U.N.I.T. On Call (webcast)

U.N.I.T. On Call was a Doctor Who: Lockdown! webcast released in November 2020, tying in with the tweetalong of TV: Turn Left.
It featured Jon Culshaw voicing Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart (licensed from the Haisman Estate) as well as the Third Doctor, and the return of Katy Manning to the part of Jo Grant in a video story. It was also notable for featuring a performance by writer and producer Emily Cook.
== Publisher's summary ==
As COVID-19 continues to threaten the world, one Doctor Who fan makes a special call for help…
== Plot ==
After finishing an episode of Doctor Who, a fan decides to call UNIT, and an operator puts her on hold. After a short while, the operator informs the fan to keep on waiting. Finally, she gets in contact with the Third Doctor. The Doctor asks why the fan is calling, and she responds by saying she's from the future.
The fan tells the Doctor about the toll COVID-19 is having on everyone, and the Doctor consoles her. The Brigadier then enters the conversation, saying that UNIT can handle the situation, but the fan tells him that UNIT has been suspended, and that's why she called. The Brigadier is outraged at the fate of UNIT, and then Jo pleads to the Doctor for him to help. The Doctor responds by telling the fan to remain positive in spite of all the hardships, and Jo corroborates this with some sage advice, based upon her experiences with the Doctor.
The Brigadier reaffirms this, and then he and Jo disconnect, leaving the Doctor and the fan to talk privately. The Doctor imparts some final kind words, and he too disconnects from the call. A mysterious caller then applauds the Doctor, Jo, and the Brigadier, saying he couldn't have it better. He says it's worth an afternoon tea break, suggesting some Jammie Dodgers. He then comes up with an idea for a Doctor Who story, "who's for a brew", and promptly disconnects after saying he'll share it with Barry. The fan contentedly sighs, picks up a cup of tea and some Jammy Dodgers for herself, and puts on another episode of Doctor Who.
== Cast ==
* Doctor Who Fan - Emily Cook
* Third Doctor, Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, & Terrance Dicks - Jon Culshaw
* UNIT On Hold Voice-Over - Marisa Clarke
* Jo Grant - Katy Manning
Thanks to The Haisman Estate
== Crew ==
* Written by - Emily Cook and Jon Culshaw
* Produced & Edited by - Emily Cook
* Doctor Who Theme - Ron Grainer & BBC Radiophonic Workshop
== Worldbuilding ==
=== The Doctor ===
* Regarding her phone call from the future, the Doctor notes that he had noticed some "odd signals of interstitial irregularities".
* The Doctor was first in the Academy in jiggery pokery.
* The Doctor tells the fan that Corona Virus Disease 2019 will be later known as COVID-19.
* The fan tells the Doctor that the virus is "locking down our countries and our cities, and keeps invading all of our lives".
* The Doctor mentions that soon humanity will return to the moon, venture onto Mars, and will send probes to Europa and discover its inhabitants, the Poldrantiax.
* When saying goodbye to the fan, the Doctor says "Allons-y, Geronimo, and such".
=== UNIT ===
* When the fan asks which year specifically the Doctor is in, he mentions it's "a very difficult decade for UNIT".
* The Brigadier claims no call to arms or military operations can defeat a virus of [that] kind.
=== Music ===
* "Java" by Bert Kaempfert & His Orchestra is playing as the holding music to U.N.I.T..
=== Technology ===
* The fan uses a TV remote to switch off the television.
* The fan uses an iPhone to call UNIT through time was at first met by the automatic voice-over along with on-hold music, eventually getting through to the Third Doctor, the Brigadier and Jo Grant via a 4-way call through time. Eventually, she is met by an unnamed mysterious voice that encourages her further.
=== The Doctor Who series ===
* The Doctor Who fan watches an episode of Doctor Who. The female character asks the Doctor about something called “Bad Wolf” to which he replies “the end of the universe”. The TARDIS Cloister Bell is heard. The closing theme and credits then play.
* Dicks thinks that "who's for a brew" would work well as a title, and that he would show it to Barry.
=== Food and beverages ===
* The Doctor Who fan is enjoying a cup of tea (from a TARDIS mug) and some Jammie Dodgers.
== Notes ==
* Emily Cook opened a casting call for the voice of the UNIT receptionist on her Twitter account on 4 November, 2020.Emily Cook on Twitter
* It's hinted that Emily Cook's character introduced the phrase wibbly wobbly, timey wimey via a ontological paradox.
** This would explain how the Fifth Doctor knew about it in TV: Time Crash, but makes it a discrepancy that the War Doctor didn’t know it in TV: The Day of the Doctor.
* Audio from the end of TV: Turn Left can be heard from the Doctor Who fan's television at the start of the webcast (specifically Donna Noble, the Tenth Doctor and the TARDIS Cloister Bell) along with the 2007 version of the Doctor Who theme. At the end of the webcast the 1970-1974 version plays, transitioning into the credits.
* Andy Frankham-Allen revealed on Twitter that it was through him that the Brigadier had been licensed for the webcast, and that it had been co-writer Jon Culshaw who'd reached out to him for the project.Andy Frankham-Allen on Twitter
== Continuity ==
* By 2020, UNIT operations have been "suspended". (TV: Resolution)
* The Doctor Who fan tells Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart "I'll explain later" when he asks for details about UNIT's current fate. (TV: The Curse of Fatal Death)
* The Doctor refers to the wine cellar of Sir Reginald Styles. (TV: Day of the Daleks)
* The Doctor says he may "adopt" the phrase "wibbly wobbly, timey-wimey" one day. (TV: Blink)
* The Doctor says that "jiggery pokery" is a technical term. (TV: The End of the World)
* Terrance Dicks writes for Doctor Who. (PROSE: Bafflement and Devotion, The Great Big Book Exchange)
== External links ==
== Footnotes ==
Category:2020 webcasts
Category:Third Doctor webcasts
Category:Webcasts set on Earth
Category:Stories set in 2020
Category:Stories set in the 1970s
Category:Stories about Doctor Who
Category:UNIT webcasts
Category:Doctor Who mini-episodes