Mike Yates

This article is about the fictional character. For people with similar names, seeMichael Yates.

Captain Mike Yatesis afictionalcharacterin the Britishscience fiction televisionseriesDoctor Who,played byRichard Franklin.He was adjutant of the British contingent ofUNIT,an international organization that defendsEarthfromalienthreats.

Captain Yates
Doctor Whocharacter
Captain Mike Yates
First appearance	Terror of the Autons(1971)
Last appearance	"The Five Doctors"(1983)
Portrayed by	Richard Franklin
Non-canonical appearances	Dimensions in Time(1993)
Duration	1971–1974, 1983, 1993
In-universe information
Species	Human
Affiliation	UNIT
Home	Earth
Home era	20th century

Character history

Yates first appears in theThird DoctorserialTerror of the Autons,the latest in a line of Captains assistingBrigadier Lethbridge-Stewart,although the Doctor implies that he was around for previous stories. He proves more durable than his predecessors, appearing semi-regularly on the programme from 1971 to 1974 alongside the Brigadier andSergeant Benton.Together withthe Doctorand hiscompanions,Yates fights off alien invasions, the machinations of the renegadeTime Lordknown asthe Master,rogue computers and mutated maggots.

Little is known of him outside of his time with UNIT. He is cool under fire, efficient, and both gives and carries out his orders with a minimum of fuss. He appears to have a relatively good rapport with his men, although he does remind Benton on occasion that "rank has its privileges." The Third Doctor's assistant,Jo Grant,is dressed up to go on a night on the town with Mikeat the start ofThe Curse of Peladon,only to be taken on a trip in theTARDISby the Doctor.

Yates's fall from grace starts when he is brainwashed by theartificial intelligenceBOSS in the 1973 serialThe Green Death.The brush with ecological disaster apparently made Yates very concerned about the future of the planet, and he is easily recruited by Sir Charles Grover into a conspiracy to reverse time and returnEarthto a "golden age" (Invasion of the Dinosaurs). The conspiracy is thwarted by the Doctor, and in return for his past service to UNIT, the Brigadier allows Yates to take medical leave and then quietly resign (actor Richard Franklin believes the initial plan for this story was to kill off Yates).

Trying to recover, Yates attends ameditationcentre where he uncovers strange goings-on, which he reports toSarah Jane Smith.Sarah communicates this back to the Doctor, leading into the rest of the events of the Third Doctor's last serial,Planet of the Spiders.

Richard Franklin returned as an illusory image of Yates in the 20th Anniversary special "The Five Doctors"and reprised the role of Yates in the 1993 charity specialDimensions in Time.A photo of Yates meeting Special Space Security agentSara Kingdomis seen amongst a collection of companion photographs kept by UNIT's Black Archive in the 50th anniversary story,The Day of the Doctor.

In their 1995 bookDoctor Who Companionswriters andDoctor WhohistoriansDavid J. Howeand Mark Stammers noted that the character of Yates was created as a possible love interest for Jo Grant, but this was not pursued very far. They also note that early UNIT stories had featured a succession of Captains acting as the Brigadier's second in command and it made sense to standardise this position with one regular character.

As one of the more prominentrecurringsupporting charactersin the television series, Yates is often listed as acompanionof the Doctorand indeed is listed as such on the official BBCDoctor Whowebsite.However, he is not always listed as such -John Nathan-Turner's bookDoctor Who: The Companions,for instance, excludes Yates.

Other appearances

Mike Yates has appeared in thespin-offnovels taking place during his time with UNIT. In theVirgin Missing AdventuresnovelsThe Eye of the GiantbyChristopher BulisandThe Scales of InjusticebyGary Russell,Yates begins as a sergeant in UNIT together with Benton and is promoted to Captain at the end ofScales,which takes place between the television storiesInfernoandTerror of the Autons.The novel implies that he is promoted directly from Sergeant to Captain, which would be unusual if not impossible in most real-world militaries.

In thePast Doctor AdventuresnovelThe Devil Goblins from NeptunebyKeith ToppingandMartin Dayit is established that his full name is Michael Alexander Raymond Yates.

