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Big Finish: Monthly Range #13
Doctor Who: The Shadow of the Scourge
The Pinehill Crest Hotel in Kent is host to three very different events: a cross-stich convention, an experiment in time travel and... the summoning of the scourge.
The Doctor, Bernice and Ace find themselves dealing with a dead body that's come back to life, a mystical symbol that possesses its host, and a threat from another universe that's ready for every trick the Doctor's got up his sleeve.
This time, has the Doctor gone too far?
Chronological Placement
This story takes place between Virgin Publishing's New Adventures Doctor Who Novels All Consuming Fire and Blood Harvest.
The Doctor, Bernice and Ace find themselves dealing with a dead body that's come back to life, a mystical symbol that possesses its host, and a threat from another universe that's ready for every trick the Doctor's got up his sleeve.
This time, has the Doctor gone too far?
Chronological Placement
This story takes place between Virgin Publishing's New Adventures Doctor Who Novels All Consuming Fire and Blood Harvest.
Audio CD
First published October 30, 2000
111 people want to read
About the author
Paul Cornell
617 books1,506 followersPaul Cornell is a British writer of science fiction and fantasy prose, comics and television. He's been Hugo Award-nominated for all three media, and has won the BSFA Award for his short fiction, and the Eagle Award for his comics. He's the writer of Saucer Country for Vertigo, Demon Knights for DC, and has written for the Doctor Who TV series. His new urban fantasy novel is London Falling, out from Tor on December 6th.
via Wikipedia @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Cor...
via Wikipedia @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Cor...
Ratings & Reviews
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
May 7, 2019
A cross-stitch convention, an experiment in time travel and a the summoning of the scourge have all converged on a hotel in Kent.
The plot of the Big Finish audio adventure sounds like an opening of a punch line, with The Seventh Doctor, Ace and Bernice that really is the case with this humorous tale.
I’ve only read Human Nature as part of the Virgin New Adventures range, so I’m not too familiar with Bernice.
Lisa Bowerman is so great in the role that I instantly took a liking to the character.
The story is enjoyable but it’s the dynamic between the trio that really sold this adventure for me, with McCoy and Aldred also giving strong performances.
I would like to hear more with this TARDIS team!
The plot of the Big Finish audio adventure sounds like an opening of a punch line, with The Seventh Doctor, Ace and Bernice that really is the case with this humorous tale.
I’ve only read Human Nature as part of the Virgin New Adventures range, so I’m not too familiar with Bernice.
Lisa Bowerman is so great in the role that I instantly took a liking to the character.
The story is enjoyable but it’s the dynamic between the trio that really sold this adventure for me, with McCoy and Aldred also giving strong performances.
I would like to hear more with this TARDIS team!
February 23, 2023
‘As William Shakespeare once said to me…come and have a go if you think you’re hard enough.’
November 26, 2019
What a fun audio! I love love Ace and Benny is very charming. I almost forgot how ruthless the Seventh Doctor could be.
October 14, 2015
"Why did they make the carpet of this hotel’s corridors so rough that you can’t haul a body along it? Actually, I think I may just have answered my own question." — Bernice Summerfield.
Finally Paul Cornell, who is the architect of what is most great about the Virgin "New Adventures" Doctor Who novels, gets a turn... and he plunks us right smack into the center of the "Virgin-verse". We get the grim, Machiavellian Seventh Doctor, the angry, post-Dalek Wars Ace and Cornell's companion invention, Dr. Bernice "Benny" Summerfield.
If you haven't read the New Adventures, trust me, this is a very good thing.
Then, he traps this dream team in a hotel in Kent where a sinister plot is being hatched by manipulating, I kid you not, a physics sales demonstration, a New Age convention and a gathering of cross-stitch enthusiasts. This is all a lot of fun... for about 2 episodes. After that, there's a lot of running and screaming and blowing stuff up. Not in a good way.
It feels like a story that was an explosion of creativity that resolved in shrapnel instead of fireworks. The production values are a little odd with Big Finish falling back to some of their old issues with being unable to delineate certain characters from others and difficulties in visualizing the stage in which the characters are playing.
And by the end, you probably won't really care.
Finally Paul Cornell, who is the architect of what is most great about the Virgin "New Adventures" Doctor Who novels, gets a turn... and he plunks us right smack into the center of the "Virgin-verse". We get the grim, Machiavellian Seventh Doctor, the angry, post-Dalek Wars Ace and Cornell's companion invention, Dr. Bernice "Benny" Summerfield.
If you haven't read the New Adventures, trust me, this is a very good thing.
Then, he traps this dream team in a hotel in Kent where a sinister plot is being hatched by manipulating, I kid you not, a physics sales demonstration, a New Age convention and a gathering of cross-stitch enthusiasts. This is all a lot of fun... for about 2 episodes. After that, there's a lot of running and screaming and blowing stuff up. Not in a good way.
