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Author: Gary Russell
ISBN: 0 426 20477 8
Published: June 1991
Editor: Rebecca Levene
Placement: Between Inferno (Season 7) and Terror of the Autons (Season 8), and after The Eye of the Giant
Links: This is the first in a triology by Gary Russell. The sequels are Business Unusual and Instruments of Darkness. There are numerous minor references to other stories which you don't need to worry about.
E-Book: An online version of this story is available at the BBC's Doctor Who Site |
| Doctor: |
The Third 
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The third Doctor has white hair, a large nose, and tends to dress as a society dandy. He has a love of technology, historical name-dropping, and vehicles. |
| Companions: |
Professor Elizabeth Shaw: 
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Liz Shaw is a brilliant scientist with degrees in a wide variety of fields. She was recruited into UNIT as its scientific advisor during Spearhead from Space, and ended up serving as the Doctor's assistant for some time after he was also appointed as scientific advisor. She left UNIT to return to Cambridge between Inferno and Terror of the Autons |
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Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart: |
The Brigadier is commander of the British branch of UNIT - the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce. He first met the Doctor whilst in the regular army in The Web of Fear (Season 5). He met the Doctor again in The Invasion (Season 6), and appointed him as scientific advisor to UNIT in Spearhead from Space (Season 7). |
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Sergeant John Benton: |
Sergeant Benton is an officer in UNIT. He first met the Doctor in The Invasion (season 6). He frequently worked with the Doctor and is fiercely loyal to both the Doctor and the Brigadier. |
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Sergeant Mike Yates: |
Yates is a young officer in UNIT. He first met the Doctor in The Eye of the Giant, and had been was promoted to Captain by Terror of the Autons. |
| Recurring Characters: |
Corporal Carol Bell |
Female UNIT officer who appeared onscreen in The Mind of Evil and The Claws of Axos. |
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Corporal Tom Osgood |
UNIT officer with a talent for technical issues. He appeared in The Eye of the Giant and, later, in The Dæmons. |
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UNIT |
The United Nations Intelligence Taskforce was created to combat alien invasions. The Doctor serves as UNIT's Scientific Advisor. In addition to those officers listed above, there are a number of other UNIT officers who are mentioned or appear in this story, as well as characters with a connection to UNIT. However, listing them all isn't really worth it. |
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Fiona and Kate Lethbridge-Stewart |
Fiona and Kate are the Brigadier's wife and daughter. Kate appears in Downtime many years after these events. |
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The Silurians |
The Silurians were a race of sentient reptiles who ruled the Earth during the Ecocene era (the name "Silurians" was a mistake by the man who discovered them). Their civilisation went into hibernation to avoid a major catastrophe, but they never woke up. The Doctor encountered a shelter that had been woken by human activity in The Silurians (Season 7). He attempted to negotiate peace, but distrust on both sides wrecked his attempts. Despite the Doctor's insistence, the Brigadier ordered that the shelter be buried by using explosive charges. |
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The Sea Devils |
The Sea Devils are aquatic relatives of the Silurians. They first appeared in The Sea Devils (Season 9), but that story takes place some time after this one. |
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Icthar, Scibus, Tarpok |
The Silurian Triad are authority figures amongst the "Silurian" community. The fifth Doctor met Icthar over a century after this book in Warriors of the Deep (Season 20). |
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The Myrka |
Myrka are amphibious monsters which the Silurians and Sea Devils have been known to use as weapons. They are vulnerable to light. The Doctor would later meet a Myrka in Warriors of the Deep (Season 21). |
| Recommended Viewing: |
In The Silurians (Season 7) UNIT uncovered a Silurian shelter. The Doctor tried to broker a peace between the humans and the Silurians, but a coup on the Silurian side prevented that dream. The Silurians went back into hibernation and, contrary to the Doctor's wishes, the Brigdier entombed the shelter with high explosives. |
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In The Sea Devils (Season 9), the Doctor encountered a group of aquatic Silurians ('Sea Devils') who refused to deal in peace. Their shelter is almost certainly the one in which Auggi D'jo's aquatic relatives live. |
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In Warriors of the Deep (Season 20), the fifth Doctor helped defeat a plan by Silurians and Sea Devils to start a war between two human power blocks. During this story, he again met Icthar - the last survivor of the Silurian Triad. |
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In Remembrance of the Daleks (Season 25), the seventh Doctor helped Group Captain Ian Gilmore, scientist Rachel Jenson, and the rest of an organisation called the ICMG to defeat a force of time-travelling Daleks. |
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The video version of Downtime features a grown-up version of the Brigadier's daughter Kate. |
| Recommended Reading: |
The Author's Notes, available with the BBC's e-book version of the story provide lots of background information. They also come with a flowchart detailing the story, and an alternative ending for the story. |
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Although they are only minor references, the story carries on the UNIT set-up from The Eye of the Giant. A grown-up version of the Brigadier's daughter Kate appears in Downtime. |
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The Glasshouse and the dark side of C-19 also appear in Who Killed Kennedy. The story of the core of this group within C-19 is picked up in Business Unusual and Instruments of Darkness. |
| Recommended Listening: |
None. |
