Editing UNIT (section)

{{short description|Fictional military intelligence organization in the Doctor Who franchise}}
{{Other uses|Unit (disambiguation)}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2011}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{Infobox fictional organisation
| universe = [[Whoniverse]]
| italic_title = no
| title = {{noitalic|Unified Intelligence Taskforce}}
| image = [[File:U.N.I.T logo.svg|240px|frameless|class=skin-invert]]
| caption = Logo used since "[[The Star Beast (Doctor Who episode)|The Star Beast]]" (2023)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://screenrant.com/doctor-who-season-14-finale-episodes-to-watch/|title=Doctor Who's RTD Lists 5 Episodes To Watch Before The Season 14 Finale|last=Graham-Lowery|first=Nathan|date=12 June 2024|accessdate=14 June 2024|work=[[ScreenRant]]|archive-date=16 June 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240616070821/https://screenrant.com/doctor-who-season-14-finale-episodes-to-watch/|url-status=live}}</ref>| type = [[Intelligence agency]], [[military organisation]]
| founded  = 
| location = Worldwide
*[[Geneva]], Switzerland
*[[Snowdon]], Wales (Unit Base 5)
*UNIT Tower, London, England
*The site of the former [[Pyramids of Mars|Scarman]] estate, England
*Under the [[Tower of London]], England
*[[Manhattan]], New York City, USA
*Airborne aircraft carrier the ''Valiant''
*UNIT Moonbase
| key_people = {{unbulleted list
| [[Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart]]
| John Benton
| [[The Doctor (Doctor Who)|The Doctor]]
| [[Liz Shaw]]
| [[Jo Grant]]
| Mike Yates
| [[Harry Sullivan (Doctor Who)|Harry Sullivan]]
| [[Martha Jones]]
| [[Kate Lethbridge-Stewart]]
| [[Tegan Jovanka]]
| [[Ace (Doctor Who)|Ace]]
| [[Melanie Bush]]
| [[Donna Noble]]
| [[Ruby Sunday]]
}}
| purpose = Defending Earth from [[Extraterrestrials in fiction|extraterrestrial]] and [[paranormal]] threats
| technologies = Unreliable access to [[Gallifrey]]an technology, advanced translation software, Galvanic Beam, the Vlinx
| powers = Military authority in UN member countries
| subsid =
| footnotes =
}}

'''UNIT''' is a fictional [[military organisation]] from the British [[science fiction television]] series ''[[Doctor Who]]'' and its spin-off series ''[[Torchwood]]'' and ''[[The Sarah Jane Adventures]]''. Operating under the auspices of the United Nations and initially led by [[Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart]], its purpose is to investigate and combat [[paranormal]] and [[Extraterrestrials in fiction|extraterrestrial]] threats to Earth. Several UNIT personnel (such as the Brigadier, Sergeant Benton and Mike Yates) played a major role in the original ''Doctor Who'' series, and it was a regular feature from ''[[The Invasion (Doctor Who)|The Invasion]]'' (1968) until ''[[The Seeds of Doom]]'' (1976).

Originally referred to as the '''United Nations Intelligence Taskforce''', it was revealed in 2005 that the real-life [[UN]] was no longer happy being associated with the fictional organisation and UNIT's full name could now no longer be used (the "UNIT" and "UN" abbreviations could be used as long as it was not explained what the letters stood for).<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Davies |first=Russell T |author-link=Russell T Davies |date=14 September 2005 |title=Bay Watch |magazine=[[Doctor Who Magazine]] |location=Tunbridge Wells |publisher=[[Panini Comics|Panini Publishing Ltd]] |issue=360 |page=66 }}</ref> The organisation was renamed to the '''Unified Intelligence Taskforce'''<ref name="sfx">{{cite magazine |last=Davies |first=Russell T |author-link=Russell T Davies |date=April 2008 |title=Calling UNIT! |magazine=[[SFX (magazine)|SFX]] |page=47}}</ref> in 2008, with the name first being used in the episode "[[The Sontaran Stratagem]]". Despite the series now distancing itself from the real-life UN, dialogue in the episode, and several since, indicates that the in-world fictional version of the United Nations still supports UNIT.<ref name="sontaran stratagem">{{cite episode |title=The Sontaran Stratagem |episode-link=The Sontaran Stratagem |series=Doctor Who |series-link=Doctor Who |first=Helen (writer) |last=Raynor |author-link=Helen Raynor |first2=Douglas (director) |last2=Mackinnon |author-link2=Douglas Mackinnon |network=BBC |station=[[BBC One]] |date=26 April 2008 |series-no=4 |number=4 }}</ref>