UNIT: Silenced

UNIT: The New Series #3

by Matt Fitton, John Dorney, Jemma Redgrave (Performer)

'UNIT: Silenced is very nearly a perfect set of four stories that highlights one of the most unique and dangerous foes of the Doctor Who universe... Jemma Redgrave and Ingrid Oliver again headline a stellar cast.' Doctor Who Reviews

Decades after their defeat by the Eleventh Doctor, the Silence prepare to rise against humanity....

1. House of Silents

There is no record of the presence of an alien species known as ‘The Silents’ on Earth. UNIT has never engaged hostiles capable of editing themselves from observers’ memories.

There is no evidence that such an opponent, if real, is regrouping and beginning a new plan of infiltration and manipulation.

Kate Stewart and her team are in no mortal danger. How can they be, when they don’t even know the enemy exists?

2. Square One

It’s business as usual at UNIT, and thankfully, Kate Stewart has no immediate threats to concern her. Or so she believes.

But when Sam Bishop returns from leave, he notices things aren’t quite as they seem. Soon he and Osgood are on the trail of an elusive enemy.

Meanwhile, Kenneth LeBlanc and his controversial political movement gather momentum, and one UNIT team member isn’t quite themselves...

3. Silent Majority

Kenneth LeBlanc looks set to lead his party to national victory, overturning political opinion and taking the polls by storm. UNIT can only stand and watch as a silent revolution takes place.

But who are LeBlanc’s real backers? And what use to them is the triumph of a leader who seems to be nothing more than a liability?

The Silents are about to make the headlines.

4. In Memory Alone

When Sam Bishop and Osgood visit an orbiting space station for a routine mission, they have no idea that they are part of an alien scheme, years in the planning.

As the global situation spins out of control, Kate seeks help from an unlikely source.

The Silents are not done with humanity yet – and they will have their revenge.

Written By: Matt Fitton, John Dorney
Directed By: Ken Bentley

Cast

Jemma Redgrave (Kate Stewart), Ingrid Oliver (Petronella Osgood), Warren Brown (Lieutenant Sam Bishop), James Joyce (Captain Josh Carter), Ramon Tikaram (Colonel Shindi), Tracy Wiles (Jacqui McGee), Joanna Wake (Miss Faversham), Nicholas Day (Kenneth LeBlanc/Heston), Tom Alexander (Cecil/Derek), Aaron Neil (Homeless Man/News Reporter/David), Nimmy March (Baroness Vance/Telokni), John Banks (Mission Control/Captain/Soldier) and Nicholas Briggs as The Silence. Other parts played by members of the cast.

Producer David Richardson

Script Editors Matt Fitton and John Dorney

Executive Producers Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs

Genres: Doctor Who, Audiobook, Science Fiction, Fiction, British Literature

Audio CD

First published November 1, 2016

Reviews

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

(3.1) House of Silents - One of the most frightening aliens developed on Doctor Who is The Silence. How can you fight an enemy, when you can’t even remember the enemy? How do you plan, when you don’t remember that they even exist? If you aren’t looking at them, you don’t remember them. And now they’re here menacing UNIT. And no one is immune to their … wait … what was I talking about? Hmm, oh well, I’ve got some time. Maybe I’ll go listen to a Big Finish audio-drama. Haven’t done one of those in awhile (4/5).

(3.2) Square One - Oh, this was quite good! UNIT finds themselves trying to unravel a weird mystery of a race of aliens that you can’t remember unless you’re looking right at them. Now that’s a frightening prospect! Hold on a tick … that’s The Silence from Doctor Who, now how’d I forget about … oh right. So, we’re half way through this beautifully written box set and the UNIT team is still only finding themselves at the beginning of their investigation. And then there’s the whole political subplot angle. Wow. Is that how Brexit passed? Is this how tRump got elected? Oh don’t be daft. That’s just silly. Wait? What’s silly? I think I’ll clean my apartment. Maybe listen to a Big Finish audio-drama, haven’t done one of those in awhile. Maybe that third UNIT box set (4/5).

(3.3) Silent Majority - “Landslide” political predictions and a “silent majority” have both been proven to be myths and nothing more than “fake news” generated to sell propaganda. So what exactly is going on in this episode? Oh, right … aliens … The Silence, but they don’t need a political puppet in #10 Downing Street, so what exactly is going on? And can
Kate and company at UNIT unravel this mess before things get really out of hand? What exactly is their agenda? Hold on … who’s agenda? What was I … is this what it feels like to lose one’s mind? I feel like I’m back to square one, but I can’t remember what I’m so worried about. Why am I holding this cd? Maybe I should just play it (4/5).

