Walking to Babylon

07.10.2022

Procedural. A lot of awkward exposition. The setting is colorful and vibrant, but not much of substance happens here either. Moral dilemma is bare-bones this time, existing mainly due to antagonists' stubbornness rather than an interesting ideological conflict. The countdown was Chibnall countdown level of bad. The priestess's conflict can be considered interesting if you squint hard enough. 1.5/5

Walking to Babylon is the first story in the Time Ring trilogy, three of the earliest releases from Big Finish when Bernice was their only product and the possibility of Doctor Who audios was still a little way off.

Lisa Bowerman is note perfect and ably supported by Stephen Fewell as Jason and Elisabeth Sladen as the Babylonian priestess Ninan. The rest of the cast – made up of Big Finish luminaries such as Nigel Fairs and Barnaby Edwards – more than match their performances.

Jac Rayner has adapted Kate Orman’s original novel well and the script includes quite a bit of educational content: Babylon is the largest city in the world of this time; nearby cities such as Ur are mentioned, along with references to Babylon having links to Egypt and Greece. Babylonian rites, such as Ninan’s inability to leave the temple, are discussed and, aside from a slightly heavy-handed polemic from Jason about slavery, flow naturally through the script.

The only aspect of the story which doesn’t seem to quite work out of the novel’s context (and particularly the over-arching storylines of the entire Bernice Summerfield New Adventure book range) is the People. Their war with an unnamed power (clearly the Time Lords) is intriguing but as characters they seem slightly ineffectual and not really alien enough. Lafayette, the Victorian time sensitive, is far more successful and a character it is odd Big Finish never revisited.

The sounds of Babylon (bustling markets, lavish feasts, holy temples) – and the more sci-fi elements (time corridors and space ports) – are convincingly presented and the music is suitably ethnic and ancient.

It is easy to see from this audio why this series convinced the BBC that Big Finish deserved the licence to produce official Doctor Who audios. It is astonishingly professional in every aspect – scripting, acting, sound design and music.

This episode is so much fun. Not only are we treated to the lovely voice of Elisabeth Sladen, but this story is just good. We head to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon with Benny on the hunt for Jason after he stole her Time Ring. However, the time path they opened has accidentally brought through bumbling John Lafayette who takes a fancy to Benny.

I think the first time I listened to this, he irritated me, but upon relisten I have come to appreciate him a little more. He's a stuck in his ways kind of guy, but he and Benny do have a very sweet rapport, and their growing relationship is quite lovely to listen to. It is also setting us up for Just War, which is an awesome story. But more about that later.

The sound design of this episode is also wonderful. Some of these earlier BF releases can be a little hit and miss, but I really enjoyed it in this one. Overall, a fun story and certainly one of the better ones of S1.

Bernice Summerfield

#1.03. Walking to Babylon ~ 10/10

◆ An Introduction

The Time Ring Trilogy begins now! Three rip-roaring adventures through Earth’s past that will certainly put Benny and Jason through their paces. Kate Orman is kicking things off by taking us back to Ancient Babylon.

◆ Publisher’s Summary

"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.

◆ Prof. Bernice Summerfield

‘Walking to Babylon’ features an excellent performance from Lisa Bowerman.

Benny hasn’t seen her ex since she saved his skin back on Ursu. She even had her porter monitoring the police channels – illegally – on the off chance of hearing about Jason’s latest exploits. Now he’s turned up out of the blue and expects her to sign autographs for some archaeology fetishist! Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit in the 26th century, so she reserves it for the lowest form of person… like her ex-husband. Benny once refused to buy water in the desert, simply because the vendor put an apostrophe in the word “drinks”, meaning that her and Jason had to drink each other’s urine – I’m starting to see why these two are totally and utterly divorced! Benny can’t give Lafayette any information which could change history, but it’s clear she likes and admires him a fair bit. Her students believe that listening to her isn’t the most interesting thing in the world, but Ninan-ashtammu is more than enthusiastic to hear tales of her travels. She finds it difficult to refuse a party. Benny recalls when she was twenty-three years old and went on a solo expedition to an unmapped planet, where she fell off a cliff and broke both her left tibia and her femur! It was certainly a lesson in humility, one which taught her that she can’t have everything she wanted.

◆ Jason Kane

Stephen Fewell was lambasted with the worst possible debut adventure, so I was impressed at how well he managed to bounce back with this top notch script. He delivers a fantastic performance in ‘Walking to Babylon’.

