"Better a fallen rocket than never a burst of light."
~ Tom Stoppard, The Invention of Love

Sunday, May 5, 2019

Top Five Big Damn Hero Moments: Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart (Doctor Who)


The Brigadier!  He doesn’t always get moments to shine, but with such a significant tenure on the show – having major onscreen adventures with five different Doctors – it’s inevitable that we can find some important contributions from our favorite mustachioed head of UNIT.  Here are my faves (spoilers.)


Believing in the TARDIS (Series 5, Episode 26 – “The Web of Fear:  Episode 4”)

It’s easy to forget when, during the UNIT years, the Brigadier is as likely as not to scoff “what a load of nonsense” at various alien stuff, but in his very first adventure, he has an absolutely-pragmatic belief in the outrageous.  While Capt. Knight laughs at the Doctor’s talk of his “time/space craft,” the Brigadier (well, still the Colonel at this point) immediately latches onto the possibility of using it to escape the Yeti, even when the Doctor admits that it looks like a police box (not super convincing.)  Honestly, this shows so much steadiness and strength of character, to plan a mission to recover this alleged time-traveling spaceship that he’s never seen, even though it sounds ridiculous.  As he tells the disbelieving Capt. Knight, “I do not intend leaving any escape route unexplored, however screwy you may think it.”


Saving the Doctor from the Astronaut (Series 7, Episode 16 – “The Ambassadors of Death:  Episode 5”)

When the Doctor comes upon a man who’s been killed by one of the astronauts, he doesn’t realize that the astronaut is still on the premises.  It creeps up behind him, but the Brigadier arrives just in the nick of time, shooting at the creature.  While he doesn’t kill it, the shot does distract it from the Doctor, and the Brigadier heeds the Doctor’s warning to avoid the astronaut’s deadly touch as it escapes.

Escaping the Space Center (Series 7, Episode 18 – “The Ambassadors of Death:  Episode 7”)


Nothing like a classic Who action scene with super-telegraphed movements and one-shot characters overacting being hit by our heroes – the UNIT era is full of this kind of scene, and they always make me smile.  Still, hokey filming or not, the Brigadier is a badass here.  After being captured by Carrington and led out by his goons, the Brigadier pulls a feint, elbows both goons in the stomach, and hightails it out of there, dodging gunfire as he steals a car.  All in day’s work at UNIT!


Gaining Entry to the Prison (Series 8, Episode 9 – “The Mind of Evil:  Episode 5”)

The Doctor and Jo are caught in the middle of a prison riot, and UNIT needs a way to get in and help them.  The Brigadier poses as a driver showing up with a van full of “provisions” (in truth, armed UNIT soldiers) and talks his way past the prisoners stationed at the gate.  Once the Brigadier gets them inside, the troops pour out of the van and start taking back control.  Because he’s often framed in contrast to the Doctor, it’s not very often that we get to see the Brigadier being “clever,” but this is a good, sly plan and pays off nicely.


Killing the Destroyer (Series 26, Episode 4 – “Battlefield:  Episode 4”)

There’s only one thing that can stop the near-invincible Destroyer:  silver bullets.  When the Brigadier realizes the Doctor plans to confront the monster, old Lethbridge-Stewart pulls a quintessential hero move, knocking the Doctor out and taking the gun to do the deed himself, saving the Doctor from going on the almost-certainly-suicide mission.  For bonus points, when the Destroyer snarls, “Pitiful.  Can this world do no better than you as their champion?”, the Brigadier tosses off the lovely reply, “Probably.  I just do the best I can.”  Now, is that a hero’s heart or what?

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