SCOTT WOODWARD

Colonel Scott Woodward was a military hard nose who ran STRADA, the Strategic Research and Development Administration. He had known Thornton for many years, but they had an uncomfortable history dating back to when the two had served in combat together in Vietnam. At the time, Woodward, a staunch believer in regulations and chain of command, had come up against Thornton, who believed in assessing a situation and maintaining flexibility for those closest to the problem. As a result, they had lost three men in Vietnam because Woodward chose to follow plans laid out by headquarters rather than relying on instinct to make his own decision, and despite their friendly relationship years later, the past still festered with them both.

When Thornton went on to a civilian career, Woodward remained in the military, a life that agreed with him despite leading to his separation from his wife Louise. Woodward didn't especially like civilians or civilian think tanks like the Phoenix Foundation, and when Thorton and MacGyver arrived as representatives of Phoenix to certify the new STRADA facility, Woodward was determined to prove that their state-of-the-art security system was invincible.

STRADA's security was controlled by Sandi, a fifth-generation computer just a blink away from true artificial intelligence that had been designed and built by Dr. Jill Ludlum. MacGyver defeated Sandi's defenses in a simulation, however when a program response error caused Sandi to treat the simulation as a genuine threat, both MacGyver and Dr. Ludlum were trapped inside the facility as Sandi prepared to withdraw the air supply.

Working from the outside, Woodward, Thornton, and Dr. Ludlum's assistant Steven Lee, searched for a way to shut the computer system down. Shutting down the power at the substation at Twin Pines would have cut the power to STRADA, but it would also cut power to the only hospital within 100 miles, and Woodward refused to act without authorization from his superior, General Braddock. Without Woodward's approval, Thornton used his own connections to have the power shut down, however Sandi was able to determine the code to activate the backup generator and remain online.

The only remaining option was to make a judgment call to determine whether MacGyver might use the maintenance shaft or the exhaust outlet as a means of escape, since there was only time to disarm the mines at one of those exits. Woodward could only think in terms of plans that had been reviewed and approved, but he finally relented and allowed Thornton to make the call since he knew MacGyver best.

Thornton recalled that MacGyver had used an exhaust system to get out of a big fire at Brookhurst Chemical the year before, and his instinct that MacGyver would make the same choice again proved to be correct. As MacGyver and Dr. Ludlum made their way to the sealed door of the outlet, they found Thornton, Woodward, and the others had disarmed the mines for their escape.

Woodward had to acknowledge that in some cases relying on instinct may be the best option, even though MacGyver later reminded Thornton that he had in fact used the elevator shaft, not the exhaust system, to escape from Brookhurst Chemical.

Portrayed by: Peter Haskell

Cross Reference: Steven Lee, Jill Ludlum, Sandi, STRADA, Pete Thornton

Episode Reference: The Human Factor