Axos has been freed from the time loop, and is plotting to drain Earth’s energy. Without the Doctor’s help to stop the powerful space parasite, UNIT are forced to rely on a multi-personality renegade Time Lord... known as the Eleven. UNIT Chief Kate Stewart and her squad now have to confront her father's past foe.
3.1 The Vulpreen Encounter by Andrew Smith When a forty-mile-long asteroid drifts into the solar system, Osgood and new UNIT recruit Lt Jimmy Tan are sent to investigate on board the newly-built UK spaceship Starseeker. Kate Stewart visits a UNIT safe house in Norway where Jacqui McGee is recovering from the trauma of her experiences at the hands of the Vulpreen. She needs Jacqui’s help against the Vulpreen threat - but can she be trusted?
3.2 By Jacqui Mcgee by Lisa Mcmullin As Kate Stewart and the UNIT team race to escape a Vulpreen assassination squad, Jacqui McGee uploads the most important report of her career. Vulpreen Commander Krillen is coordinating a hostile operation across planet Earth. But are the Vulpreen planning an immediate attack, or do they have something more sinister in mind?
3.3 Axos Unleashed by Katharine Armitage With the threat of a Vulpreen invasion imminent, a new menace presents itself in the shape of golden humanoids. A foe from UNIT's past. Axos has escaped the Time trap it was placed in years before and has returned to feed off the Earth.
3.4 Time of the Vulpreen by Roland Moore UNIT coordinates a worldwide response to the arrival of Vulpreen Arches around the globe. Troops stand ready to face the invaders. Kate Stewart and Osgood form an uneasy alliance with the Eleven to destroy the time fields that protect each Arch and which are being used as a devastating weapon by the Vulpreen. But when the invasion starts, the odds may be stacked too heavily against them.
If I was to sum up this box set in a few words: fun, action run-around with lots of explosions and heroic battles.
I liked what they did with shining a light at the mental anguish Jackie McGee is suffering and having Kate interact with her and trying to build on the previous relationship. You could really feel the mental torture Jackie went through, so one of the key decisions of Jackie in this story line perfectly makes sense.
Otherwise, the stories are exactly what I expected them to be, nice exiting run-around, lots of last minute high stakes travel all around the globe, plots and counter plots, ending in a nail-biting cliffhanger.
Absolutely great performances by some very enthusiastic actors who really dive into their roles. Well done. This range continues to be engaging, fun and an audio action blockbuster. And I also have to repeat again that BF is doing an awesome job with the sound design. Top notch.
Of course, if you wanted to be nitpicky, there are a few things that make no sense and the invading aliens appear a bit too one-dimensional, but every action movie needs some cardboard goons to blow up. My sci-fi pet peeve is also back, with aliens from outer space speaking perfect English- I know, Doctor Who is notorious for that, but here, we do not even have a Tardis. But at a guess, if not done like that, we would be faced with listening to an unreasonable amount of gibberish.
Story 1: A really interesting Deepdale into Jacqui and a fun space romp at the same time, enjoyed this a lot 4.5/5 Story 2: Follows on directly from the previous and although it has some very key moments for this series I wasn't as much of a fan as the previous episode. I thought the ending was done really well however 4/5 Story 3: The Axos are back and they were a lot of fun! I liked how they were dealt with and the way the team worked through this situation based on everything going on 4/5 Story 4: Fine ending to the boxset that was enjoyable but not anything particularly special or different. 3/5
The third set of episodes in this season-length story feels more tightly bound than the previous ones - a single story all the way through, rather than four separate ones. The focus is on the initial stages of the invasion that the previous two sets were leading up to and the continuous thread keeps things moving at a rapid pace, the threat escalating as it does so.
As in the two previous sets, one of the four episodes deals with a 'classic' monster, rather than the arc villains. (It should be obvious which one from the cover). Even here, however, it's a direct part of the larger story, rather than an add-on to bulk things out. To anyone coming into this solely from the modern series, it will be new, but it's sufficiently explained that this shouldn't be an issue, and no real knowledge of the original is required.
Other than that, we have a story that hops about across the globe and beyond. Despite being a UNIT story, some of the sections take place in outer space - some of the science here is ropey, but not enough to be distracting and nothing out of the ordinary for the TV show, either. Significant sections take place in Norway, Canada, and China, albeit with the former two in wilderness areas that might as well be anywhere. (And, as a note, that's not how you pronounce 'Qing').
Along the way there are some major changes to the line-up, plenty of action sequences and perilous escapes and generally the sorts of things you'd expect from a military-themed spinoff. The collection ends on a cliffhanger, but given that it's part three of a four-part series, that's hardly unexpected.
It was . . . okay. I liked it. But I did think that the Axos subplot was a big distraction to the arc. It was as if the Vulpreen invasion was conveniently put on hold while the UNIT crew dealt with the Axons. And the Vulpreen kindly waited for that resolution before continuing with their invasion.