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 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. 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. From experience at concealing certain types of deaths, he 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 with the Silurians. The Brigadier does not apologize for that 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 with 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.
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