Walking to Babylon

Bernice Summerfield Audio Dramas #1.3

by Jacqueline Rayner (Adapted by), Kate Orman, Lisa Bowerman (Narrator)

AUDIO PLAY (aka Audio Drama)
          A full-cast audio play produced by Big Finish Productions and the first audio in the Bernice Summerfield series. (see bottom)

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          "I'm scared of letting all these people down. At least if I get blown up as well, they can say I died heroically. Assuming I ever existed at all."
          The People are one of the most technologically advanced races in the Universe - except in the area of time travel. Professor Bernice Summerfield has a time ring. So does her ex-husband Jason Kane. Trouble is, they're their wedding rings, and they won't work unless they're together.
          Benny is surprised when Jason turns up to visit her at St Oscar's, especially when she discovers that he has brought one of the People with him. She should have guessed that her good-for-nothing ex wasn't just interested in her company...
          Using the time rings, two People create a Time Path and travel back to ancient Babylon, taking an unwilling Jason with them. Benny has just 48 hours to find them and rescue her errant husband, before the People back in the 26th century send a singularity bomb to destroy the Path - and Babylon.
          But someone else has discovered the Path and walked to Babylon - Edwardian time-sensitive John Lafayette. And Benny discovers her mission has a complication that she never dreamed of - romance.
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          Special Note: This story is based on the original novel of the same name that was part of the New Adventures series of books released by Virgin Publishing Limited.
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#3 in the Bernice Summerfield Audios (1.3)
#1 in the Time Ring Trilogy

Genres: Doctor Who, Science Fiction, Audiobook

Audio CD

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Jacqueline Rayner is a best selling British author, best known for her work with the licensed fiction based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who.

Her first professional writing credit came when she adapted Paul Cornell's Virgin New Adventure novel Oh No It Isn't! for the audio format, the first release by Big Finish. (The novel featured the character of Bernice Summerfield and was part of a spin-off series from Doctor Who.) She went on to do five of the six Bernice Summerfield audio adaptations and further work for Big Finish before going to work for BBC Books on their Doctor Who lines.

Her first novels came in 2001, with the Eighth Doctor Adventures novel EarthWorld for BBC Books and the Bernice Summerfield novel The Squire's Crystal for Big Finish. Rayner has written several other Doctor Who spin-offs and was also for a period the executive producer for the BBC on the Big Finish range of Doctor Who audio dramas. She has also contributed to the audio range as a writer. In all, her Doctor Who and related work (Bernice Summerfield stories), consists of five novels, a number of short stories and four original audio plays.

Rayner has edited several anthologies of Doctor Who short stories, mainly for Big Finish, and done work for Doctor Who Magazine. Beyond Doctor Who, her work includes the children's television tie-in book Horses Like Blaze.

With the start of the new television series of Doctor Who in 2005 and a shift in the BBC's Doctor Who related book output, Rayner has become, along with Justin Richards and Stephen Cole, one of the regular authors of the BBC's New Series Adventures. She has also abridged several of the books to be made into audiobooks.

She was also a member of Doctor Who Magazine's original Time Team.

Reviews

[April Mccaffrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

My 2nd listen to this.

An average Benny audio.

I still hate Jason Kane, even when I know what will happen to him. He is so rude to Benny and treats her horribly. Jeez, Benny has terrible taste in men xD

But I love her. Also nice to remember Elizabeth Sladen in this too.

Re-Listen-18/05/2021-
I've been through a lot of hyper fixations recently and currently, I'm going back down the Benny spiral because I'm re obsessing over Brax.

[Gareth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Darker than Oh No It Isn't, but lighter than Beyond the Sun, and a lot more tense than either :) Good listen, really getting know Benny well as a character now through these stories. Harder to get a handle on Jason, but he is an interesting character nonetheless. Lots of interesting other characters in here, from the People (who I hadn't encountered before) through to John Lafyette, High Priestess Ninan and Miriam, who all get their time to shine as well. I didn't expect the ending, and look forward to listening to the next adventure.

[Duncan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is more like it. "Oh no it isn't" is fun is a but atypical for what I think of as a Bernice Summerfield story. "Prisoners of the Sun" was ok but felt like there were important story details missing in the adaptation. This flows much more naturally and has a great small cast whilst still feeling larger in scope.

[CJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

The plot was great. The world of Babylon is really well fleshed out and, based on the sound work, feels alive. While a little slow the overall plot development is worth it. The sound design work is still little iffy in a few places but, again, it is a vast improvement over the previous two releases. For me this sets up the next two parts of this trilogy excellently. 4/5

[Tabitha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had a hard time getting into this one, but it was nice to hear Elisabeth Sladen in there.

[Zach · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars - Exploring Babylon from the outside perspective is fun but goes on too long. Feels like it could have been 3 parts.

[Nicholas Whyte]

http://nhw.livejournal.com/976612.html[return][return]quite heavily changed from the book, mainly to insert ex-husband Jason into the plot, though I was glad that Benny's love affair with Lafayette survived. And Elisabeth Sladen returning as the High Priestess is gret too. A strong play based on a strong book, the Babylonian setting beautifully evoked.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first of the Time Ring trilogy. Benny's ex-husband Jason has got into trouble again. This time with the powerful People, who take him back to ancient Babylon. Benny has to go and rescue him, stopping Earth's history being destroyed. This is a clever story with likeable characters and good actors. It does end on a cliffhanger. A good listen.

[Debra Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great adventure that still has 2 more adventures to go in the trilogy. the more I listen to Bernice Summerfield's adventures the more I love the character. The time ring adventures are filled with humor and adventure that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Can't wait for more adventures.