CC 2.3: Old Soldiers

[Rob McCow]

Could this be the Brig's last stand? Probably not, as it's set right after The Silurians. Nicholas Courtney reads a story by James Swallow.



Listened to part one this morning - early reports indicate that it's pretty damn good.

[Junkyard]

I got this one a few months back. Nick Courtney effortlessly re-creates the Brigadier and does a good aproximation of Jon Pertwee. The plot is good too. Shame there won't be any more.

[SiHart]

This one is my favourite CC I've heard. Nick Courtney reads it with such dignity and gives it his all, making it something really rather special. It's a very good Brig story, set in S7, so there's still some fractousness between the Doctor and the Brig that comes across really well throughout, but underneath there's still the friendship there, that comes out when they're brought together.

Nice story of UNIT's potential creation of a super soldier, with terrible consequences for a good friend of the Brig's.

I was just gripped throughout. Excellent!

[Nyder]

I agree with all that's been said - a marvelous story! Nick C's voice is so warm you could just listen to him for hours. A real shame he never got to do any more. When is a ghost not a ghost? When it starts firing at you

[Anthony Williams]

Sometimes, it's hard to believe that Nick Courtney is gone. Listening to this story is one of those times. Like so many of these early Companion Chronicles, it really is the narrator that makes them. And this is definitely an example of that. It was so lovely to hear Nick Courtney's warm and soothing voice read out this story.

Rather differently from the majority of these first two seasons of Companion Chronicles, however, is that the story behind this is actually rather good. It's everything that these releases should be - a character story with a decent plot and read by a familiar voice that Big Finish weren't otherwise able to use. And by God, does this one deliver.

What is so wonderful about this is that we find out so much about everyone's favourite Brigadier. In the TV series, we never really heard about what he regrets, or how he dealt with the death and failings of friends. We hear his side of the whole Silurian thing, and we get underneath his skin and start to learn about what makes the character tick. Particularly when faced with the dilemma of could he kill a comrade-in-arms in cold blood to stop the slaughter? Thankfully for the Brig, that's a dilemma that he never has to resolve...

Then there's the story itself. It works rather well. Phantasms caused by illicit experimentation with the aim of creating a super soldier. This is Torchwood before Torchwood. Sure, it's a little clichéd at times, but there's nothing necessarily wrong with that, particularly not when there's so much else going for it. The script is littered with many wonderful things - I particularly loved the reference to the Third Doctor's love of thrills and the theatric, by having him enter by parachuting in! Marvellous stuff.

Ultimately, this play is pretty good, made even better by the ever-warm-sounding Nicholas Courtney. I hate to be cynical, but would I love this story so much if he were still with us today? Probably not, but I don't think that I should feel bad about that. I really enjoyed this one, and it gets a solid 5/5 from me!