January 24, 2010

The Shadow of the Scourge (2000)

Two McCoy adventures in quick succession might be a bit too much for some people. The previous story was a first because it had the return of Mel, this one was equally unique as it was the first story to feature Bernice Summerfield in the main range. The character of Bernice Summerfield has been in the Big Finish world since Oh No It Isn’t was released in September 1998. I had never heard a Bernice play before listening to this story and also not knowing about the stories the Seventh Doctor, Ace and Benny had had in the New Adventure books.

Now due to the introduction of Benny, this isn’t a Seventh Doctor story that I was particularly fond of. I think that the beginning of the story put me off a bit. Another thing was Ace sounded a bit odd in this one. In previous Seventh Doctor plays she sounded like she did on TV but in this story it was not the Ace that I knew. As this is my first encounter with Benny I have to say that I thought that the character was quite a well written one and actually well acted by Lisa Bowerman. The thing I liked about Benny was there was a modern cynicism that you just don’t get to this degree with any other characters. There was quite a weird moment and by weird I mean WEIRD!!! It happens when Bernice goes inside the Doctor’s head and meets all thirteen of the Doctors’ incarnations. She seems quite keen on the eighth Doctor. Sylvester McCoy was his usual good self. His Doctor hasn’t really changed much in these Big Finish stories compared to say the Sixth Doctor. McCoy still puts in a good performance and seems to revel in the story.

Due to the way that the story went I actually found myself enjoying this story. Its not the best story that I have every heard but then considering how there are elements that are not original Doctor Who then I find it unfair to really compare it against any of the first 11 stories. Paul Cornell has written a story that doesn’t seem like a normal Doctor Who stories. McCoy and Aldred were good on TV and have potential to do be the same in Big Finish.

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