Cyber-Reality: Telepresence

"Mind over matter."

Writer: Guy Adams

Format: Audio

Released: May 2018

Series: UNIT 6.02

Featuring: Kate, Osgood

Synopsis

Testing salvaged equipment, Osgood leads Colonel Shindi and Josh Carter on a strange expedition into uncharted territory. A virtual world. When the team is attacked, Kate tries to assist. But it seems the technology itself is doing all it can to keep her apart from her people.

Verdict

Telepresence was another excellent audio adventure to continue the Cyber-Reality sixth series of UNIT! I really enjoyed the immediate follow on this had from Game Theory and I'm a huge fan of the whole virtual reality and gaming theme that is encompassing this series. I don't think it's going to come as any huge surprise when the culprits are revealed given the title of the anthology and the artwork, but the little hints that were given here to what I suspect is Cyberman involvement were terrific. There was also some magnificent continuity with Kate explaining how she and Osgood were on the same forte as The Sea Devils and their first encounter. That was really nice and Osgood having to stop in her tracks and take that information in was superb. I liked the use of VR and the idea of it being a means to a bridge to another universe is really intriguing. That's technology on an incredible scale but it absolutely works for me, and I think it's a great use of the audio format given the lack of visuals which would be incredibly difficult to create convincingly on screen. Instead, it's all left to our imagination and that was something strong running through the episode. With the use of the headsets, Osgood, Josh and Shindi embarked on an exploration of the VR universe expect they were experience total immersion which was fascinating. It was difficult to try and get to grips with the concept, but one's mind was in the other universe whereas their body was not. However, the extra inclusion that pain was caused by the brain was fun because that meant they were still very vulnerable and could interact with the parallel universe despite not physically being there. Osgood cottoning on quick to using imagination to their advantage was excellent as anything you imagined could happen. Sam's role in events worked well and there were definitely some after effects from his experiences last time out. He was hearing a Cyber sounding voice in his head talking about data transfer and being a candidate, something I'm sure we'll get answers to in the next two stories. The threat of the mutated dogs was fine and I enjoyed the amount of action we had in the adventure. It was certainly exciting! Sam supposedly being the link for the Hive and the Network getting stronger definitely provided a sense that we were building towards something big. Kate being unable to pull the trio out despite setting a one hour limit was really good, and it was clear that the humans of this parallel Earth weren't responsible for the headsets. It was parallel, but they weren't so far advanced! Playing around with dimension bridge technology was exciting and Osgood and Shindi getting converted within the VR was a hugely unexpected twist! The advanced troops were marching in an ending akin to Army of Ghosts as the Hive awakened, and this left Kate with no choice. Her duty was to Earth and its people so to break the link she seemingly shot Osgood and Shindi dead in an almighty cliffhanger! Overall, a fantastic adventure! 

Rating: 9/10