Maitland (The Sensorites)

Captain Maitland was commander of an Earth ship that discovered the Sense Sphere. The entire crew were held prisoner on their ship by the Sensorites in the 28th century.

When the First Doctor and his companions Susan Foreman Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright arrived on the ship, they thought Maitland and Carol Richmond were dead. Instead, they were being controlled by the Sensorites. Maitland and Carol found it hard to resist the Sensorite influence in their minds. When the Doctor and his companions asked about what had happened to Maitland and Carol, Maitland and Carol both reached a firm consensus that the travellers must part, not explaining what happened to them. When Ian asked whether there was anything they could do, Maitland said that nobody could help them. Susan asked if they could take the two astronauts with them in the TARDIS, but Maitland and Carol said that they couldn't leave John.

Seeing that there was no way to help them, the Doctor and his companions were about to leave, until they discovered that a Sensorite had taken the lock of the TARDIS, and shortly after, with the aid of the Doctor and his companions, Maitland's ship just avoided crashing into the Sense Sphere, with Maitland struggling to control the ship, due to the Sensorites' influence over him.

After the incident, Maitland and Carol refused to tell the Doctor and Ian about John, and after Ian casually asked where Barbara and Susan were, Maitland attempted to open doors leading to where the two girls, and John, were, with very little success. Maitland used a cutting tool on one of the doors, but stopped when he heard the sound of the Sensorite ships approaching, and he, the Doctor, Ian and Carol returned to the controls. Then, a Sensorite appeared at the window of the observation deck, and Maitland and Carol were temporarily rendered paralysed, but the Doctor broke the influence, and Maitland resumed cutting the door. Eventually, he and Ian opened it and found Barbara, Susan and John. Maitland later questioned the Doctor why the Sensorites had made John a depraved and mad person when Ian came to a conclusion as to why. The two Sensorites, who had previously boarded the ship, met with the Doctor, his companions, Maitland and Carol.

After the Doctor negotiated with the Sensorites, Maitland remained aboard the ship with Barbara and a Sensorite Warrior while the others travelled down to the Sense Sphere. He was allowed to return to Earth with Carol and John. (TV: The Sensorites)

Behind the scenes

 * Neither the character of Maitland nor the sets of the spaceship are seen again after the story's third episode, "Hidden Danger".