UNIT - The New Big Finish Series

UNIT are Earth's protectors and defenders of civilisation. They have shadowed and collaborated with the Doctor for many decades to help prevent a range of alien invasions and extra-terrestrial threats. Having first been introduced to them back in 1968's The Invasion when they attempted to deal with an attack on London by the Cybermen, we have since followed their operations across the UK and indeed the world in numerous Doctor Who TV serials - dealing with a dinosaur invasion, investigating a crashed Axon spaceship and combating a Sontaran plot to take over the planet, to name just a few.

In recent years, we have learnt that their central command is located underneath the Tower of London and is now led by Kate Stewart, the Brigadier's daughter. This setup has led to an extended universe of audio plays being produced by Big Finish, of which we are now four box sets in.

These stories are extremely epic in their narrative and clearly show how international the organisation is, with its members now regularly travelling between many different nations to help solve their problems. When listening to each episode through headphones, you are immediately given a sense of how fast paced their adventures are going to be when their new 'whizzing' theme tune begins playing and the swooshes travel from one ear to the other in stereo sound.

The first box set, Unit: Extinction, deals with an impending worldwide invasion of autons and the use of 3D printers as their method of duplication really does make sense and emphasises the 21st century setting, making it feel very up-to-date. As expected, Nick Briggs has to make an appearance, although his presence as a news reader does seem to help create good atmosphere and give a sense of the looming crisis. We are also introduced to Lieutenant Sam Bishop as member of UNIT who seems quite a capable member of the team, if a little bland.

In the second set, Unit: Shutdown, Earth is faced with threats from the evil Tengobushi. The strange killings in the laboratories and the crooked Lyme corporation make for solid ingredients to the story, giving lots of intrigue. However, the Tengobushi aren't developed particularly well as the story progresses and don't seem to be anything special other than just being a Japanese-inspired monster. There is lots of tension throughout though and the third episode focusing on the battle at the Tower of London is extremely good at helping to keep the story interesting and exciting - the action is literally non-stop.

Unit: Silenced sees the Silence return for another stealth invasion, with the villains transferring surprisingly very well into the audio format. The team are certainly challenged as the mind-altering powers of the Silence constantly cause them to forget any discoveries that are made as their minds keep being wiped and this leads to a thrilling narrative. The bumbling character of Kenneth LeBlanc, who finds himself shocked by his rise to power, is well portrayed although perhaps given a slightly larger role in the drama than needed. Osgood and Sam Bishop's mission on the space station is excellently staged and their communications back with Earth help to really add tension to the climax.

The fourth set, Unit: Assembled, promises to reunite classic UNIT characters back together again to save the planet. Despite them actually assembling together in the final part - in which they mostly just co-ordinate things rather than solve problems, they do all have a great history and this leads to some excellent dialogue between them. The old references do sometimes slightly seem to interfere with the plot, although the nostalgia is quite enjoyable to listen to - Kate's scene discussing how her father would've liked to come visit Benton in the countryside but never got the chance, is especially poignant. Osgood's submarine adventure with Jo Jones in the second episode has a fantastic script with the right balance between comedy and seriousness as they both confront the Sea Devils.

Big Finish have done a brilliant job so far at modernising UNIT and making their assignments into fast-paced and action-packed adventures. This is helped by the great soundscape and solid music that the stories have to convey how exciting they are.

The stories show a good variety, although it could be argued that a bit more Doctor Who-style of writing and a few more character-driven scenes would help improve our understanding of, and ability to empathise with, all the new team members a bit better. Jemma Redgrave hasn't the most thrilling of voices to lead the audios, although she does come across as authoritative, can be easily identified and does seem to have shown some improvement through the box sets.

In conclusion, the new adventures of UNIT are extremely enjoyable to listen to and, despite their sometimes slightly shorter durations, are a fantastic extension of their appearances on TV. Let's see what threat they investigate next!

SH