Silenced: The House of Silents
A mysterious house on Hampstead Heath is housing something UNIT has never seen… But how do you arm yourself against something you can't remember?
Website: https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/unit-silenced-house-of-silents-2302
58 mins. Full cast.
This story is the first in the collection Silenced (https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/unit-silenced-1210) and was made available for free as a standalone.
House of Silents follows on from the events of Season 6 – a generation later in-universe, so perhaps a decade or so later. This time we see it from the perspective of UNIT, with Osgood and Kate Stewart taking center stage. This story delves into the nature of the Silents, casting them as an intelligent species driven to desperation, but this chapter of the story offers no resolution, only buying time.
I've always been fascinated by the psychotropic effects of the Silents. For those who don't know (or have forgotten…), the Silents were humanoid creatures, always sharply dressed for some reason, who erase themselves from human working memory. Turn around, and you'll ever forget you saw it. In this story, though, they almost seem like… stray cats (!). While they seem slightly robbed of their fearsomeness here, it doesn't take too much away from the action.
Nevertheless, I enjoy the UNIT stories, especially the dynamic between Kate Stewart and Osgood; a monster so inextricably linked with UNIT is naturally the best way to explore those relationships.