It was in 2015 when Tim Treloar made his full debut as the Third Doctor, after a brief role in The Light at the End (from 2013). And a whole decade later, he has co-written his first audio script for The Third Doctor Adventures range with director and composer Nicholas Briggs. Operation: Vengeance is a tale of war and repercussions.
Set during Doctor Who Season 11, this six-part epic not only features Sarah Jane Smith (Sadie Miller) as a main companion, but the Doctor also invites Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart (Jon Culshaw) to join them on a mission. A mission so personal that it could change the course of history; all of which converges on the very existence of Jo Grant/Jones, with Katy Manning voicing both her younger and older versions.
The Doctor takes Sarah to a festival on the planet Konzomia, which he and Jo liberated many years ago (as depicted in flashbacks). But things take a turn when it is discovered that the villainous Raelchun (Gareth Armstrong, who played Giuliano in The Masque of Mandragora) has survived. Upon solving a riddle, the Doctor figures out that Raelchun wants to kill Jo’s father, Private Terry Grant (Max Bowden), in order to make sure that his daughter had never been born. As the TARDIS lands in Dunkirk, 1940, during World War II, the Doctor and the Brigadier become separated from Sarah, who teams with Marianne (Lara Lemon) and Beatrice (Bronte Alice-Tadman).
With Treloar being a history buff, his script brilliantly highlights the realistic aspects of WWII without leaning too close to a conventional pseudo-historical adventure. Not just focusing on British soldiers battling the Nazis, it even explores the traumatic effects of prisoners of war being executed, which I found to be extremely horrifying. Briggs also does an excellent job at editing Treloar’s script to make it an actual Doctor Who story. And despite both stories being set in France during WWII, with strikingly similar titles, Operation Werewolf (The Lost Stories) has nothing to do with Vengeance at all.
Culshaw’s uncanny vocal performance perfectly makes you picture Nicholas Courtney. It’s not often that the Brigadier travels inside the TARDIS, but for the Doctor to give him this rare opportunity just widens the scope of their longtime working relationship. And it gets tested when he bluntly warns the Brigadier not to interfere with history and maintain focus on “Saving Private Grant”; just like the iconic Steven Spielberg film, deliberately referenced.
After making her debut in The Time Warrior, I love that Sarah gets another historical adventure in Season 11. Sadie Miller continues to capture the spirit of her late mother Elisabeth Sladen, portraying the Doctor’s beloved companion. In case you’re wondering whether Sarah and Jo meet each other at any point in the story, they don’t. This is done to avoid continuity conflict with The Sarah Jane Adventures Series 4 serial, Death of the Doctor, which I’m perfectly fine with.
Tim Treloar has come such long way with voicing the Third Doctor for Big Finish. Every time I listen to his uncanny impression, I immediately picture Jon Pertwee. For him to write a six-part audio story is a brilliant way to celebrate 10 years of the Third Doctor Adventures range, alongside juggling between co-writing duties and voicing the Doctor and Sergeant Croft (credited under the pseudonym “Liam Retort”). I do hope he’ll get to write more Doctor Who audios in the future. And for some peculiar reason, that actually reminds me of Pertwee and Reed De Rouen penning The Spare-Part People (aka The Brain Drain, which coincidentally shares the same title as the Big Finish story). Wouldn’t that work as a Lost Stories release?
Overall, Operation: Vengeance is a masterpiece. It’s rich in its realistic historical themes, strong performances, and emotional moments, right up there with Kaleidoscope (another Season 11 classic). And if you would also like to hear more about Terry Grant, I highly recommend listening to Still Life, the 2019 Subscriber Short Trip by Max Kashevsky (credited as Max Curtis), read by the late Stephen Critchlow.
Operation: Vengeance is available now from Big Finish. And if you want to go behind-the-scenes to find out more about Tim’s experiences writing Operation: Vengeance, you can read Just Sarah, featuring a chapter written by Treloar (as well as chapters from various DWC contributors, including me), available now from Candy Jar Books!
