From the comedy romp that
was The Revolution, Benny is thrown
onto the Moon of Adolin where she has to make it through a maze before she can
get the next clue to Ace’s location. On
the moon there is a crashed ship with two survivors and a Dalek there to cause
trouble for her. The plot of the second
installment of the box set is nothing special on the surface, but it is the
twist that really does drive the story home for what it means to Benny as a
character. The story’s two side
characters are the nervous Steven and the headstrong Claire played by John
Finnamore and Sheila Reid respectively.
Steven is really the only part of the story that doesn’t work as he just
is there for comic relief and to have someone else to talk to as the story
could have easily worked as a two hander.
McCormack puts Benny
through the wringer in this story as she reveals that Claire is the ghost of
Claire Summerfield, aged to her proper age, and sent there to test Benny. Claire died trying to retrieve her daughter’s
doll and was vaporized by the Daleks and bringing her back into Benny’s life
causes a cavalcade of emotions to come to Benny all in one instant. The scenes between mother and daughter are
both especially touching as they have to reunite only to be torn apart at the
end of the story. It provides the same
closure as Return of the Living Dad
did for Benny, but with much more of an impact as they never really would have
been together. Lisa Bowerman pulls it
off brilliantly in the audio as she brings the audience right into the emotions
that Benny would be feeling when she meets her dead mother for the first
time. It also marks a change as the tone
which until the twist has a sarcastic feel as Benny is cracking jokes at the
expense of everyone while Steven freaks out and Claire just sort of looks on,
and turns into something intimate.
Sheila Reid steals the show as Claire Summerfield as we really can feel
for the fact that she lost her daughter and would be proud of the woman she has
become.
The direction from Scott
Handcock has to be mentioned at the very least as it allows the hour long story
to go by with ease. Handcock makes the
dialogue feel very intimate as you are there with the characters playing off
the base under siege feeling with a lone Dalek, which is really there because
they are supposed to be the main villains of the set. McCormack shows just how well she understands
these characters which is a definite plus as the story could have easily
failed. The final scenes will bring you
to tears as you see Benny at the end of her rope.
To summarize, Good Night, Sweet Ladies is a definite
improvement over The Revolution. It is a masterpiece that is brought down by
some excessive elements and the fact that it could be its own little
story. The acting and direction are both
great from the rather small cast and it really does allow for something to
change within the characters. This is a
story that makes the purchase of the entire set worth it and makes up for any
lackluster beginning. 95/100.
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