Written by Robert Valentine Alfie Shaw Alison Winter

Starring Angela Bruce and Alex Jordan

Originally released : July 2022

Listened to: April 2026

Context: Ok, so this UNIT spin off series was on my long term listen plan, but with the release of the fourth set in April 26 and having a wee gap in my listening I decided this was the time to crack on with these sets (I have had all three older sets waiting in the wings for a while). No expectations, knowledge or anything about this series, so decided to go for it, with a complete open mind!

THE REVIEW

Episodes

1.1 Rogue State by Robert Valentine – ok, so to start, love the theme tune for this series, so already a winner in my book. Then onto the story, which is all about getting Bambera back into UNIT action, taking on an old russian adversary (foresight right there) who peddles in aliens and alien weaponry. There is a cool scene/part of the story involving a raid on a boat at sea, with associated gunfire, fighting and aliens running amok. We start to get a team together here, with Sergeant Jean-Paul Savarin rapidly becoming a key figure, and I suspect he will be a solid member of this 1990’s UNIT team, brilliant! (Dame Lydia Kingsley is an interesting character as well, more on her later).

1.2 Time Flies by Alison Winter – loved this one, probably my favourite story of the boxset, which is set in a creepy English research facility where there is something really weird going on with the insects. The cast does a great job here; Dr Grange is both mentally unstable and sympathetic at the same time, and Bambera and Savarin are rapidly becoming a super-solid UNIT team. This is the story where we get Bambara’s doctor-esque scientific advisor, Rix! She is great right from the start, lots of clashes with Bambara initially, Rix standing her ground throughout the story, leading to the team working out what is going on, and she plays a key role in the defeat of Grange. Great speech by Grange at the end here, makes for a memorable villain. And therefore it looks like we have our core 1990’s core UNIT team!

1.3 Dark Side of the Moon by Alfie Shaw – now that the team are together, we have the standard alien invasion-esque story here, with an ex-college/friend of Rix turning up again (possibly the spirit of Helena McNamara, deceased astronaut), but not in her own body. It’s a nice idea, and this plays out nicely throughout the story, with the team playing a game of cat and mouse with the alien baddies. Lots of twists and turns in this one, and a real showcase for Rix. How good is Yemisi Oyinloye! Brilliant all around and a great ending to this set.

Rating: 4 out of 5 cap badges: loved this! I was expecting to like this but not quite this much, and after listening to all the episodes (and the interviews after the episodes) I am left feeling like I really need more of this 1990’s UNIT team. It very much reinforces the importance of Battlefield to me, which I saw when it was originally broadcast. Bambera shone in all of these episodes, the whole team in fact. Brilliant boxset!

What am I left thinking?

• I just hope this standard keeps going as this was a tremendous box set!

Memorable bits

• Shame!
• Very 007 vibes in the opening episode, the raid on the boat etc
• Captures the vibes of the 1990’s so well
• The theme
• The brave new world team is a massive highlight throughout