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Series Seven

JULY 2006 - DECEMBER 2006

  1. THE TARTARUS GATE     2. TIMELESS PASSAGES

3. THE WORST THING IN THE WORLD      4. SUMMER OF LOVE

5. THE ORACLE OF DELPHI       6. THE EMPIRE STATE

The Tartarus Gate

July 2006 saw the start of the seventh season of the Bernice Summerfield series. This Brax-less series of adventures kicks off with another gem from Steward Sheargold,

The Tartarus Gate, which sees Benny's being held prisoner on the planet Cerebus whilst Iera and Jason uses every means at their disposal to find her. The trouble is, those means are limited as the Braxiatel Collection has its own far more pressing concerns; something of a recurring theme for this season, as well as the concurrent short story collection, Collected Works.

In terms of tone, The Tartarus Gate even surpasses Sheargold’s previous story, The Mirror Effect, which was a notoriously grim affair. What’s more, David Darlington’s sound design captures the gloomy mood and feel of this season opener flawlessly.

This story is also a triumph for both Benny and her ex-husband Jason as they (separately,

for the most part) have to deal with the mysterious and chilling CroSSScape (brought to life by Neville Watchurst) who are searching for what they believe to be the titular Tartarus Gate.

And Lisa Bowerman gives another fantastic performance here, especially in the scenes where Benny is shown cruel images by CroSSScape and after the conversion experiment. Stephen Fewell shines here too as Jason, especially in his scenes at the beginning of the story with Joseph (Steven Wickham) and in the electro shock torture scene with La’Heyne (Julia Righton). I particularly love it when he remarks that he has “passed the long, arduous, interrogation by the villain of the piece test”. Brilliant.

All in all, The Tartarus Gate sees a dark and but nonetheless amusing start to the season, whetting the listener’s appetite for future releases and particularly to see how the Collection is holding up without its founder. Highly Recommended.

Timeless Passages

The second release of the season is a bizarre little tale featuring the strange grouping of

rare book, a killer robot, and a baby.

Daniel O'Mahony’s Timeless Passages begins with Benny being sent to the Labyrinth of Kerykeion to acquire some of their rarest books for the Braxiatel Collection before new, corporate owners bulldoze their way in. As the Collection is still suffering under the manag-ement of Bev Tarrant, it’s amusing that Benny objects to Bev sending her on such a “boring” mission, reading catalogues and heaving books around, as Benny soon finds herself inves-tigating a horrible murder and becoming entangled in a last-ditch scheme to save the entire library, including the fate of the child of the murder victim!

Like The Bone of Contention before it, this tale shows off Benny's maternal instincts once again, as well as bamboozling the listener with a temporal paradox of grand proportions - the librarian Hermione is actually an older version of the child that Benny protects from the killer cyborg!

Lisa Bowerman is on top form once again as Benny, and Toby Longworth pulls double duty here as the robot and as Sam Wolfe. Katarina Olsson (I, Davros, Human Resources) also gives a grand performance as Hermione, and Keith Drinkle (Frostfire) fares well too in his

all too limited role as Archibald Spool.

Overall, Timeless Passages is another welcome addition to this Brax-less season. With

a fantastic script, stellar cast and even the excellent sound design and music of Simon Robinson, Timeless Passages is certainly not one to be missed.

The Worst Thing in the World

“I've got news for you Dell! I'm pregnant! I'm having a baby! And it isn't mine!”

The third story for season seven is not only absolute gold, but my favourite of the run. Dave Stone’s The Worst Thing in the World parodies every type of show imaginable from sit-coms to soap (“Squaxaboolon Street” = Coronation Street or EastEnders, methinks?), old-school science fiction and even police procedurals. Stone’s love of outrageous comedy, gross-out moments and insane but intelligent ideas suits this series beautifully. Thank Goodness when Bernice Summerfield made the transition from Virgin to Big Finish he came along too, since publishing some of his finest work. If only he could give us a tale for Big Finish’s Doctor Who range too...

The Drome is a self-contained planetoid community pumping out television programmes 26 hours a day. A sinister force has crept into the works and suddenly programmes that were entirely innocent are now featuring the most horrific of deaths, including the death of its founder. Thus Bernice is persuaded by her erstwhile husband, Jason Kane, to investigate and in doing so she discovers a terrifying secret at the heart of the AI running the show...

DAN                 I’m going to kill myself, slit my wrists across and up. First me, then you.

DOTTIE            You are a silly, Dan! If you do yourself first then how are you going to do me!

Stone is ruthless as he rips through one appalling television genre after another. Scattered throughout the main plot are snippets of the shows that the Drome is transmitting, its actors incorporating homicidal tendencies into every show and getting horny in the process!

“Well, I really have to say, as I wend my weary way, through the world I find the going really hard.

All the people that I meet, filled with lies, hate and deceit, are forever trying to cheat with a marked card.

But whenever I’m low and despair where to go, there’s just one thing sure to pull me through.

With a little bit of luck and not a little perseverance, there is something that just anyone can do.

Yes, we’re putting our face in a happy place filled with butterflies and cake.

Yes, we’re putting our face in a happy place filled with butterflies and cake.

A place with diseased rats and people puking in their hats, it’s really not the kind of place to be.

And if you take my advice, you won’t do things that aren’t nice, and fill the world with jollity and glee.

Yes, we’re putting our face in a happy place filled with butterflies and cake.

Yes, we’re putting our face in a happy place filled with butterflies and cake.

And if we’re not murderous and just are kind of fluffy, just think of all the fun that we could make.

