Old Soldiers (BF Companion Chronicle): my review
jph...@aol.com
Big Finish Productions. 1 audio CD, 2 episodes.
THE PLOT
A plea for help from an old friend brings Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart
to Kriegeskind, a centuries-old German fortress that has been
converted into a UNIT research facility. The Brigadier arrives to find
that his friend Konrad (Toby Longworth), the facility's C. O., has
been driven insane, leaving the fortress under the command of the
fearful Major Schrader, a "limited" soldier who is clearly out of his
depth.
Feeling a sense of something wrong, the Brigadier resists Schrader's
attempts to get him to leave. His instincts are proved correct, when
he finds the castle in under siege by the ghosts of soldiers from wars
past, from Roman legionnaires to Nazi stormtroopers. The Brigadier
sends for the Doctor immediately and, despite the friction left in the
wake of the Silurian incident, the Doctor comes. But with the ghostly
attacks becoming ever more relentless, and with Schrader preparing to
take drastic action, it may already be too late!
CHARACTERS
The Doctor: This is one of Big Finish's Companion Chronicles,
essentially an audio book with dramatized scenes. As a result, it is
left to the listener to imagine Jon Pertwee delivering the lines
written for the Doctor. Fortunately, writer James Swallow has a good
feel for the Pertwee Doctor, and while Nicholas Courtney is no
impressionist, he captures enough of Pertwee's vocal tics to make it
quite easy to summon Pertwee's image.
The Doctor is in very little of Episode One. When he does arrive, near
the end of the first episode, James Swallow gives him an appropriately
grand entrance, descending onto Kriegeskind by parachute while the
UNIT soldiers look mutely on. Though he came when called, he remains
irritated at the Brigadier - note how he almost instantly declares
that this problem won't be solved by blowing it up, a pointed
reference to their last adventure. Despite this, he does show empathy
at the end, laying a hand on the Brigadier's shoulder and softly (and
with perfect delivery by Courtney) extending comfort. The Third Doctor
is well-captured throughout, though Swallow does perhaps have him
spend just a tad too much time fiddling with gadgets and wires.
Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart: This is, of course, very much the
Brigadier's story. The first, near-Doctorless episode is entirely
carried by the Brig, and it's reassuring to see him firmly in Season
Seven mode: absolutely competent, and quite intelligent. Despite
Schrader's attempts to pacify him, he can sense that all is not well
at
Kriegeskind, and knows to trust his instincts. When Konrad experiences
a moment of lucidity and references something "alien" and how "they
all died," Lethbridge-Stewart finds his way to the facility's records
and, from experience at concealing certain types of deaths, knows
exactly what to look for. Even in the second episode, when the Doctor
takes charge of finding answers, the Brigadier conducts himself with
absolute competence, taking charge of the soldiers in the fortress and
leading them in holding off the phantom invaders.
When all is revealed, heavy parallels are drawn between the choices
that led Kriegeskind to its current dilemma and the choice the
Brigadier made at the end of The Silurians. Still, the Brigadier does
not apologize for his decision. He tells us from the outset that he
stands by what he did. He saw a threat, he tells us, and he removed
it. He acknowledges that his decision at Wenley Moor was a difficult
one, though, indicating that Lethbrige-Stewart was perhaps more
conscious of the Silurians as an intelligent species than he may have
let on.
THOUGHTS
Old Soldiers is an atmospheric and well-produced science fiction/
action piece, one that sits quite comfortably in between Dr. Who and
the Silurians and The Ambassadors of Death. The story is strong, and
the nature of the story - once it is revealed - makes it a
convincingly personal story to the Brigadier. I could believe this
being an incident that Lethbridge-Stewart would relive over a drink or
two, years later, and I enjoyed seeing the Brigadier's more reflective
side.
Swallow does well in bringing both the 3rd Doctor and the Brigadier to
life. I missed the presence of Liz Shaw - referenced, but not actually
"seen" in the story - though I'm honestly not sure that there would
have been room for her, particularly with the single-disc format
constricting the running time to less than 75 minutes. The image of
blank-faced soldiers from the past stepping out of the walls,
attacking with no expression, and disappearing noiselessly when
"killed," is a haunting one, and the high action content (particularly
in Episode Two) keeps things moving at a tight pace.
I only have a few quibbles with the story. One is a quirk of Swallow's
writing style. Too much of the story has major scenes and
conversations summarized, creating distance from the events at
unwelcome points. Most of the Brigadier's lines are clearly "recalled
after the fact," with only a few of his lines delivered as if "in the
moment." This lack of immediacy saps some of the urgency from the
proceedings. I would have preferred these conversations be allowed to
play out far more often than actually ended up being the case.
I also had problems with the character of Schrader. Konrad summarizes
him as a decent soldier, yet limited - an adequate second-in-command
who now finds himself in over his head. This type of characterization
could have worked, could have made a nice contrast with the Doctor and
the Brigadier (both of whom belong in command). But this isn't the
characterization we see. Schrader doesn't come across as a decent X.
O. abruptly elevated above his level of competence. He comes across as
an idiot, a German Frank Burns, and I never believed that the
Brigadier would have tolerated him for a heartbeat, let alone the
Doctor. Some of this may be down to the demands of the 2-part format.
A plot with reasonable meat on its bones in less than 75 minutes
doesn't allow a lot of room for subtleties with supporting characters.
Still, even a touch of subtelty with Schrader would have been nice.
Special mention to guest star Toby Longworth, who voices both Konrad
and Schrader, and creates completely different voices for both
characters. If I had played the CD blind, with no credits to
reference, I would have thought this Companion Chronicle had two guest
actors rather than one. Both performances are decent; and if Longworth
does better with Konrad than with Schrader, that is solely down to
Konrad being a better-written character.
Rating: 7/10. A good addition to the 3rd Doctor's era, one which fits
very well within the season it has been placed.