Call to Arms

"A Silurian never gives up the hunt."

Writer: Matt Fitton

Format: Audio

Released: May 2017

Series: UNIT: Assembled 01

Featuring: Kate, Osgood, Benton, Yates 

Synopsis

Mike Yates braves a stormy night in the Lakes to help celebrate a milestone for John Benton. An evening of fond reminiscences of old glories and friends awaits. But a long-buried past is about to catch up with them.

Meanwhile, on the rain-lashed moors, what begins as a routine mission for modern-day UNIT quickly becomes a fight for survival.

Verdict

Call to Arms was a lovely start to the Assembled anthology and fourth series of the modern-day UNIT adventures! It's a delightful idea to unite the teams of both the Classic and modern era and I think this was a sensible start as we just got a few of the main characters together, rather than an immediate cluster of everyone. The focus of Benton retiring and going off around the world with his wife was nice and I loved how he still maintained his obedience when Mike Yates showed up to share in the celebrations at Benton's pub. That setting was really great and I enjoyed the recollections of the days of old at UNIT during the 1970s and '80s. Anne and Terry added some nice depth to the history of UNIT and seeing how passionate the latter was regarding his feelings for the former was an unexpected turn of events. The arrival of the Silurians and the modern UNIT team was excellent and the prospect of a chase was very exciting. That's essentially what the whole adventure was about and I think it worked really well. I really liked Jastrok as a central villain figure for the Silurians and I'm sure I am going to enjoy him more as the series goes on. He filled the role of Grand Marshall brilliantly and his distain towards other parties of Silurians and their triad politics was really intriguing. The way he was so obviously in charge was impressive and it was clear that he garnered respect from the warriors who served him. I was a little surprised by his actions at the end in sacrificing a sleeping clan of Silurians to make UNIT think that their enemy had been wiped out but they would be regrouping and would strike in the near future. Jastrok's plan was in full fruition with his control over Burmaster. Osgood was terrific throughout and I loved how she was likened to the Doctor. I'm sure if there were visuals she would have been blushing. Her reminiscing of Classic adventures was fantastic and when Josh arrived, the idea of comparing Auton stories was fantastic. The reference to Doctor Who and the Silurians was excellent and I liked how that sparked some lovely memories of the Brigadier. How wonderful it would have been for him to appear here. The way Osgood utilised her information to use fire against the Silurians was very good for the explosion, but of course the Silurians were one step ahead. The prospect of Benton and Yates going to the Tower of London and seeing modern UNIT was wonderful and I look forward to the next audio! Overall, a great start!

The Silurians

Rating: 8/10