(3.4) In Memory Alone - Osgood in space! Wait … weren’t we just in Antarctica? No, that was months ago. And the emergency election? Yeah, what happened with that? This isn’t making any sense. Okay, these writers are just throwing stuff at the audience, there’s no cohesive narrative to link any of these random … bits … oh yeah, The Silence. How could I keep forgetting about them. Oh right, that’s what they do. Actually, this is an absolutely brilliant set of episodes. Pitting UNIT against The Silence was a perfect choice, and the writers totally rose to the challenge (4/5).

I don’t normally go through these box set in a single day, but this was just too good to stop. Plus I had the time, so binging the whole thing all at once was not a problem. This box set also includes a bonus disc of interviews with members of the cast and crew.

[Mel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this was the best of the UNIT box sets so far! Osgood and Kate take on the silence and UKIP! I know there's usually a turn around of a year between recording and releasing but something tells me this was slightly quicker. It is nice to imagine that the reason Brexit happened, and people are so xenophobic is down to orders from the Silence.

A timely political story, science fiction always works best when it's social commentary and this story did that very well. Along with an enjoyable story and good gender balance. It showed how there are aliens UNIT isn't at all equipped to deal with. Definitely recommended.

[Danny Welch · Rating 5 out of 5]

So considering it's October and nearly Halloween I wanted to try and listen to a few audios to help celebrate the spooky season, when I remembered I now have UNIT: Silenced to listen to. What better way can there be to celebrate than by listening to an epic box set with UNIT facing against the Silence in a very political set, with hopefully some very terrifying imagery in the fold too?

House of Silents:
After detecting freak energy discharges at a homeless shelter run by an elderly blind woman, Colonel Shindig still recovering from his incident with the Autons is surveilling the house. But every time he finds something of interest, he immediately forgets. Meanwhile, UNIT is being threatened by someone called the Eyewitness who is willing to leak information if Kate doesn't meet up with them. Something very strange is going on and it would seem UNIT might have to deal with the consequences of their favorite scientific advisor's actions...

Matt Fitton has written an incredible opening story that's intriguing, atmospheric, creepy, and most of all terrifying. Seeing UNIT face up against a threat they've never seen before really lends to the threat in this boxset, the silence really do feel like they have the upper hand here despite everything and that is horrifying to think about. Very excited to see what happens next after that cliffhanger! 10/10

Square One:
UNIT has been compromised and yet all the staff are acting as if nothing has happened, almost as if they can't remember it happened. Sam Bishop is back and he finds UNIT in a spot of trouble and he's determined to find out what's going on. Meanwhile, The Silence are aiding Kenneth LeBlanc in his uprise in politics, but why are they doing this? To what aim?

John Dorney has written a brilliant script, this time the terror here isn't with The Silence or the atmosphere but rather the political situation in this story as a corrupt and evil politician is being helped into high political power. It's genuinely frightening how relevant this segment of the story is and I love how the political opponents are parodying UKIP to hit home how scarily down-to-earth this story is at times. I've got to give compliments to Dorney for sprinkling a little bit of humor throughout this that genuinely had me laugh at points, without it feeling distasteful considering the central themes. 9/10

Silent Majority:
Election day has arrived and Kate Stewart seems to think that there's something more going on than the Silence just simply wanting Kenneth LeBlanc in power. Time is running out and the country is about to erupt into chaos.

John Dorney has written an intense episode that wonderfully ties up the political angle of this boxset, a very fast-paced, action-packed episode with nice doses of humor and one or two truly haunting moments. It's scary to think how some of this story is still relevant. 9/10

In Memory Alone:
UNIT have finally defeated The Silence... or have they? Osgood and Sam Bishop arrive at a space station just as a meeting of international importance is about to commence and that's when the lights all go out. Jacqui McGee believes UNIT is being manipulated and that the world might be about to come to an end. The Silence are finally about to achieve their endgame and all of humanity will perish.

Matt Fitton has written an incredible finale that ties everything up wonderfully. While this episode is presented in only a couple of settings, it feels grandiose and epic in scale as the world's leading governments all turn on one another. A very tense finale with a fantastic conclusion! 10/10

Overall: 38/40

[Taksya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terzo serial della Big Finish dedicato alla nuova U.N.I.T., questa volta in lotta contro il Silenzio.

1. House of Silents
La prima parte introduce un misterioso complotto di cui tutti sembrano non avere memoria e, conoscendo il Silenzio, la cosa non stupisce.
La U.N.I.T. si trova a dover trovare un sistema per ricordarsi quello su cui sta indagando ancor prima di cercare di scoprire su cosa sta indagando.

2. Square One
Sembra che il Silenzio abbia ripreso le vecchie abitudini, come intromettersi con le attività umane.
Con fatica i nostri riusciranno a scoprire (e non dimenticare subito) quale sembra essere il loro obiettivo.

3. Silent Majority
Sappiamo chi (più o meno) e arriviamo a scoprire come e anche il perché... ma sul più bello... spoiler... e non solo perché, come al solito, ci scordiamo tutto.

