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ALISTAIR LETHBRIDGE-STEWART.  One of UNIT’s "founding members". He conceived the idea after he fought the Yeti and the Great Intelligence in London alongside the Second Doctor. He was then a Colonel in the British army (QQ).

After UNIT’s formation, he was promoted to Brigadier and became one of the heads of its British branch, reporting directly to a United Nations’ Secretary in Geneva. He and the Second Doctor then thwarted a Cybermen invasion of England (VV).

Soon afterwards, The Brigadier was among the first people to meet the Third Doctor, whom he made UNIT’s Scientific Advisor (AAA). He was always to remain slightly disturbed by the Doctor’s regenerative abilities.

Together, with the help of Liz Shaw, Jo Grant, Sarah Jane Smith, Sgt. Benton and Mike Yates, they fought a number of threats as diverse as

the Master (EEE), (FFF), (GGG), (HHH), (JJJ), (OOO), the Nestene and their deadly Autons (AAA), (EEE), the Silurians (BBB), General Stahlman’s Inferno Project (DDD) (when the Doctor met the Brigadier’s counterpart from a parallel fascistic Earth, Brigade-Leader Lethbridge-Stewart), the Mind of Evil (FFF), Axos (GGG), the Daemons (JJJ), the Daleks (KKK), Kronos (OOO), Omega (RRR) (when he met the First and Second Doctors), BOSS (TTT), the Sontarans (UUU), an invasion of dinosaurs masterminded by Sir Charles Grover (WWW) (when Mike Yates betrayed UNIT), and finally the Giant Spiders of Metebelis 3 (ZZZ).

It was then that the Brigadier watched the Doctor regenerate into his Fourth Incarnation, with whom he fought (with the new addition of Harry Sullivan) Prof. Kettlewell’s Giant Robot and the Scientific Reform Society (4A) and the Zygons (4F). The Brigadier's job became increasingly more political, and he was in Geneva during the Kraal Invasion (4J)  and the Krynoid attack (4L). Perhaps because of this, in 1977, he chose to retire.

He then went on to teach math at Brendon School. In 1977, during his meeting with the Fifth Doctor, the, Brigadier encountered his own self from 1983, provoking an energy discharge which released Mawdryn and his fellow aliens from their unending life. The discharge caused the Brigadier to suffer from amnesia from 1977 until 1983, when he recovered his memory (6F). Soon afterwards, he left his teaching post to and marry Doris, one of his former UNIT colleagues.

The day of the next annual UNIT reunion, he again met the Second Doctor, and became one of Borusa’s pawns in the Game of Rassilon. Together with the Doctor’s other incarnations and various Companions, he helped thwart the megalomaniacal Time Lord’s plans for immortality (6K).

He eventually came out of retirement to fight alongside the Seventh Doctor, Ace, and Brigadier Bambera, against Morgaine’s forces at Carbury. During this battle, he nearly sacrificed himself to kill the Destroyer and save Earth (7N).

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Nicholas was born in Egypt on 16 December 1931, in Egypt. He grew up and was educated in France, Kenya and Egypt where he spent most of the war, his father being in the Diplomatic Service, subsequent to a military career. As he reached 18, he was drafted into national service for 18 months, as a private, having no ambition to be a serious soldier.

He trained for the stage at the Webber Douglas Academy and his wide repertory experience includes Colchester, Birmingham, Northampton, Worthing and Liverpool. He appeared in the West End productions of "The Rehearsal", "Doctors Dilemma", and "Dame of Sark", in which he also played at the Ashcroft Theatre, Croydon, with Dame Anna Neagle.

Other theatre credits range from a summer season at Bournemouth in "There Goes the Bride" to "Where the Rainbow Ends" at Brighton, also as Major Metcalfe in "The Mousetrap" in the West End. He also toured in "Busybody" for Derek Nimmo's company as well as playing Toulon in "Madame Butterfly"

and as The President in "The Nineteenth Hole National Tour". His film appearances include "Take a Girl Like You", "Endless Night", "Bullseye" and "Soft Beds, and Hard Battles".

Nicholas Courtney has one of the longest associations with Doctor Who, having first appeared in the Season 3 story "The Dalek's Masterplan" (as Space Security agent Bret Vyon), and finally appearing as the Brigadier in "Battlefield" some 24 years later. His first appearance as then Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart was in the 1969 Patrick Troughton story "The Web of Fear", which means he played the same character, albeit intermittently, for over 23 years.

Other television credits include "Softly, Softly", "The Main Chance", "Man in Room 17", "Victoria Regina", "Sword of Honour", "The Information", "The Avengers", "All Creatures Great and Small", "Shelley", "Barriers", and "Court Martial "for TVS. He also played De Oliveries in "To Catch a King" with Robert Wagner, "Minder" for Euston Films, "Jenny's War" for HTV, and "Juliet Bravo", "Yes, Prime Minister", "Born Kicking", and the Christmas Special of "Only Fools and Horses" for the BBC.

Nicholas worked with BBC Radio Drama Company, and on "Doctor Who" for radio as well as episodes of "French Fields" for Thames playing The Marquis.

Nicholas had his autobiography published, "Five Rounds Rapid" in late 1998.

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