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The Library In The Body


The New Adventures Of Bernice Summerfield 3.1


Benny, in mid lecture at her university, is interrupted by the arrival of the TARDIS. Not the most unexpected thing to happen, but when the Doctor turns out to be one she doesn’t know; its the beginning of a whole new adventure.


I did listen to the two David Warner unbound stories before this, as it seemed a good idea (and a nice excuse to dig them out for another go) though they’re not essential. As long as you know the set up - this version being a alternative 3rd Doctor then you’re fine.


The Doctor wants to escape to our universe using Benny’s unusual artron cloud as an anchor, however he inadvertently drags her into his. Things are not going well there, a war that no one seems to remember correctly has devastated it. The Doctor and Benny find themselves at a library where the Kareem, hell bent on destroying knowledge, want to obliterate it.


Its a nice reintroduction to Davids’s unbound Doctor, little fuss and straight into story. Sometime has passed for this Doctor since we last encountered him, so finding out what he’s been unto is interesting. We don’t actually get to learn a great deal, but what we do get is intriguing. The fact that he’s trying to escape from it and has been avoiding the war (much like the war Doctor) does make you wonder what kind of Doctor he is.


The story itself: Do you ever find yourself watching a film and the heroes are starting to do stuff and you realise you’ve zoned out for the last few minutes but don’t seem to have missed anything? Well this happens quite frequently in this. Just lots of moments where nothing really happens. There are various characters, nuns singing numbers for example, but its a library under siege with not a lot moving story forward.


Things pick up the the second half where the plot come into play, and the reveals are to be had. There are some interesting concepts and does lift it up from a meandering plodding audio into something more exciting, with one of two unexpected events.


As the first in a series with a ‘new’ Doctor it does the job reasonable well. I was left eager to hear more, but I wish the first half was tightened up with a little more drive.

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