Ministry of Defence
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) was the government department responsible for the armed forces of the United Kingdom. (TV: The Claws of Axos)
Overview
The Ministry of Defence was headed by a Defence Secretary, (HOMEVID: When to Die) beneath whom were a number of ministers. The minister to whom P.R.o.B.e. was responsible required the agreement of the P.R.o.B.e. liaison to close the organisation down, although they could transfer members. (HOMEVID: The Devil of Winterborne)
The ministry had scientists such as Professor Bennett in their employ. (HOMEVID: When to Die) Dstl was an MoD department that John Torrance and Petronella Osgood worked for. (AUDIO: The Sontaran Project)
History
20th century
In the early 20th century, the Ministry experimented on Paul Reynish and prolonged his life using medication made from a Martian meteorite. The pills were costly to make and, in 2014, Defence Secretary Brian Williams decided to have him executed. (HOMEVID: When to Die)
Major Stevenson worked at the Ministry of Defence in the 1950s. Lizbeth Hayhoe was acquainted with him and attempted to make contact with him to discuss Ashenden. (AUDIO: Ashenden)
During the 1960s, the Intrusion Counter-Measures Group operated under the aegis of the MoD. (AUDIO: Threshold)
In the 1970s, Horatio Chinn was a Conservative Party MP working for the Ministry. (TV: The Claws of Axos)
The Ministry of Defence was one of the agencies which had its funding reduced by the British government. (PROSE: Where the Heart Is)
The K1 robot stole the plans for the disintegrator gun from a Ministry of Defence weapons research centre. (TV: Robot)
UNIT was connected to the Ministry of Defence, having its UK headquarters conjoined with the Ministry's. (TV: The Five Doctors)
UNIT also relied on the Ministry of Defence for additional military support. Despite having significant evidence that an alien threat was present on Wenley Moor, the Brigadier was denied reinforcements from the regular army. Liz Shaw later suggested to the Third Doctor that the Ministry of Defence might have sent orders to Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart to destroy the Silurian base. (TV: Doctor Who and the Silurians)
Lodmoor Research Facility was a division of the Ministry of Defence. (TV: Fragments) Sebastian Vaughan's father worked there before becoming a Cabinet minister. (AUDIO: The Vigil)
The Ministry of Defence was discovered in 1995 to have kept in their security vault a complete report of the initial Yeti encounter during the 1960s, which was pre-UNIT and existed only on hard copy. This file was subsequently stolen by Captain Douglas Cavendish, who was at the time under the Great Intelligence's influence. (PROSE: Downtime)
In the late 20th century, Liz Shaw was invited to set up a department in the ministry with the remit of anything out of the ordinary. She formed the Preternatural Research Bureau (or P.R.o.B.e.).The minister to whom they were accountable was only able to close down the department with the agreement of the P.R.o.B.e. liaison, Patricia Haggard. (HOMEVID: The Devil of Winterborne, When to Die)
21st century
In the 2000s, the office was held by the Saxon Master as "Harold Saxon". As Minister of Defence, he ordered the destruction of the Racnoss Webstar and designed the UNIT aircraft carrier Valiant. (TV: The Sound of Drums)
Behind the scenes
- Producer Barry Letts contacted the Ministry of Defence to obtain the involvement of the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy in The Mind of Evil and The Sea Devils respectively. They accepted on both occasions. Shortly after the broadcast of The Sea Devils, some officials visited the BBC, worried that their top secret submarine had been used in the serial. It was in fact a model made up with propellers that mimicked those currently in testing.
