A Handful of Dust (audio story): Difference between revisions

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{{Infobox Story
{{Infobox Story SMW
|image =
|image                 = A Handful of Dust.jpg
|name = A Handful of Dust
|series                 = ''[[Bernice Summerfield (series)|Bernice Summerfield]]''
|series = [[Big Finish Productions]] - [[Big Finish Bernice Summerfield Series|Bernice Summerfield Audio Drama]]
|story number          = 63
|number = 64
|range                  = BSBS
|main character = [[Bernice Summerfield]]
|series in range        = New Frontiers (audio anthology)
|setting = [[Nemequit (planet)|Nemequit]]
|series number in range = 4
|writer = [[Xanna Eve Chown]]
|number in series      = 1
|director = [[Gary Russell]]
|number                 = 1
|producer =  
|main character         = [[Bernice Summerfield|Benny]]
|publisher = [[Big Finish Productions]]
|featuring              = [[Ruth]], [[Jack (The Kraken's Lament)|Jack]], [[Peter Summerfield|Peter]]
|release date = [[30 April]] [[2013]]
|enemy                  =
|format = 1 CD
|setting               = [[Nemeqit (planet)|Nemeqit]], [[2619]]<ref>''[[HMS Surprise (audio story)|HMS Surprise]]'', which is also set during [[Advent]], takes place in [[2619]].</ref>
|production code = BFPBSBOX004
|writer                 = Xanna Eve Chown
|isbn = ISBN 978-1-78178-101-2
|director               = [[Gary Russell]]
|prev = Many Happy Returns (audio story)  
|music                  = [[James Dunlop]]
|next = HMS Suprise (audio story)
|sound                  = [[Robbie Dunlop]]
}}
|cover                  = [[Stuart Manning]]
|publisher              = Big Finish Productions
|release date           = 30 April 2013
|format                 = 1 CD<br/>Download<br/>Part 1 of 3
|production code       = BFPBSBOX004
|isbn                   = ISBN 978-1-78178-101-2
|prev                   = Many Happy Returns (audio story)
|next                   = HMS Surprise (audio story)
|producer              = [[Scott Handcock]] and [[Gary Russell]]
|epcount                = 1
}}{{spotify|album=3ugNoROCuEIA848buCJ406|height=350}}
'''''A Handful of Dust''''' was the sixty-third ''[[Bernice Summerfield (series)|Bernice Summerfield]]'' audio story released by [[Big Finish Productions]]. It was the first story of the ''[[New Frontiers (audio anthology)|New Frontiers]]'' series.


== Publisher's summary ==
== Publisher's summary ==
“S.O.S. Emergency. Please send… an archaeologist?
"S.O.S. Emergency. Please send... an [[archaeologist]]?"
 
On a routine postal mission for [[Till Madden|a deranged millionaire]], [[Bernice Summerfield|Bernice]], [[Ruth]] and [[Jack (The Kraken's Lament)|Jack]] intercept a distress signal from the most haunted planet in the galaxy: [[Nemeqit (planet)|Nemeqit]].
 
Taking their newly-christened shuttle – [[The Irverfield]] – down to investigate, the trio soon find themselves confronted with a pair of childlike extra-terrestrials; [[Vonna Byzantium]], presenter of ''[[Paranormal Planets]]'' and part-time diva... and an awful lot of dust.


On a routine postal mission for a deranged millionaire, [[Bernice Summerfield|Bernice]], [[Ruth (The Temple of Questions)|Ruth]] and [[Jack (Judgement Day)|Jack]] intercept a distress signal from the most haunted planet in the galaxy: [[Nemeqit (planet)|Nemequit]].
But something else is going on beneath the surface of Nemeqit, something none of them ever imagined. And this time, Bernice really can't save everyone...


Taking their newly-christened shuttle – The Irverfield – down to investigate, the trio soon find themselves confronted with a pair of childlike extra-terrestrials; Vonna Byzantium, presenter of Paranormal Planets and part-time diva… and an awful lot of dust.
== Plot ==
[[Bernice Summerfield|Benny]], [[Ruth]] and [[Jack (The Kraken's Lament)|Jack]] are sent by [[Irving Braxiatel|Irving]] to deliver [[millionaire]] [[Till Madden]]'s documents to a [[space station]] in the [[Theia Quadrant]], a mission that [[Peter Summerfield|Peter]] declines to join. They take the ''[[Irverfield]]'', as Irving has named their new [[shuttle]], to a [[hyperdimensional waste ship]] and, after delivering the documents, they are told by [[Sacker (A Handful of Dust)|Captain Sacker]] of a [[distress call]] that they received from [[Nemeqit (planet)|Nemeqit]] requesting an [[archaeologist]].
 