Jason hasn’t contacted his ex-wife for months, and now just barges into her apartment with some random bloke who claims to be her biggest fan – I can see why she’s your ex, mate! He still cares about Benny, even if they are separated. He claims that, back in the 20th century, they believed sarcasm was the lowest form of wit. Jason finds himself tied up in Ancient Babylon with two naked aliens… sorry, I didn’t realise we’d accidentally stumbled onto Archive of Our Own! The rogue People believe he is a disloyal, uncaring, greedy, and selfish human – from all I’ve heard of him so far, I’m honestly inclined to agree. Jason shows a great deal of growth when talking to Ninan-ashtammu, telling her to basically make the effort rather than choosing the path of least resistance, telling her to leave the Temple and travel like she wants to. He even decides to pay the fee required to release Ninan from slavery.

◆ Story Recap

After her errant husband steals her wedding ring, Benny knows that it’s a race against time to track him down: they were both gifted these rings as wedding presents by the Doctor, but both are far more than mere wedding trinkets… they just so happen to be Gallifreyan time rings!

Unfortunately, Jason has been kidnapped again – this time by two rogue members of the People: one of the most powerful races in the universe! Prof. Summerfield has just 48 hours to track down both her ex-husband and the rogue elements in Ancient Babylon… before the People send a singularity bomb to level the area, and cause catastrophic damage to established history!

◆ Friends in Babylon

Kate Orman was one of the most prominent writers for the ‘New Adventures’, but I’m still nowhere near to reading her debut novel. That being said, this was a fantastic introduction to her work. Let’s kick things off by praising the phenomenal cast of characters in this story.

John Lafayette was an Edwardian time sensitive who found himself caught up in our adventure through Ancient Babylon. He also happens to be an academic – a professor of linguistics at Cambridge University – and he strikes up an immediate connection with Benny. They’re both learned minds, after all, and they actually become quite good friends by the end of this story.

Another character who I think is worth mentioning is the Babylonian priest, Ninan-ashtammu. A naturally kind soul, she is extremely fascinated by the travels of both Benny and Lafayette, since she is unable to leave the Temple because of religious reasons. It’s also worth mentioning that Ninan was played by a legendary actress: the late, great Elisabeth Sladen. She delivered a marvellous performance, and hearing her voice just makes me so happy and nostalgic.

◆ The Temporal Path

The People: one of the most powerful races in the universe. Two rogue elements have established a temporal path leading to Ancient Babylon, which violates the treaty between themselves and the Time Lords.

They plan on keeping it open and bringing the rest of the People through. They will then make sure that their race lose the now reignited People/Time Lord conflict… because their race would then be taught a lesson in humility.

That’s a really fun idea, especially when you consider that the People are essentially space gods!

◆ Sound Design

Harvey Summers has massively redeemed himself following the bland sound design he contributed to the last adventure. This is a truly stunning Babylonian soundscape.

A tannoy system welcomes visitors to the St Oscar’s University campus. Donkeys braying in the deserts outside Baghdad, water trickling from a nearby oasis. The warbling of the temporal path that leads back to Ancient Babylon. The Temple is full of people engaging in festival celebrations and playing Middle Eastern music. Tweeting birds in the lush and verdant Hanging Gardens. A pistol being fired, and the hovering of the rogue People’s drone.

◆ Music

Regular readers of my reviews will know that I often find myself comparing BigFinish scores with the soundtracks for the Command & Conquer games: well, that’s certainly the case here!

The score features this gorgeous Middle Eastern twang from the moment we emerge into Babylon. It’s honestly reminiscent of the GLA themes from C&C Generals.

◆ Conclusion

“The Hanging Gardens of Babylon…”

Prof. Summerfield is against the clock. If she cannot locate two rogue members of the People and her errant husband, one of the most important civilisations in human history will be atomised! If that wasn’t enough to be dealing with, she must also assist an Edwardian time sensitive in returning to 1901.

This is one of two occasions where the audio adventures have transported us back to the ancient city of Babylon, and I’m absolutely in awe once more. Kate Orman has created a stunningly good pseudo-historical adventure with incredibly high stakes: the People are threatening to pervert the entire course of human history, after all.

The guest characters have been extremely well cast, with the legendary Lis Sladen stealing the show as Priestess Ninan-ashtammu, and Barnaby Edwards doing an excellent job with Lafayette.

‘Walking to Babylon’ is a long-forgotten classic audio adventure, one I can recommend everyone picking up. Kate Orman should be immensely proud.

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 a 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.