It feels like a story that was an explosion of creativity that resolved in shrapnel instead of fireworks. The production values are a little odd with Big Finish falling back to some of their old issues with being unable to delineate certain characters from others and difficulties in visualizing the stage in which the characters are playing.
And by the end, you probably won't really care.
August 9, 2013
Okay, there's a bit too much shmaltz towards the end.
With that out of the way, we have here a wonderfully Machiavellian Doctor, but one who is the good old monster slayer we all love under it all. 'I'm what monsters like you are scared of' indeed!
What a wonderfully original set up, where a time travel demo, a cross-stitch convention and a new age retreat happening in the same hotel add up to a chain of events that enable a fearsome race from another dimension to invade ours.
Lots of action and cliffhangers and a wonderful excursion into the Doctor's mind! Ace and Bernie make for a great team of companions, each having her own parallel adventure. I just wish the end could have been a little less obviously aimed at tugging the heartstrings.
With that out of the way, we have here a wonderfully Machiavellian Doctor, but one who is the good old monster slayer we all love under it all. 'I'm what monsters like you are scared of' indeed!
What a wonderfully original set up, where a time travel demo, a cross-stitch convention and a new age retreat happening in the same hotel add up to a chain of events that enable a fearsome race from another dimension to invade ours.
Lots of action and cliffhangers and a wonderful excursion into the Doctor's mind! Ace and Bernie make for a great team of companions, each having her own parallel adventure. I just wish the end could have been a little less obviously aimed at tugging the heartstrings.
July 14, 2012
I enjoyed the first half of this mostly due to the excellent characterizations - Ace and Benny were perfectly written and played, naturally enough, and it was fun hearing them do their thing. But then the aliens invaded and it became a bunch of yelling and running around, and the Doctor was mysterious and withheld his plan, and bystanders died, and it was all too familiar and ended exactly the way I thought it would.
March 25, 2025
Ace and the Doctor face their fears and doubts in the form of one of the scariest monsters yet. Great story that dives straight into the Doctor's own mind. Apparently it's well furnished. Who'd have thought?
December 25, 2025
In principle The Shadow of the Scourge is such an exciting idea, the 7th Doctor, Ace and Bernice Summerfield in what is effectively a Virgin New Adventure brought to audio. Paul Cornell writing it makes it even more exciting, but despite all these great elements the story proves to be… fine. By no means a bad story, but there isn’t that much to latch onto in terms of enjoyment. The best element is easily the performances from our protagonists, Sylvester Mccoy giving one of his most emphatic performances on audio. Sophie Aldred is clearly having a lot of fun with the script, but no matter how differently she is written as the ‘space captain’ Ace, there really is very little distinction between her and regular Ace. Lisa Bowerman gives as strong a performance as she ever does and it really further proves she never misses.
These great performances lead to some absolutely fantastic scenes, and some really beautiful moments that annoyingly are spoilers to talk about. These rest of the cast give standard performances for supporting characters but none really shine, especially in comparison to the regulars. All the other aspects like sound design and music are fine but they don’t particularly enhance the scenes; only the sting before each cliffhanger actually elevating the drama of each closing scene. The main problem with the story is that the plot isn’t very interesting, and it’s not hard to work out why. The 7th Doctor is written at his most frustratingly enigmatic, the idea that ‘oooh he is manipulating events’ not really working considering it just means the Doctor is barely in the first half of the story. Once he is fully in the story in the latter half there are some really great scenes, but wasting the first half of the story trying to make him mysterious was just ridiculous.
The villains make for a fab cliffhanger, but once you get past that they are thoroughly uninteresting. Giant praying mantis aliens make for a great cover but they just have a generic evil plot and make clearly pointless threats. There is the element of human evil and that is slightly more interesting, unfortunately it doesn’t make any of the antagonistic parts of the plot any fun to listen to. It really is the pacing that drags out scenes and leads to half of each episode being not very interesting. I wanted to love the story but I just couldn’t find myself engaging with it when so little happens beyond the ‘quirky’ aspects of the plot. It’s definitely something I’d re-listen to at some point to see if I enjoy it more but as for this listen; bit boring sadly.
These great performances lead to some absolutely fantastic scenes, and some really beautiful moments that annoyingly are spoilers to talk about. These rest of the cast give standard performances for supporting characters but none really shine, especially in comparison to the regulars. All the other aspects like sound design and music are fine but they don’t particularly enhance the scenes; only the sting before each cliffhanger actually elevating the drama of each closing scene. The main problem with the story is that the plot isn’t very interesting, and it’s not hard to work out why. The 7th Doctor is written at his most frustratingly enigmatic, the idea that ‘oooh he is manipulating events’ not really working considering it just means the Doctor is barely in the first half of the story. Once he is fully in the story in the latter half there are some really great scenes, but wasting the first half of the story trying to make him mysterious was just ridiculous.
