Doctor Who season 13 needs to find a way to bring back UNIT, fixing the erroneous decision to cut the task force. In 2020’s New Year’s special, Doctor Who put an end to UNIT in order to make a political statement about Brexit. While UNIT’s termination in “Resolution” surely raised the stakes for the Doctor and her friends, cutting the organization was an irresponsible move. UNIT, also known as the Unified Intelligence Taskforce, has been a major player in Doctor Who since the classic series. The organization is an established part of the show’s lore and has introduced numerous beloved characters, such as the Brigadier and his granddaughter, Kate Stewart. Unfortunately, UNIT fell victim to Doctor Who’s tendency to sacrifice story for political statements. There's still hope for UNIT's revival in the future, but for now, the organization's fate is up in the air.
In “Resolution,” as the Dalek drives away using Lin’s body, the Doctor calls UNIT for help. But instead of Kate Stewart, a representative from the UK Security Helpline answers the phone. The Doctor is extremely confused, but the representative explains that UNIT no longer exists due to funding withdrawals by the UK’s major international partners. In other words, Brexit has caused the dissolution of UNIT, an organization that, as the Doctor notes, is vital to the protection of Earth against alien invasion.
There was little reason for Doctor Who to cut UNIT other than to make an anti-Brexit political statement. While UNIT hasn’t been featured in every single season of modern Doctor Who, it’s served as a central part of episodes such as “The Sontaran Stratagem,” “The Power of Three,” and “The Zygon Invasion.” UNIT is far too established in Doctor Who to be used as a disposable pawn to comment on real-world events. Even for the members of the Doctor Who team who were in favor of UNIT’s dissolution, could it really have been worth it? Now, in exchange for a two-minute throwaway scene about British politics, UNIT may never be featured in Doctor Who again.
Even if Doctor Who wanted to put an end to UNIT, the organization’s exit in “Resolution” should have been more of a major detail or episode focus. Instead of a story that pays homage to UNIT’s characters and history, fans were given a forgettable phone conversation between the Doctor and a hotline operator. Cutting UNIT is supposed to have the effect of fans being enraged at Brexit, but instead, it has the effect of fans being enraged at Chris Chibnall and his writing team. If the scene between the Doctor and the telephone operator advanced the plot of the episode, there would have been some justification for UNIT's termination. Focusing for longer on UNIT's cut could have opened up some new storytelling possibilities and laid the groundwork for a future episode in which UNIT returns.
Fortunately, there's still hope for UNIT in Doctor Who. 2021's New Year's special hinted that Torchwood may be making a return, so there's no reason that the same thing couldn't happen with UNIT. In fact, bringing back UNIT from the dead could be an exciting twist that never would have been possible without seeing UNIT terminated. It's always exciting to see new versions of the Doctor interact with old friends, so bringing UNIT back as early as Doctor Who season 13 could treat fans to a team-up between Jodie Whittaker's Doctor and Kate Stewart. This scenario may not be likely since UNIT's termination was such a small, throwaway detail in "Resolution," but there's always hope for the future.