This story rushed by, despite being a 4 parter. I know of Klein but I knew nothing about her, so I was pretty shocked at what she was and how this story transpired with her. Curious what's going to happen with her in future. David Tennant acted brilliantly as the despicable Kurtz in this. Some great scenes with Ace in the prison, and overall a really good story.

Colditz is one of Big Finish’s earlier releases and has a number of claims to fame. It’s the story which introduced Elizabeth Klein to the Whoniverse. It’s the one that’s got David Tennant in it playing a nasty Nazi and it’s the one with the really, really, really bizarre and horrid sound design that makes you wonder how Big Finish even let it past quality control.

The 7th Doctor and Ace arrive at Colditz Castle, are immediately captured and spend the rest of the story trying to escape – but with the added complication of the appearance of Klein, a Nazi agent who has a surprising knowledge of the Doctor and his TARDIS. It transpires that Klein is from the future – a future where the Nazis won the war and she has travelled back in time to capture the Doctor.

The timey-wimey nature of this tale is a little difficult to get your head around to begin with (although get’s clarified greatly in the later releases ‘Klein’s Story’ which was released as part of a trilogy of stories where Klein temporarily becomes the Doctor’s companion) but it is a good conceit for a story which, ultimately, doesn’t have much else going for it.

Putting the time travelling Nazi plot aside for a moment, Colditz is a simple tale about the Doctor and Ace being trapped in Colditz castle and trying to escape. There is a ‘stiff upper lip’ RAF commander; a traitorous English civilian; a nasty, lecherous Nazi and a considerate, compassionate German officer. Ace is bolshy and defiant in the face of the Nazis and the Doctor runs rings around them, or at least before he gets dragged off into the time travel plot. It feels a little like the TARDIS has materialised in a black and white war film rather than the real history.

Fortunately, the mystery of Klein lifts the story beyond it’s rather mundane trappings and gives the listener something more original to enjoy. That said, the ‘Nazis win the war’ trope isn’t exactly original itself but I do want to find positives in this story. The guest cast is also excellent. Nicholas Young (from The Tomorrow People’ is excellent as Flying Officer Gower and David Tennant and Toby Longworth contrast each other well as the bad cop and good cop Nazis. Tracy Childs is superb as Klein and it’s easy to see why she eventually returned in a more regular role. McCoy and Aldred are both on top form and overall the cast make a really good job of what, to be honest, isn’t the most original of scripts.

But why am I so desperate to find the good in this release? It’s because it is a really difficult story to listen to – physically. The sound design on this is utterly atrocious. Interior scenes sound like they’ve been recorded in a metal box. Characters walk, accompanied by a clip clop sound effect. Background ‘wild tracks’ of prisoners chatting literally cut off dead when a main character starts talking. It is really, really bad and when there are audio stories which predate even Big Finish’s early releases that have better, more accomplished sound design it is surprising this was allowed out of Big Finish Towers. I’m also surprised more online reviews make barely a mention of it because, to my ears, it almost made the whole thing unlistenable.

It’s also the beginning of the rather odd narrative decision that BF took to have Ace start referring to herself as McShane in an attempt, I assume, to ‘mature’ the character. It doesn’t work and, I’m assuming BF realised this, as it doesn’t last past many 7/Ace releases. The maturing of Ace is achieved far more effectively with the introduction of Hex.

I do like Colditz. It contains a number of the tropes which have become common the World War Two stories and it isn’t the most original of stories but the cast make the best of it and Klein and her story are intriguing. The sound design is appalling but if you can ‘hear’ past it, it’s an enjoyable four episodes.

👍🏼(7.03) = GOOD!

Thworping through time and space, one adventure at a time!

World War II usually makes for a fantastic setting for a Doctor Who adventure (The Forsaken, Operation Werewolf, The Empty Child), and when you add in the manipulative Seventh Doctor, we get even more intriguing stories (The Curse of Fenric, Timewyrm: Exodus). Colditz, penned by Steve Lyons, is no exception.

We are transported to Colditz Castle, used by the Germans to hold prisoners of war during WWII, where Seven and Ace get entangled in war politics. Believed to be British spies, the Nazis soon learn about the TARDIS and want to use its secret to secure a victory in the war. Lyons kicks the plot into high gear right away, as the Doctor seemingly plays into the Nazis' hands while Ace spends time with other prisoners, trying to convince them to attempt an escape.

Colditz is most notable for introducing the inimitable Tracey Childs as German science doctor Elizabeth Klein, who’ll later become a companion for Seven. Even more intriguing is the Doctor Who debut of one Scottish actor named David Tennant, in a rather colourful and fierce (and, arguably, exaggerated) role as a sadistic German officer named Kurtz. He’d move up the ranks to become the Doctor themselves merely four years later.

Sophie Aldred is wonderful in this one, as she constantly rubs the Nazi characters the wrong way. Sylvester McCoy excels, particularly when confronting Childs and revealing his cunning aspects. Peter Raye is excellent in the role of sympathetic Wilkins.

Colditz is a straightforward adventure, relying on its characters and the natural tension of the era to carry the narrative. Part 2 ends with an intriguing revelation, as the Doctor realises that there is more to Klein than meets the eye; she has travelled to 1944 in the Doctor’s TARDIS.

