Skip to content
TARDIS Guide

Overview

Released

September 1998

Written by

Matt Jones

Cover Art by

Mark Salwowski, Sarah Brown

Directed by

Gary Russell

Runtime

100 minutes

Time Travel

Future

Tropes (Potential Spoilers!)

Capitalism is bad

Location (Potential Spoilers!)

Ursu

Synopsis

"You're on your own, Bernice"

Bernice Summerfield has drawn the short straw. Not for her the pleasures of intergalactic conferences and highbrow lecture tours. Oh no. She's forced to take two overlooked freshers on their very first dig. And just when it seems things can't get any worse, her no-good ex-husband Jason turns up, claiming that he is in deadly danger. Benny finally begins to believe his wild claims, but unfortunately only after he has been kidnapped from his hotel room.

Feeling guilty, she sets out to rescue him. Well, let's face it, no one else is going to. Her only clue is a dusty artefact that Jason claimed was part of an ancient and powerful weapon. But Professor Bernice Summerfield PhD knows that's just silly nonsense. She's been an archaeologist long enough to know that lost alien civilisations do not leave their most powerful weapons lying around for any nutter to find. Do they?

Once again Benny is all that stands between Jason and his own mistakes, as she tries to prevent the wrong people acquiring this terrible and somewhat unlikely weapon - a weapon rumoured to have powers beyond the sun.

Add Review Edit Review Log a repeat

Edit date completed

Characters

How to listen to Beyond the Sun:

Reviews

Add Review Edit Review

8 reviews

Thworping through time and space, one adventure at a time!

“BEYOND THE SUN: BENNY'S EX TAKES HER BEYOND THE PLOT”

Beyond the Sun starts off with a delightfully dry slice of Bernice Summerfield’s life—stuck on an uninspiring dig with hopelessly incompetent students. She’s knee-deep in disappointment, discovering nothing but faeces while searching for Chelonian remnants (a lovely nod to Gareth Roberts' The Highest Science). The opening is witty and tonally perfect, painting Benny’s frustration with the pretentious, privileged student she’s been saddled with. It's a very Benny setup: ancient ruins, academic exhaustion, and a longing for something—anything—more exciting.

Enter: Jason Kane. Benny’s ex-husband makes a surprise reappearance, dragging trouble behind him in the form of a mysterious and deadly ancient artefact he’s managed to land himself in hot water over. With the authorities unwilling to help, Benny reluctantly agrees to investigate… just in time for Jason to get himself kidnapped.

A PROMISING SETUP… AND THEN A DIRECTIONLESS DETOUR

The premise is genuinely compelling—a dangerous relic, a dodgy ex, and Benny caught between her better judgement and her curiosity. She's joined by Tameka and Emile, who tag along and mostly contribute by not listening to her. Their insubordination makes for some decent tension, and the story closes Part 1 with a solid cliffhanger: a chaotic attack on their ship and an exciting explosion. For a moment, the story feels like it's kicking into gear.

Sadly, that moment is fleeting. From Part 2 onwards, the narrative loses all momentum. The characters are scattered, the tension dissipates, and the plot becomes an unfocused jumble of meandering conversations, especially between poorly-defined alien characters. It’s unclear what’s driving the narrative anymore, and without a clear antagonist or central threat, the stakes feel murky at best.

CHARACTERS LOST IN SPACE

Tameka and Emile, after contributing to the chaos early on, are relegated to the background. A particularly awkward scene between Emile and a new character named Scott is both painfully written and clumsily performed. The performances throughout are a mixed bag, and wooden delivery doesn’t help clarify already confused plotting.

Benny remains the highlight—Lisa Bowerman is, as ever, brilliant. She grounds the drama with intelligence, wit, and that trademark no-nonsense charm. Her reluctant interactions with Jason bring out the best in her: snarky, vulnerable, and always just a bit fed up. The rocky nature of their relationship is captured well, even if Jason himself mostly comes across as a well-meaning disaster in trousers.

Speaking of voices from the past, the cast includes two very familiar ones: Anneke Wills as Doctor Kitzinger and Sophie Aldred as Miranda, Jason’s new partner. Hearing Aldred play a character so at odds with Ace is oddly distracting, and while it's fun stunt casting for fans, it also serves as a reminder of better stories

SOUNDS GOOD, FEELS EMPTY

Despite the shaky script, the production values are once again impressive for these early Big Finish outings. The sound design is dynamic, and while there's little in the way of music outside the diary sections and action scenes, the audio atmosphere is consistently solid. It's a testament to Big Finish's early ambition, even when the storytelling doesn't quite keep up.

