The Tertiary Console Room: Review - Professor Bernice Summerfield

'Isn't my dying mania going to be a bit more original than that?'

Big Finish's first full-length original drama for Bernice Summerfield takes the form of The Secret Of Cassandra by David Bailey, and while they had established themselves with the previous adaptations of existing novels, this move into new areas seems a little uncertain and comes across as a definite oddity.

Beginning with Benny stranded on an isolated island in the middle of nowhere, she proceeds to explain how she booked herself on a holiday to a war-torn planet, and is now resigned to dying there alone after inevitably finding herself shipwrecked. But soon, the sailing ship Cassandra arrives and we are into the story proper as Benny sets about exploring its mysteries. It's a peculiar way to begin the audio, as holidaying in the middle of a war-zone is something you wouldn't expect even Benny to do as it's just asking for trouble, a fact that is recognised by the feeling of inevitability she shows during her opening monologue, and it gives the story an air of improbability and coincidence which doesn't bode well for the remainder.

It's emphasised quite early on how the Cassandra is an old fashioned Earth sailing ship, as demonstrated by both versions of the story's cover but in particularly striking fashion on the Adrian Salmon one, in its appearance. But while the idea of a seemingly antique ship on the outside, packed with the latest in technology on the inside is an interesting one, Bailey never really explores his setting in any great detail and so his potential 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea Nautilus type scenario is lost and it's a missed opportunity as it could be any old spaceship or whatnot and it wouldn't have made much difference to the story itself.

The bulk of the story follows the voyage of the Cassandra as it travels between the two warring continents of Pevena and Calabraxia, and Benny finds herself presented with several mysteries. The Calabraxian General Hannah Brennan seems increasingly paranoid, while her rescuer, the enigmatic Captain Colley, seems preoccupied with other matters and there is the small matter of the ship's other passenger whom the onboard computer cannot detect.

One of the main problems with The Secret Of Cassandra is in the pacing, which is at times torturously slow. There is a lack of urgency amongst the drama which often breaks the suspense that Bailey is trying to generate, leaving some parts of the story fairly dull as the listener is left waiting - impatiently - for the next phase of development to begin. With the small cast, hiding the surprises can be difficult and in some respects here the story succeeds as the altering of our perspectives of the characters halfway through is unexpected, but the big twist towards the end is telegraphed too much.

Lisa Bowerman's performance as Benny is consistent with the ways that Big Finish has taken the character forward. She takes great delight in being the one to stir things up on board the ship as she starts to suspect darker motivations of its occupants, particularly in the case of Brennan as she plays against her paranoia. The extent of her initial willingness to accept her fate on the island seems a little out of character for Benny, but she's always been a pragmatist so perhaps it's not pushing credibility as far as it could do.

It transpires that Brennan's cargo is the means to bring the war to an end, and despite being a Pevenan himself, Colley has accepted her employment to deliver it into the hands of the Calabraxian forces. Where Bailey focuses most is upon the characters. Most of the original Benny audios feature limited cast members, and confining them to a cut off area and letting their tensions get the better of them seems to be de rigueur, and so in this respect The Secret Of Cassandra has proven to be influential on subsequent releases. The backdrop of the raging war shapes the story's characters, with all of them being affected by its consequences.

Benny's rescuer is the Captain of the Cassandra, Colley, played by the ever-dependable Lennox Greaves, but he initially appears strangely ambivalent to the implications of his actions. With his researcher daughter dead in a Calabraxian attack upon the Pevenan scientific research station, his wife faded away emotionally and eventually physically, leaving him bitter and tired of warfare. What's strange about the way that Bailey characterises Colley is the conflict of emotions he goes through throughout the story, shown in particular by the way that he is resolute in the face of opposition from Brennan to rescue Benny from her shipwrecked shore, and yet he's ready to sacrifice her when the full extent of his goals are revealed. It is the battle between the need to act morally and his own overriding emotion to end his own person suffering that moves his character forward yet the shifts of his perspective seem very abrupt making them less believable in the process. Greaves does well with the material he's given, but in trying to make Colley enigmatic, Bailey has made him seem rather muddled instead. What could have helped this is if Greaves had played the part with a harder edge during the opening half of the play, which would have given his sudden change in motivation more believable, but as it is, it's distracting.

As a member of the Calabraxian military, Sally Faulkner's General Brennan is suffering when Benny meets her from an extreme case of paranoia, which leads her to suspect everyone's motives. But when you consider just what is at stake - the end of the conflict - then you can see how the pressure can have built up against her. Faulkner's performance here is fairly strong and makes an initially appealing villain, yet when Bailey alters the way that Benny perceives her character, she makes a credible ally. Her prisoner, Robert Curbishley's Sheen, is another person shaped by the war in ways crucial to the final twists of the story and he delivers some much needed dramatic impact during the climax to the audio. Helen Goldwyn voices the ship's computer, and while it's rather a redundant role she performs adequately matching her voice to Lennox Greaves' northern tones well, whilst giving it a flat, emotionless quality appropriate for a machine.

Toby Richards and Emily Baker's post production work is generally good, with a constant hum of engines giving the story a good impression of being onboard a ship and the storm that batters it during the second half of the audio is striking in its scope although there is a sense it could be more thunderous at times. Their musical score is less successful, with some of it being quite overpowering of the drama making it anything but incidental! Particularly strange is the use of the instrumental version of the current (at this time) Benny theme "Adventure Is My Game" as background music as it's very off-putting.

As the first full-length original Benny story, it's obvious that they're still finding their way here. While David Bailey's script has interesting ideas about the morality of war and questions of identity, the central story is less successful as it lacks the impetus and suspense to be effective and entertaining drama. Ultimately, The Secret Of Cassandra is a worthy, but dull, release.