Extinction review [Matt Fitton and Andrew Smith]

Whilst Scientific Advisor Osgood attends a 'skyfall' incident with Colonel Shindi and Captain Josh Carter, Kate's duties take her to visit Devlin Future Tech, and reclusive billionaire Simon Devlin.

Journalist Jackie McGee is also on FutureTech's case, and nothing's going to get in the way of her story: a product launch that will change the world...

When and Where: Extinction takes place between The Power of Three (which took place at some point between 2016 and 2020) and The Day of the Doctor (which was at least a year after the beginning of the former episode). By Power Cell, Shindi is still recuperating from being shot but Osgood has met the Eleventh Doctor, so The Day of the Doctor is next for UNIT.

The Doctor's Case:

• A Good Quotation:
• "Here at Devlin FutureTech, your future is in our hands."
• UNIT: The New Series begins very new, with a modern plot that brings the Autons to the contemporary age in a way that Rose didn't attempt.
• Rather than reintroducing UNIT through a sat-down discussion as it was in Spearhead from Space with the Brigadier and Liz Shaw, this story begins with Kate and her crew in action trying to save an extraterrestrial crocodile in the River Severn. The organisation hasn't been allowed to be too effective since the Third Doctor left them, meaning that in the modern series they're usually made useless so that the companion has the opportunity to be clever. For example, they have to bring in Clara in The Magician's Apprentice and again needed her in The Zygon Invasion. Here there's no Clara, meaning that they have the chance to be an effective and intelligent force for good.
• On television, Kate has a nasty habit of just being a sound-board delivering cool Moffatisms like River or Missy ("He's on the payroll", "With dress sense like that you must be the Doctor", "I've got officers trained in beheading. Also ravens of death.") rather than being an actual character. She improved by The Zygon Invasion/The Zygon Inversion, but here she is undeniably flesh and blood with thoughts, feelings and a history. Osgood too was a bit of a gimmick on TV, and has similarly been rounded into more of a character.
• Devlin gets a plastic skull that means he's able to connect to the Nestene Consciousness. This could have seemed like a ridiculous idea if it wasn't handled so well, with Devlin's delivery and Kate's shock.
• Setting UNIT apart from the Torchwood Institute is that UNIT isn't outside of the government nor beyond the police. Kate has to visit Downing Street to speak to the Prime Minister and Colonel Shindi visits Geneva, with both leaving feeling frustrated at the lack of leeway being given to them. Torchwood would go in all guns blazing. It's good that Big Finish have chosen to stress the difference between the two organisations as otherwise having them both be separate might feel redundant. If a story would play out exactly the same in a Torchwood One or UNIT story then Big Finish aren't doing their job.
• Jacqui isn't a character I thought much of for most of Extinction, but her scene at the very end where she sounds like a mad conspiracy theorist is definitely standout.
• We haven't seen a whole lot of science leading, but Kate going to the Nestene to discuss terms is an example of UNIT's ethical growth since Doctor Who and the Silurians and Children of Earth.

The Valeyard's Case:

