"Auton 3" seems to start soon after the events of "Auton 2" on Sentinel Island. Lockwood and Alexander leave, and suddenly all the humans of the mainland town of Millhampton are hunted down and converted to small sparks. Dr. Arnold is called in and asked (even though she's been imprisoned by ISD since before Sentinel Island) to explain recent strange computer malfunctions. A psychic broadcasts Natasha Alexander's memories of what happened on Sentinel Island into Sal Arnold's mind, helping to recap "Auton 2" for viewers but raising a number of questions that continue to grow during the video.
Who is Alexander working for--UNIT, the mysterious ISD, or the Autons? What happened to all the people sparks? How were more Autons activated after Sentinel Island? Why are these different from the first group of Autons? Where did another Nestene come from? Why is Lockwood convinced he is dreaming? A number of these questions are answered during the video, but quite a few remain unanswered by the end. Keeping track of who's controlling whom or who's betrayed whom requires careful attention on the part of the viewer.
The special effects are indeed nice--more Nestene shots, more sparkly force screens, more Auton/UNIT fights. However, I do dislike depressing, unsatisfying endings, and not only was the ending both, but it left a great deal of questions unanswered. The video does has several good locations, loads of good CGI effects and good music.
As directed by Bill Baggs and Patricia Merrick, this story seems to be trying to mutate UNIT into either "The X-Files" or P.R.O.B.E. with a touch of Bond, but I'm not sure if it succeeded. The first two Auton stories worked because UNIT was UNIT. Only Lockwood (and then Alexander) was the different element in a UNIT story. "Auton 3" has too many different elements, each with an agenda, and too many gaping plotholes.
Returning cast members are Michael Wade as Lockwood, Bryonie Pritchard as Dr. Sally Arnold, Andrew Fettes as Sergeant Ramsey, Jo Castelton as Natasha Alexander and George Telfer as Graham Winselt. New to the cast are Graeme Du Fresne as Ross Palmer, Peter Trapani as Dalby and Helen Baggs as the nurse. "Auton 3" was written by Arthur Wallis (Nick Briggs) with additional material by Paul Ebbs. The music and sound design are by Alistair Lock, and visual effects are by Benjamin Smith, who has done a very impressive job.
55 minutes
Faint recommendation