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{{Infobox Story SMW
{{Infobox Story
|image                 = Just War audio cover.jpg  
|image           = Just War audio cover.jpg  
|range                  = BSSR
|series         = [[Big Finish Bernice Summerfield series|Big Finish ''Bernice Summerfield'' series]]
|series in range        = Series 1 (BFBS)
|story number    = 5
|series number in range = 1
|season number  = Series 1 (BFBS)
|number in series      = 5
|series episode number         = 5
|audio series          = ''[[Bernice Summerfield (series)|Bernice Summerfield]]''<br />Single Releases
|adapted from   = Just War (novel)
|audio series number    = [[Series 1 (BFBS)|1]]
|main character = [[Bernice Summerfield]]
|series release number = 5
|featuring       = [[Jason Kane]]  
|adapted from           = Just War (novel)
|enemy           = {{il|Oberst [[Oskar Steinmann]]|Standardtenfuhrer [[Joachim Wolff]]|[[Nazi]]s}}
|main character         = [[Bernice Summerfield|Benny]]
|setting         = {{il|[[Guernsey]], [[1941]]|[[Germany|Nazi Germany]], [[1941]]}}
|featuring             = [[Jason Kane|Jason]], [[Wolsey]]
|writer         = {{il|Based on a novel by [[Lance Parkin]];|adapted for audio by [[Jacqueline Rayner]]}}
|enemy                 = [[Oskar Steinmann|Steinmann]]
|director       = [[Gary Russell]]  
|setting               = [[Guernsey]], [[March]] [[1941]]
|producer       = [[Gary Russell]]
|writer                 = Jacqueline Rayner
|sound           = [[Harvey Summers]]
|contributors          = {{il|Based on a novel by [[Lance Parkin]];|adapted for audio by [[Jacqueline Rayner]]}}
|music           = [[Harvey Summers]]
|director               = [[Gary Russell]]
|publisher       = Big Finish Productions  
|producer               = Gary Russell
|cover           = [[Nik Spender]]
|sound                 = [[Harvey Summers]]
|release date   = [[August (releases)|August]] [[1999 (releases)|1999]]
|music                 = [[Harvey Summers]]
|format         = {{il|2 episodes on 2 CDs:|Episode 1 (55:32)|Episode 2 (60:10)}}
|publisher             = Big Finish Productions  
|production code = BFPCD5  
|cover                 = [[Nik Spender]]
|isbn           = ISBN 1-903654-35-1  
|release date           = August 1999
|prev           = Birthright (audio story)  
|format                 = 2 CDs<br/>2 cassettes<br/>Download
|next           = Dragons' Wrath (audio story)
|production code       = BFPCD5  
|isbn                   = ISBN 978-1-90365-435-4 (physical)<br/>ISBN 978-1-83868-478-5 (digital)
|series                = [[Bernice Summerfield (series)|Regular ''Bernice Summerfield'' series]]
|prev                   = Birthright (audio story)  
|next                   = Dragons' Wrath (audio story)
|series2                = ''Bernice Summerfield'' series stories
|story number          = 5
|prev2                  = Birthright (audio story)
|next2                  = Making Myths (audio story)
|series3                = ''Bernice Summerfield'' series releases
|prev3                  = Birthright (audio story)
|next3                  = Buried Treasures (audio anthology)
|epcount                = 2
}}
}}
'''''Just War''''' was the fifth [[Big Finish Bernice Summerfield series|Bernice Summerfield]] audio drama produced by [[Big Finish Productions]]. It was the third in a trilogy of stories known as the "Time Ring Trilogy" whose arc element was the use of [[Bernice Summerfield]] and [[Jason Kane]]'s wedding [[time ring]]s, given to them when they were married in [[PROSE]]: ''[[Happy Endings]]''.
'''''Just War''''' was the fifth ''[[Bernice Summerfield (series)|Bernice Summerfield]]'' audio drama produced by [[Big Finish Productions]]. It was the third in a trilogy of stories known as the "Time Ring Trilogy" whose arc element was the use of [[Bernice Summerfield]] and [[Jason Kane]]'s wedding [[time ring]]s, given to them when they were married in ''[[Happy Endings (novel)|Happy Endings]]''.


