Colditz

Review

In general, history doesn't facinate me. There are however some parts of history that have held my interest my entire life, and no doubt will continue to for many years to come. Prisoner of war tales are one such facet of history that I have been engrossed in from a being little child and I still buy and read new litereature as it is released, whether it be factual or novels. Therefore to combine Dr Who with Colditz, a POW camp I have read a vast amount of literature about and have a great facination for was one I couldn't refuse.

Steve Lyons is the scribe for this story and having been fairly impressed with his work in The Stealers of Dreams, I was looking forward even more to this one. The story did not disappoint. It is tense, moves along at a cracking pace and really holds the attention throughout. There are several plot elements, each of which is well used whether that be to a greater or lesser degree. The interaction between the prisoners and guards is explored, the relationship between the escape commitee and general populace is touched on, the way the prominente were used is handled well, the interferance of a German from an alternative future is delightfully played out and the schemes of the prisoners are well written. Quite what the Germans would actually have done if a girl was caught in a POW camp is probably beyond me, but Lyons plots are a realistic concerning this. The only things I wasn't keen on with the writing were some of the historical stuff that I don't believe is actually the case. The inference that prisoners would be shot when doing naughty things is not really true. The guards didn't really want to shoot anyone, and only towards the very end were orders actually given by German high command that escapees should be shot. In general, court marshals and solitary confinement were the order of the day with regards this. I would also like to have heard real people being used as there are enough accounts of Colditz life to have got a good handle on this, and permissions could be obtained I would suspect for something like this. I also think that some of the dates were a bit off concerning some of the references given by the characters, but I can suspend my disbelief about these criticisms largely.

The Doctor, played by Sylvester McCoy is joined by Sophie Aldreds portrayal of Ace for this adventure. Both do well, but Aldred is definitely the more convincing here as McCoy appears to be to be mainly a visual actor. Some of McCoys lines, such as the rants at Klien don't entirely come accross, but these are minor really. The guest cast works well in Colditz, and all of the accents and interactions are believable, particularly the Feldweble and Hauptmann. Where this story really scores with me though is the incidental music. There isn't too much, but when it comes in it really adds to the tension of the story. The audio effects are largely good, despite some of them not being entirely convincing.

My only other real quibble was that the final solution to the problems faced was really explained rather than acted out. This may have been due to time constraints, but is basically a short monologue from the Doctor to Ace explaining how the Tardis was where it was, and how Klien had performed her actions. Therefore, in some ways this story might actually be an episode or two short considering the ground covered. Despite this though, the story goes along at pace and is very enjoyable nonetheless.

So, Colditz was a story that I was really looking forward too, and one that I wasn't disappointed in when I listened to it. As it's a setting that I have researched for my own pleasure over many years, it had the opportunity to be either fantastic or awful for me. Colditz actually manages neither in my eyes, but it is a very good story nonetheless, and certainly one I would recommend.

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