Prized relics are missing from the war torn Trib Museum. Benny and Jason struggle to find answers but all they can unearth are more questions.
Prized relics are missing from the war torn Trib Museum. Benny and Jason struggle to find answers but all they can unearth are more questions.
Bernice Summerfield and the Lost Museum
“Greetings. I would purchase one of your fowl birds.”
“Certainly sir. Is the bird to be a meal, a pet or a sexual partner?”
I’ll start by proclaiming this the most adult Bernice Summerfield play yet. Simon Guerrier, already familiar with Bernice Summerfield from editing some of the previous anthologies and some short stories of his own, pens his first full audio and it is fantastic. For a second audio in a row Bernice and Jason are the team, and having consistent new characters for them to meet is something that’s not happened since Series One. This time they’re in a large, expansive and violent city, with only two ‘real’ characters and a cast of literally thousands brought to life by Jason’s translator device.
The Bernice Summerfield Inside Story states Simon Guerrier was surprised that nobody in Big Finish had come up with the idea of a translator to expand the cast but it certainly seems novel here. Stephen Fewell adapts a very posh, monotone voice and successfully gives us insights into the mind of a whole planet. For once literally everyone gets to have their say, ranging from the comic mistiming to some genuine traumatising revelations. This also drives forwards the plot, as by giving disparate warring groups of aliens with no common language means to communicate, gang squabbles quickly escalate into a full blown war. However, the resolution, altering the accent and context, is a clever and original idea you couldn’t have expected but in that retrospect makes perfect sense.
A significant moment here is the loss of Bernice’s arm. It happens around half way through the play and it itself doesn’t actually occupy more than a few minutes, the fact she can get a new one grown is stated almost matter of factly. The move itself is just a small, deft touch that leaves an impression in the listener’s mind. Her response, first disbelief, then tears, is brilliant, with the especially observed line: “I can’t put my arm around you”. Within ten minutes (and presumably an hour of off scene sobbing) she’s back on her feet, twice as angry and determined as before, driven by the adrenaline inducing drugs keeping her mind off the pain. It’s a bold idea of Simon Guerrier’s that he makes just the right amount of capital from, without letting it intrude on the larger story.
There are two new characters in this story. By the end we’ve discovered that both General Markwood and Curator Enil have very interesting and complicated histories, although it takes a while to get around to fleshing them out. For the first half of the play however Enil is reduced to spouting gibberish (albeit giving Bernice some good self imposed dialogue) and Markwood’s reserved, calm, self effacing manor makes an instant enemy of Bernice. Both get excellent scenes exposing themselves more fully later, although Enil’s are hampered by a rather crass ongoing shootout that just doesn’t have the right amount of tension it should. There’s also a strange fascination with the Longbow here, as I just can’t picture a group of four or five people holding back an army with these archaic weapons for any amount of time.
The story rips along at an incredible pace, each scene presenting something new and exciting as the threat plays out. With the exception of blithe comments about ammo it presents a raw and terrible account of violence, but then the audio medium has never been particularly good for presenting the act of violence. The strange juxtaposition of Bernice walking into a warzone and bitching that a mess has been made of the museum archive, it’s true to the character and interesting, showing exactly how badly she can misread a situation when her temper’s roused. There’s even some references back to the books, with Adrian and Bev lined up to become an official couple. That the range is finally able to distinguish between the two different formats and jog you along on all the important revelations in each as they happen is a massive step forwards.
More please. This is the best use of a single disk we’ve had so far. Fantastic acting on all parts, an amazing job for sound design that needs a mention (really, really, really evocative) and a well plotted, well written, zinger of a script.
10 / 10
“Hesitation. A sexual partner please.”