Doctor Who Companion Chronicles 2-03 Old Soldiers

"Old soldiers, comrades in arms - the Brigadier saw many fall during his years with UNIT, but perhaps none more tragically than those at Kreigskind. Called to help when a friend falls ill, how can Lethbridge-Stewart fight an enemy that can breach every defence?"

Brigadier Sir Alistar Gordon Lethbridge Stewart. My favourite classic Who character. No words can describe how much I respect and look up to this man. The passing of Nicholas Courtney hit me. It was a very rough time for all of us Whovians. I always wanted to meet Mr Courtney at a convention, but unfortunately I'll never get to.

The third Doctor was "My Doctor" from the classic series, as I've mentioned several times before. So I'm used to UNIT being a bit rubbish, and the Brig making military decisions despite the Doctors persistence to the contrary.

The best thing about these companion chronicles, is that the first, second and third Doctors are written perfectly. I can actually hear the third Doctor speaking the words through Nicholas Courtney's tounge.

I always wondered why UNIT never met the Romans, since it seemed such a good match for them. But I never expected to actually enjoy a story involving both the Romans and UNIT. This story was everything I wished was on television in the 1970's.

Again, the Doctor can read things in a blink of an eye, much like the Ninth Doctor did in "Rose." Its such a good quality, and really alien. So it matches the third Doctor perfectly.

I really appreciate the idea that both the Brig and Konrad share: "I would never ask any man to do something that I wouldn't be willing to do myself." It is an excellent quality to have in a soldier, and I've always been a huge fan of the phrase.

I rather enjoyed this story, but to be honest, I would have enjoyed it if it was just Nicholas Courtney reading out the phone book for an hour.

6/10

PS: In honour of Nicholas Courtney, please take a look at this wonderful tribute to him on YouTube, by babelcolour: