| Kate Lethbridge-Stewart | |
| Series: | Doctor Who |
| Creator: | Marc Platt |
| First: | Downtime (1995) |
| Last: | "Empire of Death" (2024) |
| Lbl1: | Shared universe appearances |
| Data1: |
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| Species: | Human |
| Affiliation: |
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| Home: | Earth |
| Children: | Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart (son) |
| Relatives: |
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| Lbl21: | Home era |
| Data21: | 21st century |
| Lbl3: | Duration |
| Data3: | 1995, 2004, 2012–2015, 2021–2024 |
Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, also known as Kate Stewart, is a fictional character in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. She was initially created by writer Marc Platt and was played by Beverley Cressman in the independent direct-to-video spin-offs Downtime (1995) and Dæmos Rising (2004). Kate was re-introduced by writer Chris Chibnall in the 2012 episode "The Power of Three" played by Jemma Redgrave, who continued to reprise the role in a recurring capacity through 2024. She will star as a lead character of the upcoming spin-off series The War Between the Land and the Sea, which is set to begin filming in September 2024.
Within the series narrative, Kate Lethbridge-Stewart serves as the head of Scientific Research and later the commander-in-chief of the Unified Intelligence Taskforce (UNIT), an organisation that defends Earth from alien threats. She is a principal ally of the Doctor and the daughter of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, who initially led UNIT during the original run of Doctor Who. Kate is one of the longest-running recurring characters in the show's revived run, appearing alongside the Eleventh, Twelfth, Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Doctors.
Kate Lethbridge-Stewart first appears in the direct-to-video spin-off Downtime (1995), in which Kate is depicted as having grown up not knowing of her father Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart's work fighting extraterrestrial threats in UNIT and believing he had a more ordinary military job. Blaming his work for the disintegration of their family, she becomes estranged from him and lives on a narrowboat with her only son, Gordon. However, a shared experience fighting the Great Intelligence alongside the Brigadier and Sarah Jane Smith allows her to reconnect with her father and develop a closer relationship. Later, Kate battles a Dæmon alongside ex-UNIT operative Douglas Cavendish in the direct-to-video spin-off Dæmos Rising (2004).
Kate is introduced on television in the 2012 Doctor Who episode "The Power of Three", where she meets the Doctor for the first time in his eleventh incarnation. She is now the head of Scientific Research for UNIT, opting to lead the military organisation towards a more science-based approach, and has dropped Lethbridge from her surname as to not receive any special favours. She and the Doctor endure "the Year of the Slow Invasion", during which cubes are sent by the Shakri to observe the human race in advance of an impending attack, and manage to stop them.[1] In "The Day of the Doctor" (2012), Kate and UNIT's scientific advisor Petronella Osgood encounter the Eleventh Doctor again alongside his earlier incarnations, the War Doctor and the Tenth Doctor. They confront shape-shifting Zygons in the Black Archive, UNIT's secret vault in the Tower of London, and negotiate a peace treaty allowing 20 million Zygons to settle on Earth disguised as humans.[2]
Kate works alongside the Twelfth Doctor for the first time in "Death in Heaven" (2014). When Cybermen are released onto the streets by Missy, Kate and Osgood arrive with UNIT officers and take Missy and the Doctor into custody on the plane Boat One. However, Missy escapes when Cybermen attack Boat One, during which a part of the fuselage blows off and Kate is sucked out of the plane. She is saved and returned safely to the ground by her father, who was converted into a Cybermen.[3] Later, Kate summons Clara Oswald to UNIT headquarters in "The Magician's Apprentice" (2015) when Missy freezes all planes on Earth, which turns out to be her way to get UNIT's attention to arrange a meeting with Clara.[4] In "The Zygon Invasion" / "The Zygon Inversion" (2015), Kate goes to Truth or Consequences, New Mexico to investigate a splinter group of Zygons who start an uprising after rejecting the peace treaty made with humans. Surviving an attack by a Zygon rebel, she takes its place and reconvenes with the Doctor in the Black Archive. A standoff ensues there between her and the Zygon rebel leader Bonnie with two Osgood Boxes that could unmask or destroy every Zygon on the planet. Aided by the Doctor, the conflict ends with both sides re-affirming the peace treaty.[5] [6]
Kate re-appears in "Survivors of the Flux" (2021), which reveals that an alien by the name of the Grand Serpent infiltrated UNIT over several decades and facilitates its shutdown in 2017. When Kate threatens to expose him, she is forced to go on the run after a failed attempt on her life.[7] During the 2021 Sontaran invasion of Earth in "The Vanquishers" (2021), Kate emerges to lead the human resistance and triumphs with the help of the Thirteenth Doctor.[8] By 2022, Kate is able to re-establish UNIT. She takes the Master into custody in "The Power of the Doctor" (2022), but UNIT's headquarters are overrun by Cybermen and blown up. Kate attends a companion support group meeting and discusses recruiting them to UNIT.[9]
