The Tertiary Console Room: Review - Professor Bernice Summerfield

"All I can do is leave them holding the baby and hope they finally sort it all out..."

Dave Stone is no stranger to the world of Bernice Summerfield having written many novels featuring her in the past and is also the creator of Jason Kane, Benny's rogue of an ex-husband, and so it's no surprise to find that he features in The Green-Eyed Monsters for the first time in an audio story since the adaptation of Just War. For this Stone has chosen to write a much smaller scale story than the often bizarre and encompassing mass of concepts that typifies his novels making it very atypical of his usual work although his distinctive and unique humour comes through very firmly from the outset, as evidenced by the gentle mocking of the "Adventure Is My Game" Benny theme which resurfaces here purely for this purpose.

Whereas The Greatest Shop In The Galaxy neatly sidestepped the issue of Benny's newborn child, Peter, The Green-Eyed Monsters embraces it with both hands making this the first audio since he was born in Jac Rayner's novel, The Glass Prison, to really bring home the fact that Benny is now a mother and has all the responsibilities that come with it. By rooting her in domesticity during the early scenes and showing her interacting with Peter and caring for him, her love for her child comes through despite the fact that he wasn't planned and has irrevocably changed her life forever. Stone takes advantage of the baby's birth to update the listener on the nature of the recent events through her diary entry and because of the way she justifies it, as a record for Peter, it doesn't come across as the exposition that it actually is.

The title is very apposite for the story Stone has chosen to tell, representing both the legends that Benny goes to investigate in the Goronos system and the jealousy that epitomises the relationship between the two men in Bernice's life - ex-husband Jason Kane and father of her child Adrian Wall. And it's this subplot where The Green-Eyed Monsters really shines with both characters being drawn well and the development of their uneasy alliance as they find themselves holding the baby is excellently written, making the respect that both come to have for each other seem very real, particularly when it culminates in Adrian admitting something very personal about his feelings towards Benny. The Goronos system plot which sees Benny called in to evaluate and authenticate some newly recovered artefacts, but there is more than just that to Lady Ashantra du Lac's plan for getting Benny there. While this whole section of the story feels a little lightweight, it does give Stone the chance to highlight just how different Benny has to think now that she has a child who depends upon her and that others may try to use Peter to get at her and undermine her position.

The plot of the story has a degree of inconsequentiality about it as it's quite lightweight in what it actually does, but given the relative short length of these Benny audios a strong focus on characterisation often leads to more successful drama and that's the case here. The strength of the individual characters combined with Stone's sharp and witty dialogue propels the story along superbly. He likes to recognise the conventions that have built up around the Benny stories too - Ashantra's final words of introduction to Benny on her arrival on Goronos IV are a perfect example - which adds another layer of interest to the story as it's fun to spot them.

It's very much tailored for the small cast that director Gary Russell has assembled and with them almost entirely being made up of recurring characters who have appeared previously, there's a real confidence about their performances. Lisa Bowerman is excellent as ever, here showing how Benny copes with being a mum and actually interacting with Peter. Stephen Fewell returns as Jason after a considerable absence, with only vague references to the novels Twilight Of The Gods and The Infernal Nexus to explain his absence. The love/hate relationship between Benny and Jason has mellowed somewhat by now although Fewell makes sure Jason sounds as devious as ever. He also strikes up a good banter with Harry Myers' Adrian Wall which gives their scenes credence as they see each other as rivals for Benny's affections. Myers' voice is very appropriate for audio with his hushed tones giving his character a degree of power which helps the listener remember that Adrian is not supposed to be human. Maria Darling's Lady Ashantra du Lac is the character that it sounds like Stone had the most fun writing and Darling's performance is very appealling as a result. Her evil scheme is quite ridiculous yet has the faintest sense of plausibility to be workable and Stone uses her as a way to play against convention in how she acts towards Bernice. Steven Wickham gets some good lines as Joseph the Porter, particularly during the opening scene, but he fares less well later into the proceedings where Joseph gets sidelined a little.

David Darlington's sound design isn't required to reach spectacular heights to reflect the more introspective nature of the story but he creates satisfyingly grand soundscapes, particularly for the scenes during the later parts of the play which give the illusion of space wonderfully well while his score subtly underpins the drama without being too obtrusive.

The Green-Eyed Monsters is an unusual release which is what you'd expect from Dave Stone. While it lacks the excess of ideas his novels are filled with, it features a much more restrained and focused approach to the story with the characters being firmly at the forefront giving this a leisurely pace. Those listeners who prefer plot orientated stories are likely to be disappointed by this and find it insubstantial, but the richness of the characters and dialogue presented here more than make up for any inadequacies in the actual mechanics of the story.