Rachel Jensen

Rachel Jensen
Species:	Human
Affiliated with:	Counter-Measures
Place of origin:	Earth
First appearance:	Remembrance of the Daleks
Appearances:	see list
Main actor:	Pamela Salem

Professor Rachel Jensen was the scientific advisor for Group Captain Ian Gilmore of the Intrusion Countermeasures Group during the Shoreditch Incident in the relevant area of London in November 1963. Allison Williams served as her assistant. She replaced Gilmore as the head of Counter-Measures in 1964.

Biography

Before Counter-Measures

During World War II, as a member of the Cambridge Group, she worked with computer pioneer Alan Turing's team of codebreakers. In the 1950s, she worked in the British Rocket Group (BRG) with "Bernard". (PROSE: Who Killed Kennedy)

In 1962, Rachel began researching artificial intelligence at the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge. (AUDIO: Threshold)

One of her colleagues at Cambridge was Professor Jeffrey Broderick, whom Allison believed still had feelings for Rachel as late as 1964. Rachel claimed that the idea of a relationship with him made her "skin crawl". (AUDIO: Artificial Intelligence)

Rachel's students at Cambridge included Anne Travers and Ruth Ingram. (PROSE: The Scales of Injustice)

Her grandfather suffered from dementia. (AUDIO: The Forgotten Village)

Temporary work with Counter-Measures

Rachel was none too happy about being required to join Counter-Measures, not appreciating Gilmore requisitioning her against her will via the Peacetime Emergency Powers Act. She also took issue with his military attitude. When the Seventh Doctor appeared unexpectedly and took charge during the Shoreditch Incident in November 1963, his superior knowledge left Jensen and Allison as little more than observers and commentators. The two were also left bored and frustrated because the Doctor didn't tell them anything about the scientifically advanced technology like the Daleks’ transmat, or the Imperial Dalek Shuttlecraft. Rachel did, however, examine the ruined body of an Imperial Dalek. She made a half-joking threat about retiring to raise begonias after the Shoreditch Incident (TV: Remembrance of the Daleks) and briefly did so, (PROSE: Who Killed Kennedy) but within a matter of months she resumed her research into artificial intelligence at Cambridge. She kept in touch with Allison but otherwise was a workaholic. (AUDIO: Threshold)

In November 1963, she met Sir Toby Kinsella for the first time. She was sent by him to Gideon Vale to investigate him and his work. Here she encountered Ace again. Ace managed to get herself roistered on to Rachel, who Ace hoped could hack the algorithm on a secret door. They managed to get into a vault which contained a lot of nuclear warheads. (AUDIO: 1963: The Assassination Games)

Joining Counter-Measures

Thanks to Allison, Rachel was hired by Counter-Measures once again as a consultant and played a key role in stopping the invasion of an alien, energy-based intelligence that Shumann had brought to Earth. After seeing how Counter-Measures barely understood such threats and was not properly funded or equipped, Rachel accepted Sir Toby's offer to join the organisation permanently — on the condition that she was supplied with the facilities to continue her research on site and that she would replace Gilmore as its leader. However, she assured him that she would defer to his judgement in all matters of security. (AUDIO: Threshold) While Gilmore was initially bitter that Rachel had replaced him, he eventually came to respect her not only as a scientist but as his superior officer as well. (AUDIO: Artificial Intelligence)

Her Ministry of Defence contract stated that all of her past, present and future research was the intellectual property of the British government. This allowed Professor Broderick to make use of her theories in creating the artificially intelligent Sentient Engine Generator 2 computer (Sen-Gen). Much to Rachel's annoyance, Broderick also programmed Sen-Gen with her voice. After Sen-Gen had tapped into her mind and amplified her subconscious fears, she left a dictation machine into Sir Toby's office in Whitehall which featured a recording of herself tearing up her MoD contract and telling him that she thought that he was scheming and manipulative. She sent a copy of the tape to The Times, only for the Royal Mail train to be intercepted by the MoD and the package recovered. Sir Toby told Rachel that, had the package been delivered, contingency plans were in place and that the MoD would have claimed that the recording had been faked. (AUDIO: Artificial Intelligence)

Rachel decided to investigate what had caused a chemical spill which Alison had found. When she found out all the shoal died of cancer simultaneously, she decided to go visit the Pelage project, but she blew her and Toby's cover by asking too many questions and taking notes in longhand. When the workers went on a rampage, she worked out a way to calm them down by using sounds. (AUDIO: The Pelage Project)

Soon after the 1964 general election, Rachel had corrected Shumann's notes and was able to build a working teleporter. Her notes were used by General Peters to stage an alien invasion as part of a coup —Rachel swiftly realised that a coup was being orchestrated and, with Gilmore, was able to prevent it. She also ensured that the aliens brought from the teleporter would hone in on Peters, killing him. (AUDIO: State of Emergency)

She was concerned about Allison after she killed her fiancé. When Gilmore went missing, she contacted his aunt to know if he had been in contact. She went with Alison to investigate former MI5 scientist Kent. She became irate when James Aster told her that Toby had ordered him moved but upon confronting Kinsella she found out that this was a ruse. She found it disgusting that Emma Waverly could metamorphose into James Aster. She was concerned for Toby after he watched the apparent suicide of Catherine Waverly. (AUDIO: Manhunt)

