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View 1: 1979 (The Invasion) - c.1985 (Seeds of Doom)

On this view the UNIT stories take place in the eighties. The main evidence for this view is that The

Abominable Snowman was set in 1935. Professor Travers says in The Web of Fearthat the events of that

story took place 'over forty years ago.' The clear conclusion is that The Web of Fear is set in 1975 or some

time after. The Invasion is set 3-4 years afterThe Web of Fear, making 1979 UNIT Year 1.

It has been suggested that the 'over forty years' is an off the cuff estimate of how much time has passed.

Lance Parkin in AHistory rightly rejects that dismissal of the View 1 date:

"This line of thought usually leads to 44 being added to 1935 to get 1967 or 1968, and liberal use

of the phrase 'rounding up."

This view is further supported by indications that the production team intended that the Season 7 stories beset in the near future. UNIT wear futuristic uniforms in Ambassadors of Death and the level of technology

shown is in advance of the early Seventies. Most notably, the British Space Program has been sending

manned missions to Mars inAmbassadors of Death. I find it much easier to believe that a successful British

space program could people on Mars in the Eighties than in the Seventies. The importance of the space

program must not be understated. It does appear that in the Doctor Who universe the Apollo landing took place

in 1969 and not any earlier (Blink, also Ben and Polly from 1966 did not appear to be aware that the Moon

landing had occurred in their time). It is hard to imagine succesful Mars missions in less than five years of the

Apollo landing.

For this reason, I am convinced that View 1 is correct and the UNIT stories take place in the Eighties. One

interesting implication is that some of the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Doctor's visits to Eighties earth may take

place while other Doctor's are active on earth with UNIT.

But we have to consider other possibilities.

View 2: c.1974 (The Invasion) - 1980 (Seeds of Doom)

In Pyramids of Mars, Sarah Jane Smith states that she is from 1980, presumably meaning the last time she

was on earth in Terror of the Zygons. The UNIT events take place over a period of 6-8 years. That makes UNIT

Year 1 approximately 1974. Inevitably this contradicts the previous date given by Professor Travers.

It has been suggested that Sarah may simply be rounding off, but to my mind this is a little bit odd. If I left

earth to travel with the Doctor today, I would be very concerned that I got back to 2010 and not 2007!

View 3: c.1968 (The Invasion)- c.1975 (Seeds of Doom)

Mawdryn Undeadstates that the Brigadier retired before 1977. That makes the UNIT era contemporary with the

broadcasting of the stories.

There is no two ways about this, Mawdryn Undeadcontradicts both Web of Fearand Pyramids of Mars.

Interestingly, script editor Eric Saward confessed in an interview that the 1977 date in Mawdryn Undeadwas a

mistake.

UNIT Dating in Doctor WhoWhen did the earthbound John Pertwee stories take place in Doctor Who?

A large number of Doctor Who stories involv e an organisation called the United Nations IntelligenceTask Force (UNIT) that was set up to combat ex traterrestrial menaces. The Docto r acted as theirscientific advisor. The bulk of these stories are found in the John Pertwee/ Third Docto r era, thoughInvasion, the first UNIT story involv ed the Second Docto r and the Seventh Docto r assisted UNIT inBattlefield.

A big controversy amongst Doctor Who fans concerns when the UNIT stories are set. We could spendages talking about onscreen fashions, the use of decimal or non-decimal currency, regulation haircutsor the layout of the London Underground, but it is best that we focus on the dates that are givenonscreen. These are contradictory and leave us with a choice of three views ofwhen the UNIT storiestake place.

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The majority of fans seem to favour View 3 and the majority of Doctor Who New Adventures and Past Doctor

Adventures favour the UNIT stories being set at time of broadcast. The Virgin Missing Adventure Millennial

Rites is an exception, however, and puts the UNIT stories in the Eighties (where they belong!).

Lawrence Miles makes much of fashion, pointing out that Sarah does not dress like she comes from 1980 in

any UNIT stories, but she certainly does in the spin-offK9 and Company, set in 1981. I don't think this gets us

anywhere (though the K9 and Companyissue is a problem for View 1 and to an extent View 2). If technology is

different in the Whoniverse, then so can fashion. Or maybe we can just smile at the fashion issue, just as we

smile at Silurians with zips on their skin or Toberman being lifted up on visible strings.

We have to accept that we have to choose between three competing dates. I would suggest that we should

give priority to the Web of Fear date. We should look to how UNIT was originally conceived. It makes perfect

sense for the production team to opt for a near future setting for the show in Season 7 as it would allow for

flexibility about political events and allow for the use of futuristic technology in keeping with the format of

Doctor Who. Admittedly, the production team moved away from a near future setting towards a more

contemporary feel in the later John Pertwee stories, but the UNIT setting was clearly originally conceived

differently.

Mawdryn Undeadand even Pyramids of Mars ought not to be given priority in determining UNIT dating for the

simple reason that UNIT was not a regular feature of the program at the time of these two stories. UNIT had

faded into the background at the time. At the time when UNIT was developing and a fresh idea, it was intended

to be futuristic.

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People always get this wrong. They always take Travers statement that it was over 40years ago at face value and ignore Silverstein who twice states that he has had the yetifor 30 years.Who then are we to believe, a sharp minded museum curator or an absent mindedprofessor who has to ask his daughter to fill in the blanks quite often. If we then takeadditional information from the novelisation that states Travers sold the yeti soon after his return inDecember 1935 it places the events of the web of fear in 1966, and all dates should be worked outrelevant to this and not 1975.

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