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4.0 out of 5 stars
Dog-Boy Makes Good!, October 9, 2010
This review is from: Absence (Bernice Summerfield) (Audio CD)
Since the pushing to the fore of Benny's boy Peter, there was an unspoken dread that he may at some point get his own episode. Prior to the excellent 'The Diet Of Worms' he hadn't even had much of a character, certainly not much to act with. In 'Absence', Peter is chosen for an expedition ahead of his mother so that Thomas Grant can take the lion's share of the action. We needn't have worried: he does a damn fine job. (Let's not forget that Peter's survival is always less certain than his mother's - his name is not above the title on the CD cover so there can be a real sense of threat.)
The idea of cluster worlds spontaneously fusing together from space junk is a fine one and with characters having to communicate by radio in semi-darkness (a set-up made for audio), it's intriguing, atmospheric and well-structured. Peter's adolescent crush side plot is well-handled, as is his mother's helpless fretting for his safety. Aside from Thomas Grant, Trevor Littledale shines as the unscrupulous Aslinides, a much more multi-dimensional villain than we might have expected.
By far the best story of Benny Season Ten.
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