• We're introduced to a few new UNIT personnel: the rule-flouting Captain Carter and the hard-line Colonel Shindi. Their first scene together feels mostly natural, if a little obvious at getting us to know that one's a rebel and the other faultlessly dependable. Neither of them had much to do in Vanguard to set them apart, but Lieutenant Bishop is very much a main character in his first appearance and we learn nothing about him either. 
• "Everyone wants to talk about Dad today." Kate's right, and having the shadow of the irreplaceable Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart over this story does nothing but cast her in the same shadow. The Brigadier shouldn't be forgotten about, of course, but if Kate is going to lead a new UNIT series then we shouldn't be being reminded of him all the time.
• There's a lot of exposition in Earthfall. It's necessary and had to end up somewhere, but it doesn't make for the most exciting of stories.
• Osgood and Lieutenant Bishop go to the Gobi Desert in search of a Nestene energy unit. Unfortunately, this thread isn't a very interesting one and nothing much comes of it except the sphere's retrieval at the end. It's a wholly unmemorable adventure for the two characters.
• Auton conversion is introduced. It's always good to bring new things to old villains but this feels too much like the Cybermen.
• The 3D printers printing Autons was obvious from the beginning, yet Kate and Osgood apparently didn't have the slightest inkling until the printers began printing. It makes them seem rather naive.
• That news jingle very quickly gets annoying. Angering, even, and Nicholas Briggs's voice is so prolific in Big Finish that it always breaks the immersion for me when I hear his voice as a bit-character.
• Captain Carter now has an Auton skeleton more or less as a result of his own recklessness. However, he's completely and entirely okay with being plastic now, which shouldn't be the case. It isn't interesting and would be like if Owen Harper had no qualms about being dead.
• The use of anti-plastic makes Armageddon a mix of Spearhead from Space and Rose. It's a shame that the resolution is so easy.

I'll Explain Later:

• It's not until Armageddon that there's any mention of the fact that Kate has two children. With the world coming to an end, one would think that she'd have her children in mind, but they're mentioned only once in a throwaway line.

This Reminds Me...:

• Osgood has read the UNIT files on the Nestenes, referring to the Third Doctor adventures Spearhead from Space and Terror of the Autons.
• The Pharos Project from Logopolis is mentioned.
• UNIT uses nitro-12, which is presumably a new and improved version of nitro-9, Ace's weapon of choice since Dragonfire.
• On the cover of Earthfall, Osgood seems to be wearing a cat badge. This was arguably the least offensive of the Sixth Doctor's items of clothing.
• Kate mentions that she plays bridge, which she said she was outstanding at in Dark Water.
• Devlin says that UNIT have used investigative reporters before, referring to Sarah Jane Smith.
• Kate orders five rounds of RPG fire, a reference to her father's "five rounds rapid".
• Anti-plastic was first seen in Rose, where a Nestene was killed by a vial.

The Deliberation: 

• Vanguard updates the plot of Spearhead from Space and brings both UNIT and the Nestenes into the 21st century. (We can't be much more specific, but this is probably the 2010s.) Vanguard establishes the characters both old and new in a way that doesn't feel remotely superfluous or purely functional. Kate doesn't just spout "cool" lines and Osgood is far more effectual than she was on TV. 
• Earthfall is rather disappointing, following an extraordinarily strong start to the first series of the new and improved UNIT. It has atmosphere and is perfectly functional, but involves a lot of exposition being dumped and not much else really happening. Osgood and Bishop's sojourn isn't very interesting and Kate doesn't get up to a whole lot. This story is too short and concise and could have done with more colour and excitement.
• Bridgehead shows that the box set, after a promising start, has sagged somewhat in the middle with the most blatantly obvious reveal of what the 3D printers were for and very little else. When it's been this obvious to the listener since the superior Vanguard, it makes Kate and Osgood look stupid. Perhaps New UNIT does need Clara around after all. Also, I hope I never hear that news jingle again.
• Armageddon rounds up Extinction neatly and steps up from Andrew Smith's somewhat average middle episodes. The Nestene's defeat isn't anything we haven't seen before and the existence of the anti-plastic comes out of the blue, but it can't be said that Armageddon is anything less than competent. Still, it's not quite Vanguard.

The Inquisitor's Judgement: All in all, Extinction is a relatively stream-lined story that mixes and modernises the plots of Spearhead from Space, Terror of the Autons and Rose to create a confident tale that's a promising start to UNIT: The New Series in a way that, for example, the first series of The Diary of River Song isn't. That volume could just have easily been about Jack Harkness or Charley Pollard, but Extinction is unabashedly UNIT. It has a number of problems and Earthfall is forgettable, but Vanguard is a high-point for Big Finish. These issues, however, are minor and Extinction is, overall, very good and has earnt itself an A.

UNIT: The New Series

Extinction  |  Shutdown