Object
UNIT Standing Orders
A procedural manual held by UNIT brass outlining crisis response protocols, medical triage queues, and interception protocols. The Brigadier references it implicitly during the TOM-TIT debate, signaling its commanding role in directing field operations. Its pages are dog-eared and tabbed, reflecting decades of revisions and ad-hoc insertions—new clauses added post-Yeti incidents on the London Underground and the Auderly Woods incident. When the Doctor insists on staying to investigate his nightmare, the Brigadier’s dismissal of the dream as unprofessional underscores the document’s reliance on empirical procedure over intuition.
3 appearances
Purpose
To codify standardized operational procedures for UNIT field units, ensuring rapid, coordinated responses to perceived threats including temporal anomalies, alien incursions, and sabotage operations.
Significance
The document embodies UNIT’s bureaucratic culture and institutional resistance to intuitive or "unofficial" action. Its invocation during TOM-TIT planning highlights the conflict between protocol and emerging threats, ultimately delaying decisive action against the Master’s temporal weapon.
Appearances in the Narrative
When this object appears and how it's used