The Brigadier, played by Nicholas Courtney
The Brigadier (Nicholas Courtney) taken during the 1970s.
Nicholas Courtney, taken in 1992.
Lethbridge Stewart first appeared in Dr Who in The Web of Fear, when he was just a Colonel. In his next appearence, The Invasion, he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier and was in charge of UNIT. The Brigadier was often hide-bound by military rules and didn't see eye-to-eye with the Doctor on many occasions. He met the 2nd Doctor firstly, and later went to work extensively with the 3rd Doctor during his exile on Earth. It was during this time that the Doctor became UNIT's scientific advisor, and the Brigadier had many of his arguments with. The Brigadier worked with the 4th Doctor, but this arrangment didn't work out and the 4th Doctor left UNIT. The Brigadier met the 5th Doctor when he was a school-teacher, and again during The Five Doctors, where he met the 1st Doctor (as well as meeting him in The Three Doctors). The Brigadier was called out of retirement during Battlefield, and met the 7th Doctor. However, it was only in Dimensions in Time that the Brigadier finally met the 6th Doctor. The Brigadier has also met the 8th Doctor in the Big Finish audio adventure Minuet in Hell, where he is mediating on US devolution.
I liked the Brigadier- he represented the establishment, but could at least unbend enough to be a useful character. He may have been over-used in the 1970s, but was always a welcome appearence towards the end.
The Brigadier appeared in: The Web of Fear, The Invasion, Spearhead from Space, The Silurians, Ambassadors of Death, Inferno, Terror of the Autons, The Mind of Evil, The Claws of Axos, Colony in Space, The Daemons, Day of the Daleks, The Time Monster, The Three Doctors, The Green Death, The Time Warrior, Invasion of the Dinosaurs, Planet of Spiders, Robot, Terror of the Zygons, Mawdryn Undead, The Five Doctors, Battlefield, Dimensions in Time.
Nicholas Courtney has appeared in many TV shows, including The Avengers, Only Fools and Horses and All Creatures Great and Small. However, it is Doctor Who that he is most associated with, and also starred as Bret Vyon in The Dalek Masterplan. He has starred in numerous plays too, Madamme Butterfly being just on example.
Nicholas Courtney has also starred in the following Big Finish audio adventures: The Spectre of Lanyon Moor, .