James Stevens
James Stevens (born 22 November 1945 G.M.T., or 23 November New Zealand time) was the author of the book Who Killed Kennedy. The book chronicled Stevens' attempts to learn more of the secretive organisation known as UNIT.
Biography
Born less than three months after the end of World War II, he was the illegitimate son of an American GI stationed in New Zealand and a seventeen-year-old girl from one of Auckland's wealthiest and most influential families. His father refused to acknowledge his responsibilities and accused his mother of being a whore. He went off to war and was killed by friendly fire two weeks later. Stevens was put up for adoption immediately after he was born.
As a child, an interest in rugby was drilled into him.
On his 18th birthday, 22 November 1963, John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. After JFK's death, he became obsessed with finding out about the man. This passionate search for the truth lead him into journalism.
On his 21st birthday, his foster parents told him that he was adopted. Years later, he went to meet his mother, but left again, realising that she had no love for him. Soon after, he left New Zealand for Britain. He arrived on Fleet Street and soon found work at the Daily Chronicle, a local newspaper. He discovered that his immigration was questionable, and that he needed a British wife soon. Just to mess with the royalty, he married Natasha Howarth, the daughter of Lord Howarth. It was a well known wedding, and they even got a Beatle to attend and appear in a photo with them, making it a front page story.
While working at the paper, Stevens discovered and found himself obsessed with UNIT, "Dr. John Smith" and a history of alien intervention in human affairs dating back at least to the ULTIMA Incident in 1943. He met Dodo Chaplet, a mentally broken erstwhile companion of the Doctor in his first incarnation. They developed a romantic relationship until forces determined to silence her and killed her. At her funeral, Stevens briefly met the Doctor himself — though it remains unclear as to whether the Doctor whom he met was the Second or the Seventh Doctor.
Having travelled to Dealey Plaza on 22 November 1963 to witness the Kennedy assassination, Stevens had seen his own older self shoot Kennedy. He remained haunted by the knowledge; to ensure that history kept to its proper course, Stevens knew that he must eventually return to that time and place to kill Kennedy. (PROSE: Who Killed Kennedy)
Before leaving the present to commit the assassination of Kennedy, Stevens mentored Ruby Duvall, a young aspiring journalist, and Sarah Jane Smith, the latter of whom would become a companion of the Third and Fourth Doctors. (PROSE: Who Killed Kennedy) Ruby later fought the Cybermen in Antarctica in 2006 with the Seventh Doctor. (PROSE: Iceberg)
Stevens disappeared in April 1996, having travelled back in time to 1963. (PROSE: Who Killed Kennedy, The Dying Days)
Behind the scenes
- Who Killed Kennedy came out with the fictional James Stevens listed as its co-author, alongside its real author David Bishop. Stevens supposedly appears in the form of an unnamed journalist in Spearhead from Space and one of the observers in The Mind of Evil played by various extras. Although it is unclear who Stevens is in Spearhead from Space — he is the journalist who manages to ask the Brigadier, "Then why are you here?", only to be told "Training exercise" — the Mind of Evil section gives clear descriptions of where Stevens is standing and sitting.
- In Doctor Who and the Silurians, Stevens is the journalist with whom the Brigadier has an angry telephone conversation. Lethbridge-Stewart demands to know "The Daily what? How did you get hold of this number?" After telling Stevens "No, I do not wish to comment. Now will you please get off this line!", the Brigadier slams down the receiver.
- Although pseudonyms have been used on many occasions, and short stories and other minor fiction have been released credited to characters within the series, this is the only occasion to date in which a full-length novel has been credited to a character.
- The character's name is derived from David Bishop's own middle names, James and Stephen. Bishop named his fictional co-author after himself to reference the fact that both authors credited on the cover are one and the same. [1]
- There is some ambiguity regarding Stevens' date of birth in the novel. At different points it is given as being both 22 November 1945 and 23 November 1945. This is explained in the prelude, where Stevens explains that due to the time difference between England and New Zealand, it was the 22nd in England but the 23rd in New Zealand at the time of his birth.
