Bernice Summerfield 2008
(
09/05/2008)
THE ORIGINAL BIG FINISH AUDIO RANGE RETURNS WITH THE RELEASE OF FOUR NEW AUDIO DRAMAS ON CD
Intrepid space archaeologist,
Bernice Summerfield, played by
Lisa Bowerman, returns for four new audio adventures this Summer. Plus a new collection of three novellas is due to be published at the end of the year.
‘After the seminal events of last season, Bernice’s adventures have taken a new turn – which makes this an ideal jumping-on point for new listeners,’ says new range producer,
Eddie Robson. ‘The connections between plays are a little looser this time around, but every one is still important to Bernice’s ongoing story. This year her son Peter emerges as a character in his own right, and much of this season is about their relationship. It’s always been rather stop-start because of Bernice’s eventful life – now they’re suddenly thrown together.’
Robson’s season opener
Beyond the Sea deals with Bernice and Peter’s new situation, as they adjust to no longer having the support network of their old friends at the Braxiatel Collection. Bernice is living the itinerant lifestyle of a freelance archaeologist and facing up to the dangers Peter is exposed to simply by being with her – which, in this story, are quite considerable.
Peter takes centre stage in
The Adolescence of Time by
Lawrence Miles, well known to
Doctor Who fans for his novels and the Faction Paradox audio and book series. This is his first
Bernice Summerfield story in more than ten years, following his 1997 New Adventure Down – and it explores similar ground to that novel, as Peter is thrown back in time to a prehistoric Earth. The planet’s intelligent reptiles face extinction: can Peter help the winged ones to survive? This play guest-stars
Lois Baxter, who played Madame Lamia in the
Doctor Who story
The Androids of Tara.
It’s Bernice’s turn to be stranded in Earth’s history in
The Adventure of the Diogenes Damsel, when she is transported to 1890s London. There, she finds a friend in the form of Mycroft Holmes (played by special guest star
David Warner), whose more famous brother she met some years ago. As they search for a means of returning Bernice to her own time – and her son – they become embroiled in a series of strange murders. What do they have to do with the mysterious businessman, Lord Straxus? This story, by
Jim Smith (Kaldor City), also features
Peter Miles (the
Doctor Who stories
The Silurians,
Invasion of the Dinosaurs and
Genesis of the Daleks) as
Straxus.
The final play of the season,
The Diet of Worms, is by cultural historian
Matthew Sweet, and sees Bernice applying for a new permanent job at a vast depository of the papers of notable historical figures such as
Charles Darwin,
Martin Luther,
Wilkie Collins and
Barbara Cartland. Unfortunately, by the time she gets there the post has already been abolished – but she could be right on time to discover just what is eating its way through these irreplaceable manuscripts.
‘
These stories are varied, unusual, and witty in the Bernice Summerfield tradition,’ says Robson. ‘
After ten years of Big Finish audios, the character is as strong and distinctive as ever.’
Each of the new Bernice Summerfield audio dramas is now available to pre-order from
Big Finish, priced just
£10.99. Or you can order all four at the discount price of
£35.00. If all four CDs plus the book of novellas (available separately for
£14.99) it will cost just
£40.