Leaving Jack to guard the ''Irverfield'', Benny and Ruth head out onto the dead [[planet]] and meet [[Bel (A Handful of Dust)|Bel]] and [[Lud (A Handful of Dust)|Lud]] inside a [[dome]] they call [[Eden (A Handful of Dust)|Eden]]. They explain that they have no [[memory]] from before they woke up in Eden, but they have had [[vision]]s and believe that they are the last of the [[Nemeqitian]]s; to discover their past and find out what their [[religion]] was, they need the help of an archaeologist. Benny and Ruth go to investigate the nearby [[cave]]s where they find symbols indicating that the Nemeqitians worshipped the planet as a living entity.
 
Jack wanders away from the ''Irverfield'' and gets himself lost. He soon meets [[Vonna Byzantium]], former host of ''[[Paranormal Planets]]'', and [[Rex 1|Rex]], her [[robot]]. They separate and encounter each other once again in Eden, where Vonna interviews Bel and Lud. When Bel has an accident but does not [[blood|bleed]], Jack examines her and finds that she is solid all the way through and has no internal organs. He is reunited with Benny and Ruth when they return from the cave, Ruth narrowly having escaped suffocating in [[quicksand]], and realises that Bel and Lud do not [[excretion|excrete]].
 
Vonna [[hypnosis|hypnotises]] Bel and Lud and they reveal that they are the children of Nemeqit. The dome cracks and they enter a [[dust storm]], causing them and the storm itself to disappear. After sabotaging Vonna's [[camera]], Jack receives a message from Madden saying that he no longer wants a [[report]] on [[Harrison (A Handful of Dust)|Harrison]]'s [[sanity]] as he asked for as Harrison is now looking into two new planets which suddenly appeared.


But something else is going on beneath the surface of Nemeqit, something none of them ever imagined. And this time, Bernice really can’t save everyone…
== Cast ==
== Cast ==
* [[Bernice Summerfield]] - [[Lisa Bowerman]]
* [[Bernice Summerfield]] - [[Lisa Bowerman]]
* [[Peter Summerfield]] - [[Thomas Grant]]
* [[Peter Summerfield]] - [[Thomas Grant]]
* [[Ruth (The Temple of Questions)|Ruth]] - [[Ayesha Antoine]]
* [[Ruth]] - [[Ayesha Antoine]]
* [[Jack (Judgement Day)|Jack]] - [[David Ames]]
* [[Jack (The Kraken's Lament)|Jack]] - [[David Ames]]
* [[Vonna Byzantium]] - [[Ellen Salisbury]]
* [[Vonna Byzantium]] - [[Ellen Salisbury]]
* [[Bel (A Handful of Dust)|Bel]] - [[Charlie Hayes]]
* [[Bel (A Handful of Dust)|Bel]] - [[Charlie Hayes]]
* [[Lud (A Handful of Dust)|Lud]] - [[Peter Sheward]]
* [[Lud (A Handful of Dust)|Lud]] - [[Peter Sheward]]
* [[Sacker (A Handful of Dust)|Captain Sacker]] - [[Scott Handcock]]
* [[Sacker (A Handful of Dust)|Captain Sacker]] - [[Scott Handcock]]
* [[Crewman (A Handful of Dust)|Crewman]] - [[Thomas Rees-Kaye]]
* [[Crewman (A Handful of Dust)|Crewman]] - [[Tony Coburn]]
* [[Dinner Lady (A Handful of Dust)|Dinner Lady]] - [[Dolly Oladini]]
* [[Dinner lady (A Handful of Dust)|Dinner Lady]] - [[Dolly Oladini]]


