Visitants: Haunt

"Ghosts aren't science."

Writer: Lizzie Hopley

Format: Audio

Released: December 2022

Series: UNIT: Brave New World 2.02

Featuring: Bambera

Synopsis

Bambera joins Rix on an excursion up north to investigate strange goings on at the abandoned Greensands Hotel. Are local legends true that the hotel is haunted by a murderous bogeyman known as Baghead, or is there a more down-to-earth explanation? The only way to uncover the truth is to stay in the hotel overnight, but their digging into the building's past has awoken something that would have been better left alone.

Verdict

Haunt was an excellent episode to continue my way through the Visitants second series of UNIT's Brave New World! This was perhaps my favourite of the entire spinoff range so far and that might just be because of how different it felt. The atmosphere was completely different from the Brave New World episodes we have had so far and that was a big bonus. It was refreshing. I liked the move up north and whilst Savarin was very much on the back burner for this story, Rix was allowed to shine. She was almost obsessed with the legend of the Greensands Hotel which was fascinating and it really did feel like a kind of unsolved mysteries vibe. That was tremendous stuff. Rix convincing Bambera to stay overnight was quite fun and you could tell that the Brigadier wasn't all that interested in staying over. One night was bad enough and with breakfast promised, Rix did manage to persuade her. She wasn't putting a whole lot of effort into her tape recordings and I found it amusing that considering the organisation she is Brigadier of and the history of what they have encountered, that she was so willing to disregard the potential of a haunted hotel. The way she just shunned off all of the evidence was amusing. She had an answer for everything as well! Distorted sound? An already recorded on tape? She wasn't accepting that there was anything wrong at play. I could have got frustrated by this because of her position and the assumed intelligence and experience to reach that role, but it was just reminiscent of Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart when he was Brigadier. He would never believe what the Doctor saw as the obvious when it came to alien involvement. I liked that subtle way of paying homage. Taking UNIT up north was good and I liked that Rix felt a little more at home. She really did shine in this episode. The science behind the haunted hotel was fun to explore and it was something which Bambera couldn't understand. Their dynamic was great throughout the story! I thought we might have gotten something more to follow up the cliffhanger at the end of the The Frequency last time out, but it wasn't coming. Maybe there'll be a follow up in the finale to explain? I thought the rituals being in play was very intriguing and I really liked the moment that Rix and Bambera recreated the one of Clare Yale's. The emergence of Baghead was very interesting and I liked the history behind him. Rix being questioned on why she was listening to the audio recordings confirmed there was something more at play, and Bambera being convinced that Climber was still alive was something I really enjoyed. I liked that she was correct and the whole concept of the MP's involvement felt like it was coming. But it wasn't any less of a pay off with the animated corpse. It was quite the image being painted. I thought the change of attitude by Lantern Construction at the end was decent as they would create a memorial on the site instead of their initial plans, and the animation that was Baghead was defeated and destroyed. That was perhaps slightly too easily, but I could appreciate everything that was being done in the episode. It was unique, had a chilled feeling and kept me engaged throughout. I also really appreciated the radio inserts! They were a thing of art that helped with the different feel of the story. Overall, a tremendous listen! 

Rating: 9/10