Kate begins using her full surname Lethbridge-Stewart again and has become the commander-in-chief of UNIT by the time she meets the Fourteenth Doctor in "The Giggle" (2023). Together, they face and defeat the Toymaker, a battle which causes the Doctor to bi-generate into the Fifteenth Doctor.[10] During an alternate timeline shown in "73 Yards" (2024), Ruby Sunday goes to Kate for help regarding a mysterious woman following her and causing all others who approach the woman to flee; in her attempt to capture the woman, Kate befalls the same fate and abandons Ruby.[11] In "The Legend of Ruby Sunday" / "Empire of Death" (2024), the Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby come to UNIT for help regarding the mysteries of Ruby's mother and the recurring face of Susan Triad, whom they discover is actually the harbinger of the god of death, Sutekh. Sutekh destorys all life on Earth, killing everyone including Kate, but she is brought back to life after his defeat by the Doctor.[12] [13]
Beginning in 2015, Jemma Redgrave reprised the role of Kate for the ongoing Big Finish Productions audio drama series UNIT, which marked the company's first major release featuring characters from the revived Doctor Who series.[14] The series also starred Ingrid Oliver as Petronella Osgood, who appeared on television as UNIT's scientific advisor. The first four-part boxset of the series, Extinction, saw the team confront an alien invasion by the Nestene Consciousness's army of plastic Autons.[15] Kate crossed over with Big Finish's main line of Doctor Who audio dramas on two special occasions. The first was in The Sacrifice of Jo Grant, the third part of the boxset The Legacy of Time celebrating the company's 20th anniversary, which featured Kate traveling back in time to the classic UNIT era and meeting the Third Doctor and Jo Grant, played by Tim Treolar and Katy Manning respectively.[16] She also appeared in the audio drama Past Lives, the first of a seven-part series produced for the programme' 60th anniversary entitled Once and Future, in which Redgrave starred opposite Tom Baker as Fourth Doctor, Sadie Miller as Sarah Jane Smith, and Rufus Hound as the Monk.[17]
The character of Kate Lethbridge-Stewart was initially created by Marc Platt for the spin-off drama Downtime, which was released direct-to-video by Reeltime Productions in September 1995 during the period that Doctor Who was off-air. In the release, Kate, played by British actress Beverley Cressman, is shown to be the daughter of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart and lives with a son named Gordon. Cressman spoke positively of her filming experience in an interview for the online Doctor Who convention Time Space Visualiser, describing her joy in working with such established actors as well as the "easy, natural relationship" between herself and the Brigadier's actor Nicholas Courtney that allowed them to develop the father-daughter dynamic in the script.[18] Downtime was novelized by Platt in January 1996 as part of the Virgin Missing Adventures series, and was followed by the novel The Scales of Injustice by Gary Russell in July, which revealed that Kate was the daughter of the Brigadier and his first wife Fiona. Cressman reprised her role as Kate for a sequel spin-off drama entitled Dæmos Rising (2004), which was released direct-to-DVD by Reeltime Productions in March 2004.[19]
When writing the episode "The Power of Three" (2012) for Doctor Who seventh series, Chris Chibnall felt it was appropriate for the episode's plot of a year-long slow invasion to bring back UNIT, which had played a central role in the show's classic run. The series' showrunner Steven Moffat enthusiastically agreed when Chibnall asked whether he could bring back the organisation. According to Moffat, Chibnall then decided to add a twist regarding the new leader of UNIT which the BBC was not aware of until the script was delivered.[20] In 2011, Nicholas Courtney passed away, which was reflected in-universe with the Doctor finding out about the Brigadier's death in the episode "The Wedding of River Song" (2011). To pay tribute to Courtney, Chibnall came up with the twist of having UNIT be led by the Brigadier's daughter, Kate Stewart. In an interview with Radio Times, Chibnall explained that "Given that we were bringing back UNIT, I thought it would be a nice way to honour the character of the Brigadier and Nicholas Courtney’s contribution to the show by anchoring UNIT to his family. It was a way to keep that family line going, after we’d heard last year on screen that the Brigadier had died."[21] Her character was developed to be "intelligent, quick-witted" and with "a dry sense of humour." Though she shared qualities with the Brigadier like loyalty towards the Doctor and a desire to serve humanity, unlike him she preferred to use a scientific approach rather than military tactics.[22] Once the script was in production, Chibnall, primarily a fan of the television series, was surprised to discover that the character of Kate already existed in non-television spin-off media, which he had been completely unaware of.[19]
