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Faces from the past will be coming to the aid of the Unified Intelligence Taskforce in Big Finish’s fourth UNIT box set, UNIT Assembled.

Richard Franklin, John Levene and Katy Manning will be reprising their roles as Mike Yates, John Benton and Jo Grant for the set, which sees the 21st century UNIT needing their assistance to deal with Homo reptilia.

“We went into our UNIT audio dramas with the aim of keeping them centred on the new series era of the organisation,” producer David Richardson explained. ‘But after two years of releases, the time has come to look fondly to the past… and when an old enemy threatens the world, Kate Stewart needs the help of her father’s colleagues.’

The old enemy in question is the Silurian race, here represented in their new series form and played by Richard Hope and Neve McIntosh (who worked together as Silurians in The Hungry Earth and Cold Blood).

“A hibernating population of reptiles has awoken,” Richardon reveals, “and their leader Jastrok has a very different plan for getting the world back and ridding it of the pesky apes.”

One episode in the box set also centres on the Sea Devils, as Jo Jones must try and fill the shoes of her Doctor in order to save the world. Nicholas Briggs, the voice of the Daleks, plays the Sea Devil leader Krellix.

“I’m so thrilled by this box set,” Richardson adds. “It’s a great big story but full of heart and loving references to the past – little Easter Eggs that will delight everyone who has seen the era of the Third Doctor. And it was wonderful to have such legends as Katy, John and Richard with us at the recording, acting together in those roles for the first time since 1974. For everyone involved, this was very special indeed.”

UNIT: Assembled is written by Matt Fitton and Guy Adams, and directed by Ken Bentley. A fifth disc in the box set features behind the scenes interviews with the cast and crew. The cover (revealed today) is by Tom Webster.