1. Brand Management – Bernice Summerfield needs a job. Professor Harry Burtenshaw thinks she’s just the ticket. But with the people of Lyndyaz celebrating their most important festival, and the ruling Dominicci Corporation maintaining control with draconian glee, has Bernice turned up in the wrong place at the wrong time?
2. Bad Habits – Meet Sister Bernice – newest initiate into the order of Saint Celestion. Such is her devotion to the faith that she has undertaken a pilgrimage to the planet Agora, birthplace of the blessed Saint himself. The pilgrims aren’t alone, however. Also on the planet is a team of archaeologists searching for the lost tomb of Celestion – a subject in which Sister Bernice seems curiously interested…
3. Paradise Frost – Kaff Zarnak was once the holiday destination of choice for the rich and famous. At least, it was until the planet spun off its axis, and a deadly virus wiped out its population. Now it’s absolutely the last place anyone wants to visit: a barren, ice-encrusted wasteland, sitting amongst the stars. So when Bernice and her loud-mouthed cab driver Ray are drawn off course, it’s fair to say that they’ve both had better days.
Road Trip 2 – Bad Habits
“Sister Bernice, I am a nun, not a horse.”
That’s the kind of dialogue you can expect from this play. I know it’s a little ‘out there’ and completely devoid of context, but it comes less than two minutes in and is a perfect example of what’s to come. Form your opinion now; if you like witty, ironic dialogue and a high level of self parody, then this is the play for you, if not then this might be one to avoid. Myself; I praised predecessor ‘Brand Management’ for having regained a proper sense of humour, even if it then failed to deliver on substance. Well, I can confirm that whilst that play was ‘amusing’, this is downright hilarious.
It’s a rollicking ‘girls own’ adventure, in which Bernice, Ruth, Mother Aurelius and Sister Marianne investigate the mystery of the catacombs whilst avoiding the lecherous gaze of Bishop Synesius… So half way between Enid Blyton and the Carry On films I suppose. There’s (several) unexplained murders, an unexcavated tomb that needs uncovering and a secret group conspiring to ensure the secrets of the past remain hidden. The icing on this, already overcooked cake come in the form of Ian H Watkins playing the famous ‘Professor Melville Trout’, the greatest archaeologist in the universe, someone who is bound to cause sparks when paired with Bernice.
There’s a lot of broad comedy here and there but the exposition feels far more natural than the preceding story. Every single one of the actors seem tuned to the same wavelength, all slightly tongue in cheek and veering wildly between ‘dark and sinister’ and ‘slapstick comedy’. I’d say Mother Aurelius, played by the elegant Jacqueline King probably comes off most successfully, managing to be wry, unconventional yet never out of character. Bishop Synesius is a fairly archetypal character, an amalgamation of as many nasty yet-not-evil traits that can be loaded in as possible, whilst Professor Trout is bold, overbearing and designed to inflict as much jealousy in Bernice as possible. The least successful comedy character is probably Paul Jones’ Brother Mumford, playing a fairly nondescript ‘yokel’ character, yet in context the performance fits.
A fairly lightweight story but it more than makes up for it with tongue-in-cheek wilfulness. Buy into the humour and this is a brilliant ride, but if that leaves you cold there won’t be much else for you to cling onto.
Road Trip 3 – Paradise Frost
Paradise Frost is a bleak, fairly traditional but ultimately satisfying adventure, assuming you can overlook some of its larger flaws.
The most vocal, most obvious, and most immediate (kicking off in the plays opening scene) is the interstellar taxi driver Ray. The character is largely played for laughs (albeit fairly dry, humorless ones) where he engages in some cab-banter which drives Ruth up the wall, and then proceeds to wind up another character Yukon (a Killorian) by making cheap shots about him being a dog. It’s hardly the actor’s (Alan Ruscoe) fault, the script pushes together a terrible combination of being both pathological liar and a man who loves the sound of his own voice. The character has absolutely no redeeming qualities save for the fact he bows out fairly early on in a mysterious death scene…
I’m happy to say this release, whilst very different tonally to ‘Bad Habits’, shares many of its strengths. It’s a strong, independent story that whilst not being the most nuanced or surprising we have seen from Big Finish, it steps through each story beat with plenty of confidence and boasts a new certainty to its direction. India Fisher and Scott Arthur make a very successful double act as Doctor Bauer and Yukon, the listener is left in no doubt that she is a devious manipulator but whether Yukon is enthralled by her or in on her schemes never quite seems clear. Certainly there is a degree of sympathy to be felt for both characters, which was one of the largest problems I had with the outright villains presented to us in ‘Brand Management’.
The story, unfortunately, boils down to a straight plod from point A to B, with a rather large obstacle in the way. Giant insects don’t make a very terrifying audio villain (although they do make a successfully creepy front cover) so Arthur Darvill is drafted in to play Jared Jones, the man with all the answers. Sadly his voice is masked by so much distortion it would be hard to identify him, never the less his brief performance is weighty and grave enough to give him credence.
A short but satisfying yarn that sits half way between base under siege and a perilous adventure from A to B…
….But then after the story is over, it suddenly, isn’t….
There’s a reminder that this Road Trip had a purpose, and a journey isn’t complete until the destination has been reached. Cue the arrival of Bernice and Ruth on Legion. The moment we have been waiting three stories for.
It’s not really a story, just a scene, glued onto the end of Paradise Frost. It feels strangely out of place and ever so slightly obnoxious. It features the return of three characters, all of which I’m very glad to see back, but no answers at all. This new Brax offers a lot of potential, the new twist on Peter is a surprise but might be interesting, and my main complaint about Jack’s last outing is that there wasn’t enough made of him, so hopefully they plan to rectify that flaw.
Good things ahead?