Review by Daniel Mansfield

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Written by the Third Doctor himself Tim Treloar alongside Big Finish executive producer Nicholas Briggs, Operation Vengeance is an action-packed romp that takes us from an alien planet inhabited by people made of light to the midst of World War Two.

Treloar’s Doctor is joined on this adventure not only by Sadie Miller as Sarah Jane Smith and Jon Culshaw as the Brigadier, but by Katy Manning as both Jo Grant and her elder incarnation Jo Jones, who, both unfortunately and rather oddly, only appears briefly.

I say oddly because, despite Jo appearing as a mere cameo, this is a story that revolves entirely around her. An old enemy, Gareth Armstrong‘s vengeful Raelchun, has taken it upon himself to remove Jo from history by killing her father, Terry, in the midst of World War Two. Learning of this, the Doctor, Sarah and the Brig head to Dunkirk in 1940 to prevent this from happening.

It’s a sound premise, and well-executed, but it’s baffling why Sarah is the companion here and not Jo. The idea of Jo meeting her dad when he was younger, while admittedly familiar territory for Doctor Who, is a charming one, and yet this simply doesn’t happen. Imagine Father’s Day, but it’s the Doctor taking Martha Jones to see Pete Tyler, or Demons of the Punjab with Ruby Sunday meeting Umbreen Khan instead of Yaz. Unthinkable, right? So why do such a thing here? It’s such a strange choice.

And yet, even more strangely, this bizarre choice doesn’t hugely detract from how enjoyable this story is to listen to. With the opening two parts setting up the central conflict from Raelchun’s home planet of Konzomia, and then four episodes of wartime in France, this is a story that feels perfect for the six-part format, using those extra episodes to tell a bigger story rather than just stretching a smaller one to unfold over a longer period of time.

A particular highlight is the interplay between Treloar and Culshaw, as the Doctor and Brigadier butt heads over their differing views on war. This leads to some surprising pathos where we learn a tragic tale from the Brigadier’s past, and a delightful softening of the Third Doctor’s usually-abrasive attitude towards his oldest friend.

There are also some enjoyable twists, both plot-wise and for various characters, which I won’t spoil here. Baffling in concept but brilliant in execution, Operation Vengeance is a measured success

Operation Vengeance is available on CD or as a download from http://www.bigfinish.com