1 episode. Approx. 35 minutes. Written by: Lance Parkin. Directed by: Nicholas Briggs. Produced by: David Richardson.
THE PLOT
Many years after the end of her association with the Doctor, archaeologist Bernice Summerfield is participating in a dig inside the coal mines of a dead planet. It's a freelance job for which she is being very well-paid, in exchange for "not asking any questions." She is shocked when she quickly finds the object of her employer’s efforts: a TARDIS key. She is even more startled when her employer uses that key to summon the TARDIS in question – the TARDIS belonging to the Doctor!
Soon, Benny finds herself running with the Doctor from deadly security robots, through frozen coal mines and across time zones into a jungle filled with treacherous cliffs and ravenous green lions. With "her" Doctor - the 7th Doctor - she could have at least been secure in the knowledge that the Doctor had some masterplan. But this new Doctor has no more idea than she does what is going on, and no kind of plan at all!
CHARACTERS
The Doctor: Paul McGann seems to be having a terrific time, infusing his performance with a lot of energy and enthusiasm. As in The TV Movie, he can shift from wild enthusiasm to deadly serious very quickly. He handles the Doctor's genuine anger at the climax quite well (far better, I'd say, than his immediate predecessor could have done). This story sees him travelling alone, and he reacts with delight at running into an old friend, eager at the thought of travelling with her again.
Bernice Summerfield: Lisa Bowerman has played Bernice for a long time now, both in a handful of Who audios and in her own long-running audio range. She is likely at the point at which she could play Benny in her sleep. It's to her credit that she does not in any way phone in her performance. The story is very much told from her point-of-view, and as such it is up to her to carry the story. She does so with energy and good humor, and she plays so well opposite McGann that I find myself wanting to hear a full-length release with these two.
THOUGHTS
In the past few years, it has become standard for Big Finish to produce one "anthology" release per year, varying these among their Doctors. 2009 was the 8th Doctor's turn for such a release: The Company of Friends, in which the gimmick was to pair 8th Doctor Paul McGann with companions from the various 8th Doctor ranges: Virgin NA's, BBC EDA's, and the Doctor Who Magazine comic strip. Benny's Story, the first of the four stories, sees the 8th Doctor reunited with the New Adventures' Professor Bernice "Benny" Summerfield.
When I first listened to it, I found this the weakest of the four stories, and I suspect that opinion will hold. That's not to say Benny's Story is bad. It's an amusing trifle, with a great deal of pace and energy and spirited performances by the two leads. But it is very much a trifle, a quick runaround.
The villain is weak, and the scenes in which she tries to take over the TARDIS simply occupy too much of the story's brief running time. I wanted to hear more of the Doctor and Benny, and a lot less of the supremely uninteresting Countess Venhella (Su Douglas), whose only good scene comes when the Doctor confronts her at the end. The plot being just a thin clothesline for interaction between McGann and Bowerman is fine - but if that's the case, then surely we should get as much 8th Doc/Benny as possible?
It's amusing, and worth a listen. But it's too lightweight to be fully satisfying as a story, and too overplotted to be fully satisfying as a character comedy. An OK bit of filler, but nothing more than that.
Rating: 5/10.
Search Amazon.com for Doctor Who
8th Doctor Audio Review Index
8th Doctor Television Review Index
No comments:
Post a Comment