Venus Mantrap (audio story)
Venus Mantrap was the forty-seventh Bernice Summerfield audio story released by Big Finish Productions. It was the third story of the tenth season.
Publisher's summary[[edit]]
Eros, artificial moon of Venus, has a reputation for romance, but Professor Bernice Summerfield is just visiting for the money – specifically the secret royalties of her recently deceased partner, the famous "novelist" Jason Kane. Jason entrusted control of the inheritance to Bernice's rival in love and academia, acerbic alien rodent Professor Scoblow, and Bernice is prepared for a fight.
Unfortunately for Bernice, the path of finance rarely runs smoothly and disgruntled hamsters are the least of her problems: Eros's twin moon, the warlike Thanatos, is moving into alignment, Erosian society is in turmoil, war rockets are due for launch, and worst of all the banks are closed until further notice.
To get her hands on Jason's money, Bernice must ally herself with Scoblow to bring peace to Eros and Thanatos through a dangerous combination of espionage and dating, at terrible risk to both life and dignity.
And if that wasn't bad enough, a force as inevitable as death is waiting to strike...
Plot[[edit]]
Benny arrives on the artificial planet Eros from the orbital spaceport and has to explain to tourist Mr Felterby that she is not the same Bernice Summerfield who serves as President of Earth, something she seeks to avoid having to do again by donning a pair of sunglasses. After giving Adrian and Peter a call to let them know that she has arrived, she visits old acquaintance Professor Scoblow, Jason's editor, at the Eros Scientific Relationship Consultancy to ask her to surrender her position as co-signatory of Jason's bank account containing the royalties from his books. Scoblow agrees, which surprises Benny, and they head to the bank to sort things, only to find that relations between Eros and Venus have broken down and all financial transfers have been frozen. According to rumour, Thanatos will attack Eros with war rockets when it enters alignment.
Benny and Scoblow return to the Scientific Relationship Consultancy. There, Scoblow tells Benny about the Venusian ambassador N'Jok Barnes and Benny decides to seduce him in order to gain the security codes for the Thanatosian armouries and thus prevent war.
to be completed
Cast[[edit]]
- Bernice Summerfield - Lisa Bowerman
- Professor Megali Scoblow - Jo Castleton
- Vice Chancellor Safton Twisk - Ian Brooker
- N'Jok Barnes / Newsreader - Luke Sorba
- Felterby / Tannoy / Journo #1 / Lift Voice - Sean Connolly
- Guard / Journo #2 - Alex Mallinson
Uncredited cast[[edit]]
Crew[[edit]]
- Cover Art - Adrian Salmon
- Director - John Ainsworth
- Executive Producers - John Ainsworth and Jason Haigh-Ellery
- Music and Sound Design - Thea Cochrane
- Producer - Eddie Robson
- Writers - Mark Clapham and Lance Parkin
- Line Producer - David Richardson
Worldbuilding[[edit]]
- Eros and Thanatos are twin artificial planets near Venus.
- Peter is working on a logic game from Braxiatel's hard drive.
- Benny uses a vidphone.
- Adrian and Peter are in Dallas and due to visit Mexico.
- Scoblow wears Harris tweed.
- Barely Humanoid is an unpublished Jason Kane book.
- The Velvet Mandible published Jason's works.
- Jason's bank account is with Galcred.
Notes[[edit]]
- This audio drama was recorded on 19 December 2008.
- The book in which Megali Scoblow was introduced, Beige Planet Mars, was also co-written by Lance Parkin and Mark Clapham.
- A download version of this story was released on 23 May 2022.[1]
Continuity[[edit]]
- Scoblow first appeared in PROSE: Beige Planet Mars.
- Many mentions are made of the Benny clone (now President of Earth) from AUDIO: The Final Amendment.
Footnotes[[edit]]
External links[[edit]]
- Official Venus Mantrap page at bigfinish.com
- Venus Mantrap at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
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