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

"The Armageddon Chair: A Comedic Introduction to Cosmic Explorers”

Bernice Summerfield’s adventures begin anew with a witty, character-driven tale that blends humour and mystery in a galactic social club.

A Club Unlike Any Other

The Armageddon Chair, written by James Goss, kicks off The Eternity Club series with a lighthearted and comedic tone. Benny finds herself joining the titular Eternity Club, an eclectic group of intergalactic explorers. However, her membership comes with a catch: unpaid dues. Benny's predicament—being relegated to chores—immediately sets the comedic tone for the story.

The Eternity Club itself is brimming with quirky characters, from a disgruntled Sontaran and a dethroned Drahvin queen to a charmingly aloof cyborg (312, brought to life by Simon Kane) and even a talking tree. These larger-than-life personalities provide fertile ground for humour, with Benny’s quick wit clashing against the club’s strict social etiquette.

A Chair, a Knee, and a Past to Uncover

At the heart of the story is Benny’s accidental offense: sitting in 312’s sacred chair and tinkering with its malfunctioning knee joint. This seemingly small act catalyses the plot, as Benny endeavours to make amends by delving into 312’s mysterious past. Along the way, she unravels the personal histories of her fellow club members, creating moments of both hilarity and heartfelt connection.

The narrative doesn’t take itself too seriously, which works to its advantage. While the solution to the cyborg’s memory troubles is relatively straightforward, it effectively serves the story's goal of introducing the audience to the diverse cast and their dynamics.

An Intriguing Mystery

Amid the comedy, a subtle layer of mystery emerges. The club’s oldest member, an enigmatic, cobweb-covered elder confined to her chair, harbours knowledge of Benny’s past. This shadowy connection hints at a larger narrative to come, adding depth and intrigue to an otherwise breezy tale.

Performance Highlights

Lisa Bowerman’s portrayal of Benny is as sharp and delightful as ever. Her comedic timing and knack for navigating absurd situations make her the perfect anchor for this whimsical story. Simon Kane’s performance as 312 adds warmth and charm, while the supporting cast of eccentric alien explorers keeps the dialogue lively and engaging.

Verdict: A Promising Start

The Armageddon Chair is a strong opener for The Eternity Club, deftly balancing humour, character introductions, and a hint of mystery. While the plot itself may lack complexity, the story’s colourful cast and sharp writing make it an enjoyable and accessible entry point for this series of adventures.

📝Verdict: 69/100

For my totally official and planned and not something i came up with on the fly after noticing I did two reviews after each other on the first and the second of the month 31 days of December reviews I’ve been missing a few days. Now, this was planned, to allow for me to listen to and review all of my first foray into The New Adventures Of Bernice Summerfield, starting with the latest release, the Eternity Club. I’d been pondering buying these for a while already, but after reading a certain very interesting spoiler with recommendations on top of that, i broke. Gave in. Bye bye money, and hello Benny. Time to do this review thing now.

This new series of adventure is half-hour episodes. Reminding of Big Finish’s The Confessions of Dorian Gray, that have a similar length. Big fan of those too, me. But the way these short episodes are approached are very different. Confessions tries often, regardless of its short length, to tell either big epic stories or dramatic character pieces or both at the same time. It uses the shorter length to push the quick bursts of drama so fast to have it almost gain shock value. Here in the Eternity Club though, we find the length being used to tell lighter, sitcom-esque stories. There is no drowning the listener in melodrama, but a straight-man approach to the crazy world of Doctor Who. Bernice doesn’t go around fighting monsters, but is cleaning and helping an amnesiac member. The thirty minutes are for the more casual things, and used to bring us a look at this universe from a different perspective.

What I want thou to remember most absolute, is that when I speak of ‘sitcom-esque’, I do not mean that this is merely a simple comedy with aliens. Structurally it is not more a sitcom than half of the writing found in the television series of the Eleventh Doctor Who, I ought to say. Even aside from the mysteries and hints at continuing storylines that have been dropped, there is a lot of interesting things to be found here. One that I was most appreciative of, was the slight satirical nature of it. The lack of a good ending, the irony of the situation Bernice has to solve plus the social commentary, bring tonally almost a less cynical version of the writing of the great Guido Martina or remind of people like Evert Geradts and even Giorgio Pezzin (this is my review, and after thinking for way too long, I’ve decided i can draw any comparison that i like). It also doesn’t shy away from more introspective moments, and even deconstructing the characters a little, which I am enjoying a lot as well, though this will come to its conclusion later in the series of course, but the ground blocks laid have already been very strong.

Another quite impressive part is the naturalness of the introductory parts. They are sewn well into the main plot Goss wants to tell this episode. The fact that some scenes very much have an introductory purpose is quite obvious, but still it is that they do not feel out of place.

I feel like there is more to say about this story, but I’m afraid of being redundant by mentioning a lot of specifics, mostly because I won’t currently be able to do it the right way. Comments about the general series itself I do have though, but I have such a feeling that those might be better saved for the other reviews. I already fear the proportions of length are going to be most inconsistent as is. So I’ll just stop and think about structuring my next babble about feminism and history.

What a perfect start to a new era of Bernice I miss the hour long stories however this half hour story blew by

very camp from start to finish, nice introduction and teemimg with personalities!!