George Carrington

General George Carrington was a British military officer and head of the Space Security Service. (PROSE: The Ambassadors of Death)

Biography
General Carrington was an astronaut on Mars Probe 6, partnered with Jim Daniels. Upon landing on Mars, they met aliens who accidentally killed Daniels with their touch, terrifying Carrington. Convinced that the aliens intended on invading, he returned to Earth and planned to start a war.

Upon the creation of the Space Security Service, General Carrington was made its head. He gained the support of Sir James Quinlan by promising him the opportunity to arrange first contact and enlisted the help of Reegan and Dr. Bruno Taltalian, using loyal members of his regiment to send a message to the aliens and Reegan's criminal gang to kidnap them from Recovery 7. He then used the aliens to kill people, including Sir James.

General Carrington was angry when the United Nations Security Council decided not to attack the aliens, making his increasing insanity clear to Professor Ralph Cornish. He had Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart and his men arrested due to his paranoia and took over Space Control, planning on exposing the aliens on live television with John Wakefield to cause mass panic. However, UNIT were able to free the aliens and fought Reegan's men.

His plans foiled, General Carrington was arrested by the Brigadier. Before leaving, he told the Third Doctor that he had done his moral duty and asked the Doctor if he understood. The Doctor told him that he did, after which a satisfied Carrington left with Sergeant John Benton. (TV: The Ambassadors of Death)

Appearance
General Carrington was a "sparely-built" man with short hair and a neatly-trimmed moustache. (PROSE: The Ambassadors of Death)

Behind the scenes

 * The Mars Probe missions are ignored by the Doctor Who television story The Waters of Mars, which referred to the human colony founded in 2058 as being made up of the "very first humans on Mars". Further complicating matters, an on-screen obituary in The Waters of Mars mentions that the captain of the Bowie Base One colony, Adelaide Brooke, along with two other unidentified astronauts, had already landed on Mars when Adelaide was 42 in the year 2041.