And we’re never gonna kill some poor sod with a big hammer, 'cos you know just what we’ll do.

Yes, we’ll be putting our face in a happy place filled with butterflies and cake.

Yes, we’ll be putting our face in a happy place filled with butterflies and cake.

The happiest place anyone has seen.

Yes, we’re putting our face in a happy, happy place.

Yes, we’re putting our face in a happy, happy, happy place.

Yes, we’re putting our face in a happy, happy, happy place.

Yes, we’re putting our face in a happy, happy, happy, happy place.”

For a song that’s about loss, sorrow and despair, it has a very catchy beat; hell, you could probably do the Charlston while listening to it! It seems that Dave Stone isn’t just a damned

good writer, but a damned fine lyricist too!

More seriously though, this really is a terrific piece of entertainment. Lisa Bowerman gives another of her marvellous performances, really exploding to life when gifted with material of this nature… and she has a great singing voice! Stephen Fewell is as dependable as ever and his chemistry with Bowerman is so natural that it's hard to believe that these characters started off their lives in print almost twenty years ago. Bernard Holley is on top form too as Marvin Glass, as is Jane Milligan as his daughter Hannah.

A superb little mystery packed full of wonderful ideas, sizzling dialogue, cheesy pisstakes, and with a body count and a climax that will stick in the mind for a long while, The Worst Thing in the World is absolute gold from beginning to end. Highly Recommended.

Summer of Love

The fourth release of the season sees another entry from Simon Guerrier, Summer of Love - definitely the horniest Bernice Summerfield story to date! With the Braxiatel-less Collection still managing to soldier on following the deaths of Clarissa Jones and even Benny’s cat, Wolsey (yep – the cat snuffed it, sniff...), things are beginning to get hot and bothered for summer…

Coinciding with the short story collection Collected Works, Summer of Love showcases Benny and company dealing with a hilarious situation: mysterious, sexually-transmitted time jumps! Everyone’s shagging like rabbits, from Doggles (the student who first appeared in the short story collection Something Changed) to Joseph. At one point in the tale we even get a surprising girl on girl make-out, which is witnessed by every alien ambassador part-icipating in the Collection’s forum!

Lisa Bowerman is on top form as Bernice, from her reaction to Doggles (Steven Wickham under the alias “Sam Stevens”) to the notorious make out moment with Louise Faulkner’s Bev Tarrant, who is naked throughout the play! Damned audio… Stephen Fewell and Harry Myers both also fare very well here as Jason and Adrian, and there’s also a guest appear-ance from Big Finish and Torchwood scribe Joseph Lidster as the student Minko.

In a nutshell, Summer of Love is another gem for Season 7, chock full of sexual innuendos and many surprising moments. Highly Recommended.

The Oracle of Delphi

Scott Handcock’s Oracle of Delphi sees Benny and Jason visit Greece in 430 BC on a mission to save the Braxiatel Collection. However, the pair are soon separated as Jason goes skinny-dipping and Benny bumps into a little old codger by the name of Socrates…

Handcock captures Ancient Greece perfectly, aided by David Darlington’s top-notch sound design, which really captures the mood and atmosphere of Sparta. Handcock’s story and characterisation are both impressive too - Megaira’s desire to have all the men die from the plague, while she and the rest of the women live, is particularly memorable.

The production is also full of hints concerning events coming Benny’s way regarding Irving Braxiatel; Peter killing someone; and, of course, the mysterious Stone of Barter. Towards the end of this story, as Benny is trying to find out about the Stone, Megaira and Jason both succumb to the plague. Jason, not amused by his ex-wife’s distinct lack of compassion, is convinced that there’s no way they’ll ever find the Stone, and that they’ll have to deal with whatever’s coming by themselves. I wonder if he’ll regret that…?

Lisa Bowerman gives another knockout performance as Bernice, especially in her scenes with Stephen Fewell’s Jason and Paul Shelley’s Socrates. It is Brigid Zengeni who steals

the show though as Megaira - you can’t help but sympathise with her despite everything.

The writer himself also makes an appearance here as Plato, and fares surprisingly well.

In short then, The Oracle of Delphi is another fun-filled release for a fun-filled and flawless season.

The Empire State

After a parade of thrilling stories, Season 7 comes to a cliffhanger-like end with the Eddie Robson penned Empire State. The adventure begins with the mysterious explosion of the Empire State (no - not that one, nor the subject of the hit Jay-Z / Alicia Keys tune for that matter!); a drunken Benny being able to fix a broken glass with a thought; a conversation in

a lift that is all vagueness and hints; and matters over at the Braxiatel Collection going from bad to worse. Gradually these elements coalesce into an intriguing and satisfying situation as Benny embarks upon a search for the “Stone of Barter”.

The threat of war with Draconians and / or the Mim (who recently turned up in a Doctor Who release, Shadows of the Past) wasn’t explored very well in the season’s earlier stories, but Robson plays upon it successfully here as Benny and here friends find themselves caught in the middle of a war between the two races. Robson also revisits the dimensional instabilities affecting the Collection, which were comprehensively explored in the short story anthology Collected Works, setting up the next season wonderfully.

Lisa Bowerman shines once again as Bernice, along with Louise Dann’s Maggie. Simon Watts fares well here too as Rand, and Michael Cochrane really pulls out all the stops with his incidental music, which has a thoroughly modern feel without being too flashy.

In a nutshell then, The Empire State closes the season with both finesse and excitement. Bring on Season 8...

Copyright © Kory Stephens 2009-2010

Kory Stephens has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

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