Operation Werewolf (Doctor Who)

Operation Werewolf is a BBC books original novel written by Daniel Bull based on the long running science fiction series, Doctor Who. The novel is adapted from an abandoned 1967 Doctor Who serial of the same name. The story features the First Doctor, Steven, and Vicki.

Plot

The TARDIS lands in Normandy in 1944, six days before D Day, and while investigating the Doctor is captured by German military officials, along with local resistance leader Jules Perrier. Meanwhile, Steven and Vicki meet up with the resistance who believe they have been sent by the English. The resistance tells them about the strange experiments being conducted at a nearby chateau by Dr Hans Gruber under the control of Ulrich Schneider, head of Gestapo in France. After an argument, Francoise Perrier, daughter of Jules, goes with Steven to the German HQ, while Vicki stays behind with Pierre Dubois.

Inside the HQ the Doctor and Jules are questioned by Kurt Muller, the local German commandant, and both deny that they are partisans. Leni Bruckner, aide-de-camp to Schneider, arrives and takes the Doctor and Jules to the chateau. Here the Doctor is shown a machine which he is told is capable of transporting bodies through the fourth dimension. He then learns that the machine is to be used to send a small group of Germans to England to immobilize the Allied armies that have gathered in the South of England. They plan to do this by firing small V1 rockets filled with paralyzing gas from sites in England onto the Allied forces and then to use a high ultrasonic radio wave to brainwash the Allied soldiers into becoming Nazi conquerors of England. Gruber decides to give a demonstration of the machine, using Jules as the subject, but Jules attempts to escape and is shot.

Meanwhile Steven and Francoise, who have followed the Doctor and Jules to the chateau, are discovered, and although Francoise manages to escape Steven is captured. Gruber then decides to use Steven to demonstrate the machine, but the Doctor has observed that the machine is not adjusted correctly and to save Steven’s life manages, unobserved, to make the required adjustments. Francoise, on her way back to the resistance HQ, meets up with Dr Fergus McCrimmon, a British agent who has been sent to investigate by MI5. He tells her that a commando raid has been organized in conjunction with the resistance attack on the chateau. They arrive at the HQ and Fergus wirelesses London, speaking to his supervisor Aubrey Fanshaw Smith and confirming the raid. In the chateau Gruber sends Bruckner through the machine to England where it is revealed that the Nazi base there is headed by Fanshaw Smith who, in reality, is a Nazi agent. In France the resistance HQ is raided by the Germans. Pierre and Vicki are captured and taken to the chateau where they are brainwashed into being Nazis and left to guard the Doctor and Steven, who are in a dungeon. Meanwhile, with the machine operational, Gruber starts sending soldiers to England.

The following night Francoise and Fergus – who had escaped the raid along with other partisans – meet up with the commandos and attack the chateau. They overpower Pierre and Vicki and free the Doctor and Steven but Gruber escapes through the machine to England. The Doctor, Steven and Fergus follow, but find themselves surrounded by German soldiers. In France the attack is beaten off with Francoise being captured by Schneider. The commandos – who have broken the brainwashing of Pierre and Vicki – plan to attack again. In England the Doctor manages to escape, but is recaptured by Bruckner and on his return finds that Steven and Fergus have also escaped and managed to warn the British army. Fanshaw Smith breaks down upon learning this and is shot by Bruckner when he tries to sabotage the machine. In the confusion Gruber escapes through the machine followed by the Doctor.

They arrive in the chateau just as Schneider is about to torture Francoise. As Schneider and Gruber argue, the Doctor frees her and they escape. As this occurs the commandos attack the chateau and at the same time – in England – the army, with Steven and Fergus, attack the English base. Steven and Fergus arrive in the operations room and are held at gunpoint by Bruckner who is about to throw the switch to launch the V1 rockets. Steven jumps at her, knocking the gun from her hand and causing her to fall backward onto the machine. At the same time in France, Schneider decides to escape through the machine after Francoise has killed Gruber. He enters the machine at the same time as Bruckner and they deflect each other from their intended destinations and disappear. In England, Fergus tries to drag Steven away as the house is about to be blown up, but Steven is ordered by the Doctor to return to France via the machine. Fergus escapes, thinking that Steven is killed when the house explodes. In France everyone hurries out of the chateau, which Francoise and Pierre had dynamited. The Doctor and his companions return to the TARDIS with the help of the partisans where they fight a pitched battle with the Germans who panic when the TARDIS dematerializes. At this point the victorious partisans cheer as they see the arriving Allied invasion fleet. It is the morning of June 6 – the D Day landings have begun…

Characters

• First Doctor
• Steven Taylor
• Vicki Pallister
• Dr. Fergus McCrimmon
• Francoise Perrier
• SS Ulrich Schneider
• Dr. Hans Gruber

Trivia

• The novel is adapted from an abandoned 1967 serial written by Douglas Camfield & Robert Kitts, it was originally supposed to feature the Second Doctor, Jamie McCrimmon, and Victoria Waterfield, their roles were replaced by the First Doctor, Steven, and Vicki.
• The Doctor mentions to Vicki that he, Ian Chesterton, Barbara Wright, and his granddaughter Susan once landing the TARDIS in Berlin sometime in September 1944. He refers to it as the "biggest mistake of my life". 
• The Doctor mentions that Susan was sent to Auschwitz and meet Anne Frank.
• Dr. Fergus McCrimmon is hinted as a descendant of Jamie McCrimmon.

Prequel

Operation Werewolf is succeeded by a prequel titled The Nazis. It features the First Doctor, Ian, Barbara, and Susan in the last months of World War II in Europe. The Doctor is forced to turn the TARDIS into a superweapon for Nazi Germany to use against the Allies. Meanwhile, after Susan is sent to Auschwitz, where she'll later meet Anne Frank, Ian and Barbara flee Berlin with their lives.