4. In Memory Alone
La trama dell'ultimo episodio racconta chiaramente. che non ci siamo liberati dai Silenti e che ora vogliono vendetta.
Kate trova il sistema migliore per ricordare al mondo il rischio corso... di nuovo.

Rendere in audio la presenza dei Silenti poteva essere un problema, come per gli Angeli, ma anche in questo caso fanno un centro perfetto.
La sensazione di stallo che il personale della U.N.I.T. vive per tutta l'avventura è ben descritta e i riferimenti ai fatti della serie madre, con il trucco usato dall'undicesimo Dottore per rendere i Silenti memorabili, sono inseriti alla perfezione.
Finale perfetto, non si sa quanto duraturo, ma bdn organizzato.
Tra le tre serie uscite fino ad ora è quella che mi è piaciuta di più... anche se la prossima si presenta epica, anche solo guardando le foto pubblicitarie.

[Ashley Beery · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely amazing. To really get into what the Silence is doing and how hard it is to fight them was amazing. This really took the cake. Plus there was mention of the Doctor as well and his fight with the Silence...

what was I writing again??

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very timely release, scarily so....

[Joseph S · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Silence are compelling and the stories are fantastic. Another cracker for Fitton and Dorney.

[Jamie Revell · Rating 5 out of 5]

The series returns to using existing monsters for its third outing, and interestingly, picks the Silents - in their only audio appearance so far. They are an interesting foe, one that's particularly memorable from the TV series and that doesn't have the disadvantages in an audio-only format that, say, the Weeping Angels do. Indeed, in many ways, this is a direct sequel to The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon, explicitly dealing with the long-term repercussions of events in that story.

Another feature is the return of not one, but two, characters from the first release in this series, UNIT Extinction . Colonel Shindi is slightly softened from his militaristic tone in that story, but remains relatively uninteresting. More surprising is the return of investigative reporter Jacqui, previously a thorn in UNIT's side, but now filling in a role not unlike that of Sarah Jane in the later UNIT stories on TV. It's a welcome expansion to the lineup of regular characters, and I was a little disappointed to discover that she doesn't appear much in future releases.

Although this 'season' consists of four hour-long episodes, it really contains three stories, all tightly linked, but separated by a few months - something made easier by the fact that the main characters aren't able to remember how serious the situation is for long.

The first story is, of course, about UNIT's initial encounter with the Silents. It's a strong and slightly creepy investigative tale playing up the antagonists' powers as well as setting the scene for what follows. The second is a satirical tale running over two episodes, and concerns the sudden rise to power of a populist politician. Sensibly, we never discover what this person's policies actually are - I envisaged him as a Nigel Farage type, but other listeners might just as well see him as a parody of Jeremy Corbyn. It's the strongest part of the collection, building to a climax on the day of a general election, and with the Silents putting modern social media to great use.

The final episode is set on an orbiting space station as it finally becomes clear what the Silents' ultimate objective is - something that's been mysterious up to this point, with only the trail of dead bodies and our prior knowledge of the race implying that it's anything particularly bad. It's a good climax and resolution to the arc, if not quite as strong as the previous episodes if taken in isolation.

Much fun is had throughout with the Silent's memory wiping ability, especially in a sequence in which Kate and Osgood are reviewing video footage of a member of the race with another UNIT officer. Add to that the direct references to events in the modern TV show (and a namecheck for something from the classic one) and this is a great addition to the series.

[Immy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is an interesting concept* and the first episode is really promising. It's tense and a bit spooky in the audio format. Colonel Shindi is tasked with a stakeout of an elderly philanthropist's home after alien activity is detected. It becomes pretty clear to the listener that the house is infested with Silents, but due to their memory wiping, Shindi is unable to tell there is anything amiss. From a character position, this is great stuff. He is experiencing a lot of self-doubts and lack of independence since his injury in the previous story and the fact he can't trust his own memory adds to this.

But by the second episode, they've really dropped the ball. If you're already familiar with the Silents (which you will have to be for this box set to make any sense) then you already get the concept of only being able to remember them so long as you are looking at them. The characters don't. This means that multiple times an episode they have to forget, then remember, then figure out what's happening. Moreover, every episode starts with them having no recollection of the Silents and the whole thing starts over again. With this being audio, there's a lot of over-explaining the phenomena to compensate for the fact we can't see the scene play out. The result is beyond tedious.

The actual plot also falls apart, there's so much time spent on the Silents that Le Blanc, the shady populist gaining popularity, really doesn't seem that important. To be honest listening to these sections just made me feel like relistening to "Main Range 5: Fearmonger" instead. That had a much more interesting sci-fi take on the rise of vague xenophobic populism. Finally, I'm not sure if this might have just been down to my lack of interest, but I feel like Jemma Redgrave's performance here was a bit wooden? Unless you're a completionist, I'd probably give this one a miss, I only bought it because there was a special offer, I'm glad I didn't pay full price.