Unfortunately, Beyond the Sun ends up being more of a frustrating detour than a satisfying journey. The compelling archaeology setup and emotional pull of Benny's complicated past with Jason are drowned out by a cluttered second half that meanders into incoherence. It’s a story that starts strong, loses its way, and never quite finds the map again.

📝VERDICT: 4.2/10

Beyond the Sun begins with a sharp, witty premise rooted in Benny's strengths—archaeology, sarcasm, and strained ex-husband diplomacy—but quickly spirals into a directionless, poorly paced sci-fi muddle. Despite Lisa Bowerman’s ever-reliable performance and solid production values, the lack of clear stakes, weak alien characters, and a completely unfocused second half drag this story down. As a debut for Jason, it’s underwhelming. As a Benny adventure, it has moments of charm—but they’re buried too deep beneath the rubble.


MrColdStream

View profile


It’s fine-ish, I think. Love Benny as always in this one, Bowerman is just so good, and love how Benny is characterized here. The Story itself sadly kinda drags, which pains me to say since I believe in longer Stories and their strengths, sadly this one just kinda goes through the Motions. At times, it doesn’t feel like much is happening. And the Supporting Cast is also nothing to write home about. I did find some Ideas presented here interesting, but ultimately it leaves a lot to be desired. I think I prefer the Novel much more this Time around.


RandomJoke

View profile


This review contains spoilers!

Seguindo para o segundo áudio por ordem de lançamento da BIG FINISH, por mais que sua capa sempre me chamou atenção, infelizmente Beyond The Sun entrega uma história que decide trilhar caminhos não tão atrativos e cativantes. O enredo começa com Bernice em uma escavação acompanhada de dois de seus alunos, até que seu ex-marido Jason aparece com um artefato bem curioso e pedindo a ela que cuide dele, mal ela sabia que mais a frente isso trará grandes problemas. Depois de aleatoriamente decidir “dormir” com Jason, o que pra mim foi uma decisão errada da Benny e estranha, ainda mais notando a reação de desgosto da arqueóloga ao reencontra-lo, mas é aquela coisa de impulso para depois a personagem ficar soltando frases como “Às vezes eu me odeio”. No dia seguinte ele desaparece e Benny é interrogada por autoridades que revelam que seu ex-marido está envolvido em tráfico de armas e o artefato na verdade é uma peça que pertence a uma arma poderosíssima, capaz de atingir e causar estragos “Além do Sol” (título da história saca, Beyond The Sun). Benny então abraça a responsabilidade de caçar Jason e viaja junto com seus alunos ao planeta Ursu – É nesse exato ponto que o sentimento de “interessante” do enredo cai por terra, pois o escritor decide trilhar por caminhos não muito significativos para resolução final e muito menos para a problemática central, Matt Jones realmente espera que seu ouvinte se preocupe com os dois alunos que acompanham Benny, mas um é muito mal reproduzido e desenvolvido e a outra tem uma personalidade bem questionável e chata de se acompanhar - Tameka claramente possui o típico estereótipo de garotas que pensam que são populares; egoísta, metida e arrogante. Ela também intimida e zoa seu colega constantemente se tornando bem irritante. Emile é claramente é um personagem de opiniões pessoais fortes e conflitantes, todo o arco do personagem gira em torno dele tentando se aceitar como gay, apesar de ter sido criado em uma família religiosa muito rígida que despreza essas coisas. Mas a frente temos um personagens que fica tentando dormir com ele, Emile claramente não se sente confortável e seguro com isso. O caso de Emile é algo bem importante de se abordar, ainda mais que infelizmente são muitos os casos parecidos com o dele, onde a homofobia e preconceito impede as pessoas serem quem elas realmente querem ser, o problema mesmo está na maneira como o escritor lida com isso em meio a trama, é algo bem desastroso. Além de ser esnobado e zoado várias vezes, Emile é retratado como bobo sem ter uma personalidade forte, sem imponência bem sem sal - Tanto é que no final do áudio, o aluno realmente se aceita como gay. O que é ótimo, porém é algo tão mal feito e reproduzido que o ouvinte não se convence, não sente firmeza. O segundo ponto negativo são os desenrolares do enredo principal de Beyond The Sun, que de fato é nada inspirador, basicamente se resumindo a “Meu deus Jason foi sequestrado por alienígenas malvados”. Benny vai atrás, a aventura recebe uma freada brusca para se dedicar a desenvolver (mal) o personagem dos dois alunos e ficar mostrando bastante (bastante até de mais) do planeta. Para no fim tudo se revolver rapidamente em um conflito com a vilã, ela é detida e ponto final. Falando nisso, confesso que foi hilário ver Sophie Aldred no papel de uma vilã, ela incorporou muito bem sua personagem uma rica metida a besta kkkkk. Em resumo, Beyond The Sun fica devendo e acaba perdendo muitos pontos em minha avaliação final pela sua má construção narrativa e de seus personagens. Vale ressaltar que esse áudio possui uns palavrões nunca vistos em Doctor Who, já avisando para não se assustar.

