Name:
Shirley Anne Bingham
Species:
Human
Job:
Scientific advisor
Afflicted With:
Place of Origin:
First Appearance:
Other Appearances:
The Giggle
Lucky Day
Wish World
The Reality War
Main TV Actor:
Ruth Madeley
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Shirley Anne Bingham was UNIT’s fifty-sixth scientific adviser. She was a wheelchair user. Shirley could sit in her wheelchair with crossed legs, indicating that she was not paraplegic, but had some other type of physical disability. She had a northern accent.
BIOGRAPHY
After she joined UNIT, Shirley read the files about The Doctor and his ability to regenerate; she knew the appearances of the Doctor’s tenth, eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth incarnations.
In late 2023, Shirley was tasked with evaluating the Meep’s “crashed” ship at the Millson Wagner Steelworks, where she found the Fourteenth Doctor snooping around the facility and conducting an investigation of his own; Shirley interrupted The Doctor, and the two shared data on the crash while formally introducing themselves to one another. Shirley recognised The Doctor’s face as belonging to their tenth incarnation. However, The Doctor indicated he knew the appearances of the three Doctors that followed the tenth; this confused Shirley, who believed The Doctor was “forbidden” from knowing about his future selves. The Doctor then clarified and explained that he was actually the Thirteenth Doctor’s successor, who had inexplicably gained a face and body near-identical to that of the Tenth Doctor. (The Star Beast)
Two days later, Shirley was present at UNIT’s London HQ when The Doctor and Donna arrived to assist Kate Stewart with combatting the Giggle crisis. Shirley and all UNIT personnel wore Zeedex armbands which shielded them from the Giggle’s worst effects.
When Kate deactivated her Zeedex to demonstrate the Giggle’s effects on her psyche, she quickly grew conspiratorial and accused Shirley of not needing to use a wheelchair, among other things. After UNIT soldiers forcefully placed the Zeedex back on her arm, Kate apologised for her outburst.
Later, Shirley was in attendance as the Toymaker terrorised UNIT while dancing to Spice Up Your Life. She also witnessed the Fourteenth Doctor bi-generate into the Fifteenth Doctor, and their subsequent triumph over the Toymaker. When the Fifteenth Doctor exploited the Toymaker’s lingering magic to duplicate the TARDIS, the Fourteenth Doctor and Shirley noticed the new TARDIS was wheelchair-accessible. (The Giggle)
STOPPING CONRAD CLARK
She was part of the team mobilised by Colonel Christofer Ibrahim to search for the Shreek that Ruby Sunday had called in, and asked Jordan Lang to be part of her analytical team. When Conrad Clark tried to expose UNIT, she again experienced ableism in the form of Elsa calling her a benefit scrounger. After Conrad infiltrated the tower, her terminal was isolated to allow the Vlinx to find out who was his insider, and appeared to be upset when it was found to be Jordan. She couldn’t allow Conrad to be killed by the Shreek and gave Ruby a taser to incapacitate the creature. (Lucky Day)
On Wish World
When The Rani created Wish World using Conrad Clark, Shirley became one of the dispossessed in the streets of London, due to her disability. She begged for money in front of UNIT HQ tower, and attracted the attention of Ruby Sunday. She showed Ruby the dispossessed encampment which came from many different minority groups, but had a large proportion of disabled adults. She knew that this world wasn’t the correct on and wondered if there was something leaking through from the real world that was keeping her alive as she need medication and treatment due to her living with spina bifida. She went with Ruby and Winnie Petheridge to observe the bone palace with UNIT technology which still existed in this world, and saw the world collapsed into the Underverse. (Wish World)
The world reset and she conversed with Winnie, but she was distracted by the beeping of a UNIT implant restoring her true memories. Activating her UNIT wheelchair’s accessories, she returned the her desk and helped in the tower’s defence, controlling one of the tower’s laser like weapons. (The Reality War)