Charles Crichton

Charles Crichton
Species:	Human
Affiliated with:	UNIT, The Forge
Place of origin:	Earth
First appearance:	The Five Doctors
Appearances:	see list
Main actor:	David Savile

Charles Crichton was a career officer in the British Army and UNIT. In his later life, he was deputy director of the Forge.

Biography

In his early days as an officer, he was friends with Bill Dalton and Archie Brimmicombe-Wood. Coincidentally, their sons would also become colonels and take command of UNIT. (PROSE: Project Valhalla)

As Colonel Crichton, he took over operations of UNIT in the United Kingdom following Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart's retirement, (TV: The Five Doctors) having, according to Lethbridge-Stewart, been selected as "the best man for the job" by "the boffins in Geneva". (AUDIO: New Pastures) In 1983, Lethbridge-Stewart felt the man was stiff and formal, and needed to learn to mellow out if he wanted to run UNIT. (PROSE: The Five Doctors)

Crichton was aware that Lethbridge-Stewart had a scientific advisor called the Doctor but was under the impression he was a human scientist, thought a reference to regeneration meant there'd been multiple doctors, and was unaware he could time travel. He was annoyed in an encounter with the Second Doctor, who he didn't recognise. (TV: The Five Doctors) On another occasion in the 1980s, the Sixth Doctor and Crichton worked together on UNIT business in Derbyshire. While the Doctor was in Derbyshire with Crichton, his companion Peri Brown stayed behind in London, where she met Joe Carnaby. (AUDIO: I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day)

The Eighth Doctor remembered Crichton as the "head of UNIT in the eighties", recalling that he had only met him a couple of times. Lethbridge-Stewart sensed disapproval in the Doctor's voice when he spoke of Crichton. (PROSE: The Dying Days) According to some accounts, the commanding officer of UNIT from at least 1984 to 1994 was Lieutenant-Colonel Lewis Price. (AUDIO: The Helliax Rift, Hour of the Cybermen, Warlock's Cross)

By 1990, Crichton was a Brigadier. On 1 January, humanity subconsciously realised that there had been temporal discrepancies in the last two decades. Crichton attended a secret briefing with Amara Essy and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart in Geneva to establish a dating protocol for the 1970s and 1980s. (PROSE: The Enfolded Time)

In 1995, Crichton was called to assist in the defeat of the Great Intelligence. (PROSE: Downtime) Following the "fracas" with the Robot Yeti, only the third time he had led men into battle against extraterrestrial forces, Crichton was promoted to general. Two years later, Lethbridge-Stewart reflected on how Crichton had been promoted, whilst he was still a brigadier. (PROSE: The Dying Days)

By 1997, Crichton had left UNIT and was replaced by Winifred Bambera as its leader. (TV: Battlefield) He transferred to the Forge - which had a competing remit with his old employers - and was Deputy Director. Due to his experiences in UNIT he was one of the few people who'd look Nimrod in the eye without fear, something Nimrod liked about him. Crichton's office was taken up by expensive furniture and alcohol at odds with the rest of the base. (PROSE: Project: Valhalla) During his time at the Forge, he often bragged about meeting the Second Doctor. (PROSE: Twilight's End)

He had a wife and two sons, but by 2002 they had been separated for a while; he kept their photo despite this. Both of his sons had also gone into the military. (PROSE: Project: Valhalla)

By 2002, Crichton was in his early sixties and physically declining, with glasses needed to read. He ordered the Forge to brainwash the vampire Cassandra Schofield to work for them and for Nimrod to train her into a field agent. (PROSE: Project: Valhalla)

Sometime before November 2004, Crichton oversaw the Forge's Project Valhalla: the attempted retrieval of a crashed UFO in Lapland. Following this, he retired. He was assassinated by Nimrod, his successor, after having once threatened Nimrod that "you don't leave the Forge". (PROSE: Project: Valhalla)

Legacy

In the 2020s, the Forge named their base the Crichton Building. (AUDIO: Project: Destiny)

During her travels with the Seventh Doctor, Lysandra Aristedes remembered Crichton as one of her dead colleagues. (AUDIO: Project: Nirvana)

• Position: Head of the British division of UNIT
• Preceded by: Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart
• Succeeded by: Winifred Bambera