Box Set Synopsis: When Bernice Summerfield was invited to participate in a cult archaeology broadcast on the mysterious world of Saravas, she could never have imagined the secrets she might unearth there… or the terrible Truth that would stalk her back to Legion. With friends and family by her side, Bernice quickly finds herself flung into the face of danger: either combating deranged despots at terraformed garden parties, appeasing gunslingers in the White Rabbit bar, or simply attempting to survive on a barren desert planet, all alone… The odds are stacked against her, and this is undoubtedly the end for Bernice Summerfield… but she’s determined to go out fighting!
What's it about: Bernice has been invited to appear on a very special live edition of the archaeology series Big Dig: a programme she grew up with as a girl… which now makes her feel very old. Not as old, however, as the mysterious stone robot she unwittingly uncovers during an excavation on the planet Saravas. With no other trace of civilisation, this could be the only clue to the Truth of the planet’s inhabitants. But when Ruth and Jack start acting strangely, Bernice realises there was a reason things were hidden… and secrets aren’t the only things to be buried. Welcome to the biggest Big Dig ever!
Archaeological Adventuress: Bernice has always been
something of stroppy diva so you would think that reality television would be
made for her. She wonders why everybody around her seems to be so young...but
ponders that maybe it is because she has gotten older. She's hardly considered
an A-lister, despite a rousing introductory speech by the presenter of The Big
Dig. The reason that Bernice loves archaeology is because it turns you into an
idiot and makes you realise you don't know the first thing about the universe.
Among the accomplishments she has listed are being part of the dig that
unearthed Domainia's internal moon, helping to resurrect the Five Kings of the
Hobblecraft and even giving away the Blue Blood Nebulae at its wedding to the
Loki meteorite! Astonishing to think that of all the adventures we have
experienced with Benny, there are so many more that we haven't. Everyone has
heard about Saravas, one of the great impossible digs. Nothing beats field work
and it has been an age since she has had the chance. All archaeologists have an
obsession of finding something that can be named after them and Bernice has
finally discovered something that might qualify. That's if the idiotic reality
TV presenters don't get in there first. Bernice's impressive Golonaut becomes a
Rockbot in the wink of an eye. Talk about dumbing down. Bernice is not so quick
to jump to the conclusion that the 'Rockbots' are an army, she's seen too much
in the universe to jump to the conclusion hat every species is warlike. She
refuses to flirt with her co-presenter just to bump the ratings up. She might
not have much integrity but she would like to protect what little reserves she
has left. Bernice takes an incredible risk waking into what appears to be
blistering sunshine to prove a point but sometimes you have to bold to make
your point. Shepton tries to get into Benny's head too, suggesting the only
reason she knows that Jack and Ruth can't let her down is because she doesn't
trust them. Big Dig is one of the reasons she got into archaeology in the first
place, it is one the reasons that she is the woman that she is today.
Standout Performance: Watch how effectively Phillip Bird
switches from tedious reality TV show host to dark puppet of the Epoch. It's
such a vivid switch in character that for a moment I thought they were being
played by different actors.
Sparkling Dialogue: 'Now you are going to make me feel very
old' 'Don't worry, you're amongst archaeologists. The older the better.'
'Try harder. Since we've started digging we've lost ten
million listeners.'
'I'm sorry did I miss the meeting where everyone decided I'm
now a man hungry tart?' 'We had to have a meeting?'
'Technology this advanced occurs only on planets confronted
by war. It's a sad truth but peace stunts imagination.'
Great Ideas: Saravas is a world which is renowned for being
frustrating in almost every way. Only one rainy season per decade, no seas and
an atmosphere that essentially comes and goes as it pleases, Saravas has
remained unpopulated for 5000 years. What happened to its inhabitants all those
years ago? They left almost nothing behind to clue up modern day
archaeologists. That sounds like that sounds like a job for Professor Bernice
Summerfield. I love the way this story starts off like your bog standard
Bernice Summerfield adventure, another dig on another dusty old planet and how
it lures you into thinking (for the first 20 minutes at least) that this is
going to played out along very similar lines. The people of Saravas didn't
write - it was the greatest of sins to record anything in writing. Proving that
some archaeology is just guess work most of the time the arches are initially
coined as temperature gauges, when the sun is visible through all three arches
the planet gets roasted. Or at least that is the best guess. I understand
Hamish Steele to be something of a Doctor Who fan and so I am certain he must
be aware of the humiliating tale of Paul Jerricho who played the Castellan in
Arc of Infinity mistaking Colin Baker for a general dogsbody and asking him to
head off and fetch him some coffee. That is deliciously spoofed here with both
Jack and Ruth being mistaken for members of the crew and being hopeless at
whipping up a round of drinks. Don't let the idea for Celebrity Shark Jump
leaked out, ITV would be all over it. Mind you I can think of a few celebrities I would like to see have a
go. Showing just how blustery and overblown these reality TV shows are, The Big
Dig opens with an incredible fanfare before falling into awkward silence as the
scraping and brushing begins (with painful commentary). Another great gag is
Bernice discovering the artefact and having to cover it over and relive the
moment all over again because the microphones weren't on when she discovered
it. Shepton's slow descent into villainy was very nicely handled, starting with
a few offhand comments on air before he was hidden behind the scenes where he
could start manipulating everybody one at a time. Benny figures that if you can
control the suns, you can control the people. The 'this is the truth' sequences
took the risk of becoming repetitive and predictable but the way Steele uses
Shepton's manipulation of the Big Dig crew to tell us more about them was
inspired. The real Saravas is a network of ancient, colossal tunnels. With the
mikes still rolling, we get to experience everything first hand from Benny once
the illusory Saravas is stripped away. Shepton forcing Ronnie to believe that
her boyfriend is having an affair whilst she is away is horribly cruel, she is
crushed by the revelation, choking up bile but forced to accept that it is the
truth. The brains of Saravas are the archives of all knowledge on the planet,
maintaining the truth of what has happened. An entire planet hidden away from
the rest of the universe. Saravas is not a planet but a construct, a facility.
