Friday, December 02, 2005
An ordinary end to an extraordinary record
Unless Big Finish (or someone else) gets the audio rights and persuades Christopher Eccleston to reprise his role, an extraordinary streak has come to an end. Nicholas Courtney, that fine British actor, played Brigadier Alastair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, British Army and the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce, with every Doctor except William Hartnell's - and even in that case, he appeared with Hartnell as Bret Vyon in "The Daleks' Master Plan" (1965-66). He played Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart with the Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton) in "The Web of Fear" (1968) and returned the following season, this time promoted to Brigadier, in "The Invasion" (1968).
Of course, Lethbridge-Stewart was in a host of episodes during the Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee) era. He made only a couple of appearances with the Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker), and later returned with the Fifth Doctor (Peter Davison) in "Mawdryn Undead" (1983), this time having retired from the Army and serving as a mathematics teacher in a boys' school.
Courtney did not appear on television with the Sixth Doctor (Colin Baker), but did come back (this time married to his longtime girlfriend Doris) with the Seventh Doctor (Sylvester McCoy), called out of retirement, in "Battlefield" (1989).
All was not lost, however. Courtney as Lethbridge-Stewart did play against the Sixth Doctor in the Big Finish audio "The Spectre of Lanyon Moor" (2000). And he even snuck in an appearance with the Eighth Doctor (Paul McGann) on the Big Finish audio "Minuet in Hell" (2001).
But Courtney did not appear at all in the first season of the new series with Christopher Eccleston, who has, of course, left the series after only one year. So, unless Eccleston comes back to the role in one way or another, Courtney's remarkable streak of appearing with every Doctor has ended. Which is a shame, to fans of Doctor Who, at least. Every Doctor should face the Daleks, at least once, and every Doctor should meet the Brig. Traditions arise for a reason, and some should be maintained simply because they are a major part of one's experience and enjoyment.
It's a shame that it didn't happen, especially as they even mention UNIT in "Aliens of London" - that would have been a perfect moment to bring the Brig back, although they'd have had to do something to keep him from getting killed with the other experts. And I understand that they did not want to overburden potential new viewers with too many references to the original series.
Still, an opportunity missed, in my opinion. A somewhat sad end to Courtney's great run. I'm as glad as anyone that Doctor Who is back, and I'm not condemning Russell T. Davies for neglecting to introduce the Ninth Doctor to the Brigadier. But it would have been nice. No, it would have been more than nice - it would have been appropriate and a gift, a reward to all the faithful fans who waited so long for the show to return. A real shame.
Of course, Lethbridge-Stewart was in a host of episodes during the Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee) era. He made only a couple of appearances with the Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker), and later returned with the Fifth Doctor (Peter Davison) in "Mawdryn Undead" (1983), this time having retired from the Army and serving as a mathematics teacher in a boys' school.
Courtney did not appear on television with the Sixth Doctor (Colin Baker), but did come back (this time married to his longtime girlfriend Doris) with the Seventh Doctor (Sylvester McCoy), called out of retirement, in "Battlefield" (1989).
All was not lost, however. Courtney as Lethbridge-Stewart did play against the Sixth Doctor in the Big Finish audio "The Spectre of Lanyon Moor" (2000). And he even snuck in an appearance with the Eighth Doctor (Paul McGann) on the Big Finish audio "Minuet in Hell" (2001).
But Courtney did not appear at all in the first season of the new series with Christopher Eccleston, who has, of course, left the series after only one year. So, unless Eccleston comes back to the role in one way or another, Courtney's remarkable streak of appearing with every Doctor has ended. Which is a shame, to fans of Doctor Who, at least. Every Doctor should face the Daleks, at least once, and every Doctor should meet the Brig. Traditions arise for a reason, and some should be maintained simply because they are a major part of one's experience and enjoyment.
It's a shame that it didn't happen, especially as they even mention UNIT in "Aliens of London" - that would have been a perfect moment to bring the Brig back, although they'd have had to do something to keep him from getting killed with the other experts. And I understand that they did not want to overburden potential new viewers with too many references to the original series.
Still, an opportunity missed, in my opinion. A somewhat sad end to Courtney's great run. I'm as glad as anyone that Doctor Who is back, and I'm not condemning Russell T. Davies for neglecting to introduce the Ninth Doctor to the Brigadier. But it would have been nice. No, it would have been more than nice - it would have been appropriate and a gift, a reward to all the faithful fans who waited so long for the show to return. A real shame.
// posted by Tom Beck @ 8:38 AM 