In 1965, Rachel and Gilmore had dinner together but Rachel claimed that it was "perfectly professional". She accompanied Toby on a trip down the Central line to see the effects of radiation sickness on the cleaners by examining Bridget. She thought that Toby knew more than he let on. She found out that they were searching for the fifth citadel under London and thought its nuclear generator was leaking. She learnt from Elizabeth Bradley that the government didn't want to save them. She wanted to look at the reactor to learn if she could power it down. (AUDIO: The Fifth Citadel)

Rachel was annoyed when she was sent to Amsterdam on what she thought was a fools errand. Once it was found that they were there to find a psychic defector, she became interested. When she talked to Anya Barkov, she became more interested but noticed that something was wrong with Allison. She worked out that the arguments that were happening were due to the psychic's abilities. On their way back, the psychic aura caused the plane to crash, though Rachel and her colleagues survived. She worked out that the Soviets had created a psychic bomb in Barkov. She was later involved in a riot. (AUDIO: Peshka)

She wanted to investigate Emma Waverly's death and how a whole army squad was attacked but was put down by Toby. She again thought that Toby was withholding information and decided to do some off the clock investigation. Upon speaking to Ellard, she worked out that there was a funeral and discovered it was for Mary Cleaver. When Rachel went back to look for her Waverly files, she found they had disappeared. She had to go to Templeton to get information about Toby actions. Once Gilmore got the files back from Ray Cleaver, Rachel read through them and found out about Toby's involvement. She went with Allison to warn Toby and Gilmore of Templeton's plans. She worked out that Toby was Cleavers father. (AUDIO: Sins of the Fathers)

Rachel was chastised for giving Gilmore too much leeway in his decisions. She investigated a strange substance which appeared after an arson attack in Soho, and found it to be organic. During her experiments, the substance grew larger via cell division and one sample became a crystal in an alcohol solution. She went to complain about Templeton when he disappeared at a vital moment and discovered that his superior was William Heaton. She worked out that Kenny White's plan was to control the criminal underworld of London. (AUDIO: Changing of the Guard)

She realised that there was something unusual happening at a construction site. On the 22nd floor, Rachel started to feel claustrophobic and thought that there was something in the building materials that was causing hallucinations. Upon investigating the building she saw an old women near a fire talking about a bomb in the war. Rachel analysed the air samples and didn't find anything so decided to take more samples. She got lost in the building. (AUDIO: The Concrete Cage)

At one point, Rachel experimented on a monkey. She later went for a meal with Gilmore but this was interrupted by Millard with a message from Allison. She thought that Jack Craddock and Williams had early dementia. Rachel was placed in quarantine and tested everyone in the town for an infection that had appeared. She ordered Gilmore to evacuate the village. She was then taken as a hostage by a soviet spy before Gilmore got there and released her. She ordered that the village be permanently evacuated. (AUDIO: The Forgotten Village)

Toby told Rachel about an alien incursion in East Berlin and ordered her and Gilmore to West Berlin and eventually to the East. She was given a fake identity and had to pose as a married couple with Gilmore. She was concerned for her life when she realised that there was no plan. She managed to get into the facility which contained the alien, and saw the appropriate medical equipment so assumed they were in the right place. She realised that the alien was able to change its appearances and could be used to create perfect sleeper agents. She decided that the best thing to do was to kill the creature to save it being used by either side. She went against her natural free will and Toby realised she was being manipulated. (AUDIO: Unto the Breach)

She was brainwashed by Templeton to think that he was Toby and another Captain was Gilmore. She went to help Allison in an investigation but was almost killed from the debris in an explosion. Toby then placed her on enforced leave. Rachel worked out that the explosion was sabotage when she found the wreckage. (AUDIO: New Horizons) She worked out that she was being controlled and that it came from an implant in her neck. After contacting West, she realised that her fears were true. She disabled the implant and helped Toby and Gilmore escape their prison. (AUDIO: The Keep)

Upon learning about the Light Sleepers, she thought that William Heaton could stop them. She thought the Sleepers would make it seem like the human race had destroyed themselves. Rachel traced signals of the Orthello technology and became concerned when they had found the base of operations apparently too easily. She used the signals to provide a feedback loop to disable the guards at Battersea Power Station. (AUDIO: Rise and Shine)

Rachel was distraught when the Counter-Measures base was destroyed and all her research had gone. Toby asked her and Allison to make a detector to find The Light. An old friend, Hilary, recognised Rachel in Oxford, blowing her cover. Toby told her that he was trying to keep her alive. She decided later to whistleblow what Counter-Measures was doing. She managed to capture Perks using a ruse. Shortly afterwards she was apparently caught in an explosion. (AUDIO: Clean Sweep)

By 1971, she was acquainted with Professor Bernard Trainor, and had spoken to him about the Doctor. Trainor noted that she spoke very highly of him. However, the Third Doctor expressed ignorance of her when he first met Trainor. (PROSE: The Devil Goblins from Neptune)

In 1973, she was posing as a physics teacher named Miss Carol Hartigan when Ian Gilmore came back into contact with her. She was saddened to hear of Toby's death and was determined to go to his funeral. She was questioned by Overton about how she knew Toby. Rachel and Gilmore later had to escape an assassination attempt at Routledge's place. (AUDIO: Who Killed Toby Kinsella?)

