Time Heals

Yeah, the first true audio of UNIT was pretty disappointing in my eyes. I did appreciate the time and attention put into introducing us to the new UNIT crew, and it is very clear they are giving this a feeling of passing the torch from the Brigadier to these new characters. That makes sense, even if it isn't the most exciting use of the Brigadier.

The story itself could be interesting as experiments by two men named Meade and Kelly begin causing havok through a number of strange phenomenon. The audio does a good job showcasing it here and there, but also has references to events I had trouble picturing, like an oil tanker appearing in a retirement home and exploding. It's just weird, and the special effects are barely able to live up to such shenanigans. Worse still, I found the music very dry and repetitive, even if it was clearly evoking the Third Doctor era.

Still, I enjoyed the new UNIT characters enough. It really feels like someone missing without that outsider rebel role that usually the Doctor fills. The political officer Emily Chaudhry is pretty good as she doesn't really fit in with the normal sense of rank and file - willing to talk back to her new superior officer - but this only goes so far in knocking off this persistent feeling I have that this is such a pro-authoritarianism show compared to the usual Doctor Who content, even back when the Doctor was firmly working with UNIT, that it is hard to ignore that side of things. Our characters at one point shoot in the air to disperse a crowd and are pretty thoroughly militarized. They aren't bad characters, but not really the type I'd be eager to permanently follow, either.

While the Brigadier is always a treat, he doesn't have a lot to do here. I also found the dialogue and character work around Kelly and Meade really lacking. Some of their scenes were just so painful to get through. All told, while it wasn't a terrible experience, it was hardly great either. I can see why this take of the UNIT series didn't really have much longevity besides this initial series as best as I can tell, though these characters wouldn't exactly be unwelcome in future stories and cameos, either. They have moments to them, like at the very end when Dalton first starts reading UNIT files and learns about the events of Inferno and The Web of Fear. That was really cool and a great starting point for his character.

I was initially a little more optimistic about this series with The Coup, but after listening to Time Heals I'm a lot less enthusiastic. I will have to see how I feel about the rest of the series as this is entirely new territory for me.