== References ==
== Worldbuilding ==
''to be added''
* [[Advent]] is a period of twenty-nine days culminating in [[Advent Day]], the shortest day of Legion's year. [[Bowl]]s of [[lobster]]s and hanging [[saucepan]]s are traditional.
* Benny likens Advent to [[Christmas]].
* The [[space station]] is in the [[Theia Quadrant]], which is a year from Legion.
* The inhabitants of Nemeqit were called [[Nemeqitian]]s.
* Bel and Lud recycle [[water]].
* [[Rex 1]] and [[Rex 2]] are Vonna's [[robot]]s. They can release a [[truth drug]] during [[interview]]s.
* ''[[Paranormal Planets]]'' was cancelled after an incident with fake [[ectoplasm]].
* Vonna presented ''[[Cooking With Ghosts]]'', ''[[Cleaning With Ghosts]]'' and ''[[Sleeping With Ghosts]]''.
* [[Harrison (A Handful of Dust)|Harrison]] is [[Till Madden]]'s [[scientist]].
* Benny mentions [[MRS GREN]], a phrase to help remember the characteristics of [[life]].
* Benny uses a [[holo-imager]].
* Ruth falls into [[quicksand]].


== Notes ==
== Notes ==
Line 47: Line 80:


== Continuity ==
== Continuity ==
''to be added''
* Ruth mentions when she was a [[priest]]ess. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Temple of Questions (audio story)|The Temple of Questions]]'')
* Ruth mentions when Benny awoke from stasis. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Dead Man's Switch (BFBS audio story)|Dead Man's Switch]]'', ''[[Judgement Day (BFBS audio story)|Judgement Day]]'')
* Benny mentions being a deity. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Brand Management (audio story)|Brand Management]]'')
 
== Footnotes ==
{{Reflist}}


== External links ==
== External links ==
* {{Bigfinish|/releases/v/new-frontiers-765|New Frontiers}}
{{bigfinish|releases/v/new-frontiers-765}}


{{BFBS}}
{{BFBS}}
{{TitleSort}}
{{TitleSort}}
[[Category:Bernice Summerfield sources]]
[[Category:New Frontiers audio stories]]
[[Category:Audio stories set in Mutter's Spiral]]

Latest revision as of 21:11, 27 March 2024

RealWorld.png
audio stub

A Handful of Dust was the sixty-third Bernice Summerfield audio story released by Big Finish Productions. It was the first story of the New Frontiers series.

Publisher's summary[[edit] | [edit source]]

"S.O.S. Emergency. Please send... an archaeologist?"

On a routine postal mission for a deranged millionaire, Bernice, Ruth and Jack intercept a distress signal from the most haunted planet in the galaxy: Nemeqit.

Taking their newly-christened shuttle – The Irverfield – down to investigate, the trio soon find themselves confronted with a pair of childlike extra-terrestrials; Vonna Byzantium, presenter of Paranormal Planets and part-time diva... and an awful lot of dust.

But something else is going on beneath the surface of Nemeqit, something none of them ever imagined. And this time, Bernice really can't save everyone...

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

Benny, Ruth and Jack are sent by Irving to deliver millionaire Till Madden's documents to a space station in the Theia Quadrant, a mission that Peter declines to join. They take the Irverfield, as Irving has named their new shuttle, to a hyperdimensional waste ship and, after delivering the documents, they are told by Captain Sacker of a distress call that they received from Nemeqit requesting an archaeologist.

Leaving Jack to guard the Irverfield, Benny and Ruth head out onto the dead planet and meet Bel and Lud inside a dome they call Eden. They explain that they have no memory from before they woke up in Eden, but they have had visions and believe that they are the last of the Nemeqitians; to discover their past and find out what their religion was, they need the help of an archaeologist. Benny and Ruth go to investigate the nearby caves where they find symbols indicating that the Nemeqitians worshipped the planet as a living entity.

Jack wanders away from the Irverfield and gets himself lost. He soon meets Vonna Byzantium, former host of Paranormal Planets, and Rex, her robot. They separate and encounter each other once again in Eden, where Vonna interviews Bel and Lud. When Bel has an accident but does not bleed, Jack examines her and finds that she is solid all the way through and has no internal organs. He is reunited with Benny and Ruth when they return from the cave, Ruth narrowly having escaped suffocating in quicksand, and realises that Bel and Lud do not excrete.

Vonna hypnotises Bel and Lud and they reveal that they are the children of Nemeqit. The dome cracks and they enter a dust storm, causing them and the storm itself to disappear. After sabotaging Vonna's camera, Jack receives a message from Madden saying that he no longer wants a report on Harrison's sanity as he asked for as Harrison is now looking into two new planets which suddenly appeared.

Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]

Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

to be added

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

Footnotes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  1. HMS Surprise, which is also set during Advent, takes place in 2619.

External links[[edit] | [edit source]]