UNIT Dating (audio story)

UNIT Dating
Doctor:	Eighth Doctor
Companion(s):	Andy
Featuring:	The Brig, Ron, Tony, Liv, Helen
Main enemy:	Gron
Main setting:	107 Baker Street, 2020 UNIT HQ, 20th century
Key crew
Publisher:	Big Finish Productions
Writer:	Roy Gill
Director:	Ken Bentley
Producer:	David Richardson
Music:	Jamie Robertson
Sound:	Benji Clifford
Release details
Number of parts:	1
Release number:	2.2
Part of:	Stranded 2
Release date:	10 March 2021
Format:	1 CD Download 2nd of 4 stories
Production code:	BFPDWCDMG049
ISBN:	ISBN 978-1-83868-167-8 (physical) ISBN 978-1-83868-168-5 (digital)
Stranded
← Previous	Dead Time
Next →	Baker Street Irregulars

UNIT Dating was the second story in the audio anthology Stranded 2, produced by Big Finish Productions. It was written by Roy Gill and featured Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor, Nicola Walker as Liv Chenka, Hattie Morahan as Helen Sinclair, Tom Price as Andy Davidson and Jon Culshaw as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart.

Publisher's summary

When the Doctor dips into his past to help the TARDIS repairs in the present, Andy joins him on a trip to UNIT. In the 1970s, young soldier Ron Winters has just met lab assistant Tony Clare. But in 2020, they need Liv and Helen’s help when their memories start falling apart...

Plot

to be added

Cast

• The Doctor - Paul McGann
• Liv Chenka - Nicola Walker
• Helen Sinclair - Hattie Morahan
• Sergeant Andy Davidson - Tom Price
• Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart / Gron - Jon Culshaw
• Ron Winters - David Shaw-Parker
• Tony Clare - Jeremy Clyde
• Ron Winters - Oscar Batterham
• Tony Clare - Ewan Goddard

Worldbuilding

Individuals

• Jo Grant is mentioned several times. The Doctor gives Andy her UNIT lanyard, later Andy pretends to be "Joseph Grant", and Ron Winters tells Tony Clare that she was "lots of fun" and "popular with the soldiers".
• Helen has a brother called Albert who was arrested for homosexuality and disowned by their father.

Sexuality

• Helen says homosexuality was legalised in the UK in 1967.
• Liv says that Helen's brother's interest in men made him gay, bisexual or pansexual.

Unified Intelligence Taskforce

• UNIT already has their underground base in the Tower of London in the 1970s.

Music

• Ron and Tony's favorite band is Ziggy Zigford and the Zigsters, who wrote the song Wizards of the Universe.

Notes

• The story's title is a reference to the UNIT dating controversy.
• From the Brigadier's perspective, this story is set anywhere between Day of the Daleks and The Three Doctors, with the Eighth Doctor implying a setting shortly before the latter.

Continuity

• Andy has mixed feelings on pterodactyls. (TV: Everything Changes, et al.)
• The Doctor recalls meeting a pterodactyl in the London Underground and hitting it with a mop. (TV: Invasion of the Dinosaurs)
• The TARDIS is still unable to travel in space. (AUDIO: Dead Time)
• The Eighth Doctor talks about the Time Lords' lifting the Third Doctor's exile and aims to arrive shortly before this. (TV: The Three Doctors)
• The Doctor and Andy visit UNIT's base in the Tower of London. (TV: The Christmas Invasion, et al.)
• Liv describes her past relationships as having "timing malfunctions". (TV: Doctor Who, AUDIO: A Life in the Day)
• The Brigadier says there are Ogrons still on Earth. (TV: Day of the Daleks)
• The Doctor says that mechanical ravens at the Tower of London used to be clockwork. (TV: The Day of the Doctor)
• The Doctor talks about UNIT's unusual dating system. (TV: The Day of the Doctor)
• Andy still has his PlayStation console. (AUDIO: Ghost Mission)
• One of the times he introduces himself to the Brigadier, the Doctor says he’s “not the one you were expecting.” (TV: The Night of the Doctor)

External links

• Official UNIT Dating page at bigfinish.com