Why You Need to be Listening to UNIT - The New Series
Big Finish are currently offering a number of stories free from their back catalogue to enjoy. So, over the next few weeks, I'll give you a review of the individual episode in question, as well as some reasons why you should be listening to the range or series the story hails from in full. We continue the series with - UNIT - The New Series...
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| The CD cover for "House of Silents", designed by Tom Webster. |
In 2015, Big Finish picked up the UNIT series after a few years of inactivity. Having acquired the rights to post-2005 Doctor Who, the company relaunched UNIT, now featuring the characters of Kate Stewart and Petronella Osgood, defending Earth from alien threats. Becoming Big Finish' first foray into the New Series, UNIT has quickly established itself as one of the most constantly enjoyable ranges in Big Finish's catalogue, and has seen the forces of UNIT run into both new and old foes, as well as showing how the UNifed Intelligence Taskforce deals with alien threats when the Doctor isn't around to save the day.
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| The box-set cover for "Silenced", designed by Tom Webster. |
"House of Silents" opens the third box-set, "Silenced", and sees UNIT in the middle of an investigation into the house of a wealthy, philanthropic, elderly woman, where strange energy distortions soon turn into something even more sinister. And, as usual, UNIT must protect the human race from the alien invaders. So long as they can remember who they're fighting... The "Silenced" box-set sees UNIT going up against the Silence, and acts as a follow-up to the Eleventh Doctor story "The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon". Now, I love the Silence, so this story is right up my ally. And "House of Silents" brilliantly plays on the Silence's primary conceit: that you forget about them the moment you stop looking at them, by having the Silence use the blind Miss Faversham as an unwitting dupe for their plan. This is such a great idea, and, of course, without the Doctor to come up with a clever sci-fi gizmo, the UNIT team have to fight even harder to even remember that the Silence are actually there. This really comes across in the story, with some very clever sound design that subtly shifts the soundscape each time the characters find themselves losing their memories. While this does pick up on threads from previous UNIT stories, these are mostly in relation to the character's personal journeys, and, in fact, just help to give these characters a vitally needed sense of history. I love how we see how demoralised Colonal Shindi at the beginning by this seemingly insignificant surveillance task he's been given, as it gives us a small window of vulnerability in the amour of this toughened soldier. Of course, like a fair number of Big Finish box-sets, you don't get the full story here, and what the Silence are up to remains a mystery, but you get the sense from this instalment that, whatever it is, it will have a lasting effect upon the Whoniverse. Both Jemma Redgrave and Ingrid Oliver give fantastic performances as Kate and Osgood, especially as they fight to retain the memory of the Silence. Coupled with some immersive sound design and music, "House of Silents" stands out as one of the most engaging episodes of the UNIT series, and a great lead-off for "Silenced". It's hard to talk about this episode without spoiling it, but, rest assured, "House of Silents" is exactly the kind of episode you want to lead off a box-set like this. Tense and exciting, if this is your first experience of UNIT on audio, you won't be disappointed.
And, if you enjoyed "House of Silents", then here is a list of 5 reasons why you need to be listening to the rest of UNIT - The New Series:
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| The box-set cover for "Extinction", designed by Tom Webster. |
1. Epic Running Arcs:
With the vast majority of the UNIT series', the box-sets form one big, interlinked story, told across four separate chapters. These allow for some huge scale, high stakes storytelling, and for characters to recur across the box-set, meaning they can also be developed across the sets. Some of these stories are the Doctor Who universe set to the highest possible stakes: a simultaneous worldwide Auton invasion, a Silurian occupation of Great Britain, and a multi-dimensional Cyberman invasion are just some of the threats UNIT have to encounter. These are high-stakes and high-scale, and spreading the story across a box-set gives these stories the time they deserve. Not all UNIT sets are one-long story, however: sets like "Encounters" and "Incursions" tell shorter stories that show UNIT dealing with different sized threats. It offers up a great degree of variety, and allows the writers to vary the size and scale of the threats that the Earth faces, from a series of deadly storms in the North Sea, to a single, damaged Dalek being auctioned, and even a farcical parallel worlds story with different versions of our heroes. UNIT deals with both small-scale incursions and large-scale invasions, and this series gives them plenty of different storytelling styles to fit this.
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| The box-set cover for "Revisitations", designed by Tom Webster. |
2. Kate Stewart and Osgood:
In the TV series, Kate and Osgood always had to play second fiddle to the Doctor. However, the UNIT audio series gives the pair of them the chance to take charge of the situation and lead the way in dealing with alien threats. We get to see both Kate and Osgood's differing approaches to situations: how they deal with different issues and how, despite her stance that science leads, Kate isn't completely against using military force to defeat an alien invasion. Especially during the course of the "Revisitations" box set, the pair of them come into conflict over the actions they each take in order to defeat a number of alien threats UNIT have come into conflict with before. And in stories like "Armageddon" and "Ice Station Alpha", the pair of them are forced into desperate situations that compel them to act almost desperately in order to save the Earth. We even get little chances to explore both characters' personal lives: Kate's backstory is expanded upon, while we get to see more of what Osgood does outside of the office, and meet some of her friends and see how she unwinds. Both Jemma Redgrave and Ingrid Oliver give wonderful performances throughout these sets, and the clear chemistry they have onscreen translates well on audio. Honestly, this all-female team is a delight, and they create a strong, powerful leading team that continues to this day.
