Iris is back in Excelis and this time she isn’t joined by the Doctor but by the best time-travelling archaeologist out there - Professor Bernice Summerfield
Rate and review below:
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6 Likes
I thought that this was the worst part of the set. I still don’t feel like I know Benny and I thought that Iris was kind of annoying. And in general, the story was kind of boring. 2.5/5
7 Likes
Best of the Excelis stories for me without a doubt.
“Jenny” Summerfield and Aunty Iris getting drunk together and planning a handbag heist? I love that 
As a whole the Excelis stories get a 3/5 
for me, nothing super special but enjoyable nonetheless 
Edit: There’s not much we agree on, is there @Tian 
8 Likes
You and I think the complete opposite of each other.
Edit:
We will always have season 5!
6 Likes
There might be a few who’d like to challenge you on that!
This is in the middle for me - much better than Dawns, slightly better than Decays but not as good as Rising. Iris is much easier to listen to here but can still be a bit too much and sort of takes over the story again, and Benny is feisty and fun. The story itself is hardly anything to write home about, and the supporting characters are forgettable.
It’s a strong 6/10 for me.
Excelis overall is a fine little story arc but not an all-time classic.
8 Likes
I’ll just bring this one back around shall I:
6 Likes
You defy me with a six-month-old poll?!?!? Which was a close call anyway?!?! /j
We have loads of new members, perhaps it’s time for a new one 
7 Likes
I haven’t closed the poll though, no need for a new one
Well done, I totally heard that in Julian Glover’s voice 
6 Likes
I’m on a meme roll today, so:
6 Likes
Okay well I LOVE Benny and I LOVE Iris and I LOVE this story. It’s silly but it is so much fun. It’s interesting to me to see how Katy’s Iris voice has developed when you compare it to the solo boxsets. I mean, sure this isn’t the strongest story ever and honestly I listened to this a few weeks ago on my Benny run so now I can’t remember what happens in this at all, but yeah. I had fun
7 Likes
6 Likes
Just submitted the best line in this audio - nay in any audio ever - as a quote. Let’s see if you can all guess what it is before it’s published…
7 Likes
Finished this this morning whilst doing the ironing. I adore Lisa Bowerman so it takes a lot for a Benny audio to disappoint and this didn’t disappoint, although its definitely not her strongest outing being as she is rather overshadowed by Manning returning as Iris. I had forgotten most of this and I enjoyed the twists and turns, particularly that the disease-ridden corpse flinging had been mechanised. Not entirely sure the Sister Jolene reveal was earned particularly as she hasn’t been mentioned since Dawns.
That said this is more a sequel to Excelis Dawns than it is a part of the main trilogy. You could listen to both this and Dawns and not miss the other two stories, especially as Excelis is in a pretty similar ‘social’ state in both stories.
And Bowerman and Manning’s drunk acting was on point!
7 Likes
Vampire cows?
5 Likes
Listened to this back in July. It’s good, Benny and Iris play well off each other. I think that this is absolutely necessary to the arc because it explains what the Relic’s purpose was.
As much as I somewhat enjoyed the middle two stories (and didn’t enjoy Dawns as much), I think you’re right that one could listen to Dawns and Plague Herds and miss nothing.
7 Likes
That was a story that I heard. I don’t really have anything to say about this one other than “meh?” that the rest of the Excelis has really left me with.
6 Likes
First real Bernice story I’ve listened to (not counting a couple shorts and minisodes) and really like her character, also love Iris in this again and I think this does a good job of wrapping up plot threads left dangling.
That said, otherwise, I’m pretty meh on this story, it’s fine, dont’ get me wrong, but I wasn’t quite as invested as Dawns or Rising, and I didn’t find the worldbuilding to be as interesting as Decays. The answers for the plot threads are nice to have and it’d be weird not having them, but they’re also not anything especially gripping to me, and they don’t really tie all that much into the rest of the series so (like @deltaandthebannermen said) it feels more like a sequel to Dawns than part of the series.
A high 5/10 for me, but if you ask me a different day it could be a 6.
(Which is pretty funny since the four current reviews on it are 8, 7, 6, 5)
And WoooO!!!
6 Likes
I fall on the @BillFiler side of this argument - Plague Herds is my favourite of the Excelis stories thanks to the dynamic between Benny and Iris. Plus it feels like this audio actually pays off some stuff from Excelis Dawns in the way the original trilogy never really bothered with.
6 Likes
This is, by far, my favourite of the series. It’s a solid story, that does more in an hour than the rest of the series did in nearly 4.
Benny is great as usual, and even Iris was great. Her presence in the first part was annoying, but here she was 
. The bathhouse scene, in particular, was excellent. I think high-energy Iris is just too much for me.
My thoughts on the series as a hole are mixed. It’s a cool concept, but sadly it is let down by not much happening. If elements of the reveal from this part had been woven through previous releases in the series, I think it would have worked better.
10 Likes
I’m glad to see there’s a few of us that are fans of this one! Iris and Benny are a solid combination together. The rest of Excelis is very much something I would describe as “mixed.”
9 Likes