Colditz (Big Finish Audio)

The Seventh Doctor and Ace turn up at Colditz prison during the Second World War.

This is my first Big Finish audio review. I just love Big Finish! Listening to a BF play is so much like watching a televised story. You have the music, the episodes and the original regulars. Its incredible. I am so grateful to BF for keeping the classic series alive.

Colditz offers not only nostalgia for McCoy era Who, but also nostalgia for old fashioned British war films. We even have that old war film cliche "The war is over for you!" Its all rather fun. Its amusing that Ace has watched all these films and associates the place with escapes, while the prisoners very definitely associate Colditz with being unable to escape!

McCoy puts in an hilarious performance, showing incredible overconfidence, rather reminiscent of Delta and the Bannermen. If you love Season 24 like me, that is fine, but most Dr. Who fans are likely to be irritated by his cockiness.

Ace comes across as a little dull. The "I hate Nazis" line was rather banal. Her decision to go back to the name Dorothy McShane comes across as odd and seems a bit of a departure from the New Adventures development of Ace. Her horror at the death of the Feldwebel Kurtz is completely unlike the Ace of the New Adventures. Even before her brutalization in the Dalek War, NA Ace was fascinated by carnage.

Klein is fantastic! The greatest creation of Big Finish. I am so glad they gave her an whole series as the Seventh Doctor's brief companion. Tracey Childs is fantastic as the Nazi scientist. I like the fact that she also has a decent backstory, as the child of German parents in Britain. She provides an excellent twist to a story which would otherwise be just about escapes.

Flying Officer Bill Gower provides that old-fashioned British stiff upper lip. In contrast Tim gives us a great portrayal of cowardice. Schaeffer comes across as a little too sympathetic. Its also wonderful to hear David Tennant playing a supporting character as the brutal Feldwebel.

The sound effects are great. The musical score is good, but is a little intrusive at times.