Like ''[[Birthright (audio story)|Birthright]]'' this was adapted from a [[Virgin New Adventures]] novel, rather than from a [[Virgin Bernice Summerfield New Adventures]] which featured Bernice without the Doctor. The original novel of ''[[Just War (novel)|Just War]]'' featured the [[Seventh Doctor]], [[Bernice Summerfield]], [[Chris Cwej]] and [[Roz Forrester]]. For this audio adapation Bernice's role remains intact, whilst [[Jason Kane]] takes on a combination of the other characters' roles in the plot.
Like ''[[Birthright (audio story)|Birthright]]'', this was adapted from a [[Virgin New Adventures]] novel, rather than from a [[Virgin Bernice Summerfield New Adventures]], which featured Bernice without [[the Doctor]]. The original novel ''[[Just War (novel)|Just War]]'' featured the [[Seventh Doctor]], Bernice Summerfield, [[Chris Cwej]] and [[Roz Forrester]]. For this audio adaptation Bernice's role remains intact, whilst [[Jason Kane]] takes on a combination of the other characters' roles in the plot.


''{{StoryTitle}}'' also contained [[Evelyn Smythe]] actor [[Maggie Stables]]' first work for [[Big Finish]].  Like [[Colin Baker]] in [[Birthright (audio story)|the previous episode]], Stables debuted here before going on to play a co-starring character for the [[Big Finish Doctor Who audio stories|main ''Doctor Who'' monthly line]].
Continuing the pattern from the previous stories, the photos of [[Lisa Bowerman]] and [[Stephen Fewell]] are featured on the original audio cover.


== Publisher's summary ==
== Publisher's summary ==
The Time Trilogy: Part 3
"Tomorrow belongs to us, not you. If you were really from the future, Miss Summerfield, you would be a Nazi."
"Tomorrow belongs to us, not you. If you were really from the future, Miss Summerfield, you would be a Nazi."


The [[Nazi]]s occupy British soil and British citizens are being deported to European concentration camps. Those who do not co-operate with the Germans are shot.
The [[Nazi]]s occupy [[Great Britain|British soil]] and British citizens are being deported to [[Europe]]an [[concentration camp]]s. Those who do not co-operate with the [[Germany|Germans]] are shot.


This isn't a parallel universe: this is [[Guernsey]], [[1941]], and it's where [[Bernice Summerfield|Bernice]] is stranded. With no sign of [[Jason Kane|Jason]], she has to endure the full horror of the situation, alone and afraid.
This isn't a [[parallel universe]]: this is [[Guernsey]], [[1941]], and it's where [[Bernice Summerfield|Bernice]] is stranded. With no sign of [[Jason Kane|Jason]], she has to endure the full horror of the situation, alone and afraid.


And something, somewhere has gone wrong. The Nazis are building a secret weapon, one that will have a decisive effect on the outcome of the war - and it's up to Benny to put history back on course...
And something, somewhere has gone wrong. The Nazis are building a secret weapon, one that will have a decisive effect on the outcome of the war - and it's up to Benny to put history back on course...


== Plot ==
== Plot ==
''to be added''
=== Part one ===
[[Jason Kane|Jason]] has arrived in [[Guernsey]] in [[1936]] and drinks with [[Emil Hartung]], telling him about his and [[Bernice Summerfield|Benny]]'s adventures and briefly mentioning [[radar]], before realising that he is a [[Nazi]]. With no sign of his ex-wife, he joins the [[Scientific Intelligence Division]] and, whilst in [[London]] in [[1941]], learns that Hartung is a Nazi [[scientist]] and has returned to Guernsey. He takes a special interest in the goings-on there, beginning to wonder if Benny is there too.
 
Benny is living in Guernsey with [[Ma Doras]], posing as her daughter, [[Celia Doras|Celia]], and working as a [[cleaner]] at the [[hotel]] whilst waiting for a sign of Jason. She becomes concerned that her colleague [[Marie Simmonds|Marie]], who is believed to be a collaborator, suspects that she is an impostor and wonders if something strange is happening at the [[airstrip]], leading her to go for a walk with [[Gerhard Flur|Private Gerhard Flur]] to investigate. They bump into [[Franz Hutter|Private Franz Hutter]] and, when an aircraft crashes nearby, Benny returns home and plans to examine the wreckage the next day to find out if it is [[alien]].
 