British actress Jemma Redgrave was cast in the role of Kate Stewart, replacing Beverly Cressman. Though initially daunted at joining the show, Redgrave was excited since she had watched the show as a child and more recently with her children, telling Doctor Who Magazine that "It's a privilege to be part of something that's captured the imagination of children."[23] Cressman praised her replacement as a "fantastic actress"; when asked if she felt Redgrave's take was influenced by her own, she professed, "I don't think she's referred to me personally or my performance […] but certainly in terms of the character and, you know, she's got a great take on it actually which I think is brilliant."[18] Similarly, her co-star Matt Smith, who played the Eleventh Doctor, professed "I loved Jemma Redgrave!" in a BBC interview and praised her as "graceful, funny and charming and an absolute delight." When asked whether Kate and UNIT would return, Chris Chibnall responded, "I always love to see UNIT pop up, but whether they return, well that is a question for Steven Moffat..."[20] Redgrave also expressed enthusiasm about the possibility of returning on the show, "I should be so lucky! I’d be so privileged. I keep using that word. I should use a different word. But I do feel that. It’d be great to come back. Yes, I’d love that."[23] Moffat decided to bring back Kate for the programme's 50th anniversary special "The Day of the Doctor" (2013) and additionally introduced Ingrid Oliver as UNIT's scientific advisor Petronella Osgood.[24] Kate and Osgood continued as recurring characters for the remainder of Moffat's time as showrunner, appearing in four episodes of the programme's eighth (2014) and ninth series (2015) alongside Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor.[25] Redgrave was intended to appear in the tenth series episode "The Pyramid at the End of the World" (2017), but her character was replaced by Colonel Walsh in the final script due to her prior filming commitments for the BBC drama Holby City.[26]
After six years off-screen, Redgrave made a surprise return during Chris Chibnall's period as showrunner in the final two episodes of the thirteenth series, Flux (2021).[27] She appeared again in the BBC centenary special "The Power of the Doctor" (2022), which was Jodie Whittaker's final episode as the Thirteenth Doctor.[25] Following Russell T Davies' return as showrunner the following year, Redgrave reprised the role of Kate, now using the full surname Lethbridge-Stewart, in the 60th anniversary special "The Giggle" (2023), which starred David Tennant as the Fourteenth Doctor. The special reimagined UNIT in the vein of the organisation S.H.I.E.L.D. in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) with a new supporting cast, including Alexander Devrient as Colonel Christofer Ibrahim, and a new headquarters that fans compared to the MCU's Avengers Tower.[28] Kate and the new UNIT made recurring appearances in three episodes of the programme's fourteenth series (2024) led by Ncuti Gatwa as the Fifteenth Doctor.[29]
Deadline first reported in March 2023 that according to BBC sources, a Doctor Who spin-off was in the works based on UNIT and will star Jemma Redgrave as Kate Stewart.[30] Redgrave denied knowing anything about a UNIT spin-off in September, but confirmed her participation in Gatwa's first season, expressing "it's such a wonderful thing to be part of that family. It was absolutely tremendous and to be part of Russell T Davies' vision is so exciting."[31] In July 2024, Davies confirmed at San Diego Comic-Con that a new Doctor Who spin-off series on BBC One and Disney+ titled The War Between the Land and the Sea was set to begin filming that September, and will feature UNIT fighting against the Sea Devils.[32] Jemma Redgrave and Alexander Devrient are expected to reprise their respective roles as Kate Lethbridge-Stewart and Colonel Ibrahim for the spin-off, alongside Russell Tovey and Gugu Mbatha-Raw as new characters.[33]
Following her debut in "The Power of Three", Patrick Mulkern of Radio Times welcomed Kate Lethbridge-Stewart as "a wonderful addition" to the show and enthused about Jemma Redgrave's "class-act casting," describing her as "elegant, earnest, warm" and requesting that her character come back regularly.[21] Similarly, Digital Spy reviewer Morgan Jeffery felt that Redgrave "immediately endears herself" as Kate and praised the "lovely moment" that was her reveal as the Brigadier's daughter.[34] Neela Debnath, writing for The Independent, thought that the re-introduction of Kate as head of UNIT was "a wonderful way of preserving the Doctor’s relationship with the organisation and Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart." The Daily Telegraph reviewer Gavin Fuller agreed that her leading her father's organisation was a "lovely touch" and praised Redgrave's portrayal, stating that he would like to see the character return in the future as well.[35] She continued to receive positive critical reception on her later appearances, with Mulkern of Radio Times lauding her "measured, classy performance" in "Death in Heaven".[36] Vultures Ross Ruediger described Kate in "The Zygon Invasion" / "The Zygon Inversion" as "sharper and more in tune with the complexities of the changing world than her father [...] ever was" and praised her first instincts of leading and investigating rather than immediately attacking the Zygon rebels.[37] For her review of the same episodes, Kaite Welsh of IndieWire felt that the tension between Kate and the Doctor due to their differing approaches was "handled admirably in this two-parter" and added that "Redgrave is at her best when there’s a glint of the zealot about her."[38]