UNIT Dating [AUDIO/2021.3.10]

★★★★☆

  With Jon Culshaw sporting his ever-dependable Brigadier performance, could anything really have gone wrong with UNIT Dating? Well, for a lot of reasons, yes, it could have. Stranded was just getting to rev up its space-and-time travel gears at this point (Stranded 1 was entirely set in 2020 London, and Dead Time was its only foray to another time by then), and a lot could have come off as 'scared to commit to its bold new goal' and 'desperate to pander to audiences who wish for a touch of the familiar'. Well, I'm not here to suggest that UNIT in the 1970s (or 1980s, depending on where you stand in the eponymous controversy) is exactly breaking new ground for anything... but I am saying that Roy Gill utilises the familiar setting to tell a truly fresh story, one with stray Ogrons and a backdoor observation of the past of two residents of Baker Street... both of whom used to work for the organisation and know the Third Doctor, in fact! See, this is what Stranded excels at: being meticulously planned from top to bottom and making sure listeners know that. Ron and Tony's connection with the Doctor has been hinted at very subtly in the past, and it's great to see the beginning of their relationship and their connection with UNIT laid out in the midst of such a fun audio drama.

  Huge character moments for the elderly gay couple aside, this thing is packed with fun. The Brig hardly even blinks at the idea that this leather-clad man is a future incarnation of the Doctor and promptly agrees to his plan to save the day, Andy from Torchwood is in the middle of a UNIT fiasco (which is one of those fanwanky moments that delights me to no end), and Paul McGann gets more fired up by the day. Would it have been sweet to see John Levene make an appearance as Benton? Yes, but I suspect the UNIT side of the adventure would've gone awfully crowded if he had been included. I'm very, very satisfied with how UNIT Dating turned out; the installment I was most worried about turned out to be a box full of delights and wonders. It's mostly easy-going, with some wonderful characterisations of our beloved characters. Helen mentions her lost brother Albie, of course, who would go on to make an appearance in the future.