The Revolution

"We don't want to harm you. We want to kill you."

Writer: Nev Fountain

Format: Audio

Released: June 2014

Series: New Adventures of Bernice Summerfield 1.01

Featuring: Seventh Doctor, Benny

Synopsis

On the planet of Arviem 2, Bernice Summerfield has a lot of problems. Pursued by robots, maniacs and miracles, she has another issue to contend with. The Doctor's come looking for her – and he's not feeling himself.

Verdict

The Revolution was a brilliant start to the first series of the New Adventures of Bernice Summerfield! I didn't really know what to expect from this boxset and whilst it is still very much early days, I thought this was a terrific way to start and it served as a superb little adventure. I am somewhat unfamiliar with Bernice Summerfield when it comes to her as a companion and everything that occurred to her in the New Adventures novels which I am yet to start as well as her own extensive audio range, but I'm sure that one day I will get there! For now, this was a delightful reintroduction to her from my perspective and it was so much fun for her to be drunk in a galactic bar. Lisa Bowerman played that ever so well and her having to hide by taking on the guise of a human in suspended animation hanging from the bar top was hilarious. The fact that the other body in that position was a delightful revelation! That was so much fun and I was really impressed with the chemistry between the Doctor and Benny. They made for a wonderful pairing and I was pleased that this was essentially a standalone episode to start the series. I liked the galactic feel this story had despite not actually venturing far beyond the bar and Renk made for a really good character. I enjoyed his relationship with Benny and the way he was attempting to hit on her was very good and added a nice sense of realism to the series. It's what I'd expect from a character like Benny and showcasing her drunken tendencies at the start was further evidence of these character traits. She was enjoying the attention and why wouldn't she entertain the idea of a hookup? The theme of science of Arviem 2 was magnificent and I loved how literally anything that was spoken that went against scientific law could end in imprisonment or containment. It provided a great dynamic and having what you say looming over you all the time was a terrific proposition. The little moment we got with a local trying to grass up another of his population by her loose use of terminology, only for him to call the falling frogs a miracle was tremendous. Sylvester McCoy had an excellent showing as the Seventh Doctor and whilst this incarnation probably does fall bottom of my list, I loved him here. The confidence he had in the belief that his future self had orchestrated an escape was terrific. Benny's comments about the Doctor use being an annoying man in a hat when he was without the TARDIS seemed a little harsh, but he was annoying her so that seemed fair game. Renk getting knocked unconscious after the Doctor's comical arrival on the ship and changing the coordinates to tackle the probability algorithm that Xavier was using to track Benny was fantastic. I was a big fan of all of the science occurring and the literal word of law worked so well. The mythos of a pink dragon breathing life into the planet was fun to play with and that obviously didn't seem scientific! Renk using all of this to simply set up another bar establishment was fantastic and something that was so silly and yet logical that I didn't see it coming. I thought it was good that the Doctor didn't know why he had come to seek Benny, but then it suddenly hit him at the end as Ace had gone missing and the Doctor needed help finding her. So, she was able to take Renk's ship and hopefully find her which has set up the next instalment in the boxset very well! Overall, a terrific audio!

Rating: 9/10