Moving on to the second audio by order of release from BIG FINISH, although its cover always caught my attention, unfortunately, Beyond The Sun delivers a story that decides to tread paths that are not so attractive and captivating. The plot begins with Bernice on an excavation accompanied by two of her students, until her ex-husband Jason appears with a rather curious artefact and asking her to take care of it, little did she know that later on this would bring great problems. After randomly deciding to “sleep” with Jason, which for me was a wrong and strange decision by Benny, especially noting the archaeologist's reaction of disgust when she met him again, but it's that thing of impulse to later have the character drop phrases like “Sometimes I hate myself”. The next day he disappears and Benny is interrogated by authorities who reveal that her ex-husband is involved in arms trafficking and the artefact is actually a part of a very powerful weapon, capable of reaching and causing damage “Beyond The Sun” (title of the story get it, Beyond The Sun). Benny then embraces the responsibility to hunt Jason and travels with her students to the planet Ursu – It's at this exact point that the feeling of “interesting” from the plot falls apart, as the writer decides to tread paths not very meaningful for the final resolution or for the central problem, Matt Jones really hopes that his listener cares about the two students accompanying Benny, but one is very poorly reproduced and developed and the other has a quite questionable and annoying personality to follow - Tameka clearly has the typical stereotype of girls who think they are popular; selfish, conceited and arrogant. She also intimidates and teases her colleague constantly becoming quite annoying. Emile is clearly a character with strong, conflicting personal opinions, his whole character arc revolves around him trying to accept himself as gay, despite having been raised in a very strict religious family that despises these things. However, ahead we have a character who keeps trying to sleep with him, Emile clearly does not feel comfortable and safe with this. Emile's case is something very important to address, even more so since unfortunately there are many cases similar to his, where homophobia and prejudice prevent people from being who they really want to be, the problem is in the way the writer deals with this within the plot, it is quite disastrous. In addition to being snubbed and teased several times, Emile is portrayed as silly without a strong personality, without imposing well without salt - So much so that at the end of the audio, the student really accepts himself as gay. Which is great, however it is something so poorly done and reproduced that the listener is not convinced, does not feel firmness. The second negative point are the developments of the main plot of Beyond The Sun, which in fact is not inspiring, basically boiling down to “My god Jason was kidnapped by evil aliens”. Benny goes after, the adventure receives a sudden brake to dedicate itself to poorly developing the character of the two students and showing a lot (quite too much) of the planet. In the end, everything quickly resolves in a conflict with the villain, she is detained and end of story. Speaking of which, I must confess that it was hilarious to see Sophie Aldred in the role of a villain, she embodied her character very well as a rich snob lol. In summary, Beyond The Sun falls short and ends up losing many points in my final assessment due to its poor narrative construction and its characters. It is worth noting that this audio has some swear words never seen in Doctor Who, just to warn you not to be shocked.

(Translation generated by AI, so mistakes are possible).


KnuppMello

View profile


This review contains spoilers!

07.10.2022
BFDW: Bernice Summerfield
s01e02: Beyond the Sun

A few cool concepts, but nothing much otherwise. The communist utopia society had an interesting idea of love as possession. It's refreshing to see a nuanced utopia I disagree on certain points with for once.
The story is forgettable though. 3/5


kiraoho

View profile


This review contains spoilers!

This one is really basically a bit dull. Benny is on a hunt for Jason Kane, and bumbles her way through a plot that doesn't really do anything. It wants, I think, to be a story that condemns capitalism and corporate greed, but manages to flounder its way through this alien world which should by all rights be pretty interesting. But it basically isn't.

The side characters are kind of pathetic and annoying, but there are some good character beats for Benny, at least. One of my favourite things about her is how she's a disaster, and she's allowed to be. She's divorced, she's rash, she's horny, she's short-tempered - and she's delightful for all of those things. SF has this horrible habit of forcing women to be 'likeable' above all else, often to the detriment of the character, but Benny has a real flavour of Indiana Jones and I think it's brilliant that she's allowed to be like that.


sircarolyn

View profile


Open in new window

Statistics

AVG. Rating64 members
2.76 / 5

GoodReads

AVG. Rating83 votes
3.37 / 5

The Time Scales

AVG. Rating71 votes
2.95 / 5

Member Statistics

Listened

119

Favourited

4

Reviewed

8

Saved

1

Skipped

0

Quotes

Add Quote

Submit a Quote