It’s time to listen to and discuss The Shadow of the Scourge
Buy it online using the link above, or listen for free - you’ll find links where to listen free on the story page!
Once you’ve listened, talk about it below! Even if you listened to it before and just want to discuss it - dive right in! Just please use spoiler tags where appropriate.
Everyone who participates will get a coveted Audio Club badge!
I listened a couple of weeks ago, started off a little confused as I’d never even heard of Bernice before, but I think it made a good introduction to her, and I definitely want to know more of her history with the Doctor.
Hearing 7 get taken over by a malevolent insect and grow more limbs is the sort of bizarre silliness I love about DW
Another great 7th Doctor audio from Big Finish, penned by the one and only Paul Cornell. This one starts like any other story but slowly turns more bizarre, tense and creepy. Seven is very manipulative and mysterious, but also makes a few mistakes that add tension. McCoy delivers one of his better performances. Ace and Benny are used well (you don’t have to be familiar with Benny to enjoy this one, which is a plus).
It’s perhaps a bit difficult to follow in the second half and the guest characters aren’t particularly interesting. I like the Scourge though and they are well-established in the story. The sound design used during the transformation scenes is superb and so creepy. And this one has three amazing cliffhangers, especially in Part 2.
Overall, a solid, creepy, sometimes confusing story with some memorably creepy and tense moments, so an 8/10 for me!
‘The Shadow of the Scourge’ is a really fun story.
The only issue I have with it is that God-awful cover art. It’s one of very few from the early days of BigFinish to have aged like milk in a greenhouse.
Also, does anyone remember when - for at least four years - the cover was glitched on the BigFinish website? Instead of saying “Sophie Aldred” it read “Sohpie Alfed”.
I was going to mention the awful cover earlier but forgot. Yeah, it’s really bad. I found multiple fanmade covers on the internet that are much better!
Can you imagine a full-on painted Virgin New Adventures cover instead? Imagine how beautifully horrible the Scourge could look painted by someone like Peter Elson!
This release is the first in a short-lived, loose miniseries of releases called ‘Side Step’ where the releases were in other continuities. In this case, Virgin New Adventures, hence the outfits on the awful cover being the same as from that range. Although the Ace outfit is
my relisten review: I love this one. I think it’s really nice as a little taster of Seven, Ace, and Benny from the VNAs, giving you a look at their character arcs, and it still managed to keep me on edge even knowing what goes down. its got body-horror bug aliens, and good character work, and the day is saved by the power of self respect, its a really satisfying listen and one I will probably come back to again in the future. I will always love a story where somebody has to give a big desperate speech about hope and love to save the day, especially when theyre less of an expert at it than the Doctor, and the Determined Monologuing in this one is just perfect.
my high point is absolutely the Doctor and Benny’s mind-journey where she rips into him and he faces the facts about his behaviour and how it effects his friends. it really feels like the whole situation was just an inevitability of all his scheming…
The audio (and cover image) quality is definitely Not Good but I think it’s kind of charming. its the audio drama equivalent of cheapo sets and papier mache monsters to me. 9/10 for this one. peace and love on planet earth.
So, I finished listening to it- it’s a pretty fun story, even if it’s not the most complicated one.
The last time I heard it was when I just discovered BF, so I didn’t really know who Benny was and was quite confused about who she is and where did she spring from… So this time I was more focused on the plot… I really enjoy this TARDIS team!
I also liked hearing 7 doubting himself, because- it’s 7- how often do you get that?!
The only downside in my opinion is that the supporting cast are quite boring and forgettable…
But overall, a very enjoyable story!
I just really enjoy this story. It’s fun and simple but mind-bending and often creepy. I love the scenes set in the Doctor’s mind, especially the Eighth Doctor “foreshadowing”.
Well, this was a strange one. I like it! It was a fun listen and I was interested in what was going to happen next.
I would have liked it if they had introduced Benny a little more. Feelt strange that we out of nowhere had a new TARDIS team. But this is a good start to get my first Benny badge
Really enjoyed giving this a relisten - I’d forgotten how good it is. The setting of a run-of-the-mill 20th century conference hotel is great and the scenes of terrified, tortured people is actually very scary (it really got to me this time, I’ve no idea why).
The 7th Doctor is at his manipulative best and Benny and Ace are great support acts (even if Cornell makes the mistake of giving Sophie Aldred an excuse to shout all her lines for a whole episode or so).
Benny is perfection (which you would expect from her creator writing the script) and Lisa Bowerman is so natural and likeable that, surely even if you aren’t familiar with Benny, you instantly understand her character.
The story of the Scourge is a good one and if there are any weak links it would just be the three guest characters who help our trio fight the monsters who are maybe not the best acted.
Love the scenes inside the Doctor’s mind (and Benny’s ogling of the 8th Doctor - fun foreshadowing of when she does meet him in the final NA, The Dying Days).
Rerated this from 3/5 to 4/5 - how I wish they’d done more with this team
While I don’t love the first volume, the first two sets of The New Adventures of Bernice Summerfield reunite these three and the second volume is a personal favorite, although YMMV.
Listened to this again this morning and yes, I do love this one. Is it daft? Yeah, but that’s part of its charm. And I know I love it because even though I didn’t really remember any details to begin, the second it got into it, it alllll came flooding back to me, and if I’ve retained it after only one or two listens a few years ago, then that’s a win to me. Also I love and adore Benny so much <3
I don’t think I can add much to the conversation, all my thoughts on it have already been described in the posts above.
Lisa Bowerman = Benny! When I read a VNA I hear Benny’s dialogue in her voice. And a real joy to have this particular TARDIS Team acted out on audio.
I thought to look for fan-made covers to have something better to look at, but honestly what I found wasn’t really improvements. Oh well.
So this time I was more focused on the plot… I really enjoy this TARDIS team!
