Think i prefer this one.
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Yeah that is probably the best one around. I think it actually just could be the “Ace: Space Mercenary” look that I find a bit jarring when it comes down to it - pair that with two characters with more ordinary clothes and I guess there is a bit of a disconnect.
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I’m probably incredibly biased because of Paul Cornell being my favorite DW writer but I absolutely love this one. There is not a single boring moment. Every single one of the 130 minutes is utilized and the story never drags. The pacing is literally so perfect.
Part one is very mysterious, at part 2 we get lots of spookiness, part 3 goes crazy with the amazing slightly trippy mind stuff, and then with part 4 we go full “the power of love and hope can save everything” and it genuinely feels epic. I literally got chills from a “the power of friendship saves all” moment.
I really like the Scourge being a physical manifestation of depression and anxiety. It’s cliché asf but it’s just such a loveable idea and makes for a lot of really great emotional scenes.
Seven is also incredibly emo again. That part where Bernice accidentally kicks one of his memories out of his mind… I can hear teenage me saying it 
And all those scenes feel extra real because Silvester McCoy is acting his butt off in this one. When the Doctor gets taken over by the Scourge… idk how he even manages to produce those sounds of pure agony.
I’m not the biggest fan of the Scourge looking like big manti, but they represent anxiety and so they look like something scary and that works I guess in a narrative way, but ehhhhh. Maybe its just my fear of bugs. In which case it was a successful choice i guess.
But for the rest the entire thing is pretty much perfect in my book. Just for how much fun it is. All the characters doing their things just makes me happy. And sorry I’m saying it again but the pacing is just so flawless. It knows exactly when to move on to the next scene. Then lots of great emotional stuff and things about being human or whatever corny stuff it was and im so biased for Cornell i know shut up
And as a plus the entire thing is just so deliciously quotable.
“Oh, is that a real knife?” “Yeah, is that a problem?”
“Hello, welcome to my mind! Sorry for the mess.”
Gold. Entire story is gold. 4,5 (dont question my unlogical ratings)
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Yeah, I just loved this one. I wish we got more audios of Benny and the Doctor because I loved hearing them breezily work together as what feels like equals compared to most companions. The setting was just great too, and the set-up of the Doctor pretending to work with the Scourge is great.
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The first couple of box sets of The New Adventures of Bernice Summerfield have the Seventh Doctor and Ace in them.
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I saw that earlier in the thread! I’ll have to check those out!
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I forget how good this really is. I much prefer The Dark Flame and remembered this being too shouty, but there’s a decent story in here and it’s not as bad as I remembered. I don’t really have much more to add. Getting into the Seventh Doctor’s head is something Cornell does well, we have excellent stuff with Bernice from her creator. Ace’s shouting gets old quick. This really does feel like a VNA. I’d still love for Big Finish to do more with this team. Bring on the excellent The Holy Terror.
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Haha. No problem. So many threads, It’s hard to keep track of it something has been mentioned before… or even if it was me who recommended it.
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Well thank you just the same, it was good news as I wasn’t aware
I enjoyed this!
As others have said, Ace was a bit too shouty (especially so after she went deaf), and the other cast members weren’t that interesting, but the Seventh Doctor was excellent.
As my first introduction to Benny it wasn’t the best - very little in the way of an introduction, it kind of assumed you’ve read the VNAs, which I haven’t yet.
She’s no River Song, but Benny is fun 
I gave it 3.5/5
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You say this like it’s a bad thing…
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Just listened to this again for the first time in a couple of years. I enjoyed it for the most part. Like other releases that are ‘OK’, I think it’s a little bit too long. Maybe 20 minutes cut out would make it flow better. I gave it 3.5/5.
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Well I enjoyed this one much more than I was expecting to from the cover!
Basically it feels like we got an extra VNA & I was interested to see how “new Ace” would be portrayed here - in the novel adaptations she didn’t come across as much different from TV Ace, but she did seem a bit tougher here.
The bits set in the Doctor’s mind seemed like a natural sequel to Timewyrm: Revelation which I had only reread a few months ago, and I also picked up on the foreshadowing of The Dying Days with 8 & Benny!
The plot kept me gripped with some great cliffhangers, & 7 once again wasn’t as clever as he thought he was - I’m starting to wondering if this will be an ongoing theme in BF, as this is the second 7 story already (the other being the Genocide Machine) where the main driver of the plot is 7 getting things completely wrong!
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I don’t have too much to add, but it was pretty good!
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I really enjoyed this one.
Ace, Benny and Seven make a great tardis team.
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