The Tertiary Console Room: Review - UNIT

"They orchestrated the fall of Great Britain in less than an hour. They're going to take over and make things right..."

After the understated and sublime Snake Head, UNIT shifts back towards gritty realism with a hefty dose of politics blended in to form Joseph Lidster's The Longest Night. All of Big Finish's spin-offs, with the notable exception of Dalek Empire, are drama series rather than serials with each release telling a separate story which will often have continuing threads that build into a bigger picture. UNIT is a murkier beast for while it is still a series, the links between (all but one of)its stories are much more pronounced. So with Lidster's play being the penultimate one, his task is not only to write a good story in its own right, but also to begin the process of creating a resolution to the unanswered, ongoing narrative elements from The Coup and Time Heals. In doing so, he has created arguably one of the most gripping thrillers to emerge from the Big Finish studios yet...

This is Lidster's first time in spin-off country with his previous plays limited to the Doctor Who line where they proved of variable quality. His 2002 debut was The Rapture, a stunning stylistic triumph that took the series into thematic areas few writers had dared to go before but a substantive failure for all the inventive presentation in the world could not conceal the pedestrian plot that lurked beneath the surface gloss. Lidster was then given the chance to write the third of the so-called "villains trilogy" of late 2003 where some of the greatest Doctor Who antagonists were explored with greater depth than ever before. His contribution, Master, was a pretentious and dour affair that ejected the idea of building upon the title character in favour of a soulless and cynical polemic on the nature of good and evil. However, like other writers before him, the liberation from the confines and conventions of the Doctor Who world proves beneficial for Lidster as his realistic characterisation is finally balanced with an intriguing, intense plot that subverts any negative expectations entirely, leaving only great drama remaining.

As the title suggests, The Longest Night takes place on a single evening which begins just like many others have for the citizens of London, with people enjoying themselves and getting on with their lives. That peace is soon to be shattered when a suicide bomber destroys a club, established to celebrate Brtiain's ethnic diversity. The police are quick to blame Muslim extremists, yet thanks to the work of one brave man only UNIT know the truth that the instigator of the carnage was white and middle-class. As they begin to investigate the cover-up, reports of further attacks pour in and Colonels Dalton and Chaudhry realise someone is trying to provoke a race war that will split Britain's multi-cultural society asunder. But the real question is why?

By dealing with such contemporary and relevant contentious issues such as racial tension and xenophobia in such a full-on manner, Lidster demonstrates extraordinary bravery in his writing particularly since there is no fall back on the science fiction shield to put it all down to alien involvement. All the events of this play are down to human action and that is what makes it so disturbing. There are definite parallels between The Longest Night and Jonathan Blum's early Doctor Who play The Fearmonger (2000) as they are both about the way extremists can play upon hate of the unalike to promote their agenda of fear and mistrust. The sheer relentlessness of Lidster's story distinguishes it though as just when you think things cannot get any worse, they always do right up until the astonishing closing moments. This continued escalation of atrocities may have seemed very over the top were it not for the taut direction of Edward Salt who keeps everything in check so that it creates a monumentally stimulating and enthralling drama.

The story develops in two ways, mixing Dalton and Chaudhry's investigation in with scenes showing the government formulating its response to the deepening crisis and plenty of media scenes in-between to show the scale of the attack. This method is very successful at creating tension as UNIT make slow progress and the leadership from Downing Street indecisive as the Prime Minister receives conflicting counsel from his deputy, Meena Cartwright, and his chief press officer, Major Philip Kirby.

In what is either a masterstroke or the play's biggest mistake, Lidster chooses to reveal the story's villain in the opening scene of the play. With Kirby highlighted as the instigator of this "phase", the script can bring out the sort of issues it wants to deal with quickly by portraying him as the typical old-school right wing extremist who wants Britain for the British (a sentiment Lidster brilliantly undermines later with a cunning nod to Snake Head) with the desire to put the Great back into his country. While this means Kirby is a cliché, it's very disconcerting to see him manipulating those around him, ensuring that his method is the only choice available to the PM so he can secure his ultimate goal of "protecting" the country from those that seek to destroy it. Alternatively, it may have been more suspenseful had Kirby's agenda been hidden from us until later in the play as that way we would have been in the same position as the characters, not knowing why or where these threats had come from. Ultimately, it simply does not matter as the drama is so well realised.

Unlike Time Heals where the series of disasters felt like set pieces strung together in semblance of a plot, the attacks of The Longest Night have much more resonance emotionally and dramatically which is down to skilful characterisation that gives substance to the unfolding tragedies. One of the most memorable examples of this comes in the opening ten minutes of the play and involves one of the minor recurring characters, who finds himself involved in the explosion at the Vita Futurua club and its bloody aftermath. Lieutenant Hoffman hasn't been the most developed individual heard in the series but Robert Curbishely delivers a brilliant performance here. Hoffman's ultimate fate really convinces that UNIT as a series belongs with its darker compatriots like Dalek Empire rather than pigeonholed in the safer environments of things like Gallifrey and Professor Bernice Summerfield, showing that anything can happen and Lidster pushes the boundaries superbly making the conclusion very unpredictable and deliciously dangerous. Is this series brave enough to do what seems to happen at the end of this play? The enigmatic trailer for The Wasting, consisting almost entirely of clips from previous UNIT stories, is open to interpretation both ways...

