Bernice Summerfield review: Empress of the Drahvins brings back a forgotten race
By James Aggas
In the fifth episode of Bernice Summerfield: The Story So Far, Benny and her friend Ruth meet one of Doctor Who’s more forgotten races in Empress of the Drahvins.
Out of the six episodes of Bernice Summerfield: The Story So Far, I must admit, Empress of the Drahvins is one of the only episodes that I can say I have a nostalgic connection for. While it’s been fantastic getting snapshots and earlier glimpses of Benny’s life with previous episodes, this one revisits one of the only eras I’ve listened to outside of her Doctor Who adventures. Not that I don’t want to listen to Benny’s earlier adventures, just that this is the only distinct era of her own that’s currently available on download. (Hint, hint, Big Finish.)
The particular era I’m referring to begins with Epoch and ends with Missing Persons, with her friend Ruth being one of several major characters from it. In this story, it’s just Benny and Ruth who feature, and like other stories in The Story So Far, you don’t need to worry about being too familiar with previous stories in order to enjoy this one.
As for Empress of the Drahvins itself, this is a nice and fun little story. Crash-landing on the planet Drahva, Benny and Ruth find themselves in a rather complicated situation. Especially when Ruth is made empress of the Drahvins.
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A great (but flawed) friendship
I always enjoyed the friendship between Bernice and Ruth during their other adventures together, and that still remains true here. It helps that, despite not knowing who she really is, Ruth is a great character herself, one that’s consistently well-written and brilliantly performed by Ayesha Antoine.
What stands out about her is that, like Benny, she’s flawed. She’s a good person and there’s a strong bond between her and Benny. But she also has her own insecurities, and these get explored here when she’s made empress. There’s some interesting conflict between these two friends, and the drama works well for the story as a result.
It’s also nice to have a new perspective on the Drahvins. They’ve only appeared once in Doctor Who, in Galaxy 4, and haven’t even appeared that much in the expanded universe. So their re-appearance in this Benny audio is a bit of a random but welcome one. Especially how David Llewellyn handles both them and their matriarchal society extremely well.
Empress of the Drahvins is a fun and light story that features a welcome return to a great era for Bernice. It works well on its own, but I have to admit that I can certainly understand how nostalgic earlier episodes in The Story So Far must be for fans even more familiar with the character.
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Do you think the Drahvins should come back to Doctor Who at some point? Should Benny face other forgotten monsters from the show’s long history? Let us know in the comments below.