Professor Bernice Summerfield and the Draconian Rage

Bernice Summerfield Audio Dramas #4.2

by Trevor Baxendale, Lisa Bowerman (Narrator), Miles Richardson (Narrator)

On the fringes of the Draconian Empire, an entire planet has gone mad: twenty million Draconians lie dead -- victims of an ancient, apocalyptic suicide ritual. Now the Draconians need an archaeologist -- and in particular they want Professor Bernice Summerfield.

Female and human, Benny is everything a Draconian distrusts... So why has she been invited to the very heart of the Imperial Homeworld? As an age-old conspiracy deepens around her, and her own bad memories are disturbed, Benny wonders if she can really trust the Draconians...

...and, even worse, if she can even trust herself...

Genres: Doctor Who, Science Fiction, Audiobook

Audio CD

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Trevor Baxendale is a novelist who has penned several Doctor Who tie-in novels and audio dramas. He lives in Liverpool, England with his wife and two children.

Reviews

[April Mccaffrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Relisten continues...

Honestly, for me this audio is a hard one to rate. I would say probably a high 3 but not quite 4.

I should probably have listened to the dark flame before this one but I'll pick up the Dark Flame soon.

But relistening to this audio has been an interesting experience.

I absolutely love the beginning of this audio, with Brax persuading Benny to visit Draconia. Miles is an utter delight as Brax and for a serious audio, I loved this bit of humour to break up the tension slightly and it did the audio wonderfully. Plus I love anything Brax/Benny.

I'm a sucker for policial, snivelling and backstabbing worlds and characters and this audio fitted it perfectly. I love Benny audios because there is so much diverse range in them and you could literally do anything with Benny, like Doctor Who and this nailed it. It also helps the Draconians were in it and I loved the Draconians ever since watching them with the third doctor.

It's brutal, it's dark and it's grim and as always, Benny kicks ass in this and is a born survivor.

A warning for those who have not listened to this; it does feature heavily tortured scenes in this so just be warned of this fact.

[Duncan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full of plots and intrigue. It's a great take on the new adventures novels whilst being accessible by not having some of the bad language. Can be quite dark at times and the sound design is brilliant at conveying the atmosphere. Great for fans of Doctor who and sci-fi in general.
* this is a sort of sequel to Big Finish's Monthly Adventure #42: The Dark Flame but I can appreciate this story on its own.

[Daniel Cork · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been really enjoying these Bernice Summerfield audios. There hasn't really been a dud so far, I'm happy to say, so fingers crossed we'll be without those for a while longer. This story is a sequel to 'The Dark Flame', which I'll admit I'm not particularly keen on, to put it lightly, so hopefully its follow-up story is much better.

Bernice Summerfield received an invitation to Draconia, yet she feels nervous. There's political tension surrounding Draconia space, especially after the brutal self-inflicted slaughter on one of their worlds. Why did they invite Bernice, and will the Draconians put aside their differences for her arrival? There is a plot in place against the Emperor, and Bernice is right in the thick of it.

Trevor Baxendale has written a very unsettling and dark political conspiracy story that is shocking, twisty, jaw-dropping, and downright brutal in places. This isn't an easy listen since it's a story that makes our favorite archaeologist go through a lot at the hands of the Draconian empire.

Overall: An incredible audio drama that is miles better than 'The Dark Flame'. 10/10

[Julia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Già partita controvoglia, Bernice si ritrova fin da subito a fare i conti con l'estrema xenofobia e misoginia dei Draconiani, ma ben presto le cose si fanno ben più gravi, con intrighi di corte e innumerevoli voltafaccia (considerando che ci sono solo tre personaggi Draconiani, più Benny, direi che è un risultato sorprendente). L'imperatore Shenn, Lord Paranash e Lord Vasar sono assolutamente infidi e serpenteschi e questa ambientazione ci fa davvero preoccupare per l'incolumità di Benny, fino a raggiungere l'apice in una scena veramente raccapricciante che, recitata fin troppo bene, è quasi difficile da ascoltare.
Comunque, questo episodio non è solo un collegamento con la serie classica per via della presenza dei Draconiani (Frontier in Space), ma è anche un sequel rispetto ad un audio del Main Range scritto dallo stesso autore, The Dark Flame, in cui Benny stava ancora viaggiando con il Settimo Dottore e Ace.
Anche se quello che succede qui è una conseguenza di quella storia, ritengo non sia necessaria averla ascoltata per capire la trama.

[Charles Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent tale of political intrigue and betrayal in the court of the Draconian Empire. So many plot twists the listener may suffer from whiplash.
Lisa Bowerman, as Professor Bernice Summerfield, is excellent as always. Benny is summoned to the heart of the Draconian Empire to lend her archeological expertise to help them identify a mysterious new artifact. What can possibly go wrong?

[Calum · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting episode. I think it did justice to the Draconians since they're all individuals like in the Frontier in Space. It also managed to tie into another audio pretty well in a way that pleasantly surprised me. Overall its a pretty solid audio drama and probably the best of series 4 so far.
7/10

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this story of Draconian political intrigue, though I think I might have enjoyed it even more if I'd listened to The Dark Flame first, since it references events of that audio several times. The rather grim scenes of Benny being tortured were a bit off-putting, but the twists and surprises as the schemes of the various Draconians unfolded were delightful. Plus, we get a scene in which a Draconian noble attempts to explain to the emperor the Earth custom of bathing with a rubber duck. What's not to like?

[Nicholas Whyte]

Quite a long time back I enjoyed but wasn't overwhelmed by The Dark Flame, to which this is a sort-of sequel. The Draconian Rage brings Benny to the Draconian emperor in a fairly straighforward story of conspiracies and court politics, with alien civilisation subjected to a different alien threat, and it is told well - though poor Benny is subjected to gruesome torture, from which she bounces back rather unrealistically fast.

[Anne Barwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though I enjoyed this story it had a completely different tone to others in the series. I think that's one of this series' strengths, that it dabbles in different 'genres' some more drama/action, and others more comedy. Word of warning though that this has some rather graphic torture scenes which I thought Benny recovered froma little too quickly and without lasting effects.

[Debra Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Benny was brainwashed many years ago involving a Cult that hates Draconians. It was supposed to be a myth but it becomes all to real. Can she fight it.

[Edwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

disturbing and bordering on torture porn.