Despite the script's emphasis on heavy thematic areas and strongly emotional drama, Lidster still has room for some humour which accentuates the believability of the characters - Emily's reply to her would be assassin's battle cry of "this is for my people" punctuates the tension nicely but is unrepeatable here. The use of more "colourful" language is certainly welcome for it marks this play out from its more Doctor Who centric rivals where it's totally taboo and again helps the realism as it's particularly plausible for soldiers to swear. Lidster also squeezes in some interesting little touches every now and then such as the reference to "Albion Hospital" which is surely the first direct reference to the new Doctor Who series in a Big Finish production while "a former Planet 3 journalist", who discovered the link between Kirby and another character, may very well be a certain Ms Smith...

Despite Lidster's tendency to focus on characterisation to the detriment of the plot in the past, his approach here is rather good as the engaging story helps the characters evolve. The easy banter between Dalton and Chaudhry in their first scene demonstrates their respect and how they're working on their friendship, despite unsubtle reminders of Dalton's temporary position due to his predecessor still being missing - it's funny how no one from the organisation seems to actually care about that otherwise they'd be making moves to find him! Lidster uses Dalton's status as the new guy well as his less entrenched position within UNIT means he can react with a detached, composed eye when Emily cannot as she's a much more passionate and emotive person (which makes comments about her being "cold" and "mysterious" later rather ... odd). It's also pleasing to see Lidster reviving the air of suspicion that plagued Dalton's abrupt arrival as chief commanding officer, making us question whether he is who he seems after all. Given what happens in the end, it's almost enough to make you feel quite ashamed for ever doubting the man.

As always, the cast make the drama what it is with the entire players being uniformly strong. The brilliant Siri O'Neal is especially commanding as Chaudhry, demonstrating her great resolve as she is put through the wringer and comes out stronger than ever with real steel in the confrontation with the retuning Andrea Winnington. These dramatic links back to The Coup again affirm the importance of that play within the series as a whole making it incongruous that new listeners will have to hunt down Doctor Who Magazine back issues to get their hands on it. Nicholas Deal is impressive once more showing Dalton's pride at being a soldier but one who's perspective has grown through his experiences. Deal's best scenes are during the closing moments of the play when Dalton is forced into a deadly situation and credit is due to the actor for making the scenes have such resonance.

Of the guest cast, Vineeta Rishi is the standout with her perceptive portrayal of deputy PM, Meena Cartwright, who herself falls victim to the destructive agenda at play here. Her death scene is astonishingly powerful in terms of how Rishi has convincingly made Meena into a likeable and sympathetic character but also the effect it has on the plot. Lidster uses it as a means to stoke up the fires further with even more tension, particularly as the death comes so suddenly. The stunned reaction of the watching media equally matched my own, as it was such a disturbing moment and yet tremendous drama too.

Steffan Rhodri gets away from the Galyari modulator to take on the role of the Prime Minister and it's an interesting part for him. This PM seems very confident that he's doing the right thing by signing the Euro-Combine treaty and making Britain part of a European Super State but as the devastation spirals and Kirby succeeds in isolating him, Rhodri does a credible job of showing a leader way out of his depth but still struggling to do the right thing. As Major Kirby, Johnson Willis convinces as the old fossil with beliefs and attitudes of a different time but knows when to underplay so as not to reinforce his clichéd views with a clichéd performance. While not perfect, it makes him an effective villainous presence that is disturbing due to the plausibility of how he worms his way into the heart of the British government and uses his position to manipulate others.

The biggest criticism levelled against the casting is that there is too much doubling up of actors in the small, incidental roles. This is unavoidable when dealing with these limited casts, big plot audio dramas - and it's infinitely preferable to the type of writing where characters interact with unheard bystanders - but sometimes during The Longest Night these familiar voices keep popping up again and prove distracting. The trick is to use actors who can vary their voice so they are not as distinct as their main characters, which isn't true here. It's particularly noticeable when one actor memorably portrays his character's death, but minutes later he's alive and well masquerading as a soggy political correspondent in Downing Street. Of course, it's not the same character but it is demonstrative of this noticeable flaw.

David Darlington's sound work is understated and lends a degree of authenticity to the realism of the drama. His use of the chimes of Big Ben (hasn't it been struck by an alien spaceship yet?) to signify the locale at the start is rather an easy shorthand, but he handles the action scenes well making the audio environment engaging enough to match the play. The music is pretty good too - dramatic, yet unobtrusive. The use of a remixed news theme from the one originally featured in the Sarah Jane Smith series, which Darlington also scored, helps to build a sense that all these spin-offs take place in the same universe, which was a nicely subtle touch.

The Longest Night is a shocking story that is provocative, powerful, thrilling and thoughtful. Lidster's script is by far the best he's written so far for Big Finish and all credit must go to him as well as Salt and the cast for realising it so magnificently. All the elements combine to makes this into an outstanding dramatic achievement. Snake Head may be the "quiet masterpiece" but it's The Longest Night that has made UNIT essential listening. Whether The Wasting will successfully capitalise upon this remains to be heard, this itself is certainly a drama that deserves all the acclaim it can get. Magnificent.