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"MY DADDY FIGHTS MONSTERS – DAUGHTER, DEFENDER, AND A LEADER-IN-THE-MAKING"

Dave Rudden’s My Daddy Fights Monsters, from the Origin Stories anthology, zooms in on a childhood Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, long before she became UNIT’s cool-headed leader and global defender of Earth. In place of invasions or cosmic catastrophe, this tale delivers something far more intimate and affecting: the messy, complicated reality of growing up in a broken home, shadowed by secrets and shaped by silence.

It’s an origin story with heart, handled with the care and nuance befitting the future leader of UNIT—and it features a truly memorable alien too.

A SCHOOLGIRL WITH A SOLDIER’S SPIRIT

What immediately stands out is Kate herself—not as the commanding officer we know, but as a perceptive, sharp, and emotionally intelligent schoolgirl. Rudden cleverly sketches out her precocious duality: a young girl adept at standing up to bullies but paralysed by stage fright during presentations. That contradiction already hints at the woman she’ll become—capable, brave, yet marked by the emotional distance required to survive a complex childhood.

The focus of Kate’s inner world is her missing father, the Brigadier. She doesn’t know the truth—only that he’s gone more often than he’s home, and her mother, Fiona, spins stories to cover the absences. There’s a rich emotional vein running through this dynamic, with Kate aware of the falsehoods but too hurt to confront them, and Fiona equally caught in the web of duty, love, and regret. It’s not just about Kate’s beginnings—it’s about a fractured family trying to make sense of the life the Brigadier’s role has forced them into.

AN ASSESSOR IN THE HOUSE

Enter the alien: the Assessor, a member of a spy species that clones people’s appearances, slips into their lives, and gathers data. What makes this invader fascinating is that it's not here to conquer or destroy—it just wants to learn. But what it learns is what makes the story so powerful.

By impersonating Kate's teacher, the Assessor gains a front-row seat to Kate’s emotional pain. Rudden does a superb job making the alien oddly sympathetic. Despite being a psychic spy wrapped in a cloned skin, the Assessor is riddled with self-doubt and anxiety. It is moved by Kate and Fiona’s strained relationship and becomes, in a way, an accidental therapist as it absorbs their grief, their hopes, and their resilience.

And in a surprising twist, it’s Kate who defeats it—not with action, but with reason. She simply convinces the Assessor that they don’t know anything of importance about the Brigadier or the Doctor. There’s no laser blast, no chase through corridors—just human truth standing strong against alien manipulation.

LOVE, LOSS, AND TRUTH BENEATH THE MONSTERS

The story’s strength lies in its emotional intelligence. Fiona’s fables about the Brigadier’s exploits aren’t just lies—they’re acts of love. Kate’s mistrust isn’t just teenage angst—it’s protective pain. And the Assessor, though alien, becomes a lens through which we see the toll taken by secrecy and sacrifice.

There’s a particularly touching moment where Kate realises Fiona isn’t trying to hide the truth to be cruel—she’s hiding it because she misses him too. That moment of shared vulnerability marks the beginning of healing, and Rudden handles it with warmth and elegance.

MISSED CONNECTIONS

Despite being billed as Kate’s origin story, the narrative often shifts focus to Fiona and the Assessor. While that doesn’t ruin the experience, it does blur the edges of Kate’s arc slightly. This could easily be called My Mummy Misses Monsters, given how much screen time Fiona commands. Additionally, while the Assessor is a compelling creation, one wonders why Rudden didn’t simply use the Slitheen—already established shapeshifting aliens with Earth infiltration plots. The Assessor is original, yes, but not so different that it couldn’t have leaned into existing lore more strongly.

📝THE BOTTOM LINE:

My Daddy Fights Monsters is a heartfelt, quietly resonant piece about grief, identity, and growing up in the shadow of heroism. Though it meanders slightly in its focus, it still manages to deliver a beautifully drawn portrait of a young Kate Lethbridge-Stewart and the fractured world that shaped her. Its emotional power is matched by the sensitivity of its prose, and while it may be light on action, it’s rich in feeling. 7/10.