Big Finish Something Changed A Short Story Collection

Edited by	Simon Guerrier
ISBN	1 844351 53 X
Published	2005

Synopsis: There's a fresh grave on planetoid KS-159, but only Bernice Summerfield seems to have noticed. Her friends on the Braxiatel Collection are too busy with their own affairs to see how distraught she is, how keenly she feels this loss. Doggles claims his "history machine" will change everything. And the worst thing is that he's right.

• A Review by Joe Ford

A Review by Joe Ford 16/9/06

I don't know if Big Finish are aware of this but the Eighth Doctor range brought out an arc of books which concentrated heavily on alternative universe which was about as popular as putting a live grenade up your backside, pulling out the pin and watching the results. They then followed this up with Spiral Scratch, World Game, The Time Travellers and Atom Bomb Blues... four Past Doctor Adventures, which also dealt with alternative universes. Good grief and now the Bernice series has decided to get in on the action! If I had any complaint about this short story collection it would be that even I am getting a little tired of this theme being recycled again and again and if I read another alternative universe story in the next three years I may not be responsible for my action.

I genuinely feel that the Bernice range has the monopoly of these short story collections, they are so superior to the Short Trips collections it is impossible to compare the two (although I'll give it a go). It helps immeasurably that there is a strong ensemble cast in these so it is the same characters you are following from story to story. It is very hard to deal with twenty different sets of regulars in the Short Trips series, you hop from story to story trying work out who the hell you are reading about and don't enjoy the story. The Bernice short stories always centre around a main theme, which advances the series too, which gives you further incentive to keep reading. At their best (Life During Wartime) these anthologies feel like a novel, just told by several authors.

Something Changed is jarring for a while because of its very premise but once you figure out what is going on the book gathers fantastic momentum and winds up being another very strong entry in this range. I think perhaps Simon Guerrier leaves it a little too long to start giving you answers (after the first two or three short stories I was scratching my head in utter frustration) but as an experiment you cannot fault its audacity and success.

Basically what you have here is a man called Doggles who has invented a machine, which can tune into any event in history. Naturally Bernice is fairly horrified at the thought of this because archaeology is her trade and if you can view any period of choice there is no need to dig up the past and argue and debate about what it could have been like. So naturally Braxiatel sends her to aid Doggles whilst he is on the Collection setting up his machine. When the grand veiling takes place there is a terrible accident and the machine EXPLODES (!!!!!)...

...and the weirdness starts. Snakes tear through the collection and kill everybody. Wolsey the cat returns from the dead and talks. Peter is close to death and Bernice is blind. Bernice is a trainer in the army. Bernice shags and marries Doggles. Hass is in love with Bernice. Bernice is a terrorist and has already turned to the enemy's way of thinking. Bernice is cold-blooded killer willing to take a man's life to save her trade. Jason Kane is scarred layabout, loathed by Bernice and her husband Doggles. Adrian and Bev have lost their child. Bernice kills Braxiatel. Bernice is a member of the Fifth Axis. Mr Crofton is alive. Braxiatel is a human being with a wife and two children...

Freaky or what? Imagine the multiverse as a glass vase and Doggles' ridiculous machine has knocked that vase of the table and smashed it into a million pieces. Imagine history trying to re-assert itself but the vase is so broken it can never be glued back together perfectly. Realities, timelines, histories are overlapping and changing, people's memories are being wiped as they shift from one circumstances to another. One second Benny is a caring mother with a loving husband, the next she is an eyepatch wearing military woman with little emotion or love. It is a very discordant method of telling a story but it proves highly effective in showing the endless possibilities these characters possess. There are some fascinating possibilities thrown in your face, intriguingly told too. People always say that the New Adventures had the strongest ensemble cast but I would contest that strongly, not even the Benny NAs had an ensemble as interesting as this. Bernice. Hass. Jason. Brax. Bev. Peter. Adrian. Parasiel. Joseph. Ms Jones. There is a great mix of personalities locking horns, sowing new colours and making life a great learning experience on the Collection. They are always pushed in challenging directions, which makes for great reading. Usually things are kept at a (mostly) amicable level but seeing these "other" versions of their characters interacting; Bernice looking down on Jason as a waste of space, Bev despising Bernice with every fibre of her being, Brax terrified of Wolsey being able to speak, Adrian sacrificing his life for his child, Benny willing to murder for the loosest of reasons... it is a fabulous chance to see the direction their lives could have gone or worse, could still go in yet.

The stories are mostly of a high quality but there are a few standouts. Joseph Lidster's Dead Mice is highly effective in showing how terrified Brax is at the developing situation and how he alone is aware of the changes. Anything written by Lidster is worth a look and it is frightening how he makes Wolsey seem so utterly wrong to be alive. Acts of Senseless Devotion by Pete Kempshall is another favourite because it really does push the characters to make some tough choices. With Bernice blind and desperate to save her son, she turns to the last person you think to help. The last line is extremely poignant because you learn just how badly everyone cares for that little boy. The God Gene by Ben Woodhams is a harsh piece, written uncompromisingly to show the situation in the grimmest possible light. It is a blisteringly psychological piece with a chilling final line. Family Man by Ian Mond is probably the strongest of the lot because it rounds up the story in true dramatic style and allows Braxiatel to hold a mirror and see a terrifyingly different version of himself. The resulting solution to the problems Doggles' history machine has caused is horrifying and leads to an unforgettable climax.

What is even better is that it has led to some firm indication of what the future will hold. We know Brax has a hold over Jason but the last two books have confirmed that he has some other great secret he is desperate to keep from the other and he even admits that he needs everybody in the Collection to stay where they are for his "plan" to work. Bev and Adrian are ever closer to admitting their feelings and becoming a real couple, much to Bernice's chargin. And one thing it very clear: things are not going to stay safe and quiet on the Collection. Big things are coming and I cannot wait to find out what they are.

Something Changed is really a diversion from the running story but it cements so many relationships and feelings it cannot be written off as irrelevant. It is an intriguing story in its own right, well-written and powerfully edited to lead to a memorable conclusion. Best of all though is that is confirms that incredible possibilities that this ensemble cast present: something I already knew but it is nice to have that fact confirmed.

Well worth reading.