Archaeological Adventuress: Peter only brought Bernice along
on this mission because it is more her field of expertise than his and it is
nothing more than that. Although he is calling her mum again, which is a good
sign. The tried and tested Summerfield method is to throw caution to the wind
and see what happens. She has never taken her own advice, always big on the 'be
careful and stick together' whilst wandering off in the other direction. I
loved the gag of Jack getting wound up because all he can hear is furious
panting on the intercoms and when she gets a moment Bernice informs him it is
just her making her way up the stairs. Well, she's not as young as she was.
Peter might not like it but as soon as she realises her son is in danger
Bernice's maternal instincts kick in. And there is nothing a mother wouldn't do
to protect her son. Bernice always thought the Healers were a fairy story that
her dad told her about. She never thought she would ever meet one.
Dog Boy: Peter always put up with Jack precisely because he
never showed an interest. Antonio was there for Peter on Bastion and looked out
for him before Irving came along. It isn't that surprising that things
developed the way they did given the hardships that they suffered. When he
panics, calls Bernice 'mum' like a frightened little boy. If you are frightened
enough, every man would call out for his mother.
Standout Performance: It is easy not to expect a great deal
from the guest performers of the spin off ranges of Big Finish. They are the
hidden ranges, the ones that sell less and probably attract lesser known talent
because they don't have the lure of the 'Doctor Who' banner. However I am
constantly surprised by the quality of performances that these ranges manage to
attract. Geoffrey Breton is a great example. A young actor just starting out in
his career, he plays the one speaking guest star role in HMS Surprise and bring
a huge amount of personality, pathos and interest to the role. It helps that
the character is well written but this is a performance that has been
considered, the lines have been studied and every nuance is wrung out of them.
Colour me impressed.
Sparkling Dialogue: 'We'll be out of here before you can say
emergency temporal shift...'
Musical Cues: Like Shades of Gray last year, HMS Surprise
relies heavily on it's soundtrack and James Dunlop as perfectly in tune with
the material and the music is especially effective as we race towards the
conclusion and the violins start striking discordantly.
Standout Scene: Bernice tries to offer the Healer her body
as a worthy vessel to transfer in to and...well you can imagine what comes
next. Her reaction is much more subdued than you might imagine.
Result: An atmospheric and creepy listen which
relies on some sinister ideas to make you squirm before flourishing in the last
ten minutes as a surprisingly thoughtful SF tale. You've got a great setting (a
decaying shipyard), a great 'menace' (an intelligence birthed in a derelict
ship) and Scott Handcock on hand to provide some lovely frights. He's by far
the best of the Bernice Summerfield directors. That's not a slight to Gary
Russell, who is the only other person working on the series at the moment,
because I think Handcock is the best director to have ever worked on the
series. He seems to have a terrific understanding of the audio medium and how
to get you to feel something about the story is being told, especially if it is
a chiller. Big Finish Towers would do well to assign him to some of the other
ranges as his is an untapped talent that has scarcely been exploited. HMS
Surprise really reminded of one of the old school Bernice Summerfield
adventures with a tight mystery, a tiny cast and a rock solid plot that is
surprisingly attention-grabbing given the economy of the cast and setting.
Lucas is the only guest character but he's effective enough that you don't need
anybody else, he provides the details of the mystery and the solution and is
engagingly played by Geoffrey Breton. If you removed Peter and Jack you could
happily slip this into seasons three to six and I mean that as the highest of
compliments. I wouldn't mind finding more out about the Healers, they are ripe
for further investigation and I can think of a number of tales that could
spring from the charming idea. A second writing/directing combination of
Alexander Vlahos and Scott Handcock is a must at some point in the future: 8/10
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