Benny's Story

"You think our lives just stop and start depending on whether the Doctor's around?"

Writer: Lance Parkin
Format: Audio
Released: July 2009
Series: Monthly Adventures 123a

Featuring: Eighth Doctor, Benny

Synopsis

Deep in the mines of Epsilon Minima, Professor Bernice Summerfield is up to her beck in it – as usual. The Countess Venhella has hired her to recover a lost Time Lord artefact: a TARDIS key, it turns out. Guess whose?

Verdict

Benny's Story was a fantastic start to The Company of Friends release from Big Finish's Monthly Adventures! It's great to get more of the Eighth Doctor in this range and even though this is a singular release, we get four new stories featuring Paul McGann's excellent eighth incarnation! I have to admit that I have been a little worried about this release because of my lack of knowledge of the Eighth Doctor Adventures and other prose that filled the wilderness years (I'm trying to get there eventually!), but with a decent level of knowledge of Bernice Summerfield from her audio travels with the Seventh Doctor, I was delighted with what I listened to here. There didn't really require any past knowledge as Benny gave a good little account of her time with the Doctor and explained that she'd only met the Eighth Doctor on one occasion prior to the events here. Their relationship here was outstanding and I think the team of Paul McGann and Lisa Bowerman worked extraordinarily well. Benny describing this Doctor as the most fun she has encountered was terrific and that is definitely the word I would use to describe this particular story. It was frantic and fast-paced and had a great plot at its heart. It was along the lines of a full cast Short Trip which worked really well! The idea of Benny being hired to retrieve a Time Lord artefact in of itself is a terrific concept, but that artefact turning out to be the Doctor's TARDIS key is just superb! Her reaction when Venhella mentioned TARDIS was magnificent. Their relationship was an interesting one and I thought the Countess herself made for a brilliant villain. The idea of her having studied Time Lords and time technology was fantastic and her efforts to try and free the heart of the TARDIS was extraordinary! She was sympathising with the machine and was attempting to break the temporal bond it shared with the Doctor which was audacious to say the least. The TARDIS defences coming into play after the Doctor humorously lost his jacket and TARDIS key within it to a lion was very good and I loved how time was moving around them instantaneously. Benny realising that the events they had experienced would result in her uncovering the TARDIS key was great and there was just so much to like about this one. The added threat of what the Doctor would later dub a Vortex Shark was really intriguing, especially considering the Doctor couldn't see it. As a Time Lord, he existed on a different energy wavelength to the creature that was hungry but he did a good job of giving it indigestion and sending it on its way at the end! The Doctor's arrival being greeted by Benny wanting a lift away from Epsilom Minima was fun and I physically laughed out loud when the Doctor mentioned Benny not sharing his abilities in failing to look any older. Perfect Doctor-ness there. I really enjoyed it. I was a little surprised by the ending with the Doctor and Benny just leaving the Countess to her own devices even thought the elevator was non-functional. But with what she had attempted, I guess it was somewhat warranted. The Doctor then preparing to take Benny home was lovely and I liked how after all they have clearly gone through together, the bond was still there. Benny was clearly quite mature and even alluded to the adventures she had enjoyed on her own, but when the Doctor showed up things do change, despite my opening quote which I thoroughly enjoyed. Overall, a fantastic listen!

Rating: 9/10