Green-Eyed Monsters
A Benny Audio Adventure
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Big Finish Green-Eyed Monsters A Benny Audio Adventure |
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| Author | Dave Stone |  |
| Released | 2002 | |
| Cover | Adrian Salmon |
| Synopsis: When Benny gets the chance to skip off for a while, heading into a Goronos System packed with duplicity and peril to authenticate certain highly significant artifacts and totems, she doesn't have to think twice. Only, sometimes, as she'll learn, when heading into duplicity and peril, it's not a good idea to leave a hostage to fortune behind ... |
Neighbours...Benny style! by Joe Ford 3/6/03
"Oh my gosh Benny has been taken over by an evil sorceress and left in the body of a man!" "Oh gee the bitch in her body has gone and humped that overgrown gorilla Adrian Wall!" "Shit, heavily pregnant Benny has winded up in prison" "Cripes! She's been forced to give birth with her greatest enemy standing by!" ...sounds like a soap already doesn't it? Truth is with its regularly recurring cast, switching media and all too human heroine the Benny series is as close to a soap as Doctor Who will ever get.
That sounds like an opportunity to panic doesn't it? Fortunately, after the run of horrid duds polluting season two, the third season of Benny has finally gotten around to finding an identity of its own and using its characters in creative ways. This might have something to do with the strength of the writers at hand (Paul Ebbs, Dave Stone, Steve Cole) but I happen to think it is to do with the actors who have now blossomed into their roles. Indeed aside from Maggie Stables and Colin Baker I believe the Benny cast is the best big finish have to offer (certainly better than the seventh and fifth Doctors).
An audio script written by that intergalactic thesaurus Dave Stone... oh my God was my initial panic! Will he overload his script with bizarre ideas, camp humour and inexplicable plot twists that so alienate the worst of his books? Shockingly no. He states on the back the reason he finds the audio medium so rewarding and that is because it gives you a chance to get intimate with the characters. So to my eternal surprise I settled down and listened to a rather touching (and funny) domestic drama (with some kidnapping, threats, world domination and shitty nappies thrown in for good measure).
It's not perfect by a long shot but this is a series that is trying to expand its characters in interesting ways. Just watch how Adrian Wall and Jason Kane, both 'dads' to little Peter start out looking for each others blood but eventually end up opening out to each other, explaining why they are so territorial to Benny and the baby. And Bernice who quite delightfully doesn't play the maternal role at all well and even admits to her kid that he ruined her life! For what is a very simple script Dave Stone manages to flesh out the characters well, adding little touches like Benny's desire to call home and her thrill of a mystery overriding her mothering instincts that just make her character.
The performances are spot on. I have been extremely critical of both Stephen Fewell and Harry Myers in the past but I just could not fault them here. Adrian might still be a growling dimwit but Myers manages to imbue him with some sensitive charm that makes him eminently likable. And getting to see Jason's mercenary side gives Fewell a chance to beef up his role in a way we haven't seen since Just War in season one.
But of course it is Lisa Bowerman who comes up trumps eclipsing everybody else in the audio with her dry comments and hysterical reactions to everything. It is the strongest praise I can give but this series of audio adventures would no longer be around if they hadn't managed to secure such a professional actress, Lisa's best quality is her wonderfully emotional voice that captures Benny's plight perfectly no matter what situation they put her in. Honest to God I could listen to her go on all day such is the entertainment she brings to her series. Here we understand her issues with such clarity, just to get away for a bit and leave the boys to sort out their troubles... and Mr Stone brings a wonderful sense of humour to an already well defined character. Keep this up and season four will be assured. <>The somewhat tacked on Goronos plot is rather take-it-or-leave-it compared to the quiet drama between the three leads but its all played so amicably ill give it a passing grade. Indeed Maria Darling's Ashantra was so wonderfully OTT she reminded me of many a Doctor Who villainess in all the best ways!
This is to the Benny series what Edge of Destruction was to season one of Doctor Who, a character piece re-defining the main players and telling a solid story in the bargain. I hope the can reign in Dave Stone to write another Benny script as he captured her voice with real skill.
Oh and the end credits are just hysterical! Music... scream!/row!/brawl... music... yell!/scream!/holler!... music...
A Review by Jamas Enright 26/10/04
This audio comes a little out of place, after the releases of The Greatest Shop in the Galaxy and The Plague Herds of Excelis. The story here is about Benny, about her son Peter, and about Jason Kane and Adrian Wall who want to be a part of that life in spite of Benny's loud protestations otherwise. Benny has to go off world to examine some artefacts and totems, leaving Peter with Jason and Adrian and the unspoken message of "Guys, sort it out". Oh, and there is also a planet system on the verge of falling back into war, battle cruisers and genetic manipulation, but that's nothing compared to the Green-Eyed Monsters.
This story seems out of place as this story comes across as the first time that Benny has been off-world and how she then deals with the Peter situation. I had thought it already dealt with (with only a few lines of dialogue) previously, but here it is presented as fresh. That makes this a little disconcerting, but nevertheless a good story. Dave Stone brings the characters to life and explores the relationships that need dealing with ever since The Glass Prison.
This audio sees the return of Stephen Fewell as Jason Kane, last heard in Season One, and who plays the rogue so well. Harry Myers returns to voice Adrian Wall, not so off-putting this time. Perhaps I was expecting the voice, or maybe they treated it slightly differently, but he's a lot more believable as an overgrown canine-humanoid this time. And the scenes where Adrian and Jason clash together are just so wonderfully portrayed. Top marks to them (and Dave Stone also) for performing possibly the worst rescue speech ever given.
Full marks also to Maria Darling, who played the cold-hearted bitch that was Lady Ashantra du Lac, and played her so well. Stephen Wickham again voices Joseph the Porter, and Lisa Bowerman is wonderful as Benny as always.
Possibly should have been released earlier in the story arc, but the acting sparks really well here. There's a nice in-story reference to the opening song, and the "end credit" sequence is also really funny.