Winifred Bambera

Winifred Bambera was a member of UNIT in the United Kingdom.

Early life
Winifred's father was called Kofi Bambera. Both he and her grandfather had served in the British Army. (PROSE: Birds of Passage)

As an eight-year-old in Zambia, Winifred Bambera once played with a lost leopard cub in Musi-O-Tunya National Park. Her older brother tried to rescue her from the cub's mother and was badly mauled. Bambera used her father's rifle to protect her and her brother from the mother and was later beaten by her father as punishment. (PROSE: Downtime)

In 1975, her father was the Secretary of State for Defence. When discussing the racist politician Harry Whateley with Ian Gilmore, Bambera's father said he feared what her generation would live through if Whateley won.(PROSE: Birds of Passage) Years later, Gilmore would lecture a class at Sandhurst that Bambera was in, telling them to keep an open mind. (PROSE: Battlefield)

By 1995, Bambera was serving as a captain in UNIT under Brigadier Charles Crichton. That year, she was called to assist in the fight against the Great Intelligence. (PROSE: Downtime) Captain Bambera was later promoted to brigadier and became commanding officer of the UK branch of UNIT; she knew of the retired Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart but not of the Doctor. (TV: Battlefield)

Leading UNIT
Early into her brigadier rank, Bambera was a figure of awe to female UNIT recruits and had a reputation as a hard martinet among seconded officers. The stress of the job had given her a drinking habit. (PROSE: Battlefield)

In 1997, Brigadier Bambera was fifteen days into an operation in the Zambezi valley, Zimbabwe, when she was called back to Geneva to take charge of a discreet nuclear missile disposal. She took command of squads from the Third Light Recce. (PROSE: Battlefield) During this mission in Carbury, she met the Seventh Doctor and Ace at Lake Vortigern and worked with them and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart against Mordred, in the course of which she fought alongside Ancelyn. Following Mordred and Morgaine's defeat, Brigadier Bambera went off with Ace, Doris Lethbridge-Stewart and Shou Yuing in Bessie for a "girls' day out". (TV: Battlefield)

She and Ancelyn married shortly after. (PROSE: Excalibur of Mars)

The Eighth Doctor and Bernice Summerfield warned Brigadier Bambera of an impending invasion by the Ice Warriors in May 1997 and she quickly accepted that this man was the same Doctor that she had met in Carbury. Whilst she dealt witvh the situation, Ancelyn evacuated Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip to Canada. (PROSE: The Dying Days)

In 1999, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart had a meeting with Brigadier Bambera to discuss being brought back into the fold in some way. Bambera refused his request. (PROSE: The Danger Men)

By 2001, Brigadier Bambera had twins with Ancelyn. That year, she investigated influences of the Land of Fiction on Earth and was joined by Benny, from an earlier point in her history, and Roz Forrester. She briefly saw Dr. Who, mistaking him for the Seventh Doctor. (PROSE: Head Games)

In 2001, Brigadier Bambera investigated Margrave University, where she enrolled Ace and Raine Creevy so they could go undercover. She told the Seventh Doctor about the greenhouse and interrogated Scobie. She did not like the Doctor agreeing to the Numlock demands and told the Doctor, Ace and Raine to leave, which she found unusual when they did without question. (AUDIO: Animal)

By 2004, the commanding officer of UNIT was Colonel Ross Brimmicombe-Wood. (AUDIO: The Coup)

Later life
The Eighth Doctor once tried to invite Bambera and Ancelyn to Christmas dinner at the Brigadier's house, but they were holidaying in Avalon. (PROSE: Faithful Friends: Part 3)

Promoted to general, Bambera was in Peru when several Silurian nests became active across Britain and they attempted an invasion of the country. (AUDIO: United) By the 2020s, she was still a general at UNIT. (AUDIO: Signs and Wonders)

Later in her life, Merlin sent Excalibur to Ancelyn in order for him to use it to stop Phobos and Deimos from drifting away from Mars. Ancelyn broke his foot in a football match and told Bambera to go in his place. Bambera met Benny on Mars, and together they were informed by a hologram of Merlin as to how to use Excalibur. (PROSE: Excalibur of Mars)

According to one account, Bambera was listed as 'missing in action' after the Sea Devils attacked a classified military post on the South Wales coast. (PROSE: At Childhood's End)

Undated events
At some point, Bambera was taken to the Black Archive by UNIT to have her record as a companion of the Doctor taken. She was photographed standing next to Ace. Her memories of the visit were subsequently erased and she was sent on her way. (TV: The Day of the Doctor)

Personality
Brigadier Bambera enjoyed making an impression, especially during moments which would be recorded for posterity, and liked seeing so many people under her command. She preferred to be called "sir" rather than "ma'am" and did not like the wings on UNIT's logo, making several complaints about them in the hopes of getting them removed. (PROSE: Head Games)

Behind the scenes

 * In an early draft of The Zygon Invasion, Bambera played a major role, at one point mercilessly killing a Zygon who resembled her son. In the aired episode, her role was replaced with Colonel Walsh.