The villains make for a fab cliffhanger, but once you get past that they are thoroughly uninteresting. Giant praying mantis aliens make for a great cover but they just have a generic evil plot and make clearly pointless threats. There is the element of human evil and that is slightly more interesting, unfortunately it doesn’t make any of the antagonistic parts of the plot any fun to listen to. It really is the pacing that drags out scenes and leads to half of each episode being not very interesting. I wanted to love the story but I just couldn’t find myself engaging with it when so little happens beyond the ‘quirky’ aspects of the plot. It’s definitely something I’d re-listen to at some point to see if I enjoy it more but as for this listen; bit boring sadly.
January 15, 2021
Part1
パインヒル・クレスト・ホテルにターディスで到着したドクターとエースとベニース。ドクターはここで起こる悲劇を止めるためと、ホテルで行われているマイケル・ペムブローク博士のタイムマシン実験のプレゼンテーションにエースを、アニー・カーペンターによる降霊会をベニースを潜入させる。
ベニースが参加した降霊会ではアニー・カーペンターがオーブと呼ばれる別次元の存在を呼び出していた。当初、インチキだろうと本気で受け止めていなかったベニースだがアニーの腕の痣に触れようとすると、アニーとは明らかにちがう人格で痣に触れることを拒まれる。アニーはオーブのことを自分の創作の産物と思っていたが、実はスカージという別次元に存在する宇宙生命体で、人間の神経に入り込み当人にそれと気が付かれることなく人間を操ることができ、肉体を乗っ取ることもできる。アニーの腕の痣はスクルージに神経システムに侵入されている証しだった。スカージがホテルの中の人々の恐怖を煽り、その姿をあらわにした時、ドクターはタイムロードとして地球の降伏をスカージに宣言する。
Part2
ドクターがスカージのリーダーと降伏条件について交渉している間、ホテルの中は大パニックに陥り、人々は次々とスカージと変態していった。スカージの目的はペムブローク博士のマシンを利用し、次元をつなげ地球に侵入することだった。ドクターがスクルージと交渉している間、エース達はペムブロークのマシンを止めようと試みていた。
Part３
ドクターまでもがスカージに変態。ドクターはスカージの能力を逆手にとり、自分の心の中にスカージを招き入れ、地球への闖入を妨害。その間にエースにターディスにいってホテルの人々を避難させるようとする。ドクターがスカージの闇に取り込まれそうなことを知ったベニースはドクターを助けるためにアニーの助けを借り、自らスカージに変態する。
Part４
ドクターの助けで、自分の中の恐怖を克服すればスカージの支配から逃れられることを知ったエース。ペムブロークと共にスカージの支配下にある人々の目を覚まさせようと試みる。
感想
パラサイトエイリアンによる異次元からの侵入。人の恐怖や不安感につけこんで神経にいつの間にか入り込んで操ろうとする。そのことに当人は気がつけないので、ドクターがいなければ防ぐことは不可能。敵がタイムロードに精通していたのでドクターも苦戦を強いられ、最後の最後までハラハラさせられた。スカージの闇にドクターが同化しそうになった時、ブレーキとなったのがベニースやエース、これまで一緒に旅してきたコンパニオンから注がれたドクターへの愛。ベタではあるけれども、ドクターをドクターにつなぎとめているのが皆からの愛というのは嫌いじゃない落とし方。ベニースはオーディオのオリジナルキャラだが、エースとの共演もしっくりいって面白かった。
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 7, 2020
These Big Finish audio dramas have helped me realize a newfound love for Ace as a companion for the Seventh Doctor for some reason. I guess she feels so rooted to her time period and that's quite a distinct and relatable flavor for someone who also grew up in the 80s, I suppose. And this adventure, while based around a rather strange concept, actually plays out as quite the compelling Doctor Who adventure. The twist of "losing" the Doctor so early to a threat that is so pervasive and threatening does make for good drama and tension throughout the story and makes his inevitable return and victory all the better.
This is a good bit of fun and one of the better contributions of Big Finish to Doctor Who lore. And there's a distinctly Classic Doctor who sense of satisfaction once you get to the end of this story.
This is a good bit of fun and one of the better contributions of Big Finish to Doctor Who lore. And there's a distinctly Classic Doctor who sense of satisfaction once you get to the end of this story.
April 28, 2025
We've got something unique here (so far as it only happened twice), a main range audio set within the timeframe and context of the Virgin New Adventures. It works. That feeling works. Bernice and Ace are characterized true to their VNA selves, as is Seven. There are also some top tier cliffhangers here.
