Alexander Christian

Alexander "Lex" Christian was a human astronaut and Space Defence Division officer who travelled to Mars as a member of the United Kingdom's 1970s Mars missions.

He was at some point under the command of Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, and had also known Jo Grant when she was studying her A levels. She would blame him for failing General Science.

On Britain's last Mars mission, his team accidentally disturbed a Ice Warrior hive and his crew were killed. To cover this up, the government of the time framed him for killing his fellow astronauts on Mars and locked him up.

In 1997, while being transported by helicopter, it crashed. He escaped, coming across Smithwood Manor. After stealing money and supplies, he located Lethbridge-Stewart and explained to him what really had happened on Mars and the likelihood of a Martian invasion of the United Kingdom. He would go on to assist in the resistance movement against the Ice Warrior invasion.(PROSE: The Dying Days)

Behind the scenes

 * Lex Christian was the original name for the astronaut Dan Dare during the comic's development, and his fellow crewmembers are pastiches of Dare's allies Digby and Peabody. Dare's first few adventures were set in the then-futuristic setting of the late 1990s.
 * Lance Parkin including Christian's encounter with Jo Grant as part of the book's deliberate use of New Adventures tropes: "another New Adventures tradition – retconning a sex life for a television companion."