Benny is caught looking at the aircraft, which is years ahead of where [[Earth]] technology ought to be, and is forced to shoot and kill Gerhard when he recognises her as Celia and could cause trouble for Ma Doras. As a consequence of Gerhard's death, Wolff cuts rations and has six civilians [[execution|executed]], promising a substantial reward for information on the killer. Somebody slips a note to Benny purporting to be from a resistance group, offering her passage to [[Great Britain|Britain]], and surrenders to Wolff when she sees him snapping Marie's neck upon confirming that she was a [[spy]]. Wolff threatens to have [[Rosa Kitzel|Nurse Rosa Kitzel]] shave Benny's head until she confesses to kill Gerhard, although, seeking to keep Ma Doras safe, she cannot explain how she knows his name.
 
Learning of Gerhard's death at the hands of a woman, Jason suspects that it is Benny and smuggles himself into Guernsey, but he is almost immediately captured and brought before [[Oskar Steinmann|Oberst Oskar Steinmann]]. Meanwhile, Wolff beats Benny and breaks her hand, which Kitzel bandages. Benny begs for her not to leave her.
 
=== Part two ===
Steinmann visits Benny, whom Wolff has been [[torture|torturing]] without asking any actual questions, and has Kitzel move her to a cell with a [[bed]] and provide her with a light [[meal]], admonishing Wolff for his actions. He takes over interrogation upon realising her connection to Jason and has Kitzel give her a [[relaxant]] which loosens her tongue and makes her talk about being an [[archaeologist]] from the future. She tells him that [[fascism]] will soon disappear, but he is certain that Nazis will go out into the stars and continues to interrogate her until she temporarily believes that she is Celia Doras.
 
Steinmann has Jason look at designs of a new German [[aeroplane]] and, in his absence, Benny uses a [[butter knife]] to threaten Kitzel into taking her to the [[morgue]] to make sure that neither of the bodies there are Jason's. She confirms that this is not the case, takes the [[chronokinetiscope]] from the charred body of Hartung and puts on Kitzel's uniform before locking her in a drawer and goes to rescue Jason. Steinmann recognises her and takes her and Jason to see the new plane, a [[stealth bomber]] far ahead of its time and made of the same substance as the chronokinetiscope. Based on the timeline of the bomber's creation, Benny deduces that Jason let something slip to a Nazi and he remembers telling his story to Hartung in 1936.
 
When Steinmann attempts to shoot Benny and Jason with a gun confiscated from Benny, he finds that it is empty and is overpowered and tied up. She refuses to leave using the [[Time Ring]]s so long as the anachronistic plane is in 1941; she and Jason steal it and fly to [[England]], updating one another on what they have been up to since their respective arrivals. Remembering the plans he looked at, Jason realises that the plane's reserve [[fuel]] tank might cause it to explode and pumps fuel into it from the main tank, removing the [[oxygen]] and preventing any [[fire]]. Benny decides that they have to return to Guernsey to destroy the plane and ensure that neither the Nazis nor the [[Allies (World War II)|Allies]] get a hold of it.
 
Steinmann reads [[Bernice Summerfield's diaries|Benny's diary]] and reads her account of the end of the war and how he will be tried for [[war crime]]s at the [[Nuremberg Trials]]. He shoots Franz to keep the diary secret. When Benny and Jason return to Guernsey, Jason disarms Wolff and sends Benny to set the plane to explode, shooting Wolff when he taunts him about Benny crying during her torture. She does not approve, but he is unrepentant and refuses to ever allow anybody to hurt her again. He holds her and they use their Time Rings to return to [[St Oscar's University|St Oscar's]] as the plane is destroyed.
 
Benny remains in her rooms and eventually lets Jason in, but she declines his invitation of a drink at the [[Witch and Whirlwind]] and does not wish to discuss the possibility of their relationship being rekindled. She asks him to leave her alone with [[Wolsey]] so she can write up her diary, in which she records how she is terrified at Jason having killed for her. She decides not to use [[Bernice Summerfield's Time Ring|her Time Ring]] again and recognises that she does still love Jason, who promises to be there when she wants to talk.


== Cast ==
== Cast ==
Line 50: Line 82:
* [[Oskar Steinmann|Oberst Oskar Steinmann]] - [[Michael Wade]]
* [[Oskar Steinmann|Oberst Oskar Steinmann]] - [[Michael Wade]]
* [[Joachim Wolff|Standardtenfuhrer Joachim Wolff]] - [[Mark Gatiss]]
* [[Joachim Wolff|Standardtenfuhrer Joachim Wolff]] - [[Mark Gatiss]]
* [[Doras|Ma Doras]] - [[Maggie Stables]]
* [[Ma Doras]] - [[Maggie Stables]]
* [[Rosa Kitzel|Nurse Rosa Kitzel]] - [[Nicky Golding]]
* [[Rosa Kitzel|Nurse Rosa Kitzel]] - [[Nicky Golding]]
* [[Franz Hutter|Private Franz Hutter]] - [[Anthony Keetch]]
* [[Franz Hutter|Private Franz Hutter]] - [[Anthony Keetch]]
* [[Gerhard Flur|Private Gerhard Flur]] - [[Simon Moore]]
* [[Gerhard Flur|Private Gerhard Flur]] - [[Simon Moore]]


== References ==
== Crew ==
''to be added''
 
* Cover Art - [[Nick Spender|Nik Spender]]
* Director - [[Nicholas Briggs]]
* Executive Producer - [[Jason Haigh-Ellery]]
* Music and Sound Design - [[Harvey Summers]]
* Producer - [[Gary Russell]]
* Writer - [[Lance Parkin]], adapted by [[Jacqueline Rayner]]
* Theme Music - [[Alistair Lock]]
 
== Worldbuilding ==
* Jason mentions [[radar]].
* Jason's [[Peter Kane's father|grandfather]] died in [[World War II]]. He wonders whether [[Peter Kane|his father]] would have beaten his children if his father had been alive.
* [[Marie Simmonds]] works at the hotel. She sleeps with [[Rosner|Hauptsturmführer Rosner]].
* Jason says that being called "Captain Kane" makes him sound like a [[Marvel Comics]] character.
* Jason reads a file on Hartung containing facts about Hartung:
** He was born [[26 June]] [[1898]].
** His father was a [[dentist]] and his mother the daughter of a prominent [[industrialist]].
** He served in the [[Luftwaffe]] in [[France]] during [[World War I]] and went on the [[Heidelberg]].
** He worked on the design teams of all the major [[Germany|German]] [[car]] companies.
** He was a famous racing driver from the late [[1920s]] until [[1936]].
** He is an expert on [[aerodynamics]], [[physics]], [[mathematics]], [[rocketry]], [[metallurgy]] and [[radio wave]]s.
* Jason likens the code as a cross between a [[French (language)|French]] exercise and ''[[The Two Ronnies]]''.
* Jason claims to be from [[Canada]].
* Benny says that [[Tameka Vito|Tameka]] is looking after [[Wolsey]].
* Wolff is a [[sadism|sadist]].
* Franz mentions [[Gerhard Flur's mother|Gerhard's mother]] and [[Gerhard Flur's sister|sister]].
* Benny mentions the [[hyperdrive]].
* Benny mentions the [[butterfly effect]].
* [[Ma Doras]] is [[John Lafayette]]'s cousin. He told her about Benny.
* Steinmann reads [[Bernice Summerfield's diaries|Benny's diary]] and learns of the events of [[1945]]:
** On [[9 May]], [[Wilhelm Keitel|Field Marshal Keitel]] and [[Georgy Zhukov|Marshal Zhukov]] sign Germany's unconditional surrender.
** On [[23 April]], Russians arrive on the outskirts of [[Berlin]].
** On [[28 April]], [[Benito Mussolini|Mussolini]] is [[execution|executed]].
** On [[30 April]], [[Adolf Hitler]] commits [[suicide]].
* Steinmann is to be tried at the [[Nuremberg Trials]].