The Scourge aren't a bad villain, but they do feel weak after a while when the Doctor consistently has the upper hand before they ever try anything against him, even when it seems like he's been foiled, he hasn't. So the threat factor is lost a lot on that.
Furthermore, the world building isn't the most descriptive. I got confused trying to imagine the size of both the balcony and the rooftop.
So, it definitely fits as an audio VNA, but it has some big shortcomings unfortunately. Credit to Cornell nonetheless, always a great author and the best for Benny since he invented her.
The Scourge aren't a bad villain, but they do feel weak after a while when the Doctor consistently has the upper hand before they ever try anything against him, even when it seems like he's been foiled, he hasn't. So the threat factor is lost a lot on that.
Furthermore, the world building isn't the most descriptive. I got confused trying to imagine the size of both the balcony and the rooftop.
So, it definitely fits as an audio VNA, but it has some big shortcomings unfortunately. Credit to Cornell nonetheless, always a great author and the best for Benny since he invented her.
November 19, 2019
While Benny and Ace are good in this one, I have never really liked the seventh doctor tales where he is being too manipulative, and this is a good example of that. While for a change it somewhat backfires on him, I can't escape the feeling that people needlessly died in this one, as there didn't seem to be any great reason for him to need to set the trap in the first place. If he hadn't entered an agreement with the creatures, would they have entered this dimension at all? Plus he was somewhat callous about the ones that did die due to it all. Some interesting side characters in this, but I can't help feeling somewhat frustrated at the end with everything that went on thanks to the Doctor.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 28, 2024
The Seventh Doctor, Ace, and Benny find themselves at a hotel where three divergent different gatherings are occurring (a scientific demonstration, a cross-stitch convention, and a gathering of channelers).
Then there's the dead body in the lift and other strangness. Can The Doctor and friends sort it all out?
I liked this quite a lot. Big Finish gives The Seventh Doctor so much more to work with. I like the relationships between all of the characters here, and The Scourge is a fun villain. Lots of fun twists and The Doctor on a delightful tear.
Then there's the dead body in the lift and other strangness. Can The Doctor and friends sort it all out?
I liked this quite a lot. Big Finish gives The Seventh Doctor so much more to work with. I like the relationships between all of the characters here, and The Scourge is a fun villain. Lots of fun twists and The Doctor on a delightful tear.
April 13, 2023
The 7th doctor always does well when the story goes dark and supernatural! This was very creepy and spooky, with a nice dash of body horror, i will say that it did lose me at parts that's why it's not getting the full 5 star treatment, but still a very fun story! And this was my first introduction to Bernice summerfield, who felt like a more hands on companion which i liked to see! So overall not a bad story at all, definitely worth checking out!
June 29, 2022
This was a well put together story featuring 7th Doctor, Bernice, and Ace. The 7th Doctor is being his typical manipulative self and keeping his plans close to his vest. Ace and Bernice are up to the challenge though. Overall, I enjoyed it.
November 28, 2022
Paul Cornell's work is always full of brilliant observations about the eccentricity of ordinary people and, overcoming the hokey alien invaders from another dimension, this is another fun romp with the delightfully cynical Bernice Summerfield and Ace handing out toffees and ass-kickings.
September 8, 2024
Typical Paul Cornell drivel, with an alien menace so powerful it can control all of humanity just by talking, lots of gory death, and huge amounts of unwarranted sentimentality. Its one good feature is some smart dialogue scattered about.
August 11, 2017
"We are tired of this dance, meat puppet!" is my new go-to phrase when I want something to end.
October 15, 2017
My first adventure with the 7th Doctor, Ace, and Bernice was not a disappointment.
January 20, 2019
It wasn't love, but I enjoyed this Doctor/Ace/Benny pairing.
October 1, 2019
Super funny. Loved all the characterizations. Memorable quotes. Got really cheesy towards the end though.
February 16, 2020
Crítica | Big Finish Mensal #13: The Shadow of the Scourge: https://www.planocritico.com/critica-...
August 30, 2022
I liked this one but it bothers me that ace keeps saying not to say « it’s bigger on the inside. »
The doctor « oh don’t be so hard on me, I’m only human. » except you’re not!
The doctor « oh don’t be so hard on me, I’m only human. » except you’re not!
September 10, 2022
For me this was just ok
October 16, 2022
Too much silly psychic stuff...
March 1, 2023
Paul Cornell, when he hits he hits.
August 22, 2023
The cover is terrible, but some of the audio landscape was enjoyable.
February 16, 2024
The first half was better than the second, in my opinion, but overall not bad
May 15, 2025
Bad.
Bernice should have stuck to her spin off tbh.
Bernice should have stuck to her spin off tbh.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews