UNIT Dating

Stranded #2.2

Released: 10 March 2021

Listened: 1/1/22

This is the standout story of the set, to my mind, with a beautiful pun title. It’s time to get Ron and Tony’s secret out in the open. The Doctor can’t seem to leave well enough alone, so he wants to take the TARDIS on a short trip, just back a few decades, and he invites Andy along, for no particularly compelling reason. His plan is to jump back to just before the Third Doctor’s exile was lifted and borrow his notes on repairing the TARDIS, and maybe a component or two. Big Finish had just started using John Culshaw to play the Brigadier at this point, and he was popping up in all sorts of unexpected series. There’s no sign of Tim Treloar or Katy Manning, though. The Doctor and Andy bluff their way into the UNIT facility at the Tower of London using the Doctor’s old passes, and discover that younger versions of Ron and Tony are both working there, as a soldier and a scientist, respectively. Andy tries to provide a distraction, but flubs it colossally, spilling all kinds of future info. Lucky for him, there’s an Ogron with a primitive time machine who keeps kicking events into a loop. Meanwhile, in the present in Baker Street, Tony is starting to show signs of memory problems, but doesn’t want to see a doctor, so Ron asks Liv if she can help. Tony’s memories of the day Ron first asked him out are changing on him, because the Doctor is messing around with them in the past. That raises an interesting question of whether this is happening because of the Ogron’s time machine, because the TARDIS is busted, or if it happens every time the Doctor changes history, to random people, and he’s never noticed before. A time loop story is always fun, but the heart of the story is in Tony and Ron’s interactions. Tony feels uncomfortable as a scientist working for the military, and being gay makes things worse, given the time period. Ron struggles with his identity as a soldier, and his inability to ask Tony out. It’s all very realistic and sad, the way neither of them can say how they feel, especially contrasted with the present-day versions, who care for each other deeply. Fortunately, the Brig proves to be very open-minded for his era. The Doctor also gets a nice chat with the Brig, which allows him to express the appreciation that his third self won’t. (Although he tries to steal the Third Doctor’s sonic screwdriver, he doesn’t get away with it.) It’s a very strongly emotional story on all fronts.