characters be able to hold the Cybermen off long enough while a secondary team take the fight to the Cyber Planner?

Conversion will conclude in Torchwood Series 1

7. The Secrets That We Keep

When Kate brought the new UNIT team together, they were hired under the impression that things wouldn’t be kept from one another. But the secrets have gradually begun to creep in. Luke kept Ragman a secret and now Kate is beginning to unravel a conspiracy that goes into the very heart of UNIT. This team are not only her allies, but her friends.

When Glasshouse makes its first move, who can Kate really trust?

8. Complications

With the Glasshouse conspiracy having been uncovered, Kate is forced to take her findings the mysterious Minister, but can he be trusted?

Meanwhile Osgood and Luke are called away to the house of Dorothea Chaplet, who may hold some valuable information concerning Glasshouse and C19. But when Dorthea’s house is raided by the very people they are against, will anyone make it out alive?

9. The Origins of a Pale Man

He’s a mystery that Kate intends to get the bottom of. The Pale Man has worked for Glasshouse since at least the 1970s and has been half-converted into a Cyberman. He’s a trained, ruthless killer but was he always like that? What was his childhood like, who were his parents, his friends?

Is there a way to put a stop to his ruthless actions? With Osgood, Luke and Dorothea missing, she doesn’t have long to find out.

10. The Calm Before the Storm

Osgood, Luke and Dorothea Chaplet have gone missing and Kate rallies the troops to find them. But their hunt has to be put aside when a mysterious storm hits the south coast. Kate and the remaining members of UNIT find an alien spaceship hidden under the Solent which is slowly going into its self destruct mode. It’s hyperspace drive is malfunctioning and opening a tunnel in Earth’s skies and giant creatures are coming through into our world.

While UNIT struggle to shot the self destruction without their science officers, Kate finds the C-19 mole, and its none other than Sam Bishop?!

11. The Betrayer and the Betrayed

With Sam Bishop under interrogation, Kate is desperate to get her people back and will resort to everything to find their location, but does Sam genuinely not know where his fellow team members are?

Meanwhile Osgood, Luke and Dorothea find themselves under interrogation at Glasshouse. They are determined to know if Osgood is human or Zygon and Luke’s biology given how he was a ‘Frankenstein’ creation rather than actually having been born. Dorothea finds herself being asked about her travels with a man called ‘The Doctor’ and the Pale Man will go to any lengths to get answers from everyone, even if it means they have to die to do it.

12. Dead Ends

When a tracker is activated inside Sam Bishop, Kate, Abigail, Josh, Sanjay and Sam find themselves on the run. When their HQ is blown up, they have to go underground to an old UNIT safe house and regroup. But life on the run is hard, are they all cut out for it and they need to come up with a plan to get into the Glasshouse facility.

But they don’t know that C-19 have authorised the activation of the Blood Hounds, augmented dogs that have one function, find and kill their target and with the Pale Man on the leash, Kate is pushed to make a desperate decision, one that might put Sanjay in deadly danger.

13. Project: Glasshouse

With Sanjay captures and the Pale Man torturing him, Luke makes a desperate plea for the life of his husband. He’ll betray his friends to save the man he loves. Sam Bishop follows and infiltrates the Glasshouse facility, his mission is rescue everyone and redeem himself, even if he has to die in order to it.

Kate, Abigail and Josh track down C-19 HQ but find it staffed by Auton duplicates and when Kate finds out who is in charge, she has face the question of whether UNIT was set up to fail since she reformed them. Was the Minister behind this all or someone else?

Sam, Osgood, Dorothea, Luke and Sanjay try to escape Glasshouse but find themselves up against the might of the facility and the Pale Man. Will everyone make it out alive or will one of the Doctor’s oldest friends make the ultimate sacrifice?

So there you have an outline of a debut series for UNIT. For me, the Wilderness Years of Doctor Who, those years in-between its cancellation and reboot, hold a number of great concepts and characters that are ripe for being included into the main chronology properly. C-19 is an old concept, first introduced in the Fifth Doctor era, but Project: Glasshouse could work as Who’s answer to Marvel’s Hydra, with agents everywhere, UNIT might have destroyed its main base of operations but will be the last we see of them?

So far I’ve planned five future series for UNIT and it’ll play around with a lot of Doctor Who monsters and concepts from both televised outings to things from expanded media.

And while Dodo might be a strange companion to be returning here, she does play a large part in the C-19 and Glasshouse mythology in the books from the 1990s. And UNIT will hopefully serve as a nice way of bringing her back and concluding her story, something that she doesn’t get in her final onscreen story, The War Machines. And her legacy won’t be forgotten in the next series of UNIT either, as WOTAN and The War Machines will be making a comeback as the big bad for UNIT Series 2!