Skip to main content

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.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Last Days of the Powell Estate The Ninth Doctor Adventures 4.2 The Doctor and Rose find themselves in the future, 2036 , to be exact. Though, when Rose discovers that the run down, derelict building they’ve arrived at is what left of the Powell estate , she starts to worry about her mother… It feels like quite a wait since the last episode. I’m not one for binge listening, but with Chris and Billie back together, you just want more. They meet a guy doing a video about strange places who tells the Doctor and Rose about an entity dubbed ‘ Mr Fingers ’. People feel a hand on their shoulder but when they turn round no ones there, feel it twice and you’re gone. The idea would make quite a nice horror film. It has the ingredients, the empty building, the sense of something unreal, people disappearing. The fact that once there felt the hand, if they turn around next time, they’re a goner.  The entity exists both in Roses time and the future, so we get Jackie and her friend in 2006...
Post a Comment
Read more
The Skeleton Quay                        Jago and Litefoot 6.1                                 Jago and Litefoot arrive back in their own time and are immediately accosted. The Queen needs their services. Ghosts are seen at a village lost to the sea. So if you didn’t know or had forgot, J&L spent the last series in the 1960’s. Here they are back where they belong, but we don’t get to catch up with Ellie , Sgt Quick etc. As they're off straight away. So the village of Shingle cove was washed away by the sea during a storm, but something would seem to be amiss as J&L start to see ghosts and visions of how the village was, and someone is out to stop them. Its does fall into that trope of small town by the sea, 73 yards does it, the Stuff of Legend also. Not that its necessarily a bad thing, but it sets the tone for the episode. The sea, cli...
Post a Comment
Read more
Doctor Who : The Lost Stories  8.2 - DeathWorld When this came up as a deal/discount along with Operation Werewolf it was too hard to turn down. I’ve enjoyed Tim Treloars 3rd Doctor and likewise Micheal Troughton’s 2nd. These two Doctors work well with each other so its great to have more. This was the idea that later evolved into the Three Doctors. With Frazer Hines unavailable and William Hartnell too ill to take part fully this is a chance to experience what could have been. Each of the first three doctors are facing their own problems, when they come together on Deathworld, the enemy? Death themself.  Katy Manning and Frazer Hines are the only original cast members playing Jo and Jamie. It is a little odd with the rest being played by new people. For me its Stephen Noonan who I’ve not really got to know. No-one has ever really ‘got’ the first Doctor, they seem to forget his nice side. Stephen’s version isn’t quite there, he does have some of the mannerisms, whether he’ll g...
Post a Comment
Read more