The Wasting (audio story)

The Wasting was the final story in the UNIT series. It featured David Tennant's final appearance in a Big Finish Productions audio story before assuming the role of the Tenth Doctor.

Publisher's summary
A deadly flu-like infection is sweeping the planet. Its first cases appeared in Britain, but now millions are infected worldwide and there is no sign of a cure. The emergency services can't cope with what the press have dubbed a plague...

Under attack from all sides, UNIT in Britain is in disarray. It faces a stark choice -- to close its doors and concede defeat, or to fight back, whatever the cost... and the injured Colonel Emily Chaudhry knows UNIT has never backed down from a battle.

If UNIT is to fight back, it's going to need the services of its missing commander, Colonel Brimmicombe-Wood, and the experience of the Brigadier, who can never refuse when duty calls...

Plot
In hospital after awakening from a two-week coma, Colonel Chaudhry is visited by Sir Alistair and goes with him to Colonel Dalton's grave. She holds ICIS responsible and is certain that they have kidnapped Colonel Brimmicombe-Wood after Professor Meade handed her a component of the spacecraft stolen at the same time he was kidnapped. With Alistair's family safe at a UNIT facility in Geneva, he tells Chaudhry that he will help her take ICIS down.

Francis Currie reports on a flu-like epidemic in the United Kingdom, the United States and most of Europe which has caused Australia to isolate itself. At a hiding spot fifty yards from UNIT HQ, Andrea Winnington listens to the report and decides that something must be done about Currie as he knows more than he should. She spots Chaudhry return to HQ sooner than expected, accompanied by a man whom she cannot identify, and informs her superior.

Chaudhry and Alistair go to Chaudhry's office, which Alistair sweeps for bugs with a device made in Geneva. He informs her that the police have made no progress in locating Brimmicombe-Wood and they find that the Ministry of Defence has put UNIT in charge of investigating the infection. Alistair tells Chaudhry that an untraceable link into the phone networks is being fitted to the UNIT computer system and receives a call from Commodore Sullivan, whom he asks to supply an analysis of tissue from the infected.

Outside St Catherine's, a hospital now dedicated to the care of the infected, Currie reports that shots were heard inside after armed policemen entered. He and George watch patients escape from the hospital and are attacked, with George being bitten. They flee and get footage of several soldiers gunning down an infected person in cold blood.

Whilst Chaudhry has an hour's sleep, Alistair joins two soldiers on patrol to get a glimpse of the violent infected and is spotted leaving by Winnington. When he returns, Chaudhry shows him a message picked up by the link he provided indicating that Winnington is watching them. She is sure that Winnington is based in a nearby van and that she is in contact with somebody at Markham army base in Berkshire, empty since the Cold War and likely where Brimmicombe-Wood is being held. Sullivan calls Alistair back and sends him the analysis, identifying the infection as an artificial alien toxin.

to be completed

Cast

 * The Brigadier - Nicholas Courtney
 * Colonel Emily Chaudhry - Siri O'Neal
 * Colonel Ross Brimmicombe-Wood - David Tennant
 * Sergeant Willis - Nora Brande
 * Andrea Winnington - Sara Carver
 * Francis Currie - Michael Hobbs
 * George - Adrian McLoughlin
 * Prime Minister - Steffan Rhodri
 * Corporal McLeish - Alex Zorbas

Continuity

 * The Brigadier attended Colonel Dalton's funeral. (AUDIO: The Longest Night)
 * Currie reports that the flu-like epidemic has spread to a pandemic across mainland Europe and the United States, with Australia closing its borders. The Brigadier says it was first reported a few weeks ago. (AUDIO: The Longest Night) Currie reports that were as many as 10,000 fatalities because of the virus.
 * The Brigadier uses a secure laptop he names "The Old Boys' Network". (AUDIO: Minuet in Hell).
 * The Silurians, whom humanity has made peace with, are helping to find a cure for the virus. (AUDIO: The Coup)
 * UNIT's berets are said to reflect their relationship with the UN. (TV: Battlefield)
 * The Brigadier describes the Doctor as "splendid chaps, all of them." (TV: The Five Doctors)
 * Emily Chaudhry mentions having met the Doctor before. (PROSE: The Terror of the Darkness)