"Now there's no Doctor, who can stop us?!" "The Brig's daughter?" "Crap."

Try and think of a definitive list of ... well, I don't want to say the greatest Doctor Who stories ever, but... ah, the ones that are impossible to hate, the ones that every single fan not only needs to watch but loves to watch, and ones that never get old. In that list is more than likely the uniquely brilliant Spearhead From Space. Everybody already knows every single reason why this is a classic, so I'll just give you a question: what would happen if you tried to remake it into an awesome, action-packed, Holmes-honouring three hour movie in the new series..... without the Doctor? You get Big Finish's first true foray into the new series toy-box...

And OH FOR THE LOVE OF RASSILON am I late for this...

UNIT: THE NEW SERIES REVIEW

SERIES 1: EXTINCTION
By Jack Ryan

BEWARE: THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK

One thing that I, and others, like about the new series is the show's portrayal of UNIT. No longer are they the swapping help-hindrance of the Third Doctor era, now they have moved into the 21st century, becoming an effective force against the regular alien occurrences and moving towards peaceful reconciliation rather than all guns blazing, with last year's The Zygon Invasion/Inversion two-parter not just showing their growth and development within the series but also showing that if needs be they can operate near perfectly without the Doctor's assistance. Speaking of which....

UNIT. The UNified Intelligence Taskforce. Since its inception in the late 1960's, it has remained the unbreakable force on the front line of continuous alien invasions. With the assistance of their scientific adviser, the Time Lord known as The Doctor, UNIT have seen off Daleks, Cybermen, Axons, Zygons, The Master and all manner of space thuggery. Now operating in the twenty-first century, UNIT have helped to defend the Earth from menaces such as the Sycorax, the Sontarans, and an invasion of Cubes. But a new threat is facing UNIT as technology entrepreneur, Simon Devlin, announces a new revolutionary 3-D printer, to be made available to everyone for rock-bottom prices. But Kate Stewart, Osgood and the rest of UNIT soon discover the truth behind Devlin's fascination with plastic. The Nestenes have returned; bigger, smarter, and out for revenge...

When it comes to writing for UNIT, Big Finish have a bit of helpful history, with a successful 2005 miniseries staring the late Nicholas Courtney and David Tennant, and then a critically acclaimed 7th Doctor miniseries featuring recurring companions Elizabeth Klein and Raine Creevey and a new incarnation of the Master. The main, and obvious, difference with this boxset , however, was that not only was it set during the new series, but it was using characters established in the new series and that could still appear in the show itself. Despite this slight but notable restriction, everybody involved in this set got behind it with great enthusiasm and vigour. And it certainly shows...

Taking on the challenge of writing this epic tale is split between BF regulars, Matt Fitton and Andrew Smith, taking on two episodes each. Fitton's opening episode, Vanguard, is a perfect introduction to not just the range, but the world and wider cast of characters shown in the range, and lays the building blocks for the set's climax. The following episode, Andrew Smith's Earthfall, continues Fitton's set up of the world and plot and also Showcases UNIT's worldwide operations in peace-keeping, adding in the last few characters setting everything up for the next two episodes. The last two, Smith's Bridgehead and Fitton's Armageddon, are perfectly set up akin to a modern series two parter, with Smith constructing excellent build-up and a brilliant cliffhanger, and Fitton delivering a thrilling and exciting climax, which gives everyone their time to shine.

Speaking of, the cast of this set is nothing short of phenomenal. Crossing the waves from TV to audio are UNIT's new heads, Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, played by the brilliant Jemma Redgrave, and her scientific adviser, Doctor-fanatic Petronella Osgood, played perfectly and amazingly by Ingrid Oliver. Joining them are the brilliant James Joyce as Captain Josh Carter, Warren Brown as Lt. Sam Bishop and The Prisoner's Ramon Tikaram as Colonel Shindi, rounding off UNIT's main crew. Alongside are the likes of Tracy Wiles as journalist Jacqui McGee, Steve John Shepard as tech entrepreneur Simon Devlin and, um who else.... Oh some little person call Nick Briggs. Has he been in something? I don't know.

Despite that, every last member of the cast performs fantastically. And accompanying them in the realms of fantastic performance is the music and sound design of this set, mastered once again by the impeccable talents of Howard Carter, who takes what little music there was for UNIT in the new series and pulls out a variety of epic and amazing compositions, not least of all his epic theme tune for the range, blasting into the ears with such vigour and epicness, it's hard not to want to grin inanely.

All the way back in March 2015, this was announced as Big Finish's first foray into New Series territory without having to be held by the hand, and judging by the quality of this, it's not hard at all to imagine why the chaps have been able to work on the likes of Strax, River Song, Churchill, The War Doctor, even the Tenth Doctor. It all started somewhere, and for UNIT's new endeavours, let alone Big Finish's New Series work, this is the perfect beginning to it all...

VERDICT: 5/5 Chaps with the microphones there, five rounds rapid. Rounds of applause that is. ;D