What's it about: Professor Bernice Summerfield, archaeologist and adventurer, has discovered a Pyramid on Mars. Inside she finds her old friend the Doctor is fighting a battle with the Osiran God Sutekh. One he is losing.
Archaeological Adventurer: I do wonder if in this case it
might not be wise to drop Benny's glib nature and have her act in a genuinely
scared manner for once. This time she is facing the God of Death animating the
Doctor, who is attempting to kill her. I know listeners who find Bernice
unbearable because of her 'laugh in the face of danger' attitude (hey Tim) and
usually it works wonders but sometimes,
sometimes it would be nice if she could drop the sarcasm and just be
very, very afraid (think Just War or The Draconian Rage). By the end of the
story she reaches that point and even sheds a few tears but anybody who was
expecting Bernice Summerfield Takes the Piss out of Sutekh might have all their
fears met in the first half an hour. There was a moment when Benny mentioned
Jason and remembered the vast, sprawling range that spawned these box sets. I
do miss those days when Bernice existed in her own world, regardless of whether
a Doctor Who influence increases sales of her appearances or not. Lisa Bowerman
really goes for it during the scene where she is trying to convince the Doctor
that he is a good man, it took me back to that wonderfully powerful moment in
Shadow of the Scourge where the two characters dwell on the best things about
being alive. Bowerman has that same kind of manic energy. Bernice is absolutely
selfless in her desire to destroy the pyramid and Sutekh within it, even at the
cost of her life and the Doctor's She understands the consequences to the
universe if she fails. The Doctor would understand, it's just the sort of
theatrical, self sacrificing tosh he loves.
The Real McCoy: Remember that funny scene in Crime of the
Century when the Doctor dashes out of a party and opens a safe only to discover
Raine inside? This story subverts that amusingly but this time it is Bernice
opening up a sarcophagus on Mars and discovering the Doctor inside. 'I bring
Sutekh's death to all humanity' coming from the Doctor should be rather
frightening, but McCoy does rather mumble the line. McCoy often (as in always)
struggles with bringing hysterical lines to pass and so I fail to understand
why anybody with even a passing knowledge of his Big Finish performances would
offer him up such lines as 'SUTEKH WANTS ME TO KIIIIILLLLLYOOOOOOOU!' It
beggars belief. Sutekh belittles everything about the Doctor, his lifestyle,
his home, his companions, the very universe he lives in. McCoy can be quite
frightening on audio, go an listen to Master again or A Thousand Tiny Wings.
Sometimes he makes it sound effortless. And sometimes he adopts a bizarre
sing-song voice that makes it sound as if he cocking his head from side to side
as he says the dialogue. Like he is taking the piss. It's a weird delivery,
oddly off kilter and distracting. Not scary, just off-putting. Take the Doctor
out of the story and replace him with a plaything of Sutekh and it leaves you
with a Bernice Summerfield story with a gurning Sylvester McCoy villain. Make of
that what you will.
Oh Wicked: One and half lines only. Bliss. It's as though
Handcock is as bored of the character as I am.
Sparkling Dialogue: 'Doctor, I think this is beyond me. A
pyramid of dead Gods...'
'The best entertainment conjure horror as well as awe.'
Great Ideas: For once we have two established elements that
go together like fish and chips - Bernice's archaeology credentials are beyond
repute and Sutekh hanging out in a tomb in Mars is his raison d'etre. What's
odd is how it has taken this long to bring these two plot elements together,
not that it has been done in the first place. Bernice is trapped in the most
powerful tomb in the universe with dead Osirans - a potent image which is
hauntingly portrayed by Lisa Bowerman.
Death nourishes Sutekh and so near to warfare he can gain strength with
every life that is taken. He's one of the most grandiose villains the Doctor
has ever faced and if big, melodramatic lines didn't form on his lips it would
be terribly disappointing. Anybody that can remember how terrifying the
Servicer robots were in Pyramids of Mars will shudder at the thought of an
entire army of the buggers coming to life. The Doctor thought he had killed
Sutekh long ago but he had only destroyed his physical body, his consciousness
survived and with the activation of the pyramid the flesh looms can spin him a
new body to free him and bring forth carnage. At his height he can snuff out a
world with one breath.
Audio Landscape: Force walls, the power coming on, booby
traps, gunfire, marching Servicer robots, mummies sparking and fizzing, the
TARDIS cloister bell, firing on the pyramid, the time/space tunnel, emerging
from water.
Musical Cues: More magic from Steve Foxon, who has been on
Big Finish's payroll for many years now and is still providing very exciting
scores. What The Pyramid of Sutekh needs is a crushing, oppressive, menacing
score that enhances the feeling of the walls closing in on Bernice and Foxon
achieves that admirably. I especially liked the cue when the mummies come to
life. Very chilling. It's a minimalist score but I don't mind those when it
adds to the disquiet.
Standout Scene: The very idea of Sutekh manifesting himself
a body to tread dust and darkness in the worlds of the universe is terrifying
and Scott Handcock directs this scene with absolute precision, stressing it's
importance.
2 comments:
I actually like the parallel to the final Episode of Pyramid of Mars. Too many one of the odd things about Pyramid of Mars was that most of the time was spent around an English Country house and they really rushed through it. Here, Bernice as a quality adventure in the Pyramid and I found it exciting and fun.
"nobody has had the nuts to bring him back for a second outing before"
Lawrence Miles used Sutekh in the Faction Paradox audios, and *did* give him somewhat of a backstory and a very different type of story to be in (he's in a court of Gods trying to gain power, rather than it just being a Pyramids of Mars rewrite), if you're interested in seeking those out
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