== Notes ==
== Notes ==
* This is the final audio in the "Time Ring Trilogy", comprised of ''[[Walking to Babylon (audio story)|Walking to Babylon]]'', ''[[Birthright (audio story)|Birthright]]'' and ''Just War''. To emphasise this fact, their covers feature a ring motif.
* This is the final audio in the "Time Ring Trilogy", comprised of ''[[Walking to Babylon (audio story)|Walking to Babylon]]'', ''[[Birthright (audio story)|Birthright]]'' and ''Just War''. To emphasise this fact, their covers feature a ring motif.
* Later stories in the ''[[Big Finish Bernice Summerfield series|Bernice Summerfield]]'' series—''[[Paydirt (short story)|Paydirt]]'' and ''[[Dear Friend (short story)|Dear Friend]]''—reference both the events of the original novel ''[[Just War (novel)|Just War]]'' featuring the [[Seventh Doctor]], and this [[The Doctor|Doctor]]-less audio ''Just War'' as having occurred to [[Bernice Summerfield|Benny]].
* Later stories in the ''[[Bernice Summerfield (series)|Bernice Summerfield]]'' series—''[[Paydirt (short story)|Paydirt]]'' and ''[[Dear Friend (short story)|Dear Friend]]''—reference both the events of the original novel ''[[Just War (novel)|Just War]]'' featuring the [[Seventh Doctor]], and this [[The Doctor|Doctor]]-less audio ''Just War'' as having occurred to [[Bernice Summerfield|Benny]].
* [[Gary Russell]] originally planned [[Wendy Padbury]], who played the [[Second Doctor]] companion [[Zoe Heriot]], for the role of Ma [[Doras]]. Instead the role went to [[Maggie Stables]]. After her debut in this story, Stables later was cast as [[Evelyn Smythe]], the first original [[Big Finish Productions|Big Finish]] companion.<ref name="BFC" />
* The director of the audio is either:
* This is the first production recorded after Big Finish had been awarded the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' license by the [[British Broadcasting Corporation|BBC]].<ref name="BFC" />
** [[Gary Russell]] according to the CD and the [[Big Finish Productions|Big Finish]] website
** [[Nicholas Briggs]] according to ''[[The Big Finish Companion: Volume 1]]''.
* Gary Russell originally planned [[Wendy Padbury]], who played the [[Second Doctor]] companion [[Zoe Heriot]], for the role of [[Ma Doras]]. Instead the role went to [[Maggie Stables]], who later was cast as [[Evelyn Smythe]], the first original Big Finish companion.<ref name="BFC" />
* This was the first ''Bernice Summerfield'' production recorded after Big Finish had been awarded the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' licence by the [[BBC]].<ref name="BFC" />
* The author of the novel [[Lance Parkin]] bought back the rights to his novel from [[Virgin Books]], making negotiations more complex than for other adaptations.<ref name="BFC" />
* The author of the novel [[Lance Parkin]] bought back the rights to his novel from [[Virgin Books]], making negotiations more complex than for other adaptations.<ref name="BFC" />
* The [[Germany|German]] military rank "Standardtenfuhrer" in the credits is misspelled. The correct spelling is {{w|Standartenführer}}.
* The [[Germany|German]] military rank "Standardtenfuhrer" in the credits is misspelled. The correct spelling is {{w|Standartenführer}}.
* The story was recorded on [[13 March (production)|13]] and [[14 March (production)|14 March]] [[1999 (production)|1999]] at [[Crosstown Studios]], [[London]]. However, the first studio session on 13 March failed to record and had to be retaken on 14 March.<ref name="BFC">''[[The Big Finish Companion: Volume 1]]''</ref>
* The story was recorded on [[13 March (production)|13]] and [[14 March (production)|14 March]] [[1999 (production)|1999]] at [[Crosstown Studios]], [[London]]. However, the first studio session on 13 March failed to record and had to be retaken on 14 March.<ref name="BFC">''[[The Big Finish Companion: Volume 1]]''</ref>
* This story was originally released on CD and cassette. On [[31 August (production)|31 August]] [[2020 (releases)|2020]], it was made available as a download for the first time.
* Like in ''[[Walking to Babylon (audio story)|Walking to Babylon]]'', Jason quotes ''The Germans'', an episode of {{wi|Fawlty Towers}}; when Steinmann denies that he "started it", Jason says, "''Yes, you did. You invaded Poland.''"


=== Cover gallery ===
=== Cover gallery ===
Line 75: Line 146:


