Fabula
Object
Object

UNIT Temporal Crisis Tracking Pins

Small colored pins (including pink, red, blue, and green) used by UNIT to mark confirmed temporal displacement sightings across London on the England Strategic Map. Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart presses them into the map's surface with steady fingers, their bright colors forming a descending arrow pattern toward central London where prehistoric creatures continue to appear. The pins contrast with the map's faded lines and graphite smudges, their artificial hues highlighting zones of temporal crisis. They serve as visual tools for tactical assessment, with color-coding (pink-tipped initially for pterodactyl sightings, later extended to red/blue/green for other threats) used by military and scientific personnel to prioritize responses during the temporal displacement events.
3 appearances

Purpose

To physically highlight confirmed dinosaur materialization zones on the strategic map for rapid tactical assessment and resource deployment.

Significance

These pins represent the brittle boundary between human control and temporal chaos—the Brigadier’s final attempt to impose order on a reality unraveling at the edges. Their precise placement reveals UNIT’s desperation to trust something tangible when everything else—time, causality, military response—has failed.

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

3 moments
S11E6 · Invasion of the Dinosaurs Part 2
Brigadier reveals dinosaur invasion crisis

The UNIT Temporal Crisis Tracking Pins—bright pink, red, blue, green—are pressed into the map by Benton to mark confirmed sightings of Pterodactyls and other dinosaurs, visually conveying the spread and escalation of the crisis in real time.

Before: Pins are new, unused, and contained in a small container on the command table
After: Pins are pressed into the map in a descending arrow pattern toward central London, leaving small holes in the paper surface
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S11E6 · Invasion of the Dinosaurs Part 2
Sarah backs the Doctor's time theory

The temporal crisis tracking pins, including pink-tipped pins for pterodactyl sightings, are scrutinized by the Brigadier and used to substantiate claims about the extinction and reappearance of creatures in central London.

Before: Freshly pressed into the map with bright pink tips in descending arrows toward central London.
After: Still affixed, though their accuracy and meaning are directly challenged by the Doctor's temporal theory and Finch's rejection of such nuance.
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S11E6 · Invasion of the Dinosaurs Part 2
General Finch contradicts Doctor over alien response

Pink-tipped pins—markers for pterodactyl sightings—are pressed deeper into the map as Benton updates sightings, their bright color bleeding into London’s core. They symbolize failed containment as the anomaly zone expands, illustrating the widening gulf between theory and action.

Before: Marking descending arrow of pterodactyl incursions toward central London.
After: Pins now clustered densely where Milton Keynes should be, map fabric torn slightly under repeated insertion.
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