*(the Silents consider themselves refugees and are trying to regain their hold on humanity since the Doctor first encountered them in Series 6 of the show)

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Big Finish easily proves that the Silence could be great recurring villains in Doctor Who - even outside of their original arc in the TV series. UNIT: Silenced has all the best elements of a good UNIT story. Political intrigue, extraterrestrial paranoia, and a whole lot of action.

All of the writers make excellent use of the Silence here, too. How can a bunch of humans fight a threat they can’t even remember they’re fighting? Plus, the whole story acts as a lovely sequel to The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon. What happens to the Silence after the Doctor tricks them into ordering humanity to execute them? And what sort of revenge might they take on humanity at large? It’s all here, and it’s devilishly intriguing.

My one complaint is that I wish the story could’ve slowed down to really dig into the Silence’s manipulation of Earth’s governments - especially in the middle two episodes, with the UK’s emergency election. It feels like there was a lot of room there for even more political satire and paranoia. Not a major problem, but a complaint nonetheless.

Still, UNIT: Silenced is UNIT at its best. Each member of the team has something specific to do; the overarching story is dripping with tension, paranoia, and political intrigue; and it all comes together in a deliciously satisfying finale. Honestly, what more could you ask for?

[Nicola Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anything to do with The Silence is creepy and immediately adds an element of suspense and drama. An alien that you forget you’ve seen as soon as you look away? How can you fight that? UNIT must bring out all the stops to combat this alien threat.

I love UNIT (back from the third doctor days) and they encompass all the characters I love from the new who series too. Osgood and Kate are such great characters (& actors) and I was super intrigued how they would deal with an encounter with The Silence.

It was an entertaining story and well performed like you’d expect from a TV episode.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb epic 4-disc audio-drama. Very big screen-Cinerama with wonderful set pieces and nearly non-stop action. Like a Sci-Fi James Bond (in Space, even!). There's a lot to love here. Wish this was a big budget film or TV series. It's a great set-up for all sorts of marvelous story-telling which is done to terrific results. Can't wait to see where they go next from here!

Highly recommended!

[Idris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is one of my favorite series of them all, but then again, I love the Silence as a villain, and I think they were very cleverly deployed here. It did make me miss Eleven and River, however, I must admit. Nevertheless, a very solid series I can help listening to it again and again.

[Charles Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surprisingly, the Silence make an excellent villain for audio. The sound of their voices alone is exceedingly creepy.
And by this third box set, the UNIT crew are really hitting their stride. This is an instant classic.

[Jurgen · Rating 5 out of 5]

3.1 'House of Silents' by Matt Fitton: 4*
3.2 'Square One' by John Dorney: 5*
3.3 'Silent Majority' by John Dorney: 5*
3.4 'In Memory Alone' by Matt Fitton: 5*

The best UNIT audio story 'till now. Next: 'UNIT 4'

[Richard Harrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent box set featuring UNIT vs the Silence. Really good stuff, showing what they can do in an age of mass media and politics.

[Grzegorz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maybe it would have been a little better had I listened to it immediatly afer release, now it seems to be little to much located in the climate of the 2016

[Steven Shinder · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this is the best of the three UNIT boxsets of this series. But as is the case when one looks at the Silents, I feel like I'm likely to forget much of this.

[Gabriel Mero · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my favorite collection so far. The Silents ate creepy but they were devillianized on Doctor Who. I'm glad we got to see them in all their insidious glory.

[Jamie Holland · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent UNIT adventure. The silence are scary.

[Liawèn · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favourite box set so far. Not only my favourite villains but I also love the fact that you get to know Kate, Osgood and their team better. I enjoy having Sam around more. I quite like his character. And poor Josh always is the brainwashed one 🙈
And I have to say, Ugly Blither must be my new favourite insult 😂

Furthermore, the whole set back storyline is awesome. As a listener it gets really frustrating because the characters don’t seem to progress at all. The second chapter is literally called ‘Square One’ and UNIT is back at square one.
It’s interesting that the core members have to be reminded that something is afoot, first by Sam and then by Jackie. I like that very much. It shows that UNIT is very good but sometimes even they need help to save the Earth.

[Jamieson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The third entry in the UNIT series sees Kate, Osgood and their team fighting the Silence (the main monster of Series 6 of Doctor Who). How does one fight an enemy that causes you to forget them the minute you turn away? This was a lot of fun dealing with themes of mind control and rigged elections, the UNIT series is excellent in the way it's able to make each boxset have a different flavor from the last and not feel samey. All around, another great installment.

[Debra Cook · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unit fight the Silence who are trying to make sure people leave them alone.