Monday, November 28, 2016

The Emporium at the End by: Emma Reeves directed by: Scott Handcock: I Am The Manager, And You Will Obey Me

The Emporium at the End stars Lisa Bowerman as Professor Bernice Summerfield, David Warner as the Doctor, renowned pantomime actor and arch nemesis of Mark Gatiss, Sam Kisgart as the Master, and Rowena Cooper as the Mother Superior.  It was written by Emma Reeves, directed by Scott Handcock, and released in August 2016 by Big Finish Productions in The New Adventures of Bernice Summerfield: Volume Three: The Unbound Universe Box Set.

 

The ending is paramount for a story and must be good or else the entire story can be ruined as a whole.  The Emporium at the End is not one of those stories.  It is slightly similar in ways to The Tears of Isis as it deals with how people deal with the end of the world, but instead of drama, it goes for comedy.  That’s really the tone that this box set has been going for, a comedic one as it has Bernice Summerfield, a deep character who is still very funny, and David Warner who is just brilliantly funny as the Doctor.  Somehow Big Finish coaxed out renowned pantomime actor and arch nemesis of Mark Gatiss, Sam Kisgart to play the Master.  Renowned pantomime actor and arch nemesis of Mark Gatiss, Sam Kisgart, however, is playing a version of the Master very close to the portrayal by Roger Delgado, with the pseudonym of the Manager is running this shop where people are buying these lottery tickets with money or memories, yes memories, to literally be atomized under the context that it’s going to another universe to save themselves.  Yes the plan is convoluted, but that’s kind of the point.  The story is meant to be a loving tribute to the Jon Pertwee era where the Master’s plans didn’t really make much sense and would definitely backfire in an easy way.  Renowned pantomime actor and arch nemesis of Mark Gatiss, Sam Kisgart does a brilliant job as the Master as he nearly seduces Benny to believe that he’s the one who is trying to save the universe.  I won’t reveal all the twists as they are too good to be experienced in any other way, but let’s just say the listener almost falls for the Master along with Benny and it’s all really down to renowned pantomime actor and arch nemesis of Mark Gatiss, Sam Kisgart’s performance being sublimely edited from the rather raw editing files that Big Finish recorded.

 

This story is extremely poignant as you really see just how sad all these people have become while the universe seems to be ending around them.  The Doctor shows that while he seems to think he’s lost his memories in an attempt to save the universe, he still has the core of the Doctor.  His arc has been what should have been the arc of the War Doctor and David Warner pulls it off brilliantly.  The Doctor really does want to see these people get to another universe and heck is willing to pay for them to get enough lottery tickets as a way for them to escape.  He is compassionate and I just can’t help loving it.  The Mother Superior and the singing nuns from The Library in the Body actually return in this one.  Damn they’re fun characters and when they get drunk with Benny and what they do to the Master in the end, while I feel that Big Finish may have had to do some horrible things to renowned pantomime actor and arch nemesis of Mark Gatiss, Sam Kisgart, to get that performance out of him.  She’s played by Rowena Cooper who when she gets drunk with Benny everything is off the wall as there are jabs about how to survive the end of the world you just have to be completely drunk, because at least you will have a lot of fun doing it. 

 

Moving on to the cyborg supporting characters.  & (pronounced Ampersand), played by Shvorne Marls, is the character used as a way to get the feelings out of the listener.  & is so naïve just about everything and really trusts that her father is going to get her away, yet it isn’t done in a spoiled brat way.  Her father even gets rid of his own memories to save her and the end will make you feel really good about this story because it is really uplifting.  Oh and Lisa Bowerman of course was brilliant as Benny.  Is there really anything else I can say about her that hasn’t been said in any of my other reviews for this set?  Bowerman loves the material she has to work with and is enjoying every minute of recording with all these people, even if in the extra features she, Rowena Cooper, Scott Handcock, James Goss, and David Warner warn how renowned pantomime actor and arch nemesis of Mark Gatiss, Sam Kisgart just was difficult to work with.

 


To summarize, The Emporium at the End is a story that ends the third box set of The New Adventures of Bernice Summerfield.  It does some stuff to explore new grounds and a new character dynamic between the Doctor and Benny while still leaving the possibility that they will go back to her old roots in the main Doctor Who universe.  Emma Reeves understands Bernice Summerfield and what needed to be done here and does it masterfully, especially considering she’s a first time writer for the Benny range.  100/100

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