Just War (audio story)
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 PROSE: 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 of 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.
Just War also contained Evelyn Smythe actor Maggie Stables' first work for Big Finish. Like Colin Baker in the previous episode, Stables debuted here before going on to play a co-starring character for the main Doctor Who monthly line.
Publisher's summary
"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
to be added
Cast
- Bernice Summerfield - Lisa Bowerman
- Jason Kane - Stephen Fewell
- Oberst Oskar Steinmann - Michael Wade
- Standardtenfuhrer Joachim Wolff - Mark Gatiss
- Ma Doras - Maggie Stables
- Nurse Rosa Kitzel - Nicky Golding
- Private Franz Hutter - Anthony Keetch
- Private Gerhard Flur - Simon Moore
References
to be added
Notes
- This is the final audio in the "Time Ring Trilogy", comprised of Walking to Babylon, Birthright and Just War. To emphasise this fact, their covers feature a ring motif.
- Later stories in the Bernice Summerfield series—Paydirt and Dear Friend—reference both the events of the original novel Just War featuring the Seventh Doctor, and this Doctor-less audio Just War as having occurred to 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 companion.[1]
- This is the first production recorded after Big Finish had been awarded the Doctor Who license by the BBC.[1]
- 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.[1]
- The German military rank "Standardtenfuhrer" in the credits is misspelled. The correct spelling is Standartenführer.
- The story was recorded on 13 and 14 March 1999 at Crosstown Studios, London. However, the first studio session on 13 March failed to record and had to be retaken on 14 March.[1]
Cover gallery
Cover with actors' photos and the release number, additionally mentioning the author Lance Parkin
Cover with Paul Vyse's series logo
Cover of the original novel
Continuity
- Jason mentions recently travelling to Babylon, (AUDIO: Walking to Babylon) and defeating insects in 1909. (AUDIO: Birthright)
External links
- Official Just War page at bigfinish.com
- Just War at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
Footnotes
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