Reviews

Doctor Who: Old Soldiers by James Swallow

tinkamasala's review

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

caitz's review

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

tenthplanet1's review

4.0

4

The main pleasure with The Companion Chronicles is to spend a little extra time with Doctor Who actors we have lost. For all the intrigue and tension that this story has, especially in the second half, it’s mostly just nice to hear Nicholas Courtney again.

nwhyte's review

Old Soldiers was better than the other Third Doctor audios out there, but this isn't saying much unfortunately. The author can't spell the German name for the setting - it should be "Kriegskind" not "Kreigskind", and anyway neither makes much sense as a German name. I am going to add another note of pedantic snark and point out that neither part of Germany joined the United Nations until 1973, so German soldiers could hardly have been integrated into UNIT before then; yet we are told that the Brigadier has been working with his German colleagues for years, in a story set immediately after Doctor Who and the Silurians. Take that as my contribution to the UNIT Dating Controversy.[return][return]Havng said that, I think it is saved by the way in which Nicholas Courtney explores deeper levels of the Brigadier than we had seen before, and by the music which carries a great atmosphere of menace and doom. Courtney doesn't try too hard to 'do' the Pertwee voice, instead telling the story almost as if it were an official report, which works fine.

kmccubbin's review

4.0

Ever wonder what happened between "The Silurians" and "Terror Of the Autons" that seemed to negate the Third Doctor's accusation of genocide against the Brigadier? Well, here you go.
Nicholas Courtney gives a soft and melancholy performance in this short that explores the routine tragedy of being a soldier.

sshabein's review

4.0

Always nice to spend some time with the Brig.

nettle's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0