Post by project37 on Mar 31, 2020 14:06:22 GMT
Benny is a character that I've really *wanted* to like but could never really click with for whatever reason. I've always been indifferent to her Doctor Who appearances and at the time, didn't really know how to jump in with her audio series. From the way it was promoted, Epoch seemed like a relaunch/jumping on point, so I'd pre-ordered the download and was excited to jump in. I went and found some notes from my original listen a few years back:
As a relative newcomer to this range, I was surprised that it opened the relaunch proceedings at a rather slow and relaxed pace. I expected to hit the ground running, but instead got to enjoy hearing the new world and premise gradually unfold (mirroring Benny's own discovery of it) and some rather gentle characters meticulously introduced into the plot. It was an unexpected way to go - hardly any sci-fi technology/jargon, and Acanthus as narrator sometimes reminded me of the last few radio series of HitchHiker's Guide (not a bad thing). The balance of drama (such as the Queen's plight) against humor (like the Pegasus sequence) made for a great listen.
But my interest waned with each disc. It started off with great promise and although I originally didn't mind the slower pace (I was actually quite charmed by it), I found myself not really invested in the overall mystery, the "mysterious" flashbacks to the spaceship, the point of the Epoch, the speculation over the truth about Atlantis, or even the characters themselves. I really had to force myself to get through it, if only to justify spending money on it.
By the time the story ended and a certain character showed up, I was really just watching the counter to see how much time was left before it was over. As I'd mentioned earlier, I'm not really familiar with Benny's world and was hoping that this would be a true "jumping on" point. I think that the DVD could have contained some content to spell some more things out for newbies (even a PDF summary of "here's who the characters are and what you need to know about Year Zero, Benny's son, this guy Braxiatel, etc." would have been welcome). "Dead and Buried" is cool, no doubt, but how does it tie into any of the audio content? Was the whole thing a dream while she was trapped inside the robot? It didn't connect. If you're going to slap a big "1" on the boxset spine, then help a newcomer out as much as you can.
But my interest waned with each disc. It started off with great promise and although I originally didn't mind the slower pace (I was actually quite charmed by it), I found myself not really invested in the overall mystery, the "mysterious" flashbacks to the spaceship, the point of the Epoch, the speculation over the truth about Atlantis, or even the characters themselves. I really had to force myself to get through it, if only to justify spending money on it.
By the time the story ended and a certain character showed up, I was really just watching the counter to see how much time was left before it was over. As I'd mentioned earlier, I'm not really familiar with Benny's world and was hoping that this would be a true "jumping on" point. I think that the DVD could have contained some content to spell some more things out for newbies (even a PDF summary of "here's who the characters are and what you need to know about Year Zero, Benny's son, this guy Braxiatel, etc." would have been welcome). "Dead and Buried" is cool, no doubt, but how does it tie into any of the audio content? Was the whole thing a dream while she was trapped inside the robot? It didn't connect. If you're going to slap a big "1" on the boxset spine, then help a newcomer out as much as you can.
The main documentary...not sure if it was my speakers and/or copy of the mp4, but the narration sounded horrible (the audio, not the actual delivery) and made it seem really amateur (shocking for an audio drama company). A better mic would have worked wonders. The behind-the-scenes documentary for "Dead and Buried" was highly enjoyable - I thought that it was great fun to see the enthusiasm and talent that went into creating it.
Sadly, "Epoch" didn't make me a fan and I wasn't compelled to continue. I was excited about the possibilities of pairing Benny with the Warner Unbound Doctor (who was my favorite), but I couldn't get into the first episode despite several tries. Don't get me wrong, I think Lisa Bowerman is great (I loved her work in the Jago and Litefoot series), but this character doesn't just hold any appeal for me.
On a random note, I was initially intrigued to hear The White Rabbit (a recurring pub name from the main Doctor Who range) get a mention, but as with its appearance in other titles, the reference to its name was a red herring that didn't go anywhere.
4/10 for me.