Hostile Universe: Rise of the Valiant

"A sky that should be full of stars."

Writer: Andrew Smith

Format: Audio

Released: April 2026

Series: UNIT: Eras 1.01

Featuring: Brigadier, Harry

Synopsis

2008. The Earth has been stolen and planets fill the sky.

With the Doctor otherwise engaged, it falls to UNIT's finest – Colonel Mace, Harry Sullivan, and the retired Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart – to take the fight back to the Daleks. Because deep in the Brazilian rainforest, a secret weapon with a familiar name is waiting. And it's ready to fly.

Verdict

Rise of the Valiant was a great start to the Hostile Universe debut series of UNIT: Eras! I am delighted by the announcement of this series as it's such a strong idea because the history of UNIT is vast and given how quickly and drastically eras in Doctor Who change, that is also trickled down to the Unified Intelligence Taskforce. It's a wonderful concept that has so much potential because we can easily now revise the UNIT of the Brave New World range or even touch upon the organisation as we saw it in Aliens of London/World War Three. I'm very excited and I'm quite surprised that this one is a download only. I'm more than accustomed with that arrangement now as whilst I would prefer a physical release also, I'm not going to shake my head at more content like this! I love the concept behind this one because having an episode take place concurrently during the events of The Stolen Earth is a tremendous idea! It's great to also actually get to hear the Brigadier on one of his whacky missions in a foreign country and it just seems amazing to get a story with him and Harry that's set in 2008! That feels like it shouldn't be possible as even by Battlefield the Brigadier was Bambera but twenty years later and he's still going strong despite claims of retirement. We know from Enemy of the Bane that he'll never truly stop being the Brigadier and that's part of his charm here. Although it's a terrible thing to question but given the visuals of his mobility in that Sarah Jane Adventures story, I'm not sure his mobility in this episode matches. But who am I to know, truly? The setting switching from Peru initially to Brazil was excellent as it's not often we get an adventure in South America! I think that's great and then the familiar events we saw on screen started to happen here. What a place for the Brigadier and Harry to see the Earth moved and the stars disappear to be replaced by planets. I like how despite their careers, this is still a monumental thing to occur and the Brig deduces pretty quickly that it's planet Earth that has moved rather than the planets they can see. The moment their phones start to call the familiar number of Martha Jones was magnificent too and I loved how we could envision the events of this story matching up with what we saw on screen as the Children of Time slowly assembled. I think it's magnificent how after initially seeking to exterminate the Brigadier, he was then chosen to be brought alive to the Crucible at the behest of the Supreme Dalek! He absolutely deserved his spot as he has history with the Daleks so he knows the threat provided here. Extermination was a very real possibility! I thought Colonel Mace returning after a big success in The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky was terrific and it was really strong continuity to have the Brig aware of that. The reveal of a whole new Valiant being created here was good and the fact that Zara turned out to be the traitor wasn't a big shock as that's one of the downfalls of that kind of plot device with such a small cast. There are only so many options for who it could be. It did through provide a heroic moment for the Brigadier as it appeared he was going to sacrifice himself against her and the Daleks taking the Valiant with him, but it was actually Mace who filled that role having already been fatally wounded. Some way to go out! Things weren't fixed and the Brigadier knew now that the Doctor would be involved with the Martha call, but there was still a long way to go. Time was bought, and in Brazil that's pretty much all the Brigadier could do! Overall, a very strong start to what looks to be a great series! 

Rating: 8/10