The Tertiary Console Room: Review - Doctor Who

'I'm sorry, but if you thought that escaping from Colditz was going to be easy, you'd better think again. Fast.'

When the TARDIS is forced to land, the Doctor is unable to tell Ace where they are precisely. After a brief inspection of the dark courtyard they find themselves suddenly making a desperate escape attempt as they come face to face with the German guards of the most secure Prisoner of War camp in Germany during the Second World War - Colditz Castle. As Ace has to contend with one of the guards taking an unhealthy interest in her, the Doctor might be in more trouble than he realises for one individual knows more about him and his TARDIS than they should...

Steve Lyons returns to the audio range to which he previously scripted the excellent The Fires Of Vulcan, which showed the Seventh Doctor in a more sombre mood than he perhaps should have been, and did the amazing task of making one of the poorest companions in the history of the television series Mel into a believable, interesting character. Considering this, and his good work within the Doctor Who novels, the twenty-fifth Big Finish Doctor Who audio Colditz promises much - but does it deliver?

Well the answer is yes... and no. The script is good, but it's a rare case of how the play is realised letting it down. Colditz is quite enjoyable overall, but some of the performances and the way that the production aspect has been achieved undermine the quality. The first episode is not as good as those that follow. It has some trite opening dialogue to establish just where the Doctor and Ace have landed with Ace effectively describing the area to the listener and it's very badly conveyed. The feeling through this episode though is of procrastination. Setting the scene and laying the foundations for the story is necessary of course in any type of fiction, but a lot of what's done here feels like padding before the real story begins with the introduction of Tracey Child's character Klein. After this the story really splinters into two, with the Doctor and Klein forming one element and Ace's attempts to escape Colditz forming the other and this is part of the problem. Whilst there is nothing wrong with either of these plots in theory, the lacklustre performance of Sophie Aldred really ensures that her plot never lives up to its potential. The plot involving the Doctor which revolves around the presence of Klein and what she truly wants is the most memorable aspect of Colditz.

Despite the fact that this was written by a writer the calibre of Steve Lyons, part of me wasn't looking forward to it very much, and it's because with the exception of The Fearmonger, The Fires Of Vulcan and The Shadow Of The Scourge, the Seventh Doctor stories haven't been as good as many of the other Doctor's releases. This is down to two things really firstly the quality of the scripts and secondly the main performers. The script here is fine, setting up an interesting situation which then develops into something very intriguing by the end of the first episode, but there is fault in the performances of the lead characters here.

The way that Sylvester McCoy plays the Doctor on audio is quite different to the way that he played the role on screen, which is understandable and acceptable (as it has been for the other Doctors), but whereas his fellow Time Lord actors have built up their Doctor's character, McCoy seems to be stagnating. It's no coincidence that McCoy's best performance in these audios so far was in The Shadow Of The Scourge where he was given something different to work with, and the result was spectacular. His Colditz performance is acceptable - it's not outstanding, but it's not bad at all even despite his tendency to over-act when angry which is most evident during a scene in the final episode. With the Doctor's subplot as strong as it is, McCoy does well enough with his material to ensure that that element of the drama remains interesting throughout.

This was Sophie Aldred's fifth audio she's featured as Ace, and her continued presence in the Seventh Doctor stories is proving to be a problem. The other 'past' Doctors have all had a lot of variety in the companions that they've been paired with. The Fifth Doctor has had three of his television companions (and gained another in the process), the Sixth has been teamed up with different companions, but the Seventh is almost always teamed with Ace. The Shadow Of The Scourge featured Bernice Summerfield from the New Adventures (as well as Ace), and The Fires Of Vulcan featured Mel and the variety that this gave the Seventh Doctor stories was in part one of the reasons why they were as successful as they were. Aldred's performance in Colditz ranges from average to poor. It's not a subtle performance at all, with the scenes where Ace is angry (which is practically all of them) prone to her over acting, and coupled with a subplot for her which seems rather tame compared to that which the Doctor finds himself involved in Colditz is not a good story for Ace. As for the events of the ending concerning her, it's good to see BF trying to develop Ace as a character, but with such extensive development for her already in the New Adventures I'm unsure whether this change will be a success in the long run.

There is a quietly impressive guest cast for this story, and whilst none of them are very well known names, they perform their roles well. The star of the guest cast without doubt is Tracey Childs as Klein, whose arrival in the story enlivens what was threatening to be a very average first episode with the genuine sense of mystery she brings with her as her character knows far more than she's should do about the Doctor and who he is. The way that Lyons has scripted her character is quite excellent, with the mystery seeming to lead in one direction as to her true identity only for it to be something quite different. Childs proves herself to be an excellent actress, particularly in her scenes with the Doctor. David Tennant plays Feldwebel Kurtz, and his performance is commendable, as he gets to show a real nasty side to his character which is well conveyed through Lyons writing and Tennant's acting. Nicholas Young, who has been appearing in Big Finish's Tomorrow People audios, is the archetypal British officer capturing the stiff upper lip quality you'd expect perfectly in his role as Flying Officer Bill Gower. The only slightly disappointing offering amongst the guest cast was that of Peter Rae as Timothy Wilkins, whose performance didn't feel right somehow.

But the most annoying aspects of Colditz come in the form of the music and the sound design work. Colditz is the debut within the Doctor Who range of Toby Richards and Emily Baker as the composers, and they follow Jim Mortimore & Jane Elphinstone and David Darlington as new composers to have made their debuts in the last three releases. But whereas Mortimore & Elphinston's wonderfully evocative score to Project: Twilight enhanced the drama superbly, breathing added life into the drama, and Darlington's The Eye Of The Scorpion music complimented the drama perfectly, the score for Colditz seems very forced and is seriously intrusive on the drama. The sound effects too aren't anywhere near as good as usual, with the voices of the actors drowned out in crowd scenes and other times difficult to hear.

It's a shame really that Colditz doesn't live up to the potential its script had. Through a combination of production errors and a performance from Sophie Aldred that really doesn't carry her side of the story the way that it should makes Colditz feel rather average in comparison to some of the other releases this year. It's an enjoyable enough drama, but it definitely could have been a lot better...