Big Finish - Bernice Summerfield book adaptations
I really enjoyed this story with Bernice and the 7th Doctor but it seemed to have some odd characteristics, such as the most brilliant criminal mind in the galaxy (Sheldukher) not being able to consider the reality of the trap he gets into. Or the world he’s been supposedly looking for not existing. It’s a single-minded criminality, that’s for sure.
The Doctor and Bernice land on a world to investigate a mysterious signal the Doctor picked up. They’re immediately attacked by a race of turtles with mechanical implants – though how did they develop all of their technology with just flippers? Chelonians are pretty cool as a concept but I would need more on their history to understand the race. Anyway, Bernice falls in with Rosheen, looking for a treasure that he thinks he’s pre-ordained to be a part of. And the Doctor is captured by the Chelonians, who are bent on destroying some parasites (re: humans) on the planet who were apparently on a train on Earth then suddenly transported to a whole new planet. The leader is in denial, thinking it’s all a dream perhaps. But Hazel, on of the other humans, turns out to have a spine and the will to fight back when the Chelonians attack.
So the Doctor and Bernice are involved up to their eyeballs while Sheldukher is looking for the Highest Science on this planet. They follow him, to help prevent him from getting the Highest Science, while he control The Cell, a stolen computer that is sentient and grew itself an brain and other parts while captive to Sheldukher for over 300 years. Bizarre and random go well together in this story, that’s for sure. But things really get convoluted and intense in the last part – don’t get distracted or you may miss the details! I really enjoyed this story though I can’t imagine how it worked as a book. It would be a long one, I suspect! Well worth the listen.
Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor), Lisa Bowerman (Bernice Summerfield), Sinead Keenan (Rosheen), Daniel Brocklebank (Sheldukher), Sarah Ovens (The Cell), Rehanna McDonald (Hazel), James Baxter (Rodomonte), Tom Bell (Fakrid/Jinka)
Writer: Gareth Roberts, adapted by Jacqueline Rayner
Director: Scott Handcock
Release: December 2014