After being threatened by armed guards, Rachel brought Gilmore and Allison to a Synagogue to plan a kidnapping attempt on Prince Hassan Al-Nadyr. She later asked the prince for information about Toby. Rachel was used as a decoy by Mikhail to trap MI5 agents. Toby returned, having never actually died, and told her that he was resurrecting Counter-Measures. (AUDIO: The Dead Don't Rise)

The new Counter-Measures

She was tasked with Allison to find out how a bank robbery occurred when the perpetrators were invisible. She theorised that the machine Edwige Ponzi had created generated a Somebody-Else's Problem field. She reverse engineered Ponzi's device and went to test it at the grand opening of a hotel which Toby knew Balthazar Schrek planned to rob. (AUDIO: Nothing to See Here)

Toby took Rachel to investigate a sunken submarine. Upon exploring the ship, she was tasked with checking that the radiation hadn't leaked. She was able to crack the safes in the captains quarters. Toby told her about a set of psychic spies on board. She realised that Alex had convinced the medical officer not to sedate him as much. She resisted Alex's attempts to control her because he had her mum's way of manipulating her. (AUDIO: Troubled Waters)

Rachel and Allison attended a funeral of an old friend of theirs they knew from University. After the funeral, Starling slipped a letter into Rachel's pocket, which said that her friend’s death was no accident. She was worried about Starling and thought that there wasn't a coincidence between the bird attacks and Starling's warnings. They were attacked by pigeons in the countermeasures office. (AUDIO: The Phoenix Strain)

Rachel posed as a Lady Hall in an undercover mission in Monte Carlo. She thought that Gus Kalwarowsky was selling a time machine to Suzanne Clare. She was tasked with spying on Kalwarowsky. She was used as a hostage by Clare. (AUDIO: A Gamble With Time)

Rachel gave a lesson to students about famous female scientists. Soon after, Allison told her that Toby had sent her on a mission to investigate an exploded lab. After hearing that Javier Santos might have cloned himself, Rachel decided to check if this was true by looking at the dead body. She theorised that the clone was mentally unstable as the clone mouse killed the original one. She started to think she was wrong to not accept Henry Cording's hand in marriage. She tried to negotiate with Javier to stop him from killing them. (AUDIO: The Splintered Man)

Rachel woke up in a hotel room without any windows and couldn't work out how she got there. Dr Jayne Smythe explained to her that she was there to investigate something strange happening on the cruiseliner. She posed again as Toby's wife. She observed the effects of a pill that was being taken by the passengers that made them more compliant. (AUDIO: The Ship of the Sleepwalkers)

Rachel was concerned about why Suzanne Clare wanted sanctuary. She then spent most of her time trying to get the systems online which occurred when Clare and Allison went missing. She followed them to Piccadilly. Returning back to the Post Office Tower, she found it wired up to explode. She then distracted Allison to stop her killing Toby. (AUDIO: My Enemy's Enemy)

She realised that the transmissions were concentrated in London. Gilmore and Rachel found some strange footprints in Hyde Park. Toby told her to look at the Yeti control sphere and use it to track a Yeti. She examined a deactivated Yeti. She learnt from Edward Travers that the monks from Det-Sen Monastery thought that the Intelligence came from a being that was constantly re-incarnated. With Travers' help she took apart a Yeti. She saw Yeti constructing more Yeti in the middle of London. (AUDIO: Time of the Intelligence)

Later life

Rachel wrote an autobiography titled The Electrical Dreamer, in which she made no mention of the Shoreditch Incident at all. (PROSE: Remembrance of the Daleks, Who Killed Kennedy)

She was eventually appointed chief scientific adviser to the Cabinet. She served in that position until 1981, at which time she was succeeded by her former student Anne Travers. (PROSE: Millennial Rites)

Personality

As she was Jewish, Rachel never accepted the presence of Professor Heinrich Schumann in the BRG, given that he was a former Nazi who had worked on Adolf Hitler's advanced weapons research programmes and was rumoured to have used human test subjects as part of his experiments. (AUDIO: Threshold)

She once said if she were a genius on the same level as Ken Temple, she would never take any time off work. (AUDIO: The Pelage Project)

Rachel never took sugar in either coffee or tea. (AUDIO: Sins of the Fathers)

Behind the scenes

• The first mention of The Electrical Dreamer, and an excerpt from it, and of the ICMG, occurred in Ben Aaronovitch's novelisation of his Remembrance of the Daleks.
• In the Behind the Scenes feature on Counter-Measures Series 1, it was stated that Jensen was made leader in order to make the series more science-focused to distinguish between Counter-Measures, Big Finish's earlier UNIT series and Torchwood.