Dead and Buried (webcast)

While Bernice waits to see what Braxiatel is planning, she's getting back to her roots — investigating the site of a previously undiscovered civilisation. It isn't long however, before she's being pursued through the ruins by an implacable foe.

On her own, light-years from rescue, she must rely on her wits to survive and discover who wants her dead and buried.

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

Acting normally until Braxiatel finally makes his move, Benny follows a lead from a Bandril trader to a tomb on Javarda. She arrives by spaceship, transports her equipment thirty miles to the site by buggy and uses a thermal bore to make a tunnel to reach the tomb and identify to whom it belongs. Using a torch and floating flares, she reaches the sarcophagus, which she finds is actually a Braxiatel Protective Mechanoid lying in wait for her. The BPM pursues her and is temporarily buried when part of the tunnel's ceiling collapses, giving Benny time to reactivate the thermal bore and push it into the BPM.

There is an explosion but, as Benny feared, the BPM is seemingly indestructible and she is forced to hide and sneak back to the exit. She manages to get out, even when the BPM hits the ladder as she is climbing, and takes refuge in her transport where she accidentally makes a noise whilst accessing the ground penetrating sonic imager. The BPM smashes an arm through the wall and destroys an artefact she uncovered, angering her, and she uses the thermal imager to knock it back into a cryogenic silo and freeze it solid. As she makes a distress call, however, it breaks free and apprehends her, placing her inside itself.

The BPM activates a hologram of Braxiatel, who greets her and reveals that he forged the entire civilisation that she has been digging up as part of his scheme to capture her. He orders the BPM to activate the teleport, but it fails and he instead has it enter stasis and await retrieval. Braxiatel says goodbye to Benny and says that it is time for the final chapter to begin.

Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]

Crew[[edit] | [edit source]]

Recording by: Toby Hrycek-Robinson @ Moat Studios
Music & Sound Design: Matthew Cochrane
Web Support: Paul Wilson
Producer: John Ainsworth
Executive Producers: David Richardson, Nicholas Briggs, Jason Haigh-Ellery
Written by: Eddie Robson, John Ainsworth, Alex Mallinson
Voice Direction by: John Ainsworth
Directed & Animated by: Alex Mallinson
With Thanks to: Paul Cornell, Alice Easey, Tom Guerrier, Jack McFarlane, Sands Films, Stage Electric & Detonation Films
Irving Braxiatel created by Justin Richards

Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

During her journey, Bernice looks at holograms of Adrian Wall, Bev Tarrant, Peter Summerfield and Robyn.
Bernice travelled to Javarda based on a lead from a Bandril trader.

Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

Alex Mallinson and Miles Richardson collaborated on Irving Braxiatel's appearance and elements of his characterisation, which was partially inspired by the title character in the film Citizen Kane.^[1]
Big Finish Productions released Dead and Buried as a free download on the official Bernice Summerfield site on 1 September 2010, along with a selection of desktop wallpapers based on the film's artwork. The film was also webcast on Big Finish's official YouTube channel. The downloads and YouTube stream were freely accessible worldwide. Big Finish eventually removed the downloadable version of the story from their website, but the YouTube video remained freely available.
Dead and Buried was also released on DVD as a bonus with the September 2011 release of Epoch, a box set of Bernice Summerfield adventures. The video documentary The Making of Dead and Buried was specifically produced for this box set.
Resurrecting the Past indicates that this story occurs shortly after PROSE: Secret Histories framing sequence.