Top Five Big Damn Hero Moments: Capt. Mike Yates (Doctor Who)

Even though the Three era gave us three main UNIT guys, Capt. Yates is the only one who tends to get framed in a more traditional “soldier/action” manner.  While the Brigadier and Benton both have their badass moments, the Brigadier is often in more of a supervisory position, and Benton, well, bless him, he tries.  Yates, though, is the one who gets the “derring do” role the most often, and so, as per my custom with the more action-oriented companions, I’ve looked through the assorted “Yates shoots at bad guys” scenes to find moments that have a little more individuality (spoilers.)

Tracking the Thunderbolt (Series 8, Episode 8 – “The Mind of Evil:  Episode 4”)

Yates is heading a team moving the deadly Thunderbolt missile to a secure location when their convoy is hijacked by the Master’s goons.  After radioing the Brigadier and taking fire from the baddies, Yates steals a motorcycle and tails them.  While it’s true that he gets captured for his efforts (more on that below,) it’s not until after he finds out where they stash the missile.

Escaping Captivity (Series 8, Episode 9 – “The Mind of Evil:  “Episode 5”)

Yates already gets points for keeping cool under pressure when captured by the baddies, showing the Master a resolute stiff upper lip.  But he also manages to get himself out of his predicament; after sawing through his bindings, he lulls a guard into a false sense of security by pretending to be asleep, then clobbers the guard when he gets too close and steals his gun.  All in a day’s work at UNIT!

Covering for the Doctor (Series 10, Episode 24 – “The Green Death:  Episode 4”)

This is a tiny moment, but I like it all the same.  Yates is working undercover at Global Chemicals, and the Doctor sneaks in for a quick look-around.  When Yates discovers the Doctor – disguised as a cleaning woman – he handily loses the security guard who’s accompanying him, waiting until the elevator doors are already closing on the guard before he (Yates) pops back out, inventing a reason he has to run back to his office.  It’s a nifty little trick, and then Yates gives the Doctor the dirt he needs (after ribbing him for the disguise, of course.)

Returning to Global Chemicals (Series 10, 26 – “The Green Death:  Episode 6”)

When Global Chemicals discovers that Yates is really a UNIT agent, they hypnotize him and send him to kill the Doctor.  Luckily, the Doctor is able to break through the conditioning with a Metebelis crystal, restoring Yates’s mind to him.  What’s noteworthy here is that, after what he’s been through, Yates goes back to Global Chemicals on the Doctor’s instruction, using the crystal to de-condition Mr. James and figure out what the B.O.S.S.’s evil plan is.  We learn later in the series what an effect this whole experience has on Yates, so his ability in that moment to buckle down and return to the belly of the beast is admirable.

Protecting Tommy (Series 11, Episode 26 – “Planet of the Spiders:  Episode 6”)

There’s that Metebilis crystal again, causing trouble this time!  The men at the meditation center are desperate to get it back, and they’ve pooled their psychic energy, heightened by the Metebilis spiders, to blast Tommy with psychic shocks.  He’s buckling under the onslaught when Yates rushes in, taking the blast himself to protect Tommy.  After everything that went down in “Invasion of the Dinosaurs,” it’s good to see Yates working to better himself, and risking his life to save someone else is very in line with the old Yates.