Doctor Who: The Legacy of Time review – Lies in Ruins brings together two amazing characters in the Doctor Who universe

When two time-travelling archaeologists close to the Doctor finally work together, sparks are bound to fly in Lies in Ruins, the opening episode of Doctor Who: The Legacy of Time.

When Doctor Who: The Legacy of Time was announced last year, there were many team-ups, meetings and reunions that were extremely exciting. But one that really leapt out to me was a meeting that had been a long time coming: River Song and Bernice Summerfield.

If you’re even a casual Doctor Who fan, you’ve more than likely heard of the former. But if you haven’t explored much of the expanded universe, then there’s a good chance you’re not as familiar with the latter, or know why her meeting River is such a big deal.

To summarize, Bernice Summerfield started out as a companion in the Seventh Doctor novels, before she eventually got her own audio spin-off series starring Lisa Bowerman in the role. In fact, Big Finish were making audios for the character before they got the license to Doctor Who, and their success with her stories helped pave the way for them to gaining that license. The character is so popular in fact that, over twenty years later, they’re still making audios with Bernice today. And quite right too, because honestly, she’s absolutely brilliant.

The most important thing that you should know about Bernice is that she’s a time-travelling archaeologist. Which naturally makes the idea of her meeting River extremely exciting. But does the story live up to that idea?

For over twenty years, Bernice Summerfield has been a hugely popular character for Big Finish, and even celebrated her own twentieth anniversary of audio adventures last year with The Story So Far.

(Image credit: Bernice Summerfield/Big Finish Productions.

Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)

Benny and River

The answer to that question is a definite “yes”. Lies in Ruins is a great story for these two characters, one that heavily focuses on each of them and gives them an equal share of the limelight. While the Eighth Doctor does feature in this episode, this is really their story.

What particularly helps is that writer James Goss has written for both of these characters, and so he has a solid understanding of what makes each of them work. So while you could give them the same label of “time-travelling archaeologist close to the Doctor”, Goss also reminds us that they’re very different people with different values.

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Better than that however is that he avoids turning their episode into a total catfight. Yes, there’s definitely a strong feeling of competition between the two, especially as it’s revealed that the two have a little history already. But they work together as a team very effectively, and they learn a lot about each other in the process. It really is an excellent team-up.

As for the Eighth Doctor, we get a rather different side to him in this story. For him, this takes place right in the middle of the Time War, and he’s just about had enough of it. We see him close to a very desperate point, and we almost have to ask ourselves: Is the Doctor about to go too far?

The plot itself is a little strange and unusual, but the answers given at the end of the episode makes it all come together. Although to be honest, the plot really doesn’t matter. The key thing about Lies in Ruins is that it brings together two absolutely brilliant characters in the Doctor Who universe, and it’s a meeting that more than lives up to its potential.

Oh, and make sure to continue listening after the end theme…

Out of River Song or Bernice Summerfield, which do you prefer? Do you think it was time for these two characters to meet? If you’ve listened to this episode already, do you think it was a good start to The Legacy of Time? Let us know in the comments below.