The Longest Night

UNIT #3

Released: March 2005

Listened: 3/25/23

Now things really ramp up between UNIT and ICIS, with the whole of England caught in the crossfire. The PM is about to sign a treaty creating greater integration between the UK and Europe, which is met with mixed reactions (and this story was a good decade before Brexit). A group of extremists carry out terrorist bombings throughout London and the rest of England, done in such a way that immigrants appear to be responsible, although in fact they aren’t. Chaudhry and Dalton are out for the evening after their adventure in Southend, and Hoffman is at a club that gets bombed. Since that uses up all the UNIT characters with speaking roles, UNIT is remarkably ineffective in mounting a response, and it’s not even their jurisdiction anyway. But it’s Chaudhry and a reporter friend who figure out that the terrorists are using the media to stir up racial unrest, which works like a charm. Of course ICIS is in the middle of it, although it’s not clear whether it’s the organization itself or a few individuals who’ve gone rogue and tried to seize power. The adult content in this one is more violence and language than anything else. While justified by events, there are some words used that you won’t hear elsewhere in Doctor Who. And the body count is ridiculous, not just random Londoners, but also named characters and members of government. The racism behind the story is brutal, and I wish I could say unrealistic, but it really isn’t. The three stories so far have seemed kind of disconnected, without a thematic or plot thread. We’ll see if that continues.