The Stone's lament
A Benny Audio Adventure
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Big Finish The Stone's lament A Benny Audio Adventure |
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| Author | Mike Tucker |  |
| Released | 2001 | |
| Cover | Adrian Salmon |
| Synopsis: Bratheen Traloor, reclusive billionaire, has lived alone for over twenty years on the planet Rhinvil. Now he has broken his isolation, inviting Bernice Summerfield to examine a mysterious artefact unearthed during building work at his sprawling mansion. Accompanying Benny is Adrian Wall, the Kiloran construction manager from the Braxiatel Collection. Adrian is responsible for overseeing the work, but his construction crew has vanished, and soon he and Benny discover that Traloor is not as alone as they might think... |
"O Lucky Fan" by Stephen Maslin 24/5/14
Imagine you're a fan of something: say, an old TV show, one that started before you were born and that came to a juddering halt in the mid 1980s, by virtue of inept casting. Or perhaps of an author or a TV presenter. Nothing unusual about that. Nothing of which to be ashamed.
Now imagine that two things happen to you at about the same time: firstly, your fandom crosses the border into obsession; secondly, you become staggeringly wealthy. Were the second to happen without the first, you would have no trouble securing the hand in marriage of a vacuous toyboy or a conniving gold-digger and could look forward to seven years of bickering and multi-million dollar shopping sprees, your previous fan status suffocated in a blizzard of extra-marital affairs. Were the first to happen without the second, you might lose the few normal friends you had left but other than that, life would go on as usual. Yet with both happening together? What would you do? What would become of you? This is what The Stone's Lament is really about. It is about us, dear reader: you and I.
We are well used to thinking of audio-only as second best, as ephemeral; as just something we do when the there is no TV. We are less likely to have 'great moments' sat listening than we are watching because that is what our collective hierarchy of value tells us to expect. Radio is something that died in the 1950s, along with rationing. This incorrect assumption is doubly reconfirmed when the audio-only in question is a spin-off. Unlike most of Season One of the Benny audio range, its second season had to compete with the fact that Doctor Who was back back back. (The Stone's Lament was up against Loups-Garoux: the Fifth Doctor versus Werewolves! Golly!) The return of the show to which Benny had played John the Baptist seemed to obviate the need for her to still be there. It seemed that a second outing was merely a matter of contractual obligation, or keeping something on hand lest the Who license should abruptly come to an end. At best a side project.
The Stone's Lament should have gone some way to proving that there was plenty more meat in the crab-shell, for once you've skipped past the ghastly Season Two theme tune, you'll find that it's a surprisingly unsettling and rather fine little piece. It is like nothing else Big Finish were producing at the time, with a melancholy emotional heart balanced by creditable understatement, having the added frisson of Lisa Bowerman managing to steal the limelight from herself. (You'll have to listen to find out how. It may be either a neat plot device or dexterous economizing. I happen to think it's both, but it works.) With the first appearance of Adrian Wall, we also have the seeds of the familial ensemble that would soon come to dominate proceedings, as well as some meta-fictional musings on what it is to be a fan that saw their later apotheosis in The Final Amendment. Holding up a mirror to fandom's hidden soul.
One must admit that The Stone's Lament is far from perfect - its measured pace may not be to everyone's taste - but neither is it a waste of your time (or the makers efforts).
Now, if you'll excuse me, if I have to go and play with my Martha Jones action figure. . .
7.5/10
A Review by Thomas Tiley 24/1/26
Arriving on the planet Rhinvil at the behest of reclusive and wealthy Bratheen Traloor, Benny and Adrian Wall end up staying the night in what is essential a haunted house.
It is a simple story. It won't surprise any regular Doctor Who or sci fi fan with its ideas and plot points: computers modelled after people, rich people in their lonely mansion, living planets, life force, environments recording/storing energy, poltergeist activities, people being invited to remote mansions with ulterior motives in mind, fusion of computer and man etc. However, its living planet's life force infused into a computer (based upon Bernice itself) that is in love with its creator that uses its power to scare and kill is a bit more eccentric and Doctor Who/Bernice Summerfield-ish. There are a few standard haunted-house/horror-type occurrences and a particularly nasty image near the end (the various workmen sent ahead by Adrian have been twisted and fused together in a lump).
There are only three castmembers: Lisa Bowerman as Benny and her computer doppelganger, Harry Myles as the gruff Adrian Wall, and James Lailey as Bratheen. They all do a good job in their role or roles. There is an interesting juxtaposition between the lot, with Adrian and Bratheen both in love (both come over as slightly pathetic in their ways) with Benny who wants nothing to do with them, and the computer with its one-sided crush between its owner and its jealously of Bernice. I enjoyed the theme tune, the one where she sings, which bookends the story, very corny and fun.
That being said, it is a basic and average story, well told but very familiar with its cliches and genre tropes. Not bad, but not great either. Worth listening to once maybe. 5/10