Object
Draconian Extradition Mug Shots
A bulky metal-and-glass camera mounted on a rusted tripod, its bellows extending like a collapsed lung. The lens, ground to an antique precision, focuses the harsh overhead lamp into a shaft of unflattering white that falls across the faces of the Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith. The operator winds a brass crank to advance the film, the mechanism groaning with each turn, while a red exposure meter ticks downward in erratic increments. Two black-and-white photographic prints (the 'Doctor and Sarah's Loiterer Mugshots') created by this apparatus are affixed to a temporary operations board in UNIT HQ, showing the Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith in head-and-shoulders poses, lit by harsh institutional fluorescents that flatten detail into stark contrast. The surfaces bear faint silver halide grain and subtle creases from hasty mounting, corners lifted where Brig. Alastair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart had tried to peel one loose only seconds before.
6 appearances
Purpose
To produce state-approved photographic documentation for criminal processing and extradition paperwork, converting human subjects into state-controlled images of suspicion.
Significance
These mug shots frame the President’s pivotal decision to override security concerns and prioritize diplomatic alliances. The images become a tactical tool in the wider crisis, exploited by the Master’s deception when he appears as the Sirius 4 Commissioner, signaling how institutional evidence can be manipulated under geopolitical pressure.
Appearances in the Narrative
When this object appears and how it's used