Bernice Summerfield: The End of the World
Sep. 17th, 2025 06:21 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
vivdunstanFinally got to this major story, and going to discuss with full spoilers. So beware if you go in.
This is the story where Benny's on/off partner Jason dies, and I knew that going in. But I was expecting a much more grand scale saving the world story. What we got instead was probably much better: an emotional domestic drama, with time travelling elements.
On the downside the main character in much of the audio alongside Jason is Mira, who only appears otherwise in the books and short story collections. So in print, which I haven't read. I have most of the Big Finish Benny books, but struggle too much with print now to read them - and have done for two decades and more. And I've read very few of the Virgin New Adventures novels for the same reasons. So I'm going on the audios. And at the start you have this old acquaintance of Jason's, who he clearly knows well. And I'm just saying out loud "Who?!" Though I'm happy to use the TARDIS Wiki to read Mira's back story, and to fill in the blanks. But it's far from ideal.
Through a hand wavey scifi method Jason tracks down the myriad of ways that Time Lord Irving Braxiatel has interfered in his life and that of others, and significantly gets proof of Brax's manipulation. We also learn the chilling backstory of Jason's childhood, and horrific repeated abuse he suffered at the hands of his father. Which Jason fled, but then thanks to Braxiatel's interference forgot that he wanted to go back to save his younger sister. So he does that now, retrospectively. This is all extremely moving, and Stephen Fewell acts his socks off.
Then we have the showdown with Brax in the final minutes, and it's as chilling as expected. And all ending in Brax hypnotising Benny's young son Peter to kill Jason. Meanwhile Benny knows nothing yet, and is furious at Jason for other reasons ...
A quite devastating audio, that's much better than I thought it would be. Even if hampered by its over reliance on another off-audio character.
This is the story where Benny's on/off partner Jason dies, and I knew that going in. But I was expecting a much more grand scale saving the world story. What we got instead was probably much better: an emotional domestic drama, with time travelling elements.
On the downside the main character in much of the audio alongside Jason is Mira, who only appears otherwise in the books and short story collections. So in print, which I haven't read. I have most of the Big Finish Benny books, but struggle too much with print now to read them - and have done for two decades and more. And I've read very few of the Virgin New Adventures novels for the same reasons. So I'm going on the audios. And at the start you have this old acquaintance of Jason's, who he clearly knows well. And I'm just saying out loud "Who?!" Though I'm happy to use the TARDIS Wiki to read Mira's back story, and to fill in the blanks. But it's far from ideal.
Through a hand wavey scifi method Jason tracks down the myriad of ways that Time Lord Irving Braxiatel has interfered in his life and that of others, and significantly gets proof of Brax's manipulation. We also learn the chilling backstory of Jason's childhood, and horrific repeated abuse he suffered at the hands of his father. Which Jason fled, but then thanks to Braxiatel's interference forgot that he wanted to go back to save his younger sister. So he does that now, retrospectively. This is all extremely moving, and Stephen Fewell acts his socks off.
Then we have the showdown with Brax in the final minutes, and it's as chilling as expected. And all ending in Brax hypnotising Benny's young son Peter to kill Jason. Meanwhile Benny knows nothing yet, and is furious at Jason for other reasons ...
A quite devastating audio, that's much better than I thought it would be. Even if hampered by its over reliance on another off-audio character.