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| The box-set cover for "Cyber-Reality", designed by Tom Webster. |
3. New Faces:
Of course, UNIT are a large, multi-national organisation, and, as such, we see a lot of people involved in this stories, aiding Kate and Osgood in their fight. Most of these usually just stick around for an episode or two before getting killed off, but a few have become recurring regulars who have now become a key part of Kate's team. There's mainstay Captain Josh Carter (James Joyce) who is reckless and headstrong, which, in "Extinction" leads him into being injected with a plastic exoskeleton that makes him practically indestructible. Then there's Colonel Shindi (Ramon Tikram): a no-nonsense commander who, at first, appears quite set in his ways. However, as the series goes on, he starts to become softer, and we do start to see his point of view, even if we're more likely to side with Kate or Osgood. And finally there's Lieutenant Sam Bishop (Warren Brown), Kate's top overseas and undercover operative. Cool, calm and collected, he provides an immediate contrast with Josh, and can ably function without support from the others. Sam has even crossed over into other releases away from UNIT: he makes an appearance in the Lady Christina box-set, cementing his place as a key part of the new UNIT family, even if his field work sometimes limits his appearances in the stories.
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| The box-set cover for "Assembled", designed by Tom Webster. |
4. Old Foes:
One of the great niches the UNIT series has carved out for itself is the use of old Doctor Who foes in order to enrich the box-sets. From big hitters like the Daleks, the Cybermen and the Sontarans, to slightly more obscure foes like the Wirrn and the Keller Mind Parasite, this series has it all. Sometimes, the monsters are just there for one or two episodes, while, other times, they are the central antagonists of the box-sets. The Autons, for example, appear across the whole of the first box-set, "Extinction", while the Silence feature across "Silenced". UNIT are even forced to lock horns with the Master... although probably not the one you were expecting! Derek Jacobi's War Master appears in the final episode of "Cyber-Reality", "Master of Worlds", and is forced to team up with Kate in order to stop the Cybermen. And it's not just old monsters from the classic and new series that return to face UNIT, but old friends have as well. In the latest box-set, "Incursions", UNIT find themselves face to face with River Song herself, played once more by Alex Kingston, in a complicated plan to invade the Earth involving multiple Kate Stewart's. Meanwhile, "Assembled" features the UNIT of the 21st Century meeting the UNIT of the 20th, as Kate and Osgood come face to face with Jo Jones, John Benton and Mike Yates, with Katy Manning, John Levene and Richard Franklin all returning to their roles from the early 70's as if those characters had never left them. It just demonstrates how much history the show has, and how deeply embedded in it the UNIT organisation is. And, by putting that history front and centre, it allows to see how fierce these threats are, especially without the Doctor to save the day.
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| The box-set cover for "Encounters", designed by Tom Webster. |
5. The Cast:
Of course, these box-sets (and this list) wouldn't be complete without mentioning the fantastic casts that Big Finish employ. Whether it be TV series stars Jemma Redgrave and Ingrid Oliver, series mainstays Ramon Tikram or James Joyce, or recurring actors Warren Brown and Tracey Wiles, the main cast are wonderful, and lead the stories with consummate style. Guest actors have included Steve John Shepherd, Alice Krige, Joanna Wake, Nicholas Day, Nimmy March, Richard Hope, Neve McIntosh, Lucy Fleming, Dan Starkey, Derek Jacobi, Pik-Sen Lim, Vineeta Rishi, Alex Kingston and Nicholas Briggs, all of whom throw their all into the parts and create characters above and beyond what is on the page. It's honestly incredible the level of talent that Big Finish hire, and you can hear that in every single Big Finish production. It's just one of the many reasons why their audio dramas are so listenable, and this comes across in every range, and this one is no exception.
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| The box-set cover for "Incursions", designed by Tom Webster. |
UNIT - The New Series is probably one of the strongest New Series spin-off from Big Finish, and it is testament to the creatives in this range that they have been able to create something of such quality. This feels like the sort of series that you'd see at 9:00pm on BBC One, such is the quality of the drama. It has everything you could possibly want from a UNIT spin-off, and I find the series a pleasantly enjoyable listen. I wouldn't say this has all the groundbreaking originality of something like the War Doctor or the War Master, or even the nostalgia factor of the First Doctor Adventures or the Tenth Doctor Adventures. However, this is one range that balances both approaches well, and manages to tell exciting stories with some interesting and engaging characters. A must for Doctor Who fans.
Until the 8th of June 2020, you can get "House of Silents", the first episode of "Silenced", from Big Finish completely free. You can find it here:
You can also save up to 50% on UNIT "Extinction", "Shutdown" and "Silenced" until the 8th of June too. You can find a full list of the titles here:
Happy listening! And I'll see you next week for another look at a free Big Finish title!
All pictures copyright to the BBC/Big Finish Productions. Thank you very much for reading.
All pictures copyright to the BBC/Big Finish Productions. Thank you very much for reading.
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