== Continuity ==
== Continuity ==
* Jason mentions recently travelling to [[Babylon]], ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Walking to Babylon (audio story)|Walking to Babylon]]'') and defeating [[Charrl|insects]] in [[1909]]. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Birthright (audio story)|Birthright]]'')
* Jason says that he knew an [[Emile Mars-Smith|Emile]] once. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Beyond the Sun (novel)|Beyond the Sun]]'' / [[AUDIO]]: ''[[Beyond the Sun (audio story)|Beyond the Sun]]'')
* Jason mentions travelling to [[Babylon]] ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Walking to Babylon (audio story)|Walking to Babylon]]'') and defeating [[Charrl|insects]] in [[1909]]. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Birthright (audio story)|Birthright]]'')
* Jason mentions [[Ninan-ashtammu|Ninan]]. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Walking to Babylon (audio story)|Walking to Babylon]]'')
* Jason was vouched for by [[Mikhail Vladimir Popov]]. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Birthright (audio story)|Birthright]]'')
* Jason remembers the ship that he was flying when he first met Benny. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Death and Diplomacy (novel)|Death and Diplomacy]]'')
* Benny remembers her feelings for [[Michael Doran]] ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Oh No It Isn't! (novel)|Oh No It Isn't!]]'' / [[AUDIO]]: ''[[Oh No It Isn't! (audio story)|Oh No It Isn't!]]'') and [[John Lafayette]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Walking to Babylon (novel)|Walking to Babylon]]'' / [[AUDIO]]: ''[[Walking to Babylon (audio story)|Walking to Babylon]]'')
* Benny finds her [[Ursulan]] necklace. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Beyond the Sun (novel)|Beyond the Sun]]'' / [[AUDIO]]: ''[[Beyond the Sun (audio story)|Beyond the Sun]]'')


== External links ==
== External links ==
* {{bigfinish|releases/v/just-war-45|Just War}}
{{bigfinish|releases/v/just-war-45|Just War}}
{{dwrefguide|benny05.htm|Just War}}
{{dwrefguide|benny05.htm|Just War}}


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{{BFBS}}
{{BFBS}}
{{TitleSort}}
{{TitleSort}}
[[Category:Bernice Summerfield stories]]
 
[[Category:Bernice Summerfield sources]]
[[Category:Series 1 (BFBS) audio stories]]
[[Category:1999 audio stories]]
[[Category:1999 audio stories]]
[[Category:BFBS audio stories]]
[[Category:Stories set in 1941]]
[[Category:Stories set in 1941]]
[[Category:Stories set in alternate timelines]]
[[Category:Stories set in Germany]]
[[Category:Stories set in World War II]]
[[Category:Stories set in World War II]]
[[Category:Historical stories]]
[[Category:Adaptations]]
[[Category:Stories set on the Channel Islands]]
[[Category:Stories set on the Channel Islands]]
[[Category:Stories that use Alistair Lock's Bernice Summerfield theme]]
[[Category:Bernice Summerfield audio stories]]
[[Category:Two part audio stories]]

Latest revision as of 20:36, 21 March 2024

RealWorld.png

Just War was the fifth Bernice Summerfield audio drama produced by Big Finish Productions. It was the third in a trilogy of stories known as the "Time Ring Trilogy" whose arc element was the use of Bernice Summerfield and Jason Kane's wedding time rings, given to them when they were married in Happy Endings.

Like Birthright, this was adapted from a Virgin New Adventures novel, rather than from a Virgin Bernice Summerfield New Adventures, which featured Bernice without the Doctor. The original novel Just War featured the Seventh Doctor, Bernice Summerfield, Chris Cwej and Roz Forrester. For this audio adaptation Bernice's role remains intact, whilst Jason Kane takes on a combination of the other characters' roles in the plot.

Continuing the pattern from the previous stories, the photos of Lisa Bowerman and Stephen Fewell are featured on the original audio cover.

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

The Time Trilogy: Part 3

"Tomorrow belongs to us, not you. If you were really from the future, Miss Summerfield, you would be a Nazi."

The Nazis occupy British soil and British citizens are being deported to European concentration camps. Those who do not co-operate with the Germans are shot.

This isn't a parallel universe: this is Guernsey, 1941, and it's where Bernice is stranded. With no sign of Jason, she has to endure the full horror of the situation, alone and afraid.

And something, somewhere has gone wrong. The Nazis are building a secret weapon, one that will have a decisive effect on the outcome of the war - and it's up to Benny to put history back on course...

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

Part one[[edit] | [edit source]]

Jason has arrived in Guernsey in 1936 and drinks with Emil Hartung, telling him about his and Benny's adventures and briefly mentioning radar, before realising that he is a Nazi. With no sign of his ex-wife, he joins the Scientific Intelligence Division and, whilst in London in 1941, learns that Hartung is a Nazi scientist and has returned to Guernsey. He takes a special interest in the goings-on there, beginning to wonder if Benny is there too.

Benny is living in Guernsey with Ma Doras, posing as her daughter, Celia, and working as a cleaner at the hotel whilst waiting for a sign of Jason. She becomes concerned that her colleague Marie, who is believed to be a collaborator, suspects that she is an impostor and wonders if something strange is happening at the airstrip, leading her to go for a walk with Private Gerhard Flur to investigate. They bump into Private Franz Hutter and, when an aircraft crashes nearby, Benny returns home and plans to examine the wreckage the next day to find out if it is alien.

