The Longest Night

"We're all the same to you."

Writer: Joseph Lidster
Format: Audio
Released: March 2005
Series: UNIT 1.03

Featuring: Emily, Dalton

Synopsis

'We interrupt this broadcast...'

Having survived a day at the seaside, Robert Dalton and Emily Chaudhry are enjoying a few pints...

Having spent the day answering the phone and praying for some action, Will Hoffman is enjoying a night out...

Having signed a controversial new European treaty, the Prime Minister is on his way back to Downing Street...

Having survived yet another day, the people of Britain are settling down to eat dinner, stay in, go out, spend time with their friends... '...we're receiving reports that...'

It's just another ordinary evening in the United Kingdom... '...a bomb has exploded in Central London...'

Verdict

The Longest Night was another superb audio adventure from the UNIT spinoff series! Well, after a somewhat poor start we really are onto bigger and better things with another brilliant story. I really liked the feel of this one and placing it in the modern day with real life issues was fantastic and gave it a unique feel in the Doctor Who universe. There was not quite any alien threat or supernatural being, nor anything to do with time travel, this was just your normal modern day adventure and that is why it worked so well. I really liked Emily and Dalton together again as I think they really do make a good and impressive pairing and I was keen for their relationship to develop further in the finale. His presumed death was a big shock and it shows just how creditable a threat ICIS are. The use of terrorism was very strong in this story and the idea behind getting Muslims blamed for London bombings is quite controversial, but I guess this was broadcast at a time before the 7/7 Bombings so they probably got away with it quite easily. A story based around racial tension and hatred is a touchy subject though, and I did feel that they dealt with things well here considering the issue at hand. The politics involved with the inclusions of several top ranking politicians was very good and the moment where the Deputy Prime Minister shot herself was shocking! It was live camera and she was doing it for 'her people', a phrase brought up on a number of occasions in this story, and I was interested to know more about why ordinary British people were blowing themselves up and taking their immediate surroundings with them. It was quite unexpected and a little bit mind-blowing for a Doctor Who universe story, especially considering this came before Torchwood. The news coverage this got was extensive and one thing that did intrigue me was how the chronology would fit with Aliens of London/World War Three given that this must have been set somewhere before those events but in 2005. There is not a lot of room at all for leeway and whilst in a universe as extensive as the Doctor Who one, trying to make everything fit is impossible and there are many contradictions, but I do think there was something of an effort to keep things in line here. It just about worked with a little bit of leeway so that was a positive. The return of Andrea Whittington was very good and a nice throwback to The Coup where all this started and learning of her past with Kirby was terrific. Finding out that she was his daughter and he'd used her as a sleeper agent in ICIS was fantastic and a really good twist. Her reaction to finding out was great but he maintained his cool and calm demeanour even when in UNIT custody, and we found out at the cliffhanger finish why. He was hiding and bomb that was on the verge of detonation. We'd already experienced the damage possible by one with Hoffman perishing in emotional circumstances and the moment he had to watch his date get killed was just horrid. I'm sure his death will be felt in the next episode and I look forward to seeing how the Prime Minister's directive for Marshall Law and ICIS being on the streets is handled. Overall, another brilliant story!

Rating: 9/10