Charles Stanford

Charles Stanford was a journalist stationed in Saigon during the Vietnam War in 1969. He and the other journalists staying at the Continental Palace Hotel succumbed to conditioning by an alien who had crashed on Earth. The alien, who was sensitive to the flow of history, reacted badly to news stories on the radio. This affected Stanford and the other journalists. They barricaded themselves in the hotel, protecting the alien, and reacting with fear when they heard news broadcasts. Stanford escaped the hotel and ran off but was caught by American military personnel. It was Sarah Jane Smith who discovered that Stanford was afraid of the news broadcasts but became calm when the radio played Christmas programmes. (PROSE: Interesting Times)