Benny is caught looking at the aircraft, which is years ahead of where Earth technology ought to be, and is forced to shoot and kill Gerhard when he recognises her as Celia and could cause trouble for Ma Doras. As a consequence of Gerhard's death, Wolff cuts rations and has six civilians executed, promising a substantial reward for information on the killer. Somebody slips a note to Benny purporting to be from a resistance group, offering her passage to Britain, and surrenders to Wolff when she sees him snapping Marie's neck upon confirming that she was a spy. Wolff threatens to have Nurse Rosa Kitzel shave Benny's head until she confesses to kill Gerhard, although, seeking to keep Ma Doras safe, she cannot explain how she knows his name.

Learning of Gerhard's death at the hands of a woman, Jason suspects that it is Benny and smuggles himself into Guernsey, but he is almost immediately captured and brought before Oberst Oskar Steinmann. Meanwhile, Wolff beats Benny and breaks her hand, which Kitzel bandages. Benny begs for her not to leave her.

Part two[[edit] | [edit source]]

Steinmann visits Benny, whom Wolff has been torturing without asking any actual questions, and has Kitzel move her to a cell with a bed and provide her with a light meal, admonishing Wolff for his actions. He takes over interrogation upon realising her connection to Jason and has Kitzel give her a relaxant which loosens her tongue and makes her talk about being an archaeologist from the future. She tells him that fascism will soon disappear, but he is certain that Nazis will go out into the stars and continues to interrogate her until she temporarily believes that she is Celia Doras.

Steinmann has Jason look at designs of a new German aeroplane and, in his absence, Benny uses a butter knife to threaten Kitzel into taking her to the morgue to make sure that neither of the bodies there are Jason's. She confirms that this is not the case, takes the chronokinetiscope from the charred body of Hartung and puts on Kitzel's uniform before locking her in a drawer and goes to rescue Jason. Steinmann recognises her and takes her and Jason to see the new plane, a stealth bomber far ahead of its time and made of the same substance as the chronokinetiscope. Based on the timeline of the bomber's creation, Benny deduces that Jason let something slip to a Nazi and he remembers telling his story to Hartung in 1936.

When Steinmann attempts to shoot Benny and Jason with a gun confiscated from Benny, he finds that it is empty and is overpowered and tied up. She refuses to leave using the Time Rings so long as the anachronistic plane is in 1941; she and Jason steal it and fly to England, updating one another on what they have been up to since their respective arrivals. Remembering the plans he looked at, Jason realises that the plane's reserve fuel tank might cause it to explode and pumps fuel into it from the main tank, removing the oxygen and preventing any fire. Benny decides that they have to return to Guernsey to destroy the plane and ensure that neither the Nazis nor the Allies get a hold of it.

Steinmann reads Benny's diary and reads her account of the end of the war and how he will be tried for war crimes at the Nuremberg Trials. He shoots Franz to keep the diary secret. When Benny and Jason return to Guernsey, Jason disarms Wolff and sends Benny to set the plane to explode, shooting Wolff when he taunts him about Benny crying during her torture. She does not approve, but he is unrepentant and refuses to ever allow anybody to hurt her again. He holds her and they use their Time Rings to return to St Oscar's as the plane is destroyed.

Benny remains in her rooms and eventually lets Jason in, but she declines his invitation of a drink at the Witch and Whirlwind and does not wish to discuss the possibility of their relationship being rekindled. She asks him to leave her alone with Wolsey so she can write up her diary, in which she records how she is terrified at Jason having killed for her. She decides not to use her Time Ring again and recognises that she does still love Jason, who promises to be there when she wants to talk.

Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]

Crew[[edit] | [edit source]]

Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

Cover gallery[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Cover with actors' photos and the release number, additionally mentioning the author Lance Parkin

    Cover with actors' photos and the release number, additionally mentioning the author Lance Parkin

  • Cover with Paul Vyse's series logo

    Cover with Paul Vyse's series logo

  • Cover of the original novel

    Cover of the original novel

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

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

Footnotes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 The Big Finish Companion: Volume 1
v • e
Bernice Summerfield
 
Audio stories
The original series of Bernice Summerfield ran from 1998 to 2013, followed by The New Adventures.
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