Doctor Who: Bernice Summerfield and the Criminal Code

A Seventh Doctor story told from the perspective of Bernice Summerfield.

Benny, of course, has been a staple of Big Finish since before they even got the Doctor Who license, and has a history going back to novels released in the early '90s. As a time travelling archaeologist (long before River Song), the story here is well suited to her. It centres around a mysterious lost language, banned by the modern inhabitants of the planet on which the story is set. Bernice battles both the authorities and darker forces in her attempts to uncover the truth about the language.

And yet, for all that there are some good points in it, the audio as a whole doesn't really work. Lisa Bowerman, as always, does a good job with the character, although she struggles a bit with voicing the Doctor. Ultimately, however, the limitations of the Companion Chronicles format are all too apparent here. Benny, it becomes clear, is a character who works best when she has somebody else to bounce off, but here she's reduced to narration. The one additional actor is playing an ally, rather than an antagonist, and there isn't even much spark there.

It comes out rather bland and flat, quite far from the best that Benny can be, when given freer rein than is possible here.