Walter Curtis

Corporal Walter Curtis was a British Army soldier during the Second World War.

Biography
In 1944, Curtis landed in France with a 400-strong British battalion on D-Day Plus 21. The battalion saw little action as much of France had already been liberated by British and American forces before their arrival. Curtis and his men were ordered forwards to join the front lines, on their way to take Berlin.

While venturing through France, Curtis manned the portable radar station. He frequently spotted strange lights in the sky, in the form of fire which jumped from aircraft to aircraft at will. He did not know that this was the Furio, but most of the battalion, including Private Stan Harris, simply thought he was seeing things.

On 5 July, Curtis' battalion captured two Nazi POWs, Klaus and Jorgen, in a forest near Rouen after the Furio burned it down. In the village of Vestille, Curtis met the Sixth Doctor, who believed his stories and helped him investigate. In doing so, they successfully discovered the presence of the Furio.

On 6 July, Curtis and the battalion were ordered to resume their journey towards Germany and Berlin. The Furio eventually tried to follow them after learning of Berlin. Curtis and his men fought back until the Doctor caught up and advised the convoy to halt. Lucien released the Furio and the Doctor sent her to Skaro. When Curtis met up with them, he realised they had once again missed the fight.

Lucien turned himself in to the battalion for his actions while their POWs drove off, although the Doctor assured Curtis they would eventually turn up again. (AUDIO: Scorched Earth)

Behind the scenes

 * Walter Curtis was based on Chris Chapman's grandfather, after whom the character is named. The real-life Walter Curtis was also in France during the war but did little fighting. (BFX: Scorched Earth)
 * The character is simply listed as Walter in the story's credits and on the Big Finish website. Although the Doctor mostly calls him by his first name, he gives his full name in Part One, as does Chapman in the behind the scenes interviews.