In the Past Doctor Adventures novelVerdigrisbyPaul Magrs,Yates is renderedamnesiacand subsequently turned two-dimensional. The Third Doctor later arranges for Yates to be restored to normal.

In Past Doctor Adventures novelDeep Blue,it is revealed that Mike had three brothers, and his mum thinks that Mike is the most sensitive.

Stories written as in-universe articles inDoctor Who Magazine Winter Special1991, (subtitled "UNIT Exposed" ) describe significant post-UNIT activity for Yates. He founds an organisation called the Cosmic Earth Society; writes a book calledHelp From the Stars,which details the revelations of past extraterrestrial involvement in human evolution discovered by UNIT at Devil's End, and reveals other UNIT-operations information to a reporter from theMetropolitan.He claims that the actual cause of central London's evacuation was dinosaurs being brought forward in time (part of a plan that he admits to have been involved in and which was, he claimed, the real reason for his discharge from UNIT). This dovetails withDay of the Dinosaurs,an entry in a series of science fiction novels written by former UNIT associateSarah Jane Smith,which feature an organization called WIN (World Investigative Network) commanded by General Lutwidge-Douglas. This leads anotherMetropolitanreporter to doubt that Yates is a crackpot as generally believed.

Richard Franklin also wrote an unpublished novel featuring Mike Yates,The Killing Stone,set after the events ofSpiders.It was released as an audio book, read by Franklin, byBBVin 2002.

In 2009, Franklin reprised the role of Mike Yates for a series of five audio dramas produced by BBC Audio under the umbrella titleHornets' Nest.The series sees Yates partner with theFourth Doctor,played byTom Baker.He reunites with the Fourth Doctor in the subsequent sequel series,Demon QuestandSerpent Crest.

List of appearances

Television

Season 8

• Terror of the Autons
• The Mind of Evil
• The Claws of Axos
• The Dæmons

Season 9

• Day of the Daleks(Episodes 1 – 2 & 4)
• The Time Monster(Episodes 1 – 4)

Season 10

• The Green Death(Episodes 4 – 6)

Season 11

• Invasion of the Dinosaurs
• Planet of the Spiders

20th anniversary special

• "The Five Doctors"(cameo)

30th anniversary special

• Dimensions in Time

Audio drama

• The Blue Tooth(adventure related by the characterLiz Shaw) by Nigel Fairs
• The Magician's Oathby Scott Handcock
• Hornets' Nest
• Demon Quest
• Serpent Crest
• The Rings of Ikiria
• Destiny of the Doctor:Vengeance of the Stones

Novels

Virgin Missing Adventures

• Dancing the CodebyPaul Leonard
• The Eye of the GiantbyChristopher Bulis
• The Scales of InjusticebyGary Russell
• Speed of Flightby Paul Leonard

Virgin New Adventures

• Happy EndingsbyPaul Cornell

Virgin sidestep novel

• Who Killed KennedybyDavid Bishop(letter to a UNIT casualty's next-of-kin is signed by Yates)

Past Doctor Adventures

• The Devil Goblins from NeptunebyMartin DayandKeith Topping
• The Face of the EnemybyDavid A. McIntee
• Deep BluebyMark Morris
• VerdigrisbyPaul Magrs
• Ragsby Mick Lewis
• Deadly ReunionbyTerrance DicksandBarry Letts

Unlicensed novel, released on CD

• The Killing Stoneby Richard Franklin

Short stories

• "Brief Encounter--Listening Watch" byDan Abnett(Doctor Who MagazineWinter Special 1991)
• "Prisoners of the Sun" by Tim Robins (Decalog;parallel universeversion of Yates)
• "Where the Heart Is" byAndy Lane(Decalog 2: Lost Property)
• "Housewarming" by David A. McIntee (Decalog 2: Lost Property)
• "The Switching" bySimon Guerrier(Short Trips: Zodiac)
• "UNIT Christmas Parties: Christmas Truce" by Terrance Dicks (Short Trips: A Christmas Treasury)
• "Operation H.A.T.E" by Richard Franklin

See also

• UNIT
• List of Doctor Who supporting characters

External links

• Mike YatesonTardis Wiki,theDoctor WhoWiki
• Captain Mike Yates on the BBC'sDoctor Whowebsite