Earlier this year we reported on the return of UNIT for next year’s 60th anniversary episodes which were then being filmed, with soldiers in Robocop-style uniforms adorned with a new UNIT logo pictured alongside returning leads David Tennant and Catherine Tate at a number of location shoots.
A further clue has now emerged, thanks to the very alert tweeter, Random Doctor Who Tweets, who has been browsing Google Earth and stumbled upon an intriguing helipad construction on the Wolf Studios back lot.
It’s unclear whether this is left over from the shooting of the specials or is a newly built set for Series 14, but the scale of it is certainly impressive. There have been suggestions that it could form part of an airborne carrier like the Valiant from The Sound of Drums.
And there’s no word yet on whether notable UNIT staff like Kate Stewart (Jemma Redgrave) and Osgood (Ingrid Oliver) will be back.
After playing a part in the Thirteenth Doctor finale, The Power of the Doctor, it seems that UNIT is set for a further substantial return to Doctor Who in 2023 and possibly beyond. Showrunner, Russell T Davies, certainly seems a fan of UNIT, having brought them back initially in Aliens of London (before killing many personnel off) then again in subsequent series and in spin-off, The Sarah Jane Adventures.
Doctor Who is expected to return to our screens with David Tennant as the Fourteenth Doctor and Catherine Tate as Donna Noble in November 2023.