At its most basic level, this is a Doctor Who take on a very simple paradox story. The problem is that Steve Lyons does very little with the story beyond the initial premise, so the four parts float around a bit until it's time to wrap things up. Ace, in particular, doesn’t get anything useful to do.

The story ends with an intriguing spin, as a piece of late 20th-century technology left behind in 1944 creates an alternate future where Germany has won the war, making it possible for Klein to travel back to 1944 and later become the Doctor’s companion.

The sound quality (editing and mixing) is occasionally very poor, which means that some of the dialogue has a strange echo to it. This ruins many scenes because they are difficult to listen to. The soundtrack is also pretty intrusive in some places, which makes the experience worse.

The Monthly Adventures #025 - "Colditz” by Steve Lyons

Colditz is probably one of the most important audios in the entirety of the Main Range. Introducing Klein, who would go on to be a recurring companion of Seven, and beginning the line of stories that would eventually turn into the Hex arc, it’s impossible to understate just how many stories came out of Colditz. But how is the story itself? Its influence goes far, but where did it begin? With this - the 25th release - we’ve reached the first milestone of The Monthly Adventures, and with it a damn good story.

The Doctor and Ace step out of the TARDIS, and are immediately arrested. They’ve landed in Colditz Castle, the most secure prison in Germany, and their imprisonment might just mean victory for the German Reich.

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

There is a lot to love in Colditz, but I’ll begin with what I think is the highlight; Ace is at her best here and Aldred is giving a stunning performance. The Doctor’s out of the picture for a majority of the runtime, so Ace (or McShane for a few audios but damn if I’m calling her that) is our main character this episode. Rebellious, intelligent, destructive, this is where we begin to see where Big Finish would take Ace, and she’s my favourite companion in the history of the show. As for antagonists, we have two stand out adversaries - one for the Doctor and one for Ace. On one hand, you have Klein, who is an incredibly fun foil to the Doctor and really feels like a villain that works well with Seven and his megalomaniacal schemes, and on the other hand you have Ace facing up against Nazi Sergeant Kurtz, played surprisingly enough by David Tennant, who is truly incredible at playing a slimy piece of s**t. In fact, I think pretty much every character here is great, from the ally-sympathiser Schäfer to the cowardly Wilkins, these all feel like real people and none of them fall into stereotypes. As for the story, we have a plot in two halves. Ace has a pretty decent but not outstanding pure historical as she tries to escape Colditz Castle, and the Doctor is running around with a refugee from a rogue timeline where Germany uses Ace’s CD Walkman to win the war. And it’s this latter storyline that gives us the twist that the Doctor from the aborted timeline died, regenerated into the Eighth Doctor, and spent years manipulating Klein so that she’d go back to Colditz and stop her own timeline from occurring. Seven has a number of insane, time bending plans over his run in Big Finish, but this might be my favourite, it’s such a hilariously mad left field turn.

As many people have pointed out however, there is one big flaw to Colditz: the sound design is atrocious. Seriously, so much of the dialogue sounds tinny - I understand that it’s because these scenes are taking place in dank dungeons with echoey walls but you can convey this well without putting your actors in tin cans. And sometimes, background noise will just abruptly cut with no warning so our characters can talk, which just feels like the cherry on top. And whilst I like Ace’s escape plot, which took a majority of the story’s runtime, the Doctor’s stumble through the woods with Klein was a lot duller, even if it had some great dialogue. Eventually, both stories do kind of lose steam and begin going in circles, with our character nearly getting away, then getting caught, then meeting up, then getting separated, before meeting up again. You’re probably bored just reading my description of it so you can imagine listening to it.

Overall, Colditz is a personal favourite of mine. Not only is it incredibly notable in the Main Range’s history, it’s also just a damn good script from fan favourite writer Steve Lyons. Ace and the Doctor are at their best and we have multiple brilliant antagonists, which I think excuses an imperfect story and some dodgy sound design.

8/10

Pros:

+ Ace is at her very best

+ Klein seems like a very unique and interesting character

+ Kurtz made for a brilliantly sinister and vile antagonist

+ Love the madcap reveal of the Doctor’s masterplan

+ Good cast of interesting, layered characters

Cons:

- Truly abysmal sound design that was incredibly distracting

- The Doctor’s subplot is noticeably uneventful

- Plot started to circle by the end

Colditz is a lot of fun and has a lot of interesting facets to it. David Tennant as Kurtz is memorable and he really conveys this sense of being an unhinged lunatic. It's hard to not to hear the Tenth Doctor in his performance but I think it's just because we're so familiar with him as a performer, because I think if anything he elevates the role past the more limited secondary villain content that was in the script. Ace is outstanding in this story, showing her uniqueness as a companion by being a consistent cog in the gear of the Third Reich. Sophie Aldred is so good here. The setting is well done and feels like, in spite of being a dark period, it is done justice.

I only have a couple of critiques. First, though a lot of people seem to like Klein, I found her a bit off-putting. I didn't quite enjoy her performance and found her storyline interesting but the execution ever so slightly lacking - not quite living up to her potential. Still, it was enough to leave me curious about the future of her character and I look forward to hearing those audios, too. And the Seventh Doctor, while a delight, was a little hard to understand around the music and effects. I had trouble hearing him a few times and even a couple other characters which kind of stinks because otherwise Colditz is fantastic, full of great ideas, and absolutely worth any Who fan's time. The effects and music are good too, they just can't ever get in the way of the dialogue during a listening experience.