One that was set up to determine the impact of truth on primitive minds.
The natives of Saravas were part of an
experiment, one that sought to create new types of worlds. Worlds that might be
indestructible. Saravas was constructed through deceit and the Rockbots, the
Epoch were the enforcers of these lies. The Epoch were the Gods of this world
and then they constructed other worlds, other planets throughout the cosmos.
Once they mastered other worlds they started to map out new realities, mapping
and re-mapping history, time and again. All the legends of Saravas were formed
by the Epoch but it was the people that believed them. The stories became the
truth and it eventually reached Bernice Summerfield when she was a young girl.
They knew that she would come one day so they invented the legends when she was
a girl. The 150 million people listening to The Big Dig are going to start
killing each other, escalating the threat even further. '150 million lives
are nothing to the Epoch' - absolutely chilling. I can remember in Journey
to the Centre of the TARDIS that I was appalled that the knowledge that the
knowledge the Doctor shared with Clara about her 'impossible girl' status was
wiped. The Big Dig pulls off a similar trick by having Benny forget about all
the developments she has learnt in this story. But there is a massive
difference - the events in this story did take place and they do have
massive ramifications for the range at large and Bernice in particular. Journey
to the Centre of the TARDIS pressed a big reset button and made all the events
of the story that have played out absolutely pointless. A bit like The Curse of
Fenman. At the end of this story Bernice has lost her too closest friends. And
she doesn't even remember. Given the title of this box set, I'm sensing a
theme... Bernice was the only survivor on Saravas.
Isn't it Odd: As soon as there was a mention of giant metal
men I immediately thought of the Epoch but that didn't make the escalation of
their threat any less gripping. It is about damn time somebody started to
connecting all the threads that began in the Epoch box set but it has been such
a long stretch of stories since then you could be forgiven for having forgotten
most of the information mentioned here.
Standout Scene: The gripping moment when Bernice realises
that the suns are aligning sooner than anybody expected and everybody is about
to get roasted alive. Live on air. Not only is this a startlingly dramatic
moment but the upshot of this development is what pushes Bernice towards the
truth of the function of the arches, dispelling all previous theories. The last
twenty minutes are absolutely superb, the reality of the situation spilling out
in the most dramatic fashion and the story transforming from one thin to
something very different.
Result: Fulfilling the same remit as The Curse of Fenman by
bringing the audience up to date with elements of the plot from the past, The
Big Dig gets about as much right as finale of the New Frontiers set got it
wrong. For a start this is a extremely strong story in its own right and one
which builds up to its revelations through a plot that adds layers and layers
until the bombshells are appropriate to drop and demolish the lot. The Big Dig
kicks off like a standard Bernice Summerfield adventure but slowly gets darker
and more twisted as it goes until the fantastic final twenty minutes when I was
kept on the edge of my seat with the gripping developments. I might be in the
minority but I thoroughly enjoyed the Epoch set that kicked off this period of
Bernice's life and have been longing for some kind of follow up for the central
menace of that story. The Big Dig re-introduces the Epoch very effectively,
giving those who weren't on board four box sets ago a chance to keep up with
the developments. The characters are well served as well with the regulars and
guest cast coming alive vividly and all of them being manipulated in directions
out of their control. Their true colours come to light when the pressure is on,
allowing us to experience who they really are whilst the cameras roll on. Not
only are the Epoch built up as a genuinely fearful adversary but there is a
shift in Bernice's reality at the end of this story and two very important
people are stolen from her life. This looks ready to be the most gripping of
story arcs the range has ever attempted, as long as they can keep this momentum
going. The way the whole story plays out on air and all the terrifying developments
are broadcast to 150 million viewers back home is just the icing on the cake,
reminding me brilliantly of Ghostwatch. Full marks, I haven't quite been
this glued to my headphones by a Bernice Summerfield adventure in a long
time: 10/10
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