Professor Bernice Summerfield and the Kingdom of the Blind (audio story)

Professor Bernice Summerfield and the Kingdom of the Blind, or simply The Kingdom of the Blind, was the twenty-fifth Bernice Summerfield audio story released by Big Finish Productions. It was the second audio story of the sixth season, released in July 2005. It featured the Monoids' second appearance in a story, their first being in the 1966 Doctor Who television story The Ark.

Publisher's summary
Jason Kane thought things had been going so well with ex-wife Bernice Summerfield, until she went sleepwalking, stole Brax's shuttle (causing Jason grievous bodily harm in the process), and then abandoned her on-off lover to the mercy of a horde of mute and unfriendly aliens.

Although Benny — waking to find herself marooned on a strange planet dressed only in her nightie, with strange voices in her head and a bunch of one-eyed monsters threatening to cut out her tongue — would probably argue that her day was even worse, thank you very much.

But Benny does seem to have stumbled across the last resting place of a legendary civilisation, so it's not all bad. Well, assuming she and Jason can survive — intact — long enough to tell anyone about it...

Plot
Whilst sleeping, Benny hears 26 screaming as 15's tongue is cut out and goes out into the snow in her nightie. Jason leaves Peter in Joseph's care and follows Benny as she boards a shuttle and sets off to help 26, with whom she remains in contact as she sleepwalks. 26 tells her that she and 15 both have two eyes, but that her people, whom she has no name for, are only allowed to keep their second eye if they remain silent. If they do not, their masters give them the choice of whether to lose their tongue, eyes or ears.

Benny arrives at her destination and wakes up when she is grabbed by the Monoid masters, feigning deafness to avoid having her tongue cut out. Her hands bound by Zarf, she is taken to Hult, the High Master, to have her deafness tested; the masters make two loud noises to try to catch Benny out, but 26 is nearby and telepathically lets her know when the noises are going to happen so that she does not react. She is then taken to prepare food in the kitchens and meets 26, who notices that Benny is wearing a relic of the Halyvon, a psychic race who sent their best and brightest out in a spaceship before their world was wiped out. 26 is wearing the same necklace, indicating that she is a descendant of the Halyvon.

Jason wakes up on the shuttle, having been knocked unconscious when it took off, and goes looking for Benny despite being barely able to walk, but he is captured and brought before 44, the only slave to choose to lose his eyes instead of his tongue. Jason promises to get the Halvyon off-world and he and 44 use a communications system to make it seem that they can all speak and frighten the Monoids into becoming their slaves, but Hult, who is about to have Benny's tongue, eyes and ears removed due to her having accidentally given herself away, says that they will only recognise those who can prove that they can speak as equals. Hult uncovers the deception.

to be added

Cast

 * Bernice Summerfield - Lisa Bowerman
 * Jason Kane - Stephen Fewell
 * Aliens - Richard Unwin
 * 44 - Paul Clayton
 * 26 - Caroline Morris

Continuity

 * The First Doctor, Steven Taylor and Dodo Chaplet would encounter the Monoids aboard the Ark circa 10,000,000 and once again 700 years later. (TV: The Ark)