Bernice Summerfield (series)

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Bernice Summerfield was the first series produced by Big Finish Productions, combining both audio and prose releases in an ongoing narrative, with the titular character portrayed by Lisa Bowerman.

The series began in 1998 with audio adaptations of six Virgin New Adventures novels. After the first season's success, Big Finish began producing audio stories and prose stories simultaneously.

Initially, the ongoing narrative was spread evenly between the two media - for instance, Benny became pregnant in the novel Professor Bernice Summerfield and the Squire's Crystal and gave birth in the novel Professor Bernice Summerfield and the Glass Prison, with the audio stories making several minor references to her pregnancy. However, from the third series onward, the audio stories became the primary series, with novels and short story collections providing greater depth to the world and heavily expanding on the large cast of regular characters. Occasionally, however, prose stories would be integral to the overall narrative, such as the audio story Death and the Daleks continuing on directly from the anthology Life During Wartime, and the regular characters Hass and Doggles being introduced in the anthologies A Life Worth Living and Something Changed respectively. When Simon Guerrier took over as executive producer for Series 7, he made an effort to better combine the audio and prose stories, featuring hitherto prose-only characters in audio and incorporating prose-featured events, such as the death of semi-regular character Ms Jones in the anthology Parallel Lives, into the overall story arc.

Many characters created or established in the Virgin New Adventures, such as Jason Kane and Irving Braxiatel, made major appearances in this series, and several others, such as Wolsey, Isaac Summerfield and Kadiatu Lethbridge-Stewart, were featured in occasional stories. Additionally, links were made with Big Finish's Doctor Who content, such as the character of Bev Tarrant crossing over from the Main Range to become a regular character.

Several authors who wrote for Benny at Virgin also contributed to the line. Writers like Matt Jones, Paul Cornell, Justin Richards, Lance Parkin, Dave Stone, Ben Aaronovitch, Daniel O'Mahony, Lawrence Miles, Mark Clapham and Gary Russell had at least one story produced.

Most of the stories cover Bernice's life following her departure from travelling with the Doctor. However, several prose releases have featured stories that portrayed Bernice's life long before she met the Doctor.

The series concluded in 2013, but Benny received a new series the next year as The New Adventures of Bernice Summerfield, where she was briefly reunited with the Seventh Doctor and Ace, before teaming up with an incarnation of the Doctor from an alternate universe. The release format continued to be annual boxsets, with occasional accompanying book releases under the Bernice Summerfield title. Following the passing of David Warner (who played the alternate Doctor) in 2022, the series returned in 2024 with Bernice on her own, in anthologies centred around the Eternity Club, an exclusive group of interplanetary explorers.

Stories[[edit] | [edit source]]

Novel
Anthology


Series 1[[edit] | [edit source]]

Main article: Series 1 (BFBS)

Series 1 was a collection of audio adaptations of Virgin New Adventures novels.

# Title Author Medium Featuring Released
1 Oh No It Isn't! Paul Cornell and Jacqueline Rayner Audio Wolsey, Grel September 1998
2 Beyond the Sun Matt Jones Jason Kane
3 Walking to Babylon Kate Orman and Jacqueline Rayner
Jason Kane
John Lafayette
January 1999
4 Birthright Nigel Robinson and Jacqueline Rayner February 1999
5 Just War Lance Parkin and Jacqueline Rayner Jason Kane August 1999
Buried Treasures Making Myths Jacqueline Rayner Keri
Closure Paul Cornell
6 Dragons' Wrath Justin Richards and Jacqueline Rayner September 2000

Series 2[[edit] | [edit source]]

Main article: Series 2 (BFBS)

Beginning with series 2, Big Finish began to release original audio stories about Bernice Summerfield. They also began to publish short story anthologies that continued ongoing plotlines from the audios.

# Title Author Medium Featuring Published
Professor Bernice Summerfield and the Dead Men Diaries Various Short story anthology Various September 2000
Professor Bernice Summerfield and the Doomsday Manuscript Justin Richards Novel Brax, Joseph, Adrian, Fifth Axis November 2000
2.1 Professor Bernice Summerfield and the Secret of Cassandra David Bailey Audio December 2000
Professor Bernice Summerfield and the Gods of the Underworld Stephen Cole Novel Brax, Joseph February 2001
Professor Bernice Summerfield and the Squire's Crystal Jacqueline Rayner Adrian, Joseph, Brax, Fenman April 2001
2.2 Professor Bernice Summerfield and the Stone's Lament Mike Tucker Audio Adrian May 2001
2.3 Professor Bernice Summerfield and the Extinction Event Lance Parkin Brax July 2001
Professor Bernice Summerfield and the Infernal Nexus Dave Stone Novel Jason August 2001
2.4 Professor Bernice Summerfield and the Skymines of Karthos David Bailey Audio Brax September 2001
Professor Bernice Summerfield and the Glass Prison Jacqueline Rayner Novel Brax, Joseph, Jason, Adrian, Isaac, Peter, Fifth Axis, Fenman, Chris Cwej January 2002

Series 3[[edit] | [edit source]]

Main article: Series 3 (BFBS)
# Title Author Medium Featuring Published
3.1 Professor Bernice Summerfield and the Greatest Shop in the Galaxy Paul Ebbs Audio Joseph February 2002
3.2 Professor Bernice Summerfield and the Green-Eyed Monsters Dave Stone Jason, Adrian, Peter June 2002
3.3 Professor Bernice Summerfield and the Dance of the Dead[1] Stephen Cole Ice Warriors October 2002
A Life of Surprises Various Short story anthology Various October 2002
3.4 Professor Bernice Summerfield and the Mirror Effect Stewart Sheargold Audio Brax, Jason, Adrian, Joseph March 2003

Series 4[[edit] | [edit source]]

Main article: Series 4 (BFBS)
# Title Author Medium Featuring Published
4.1 Professor Bernice Summerfield and the Bellotron Incident Mike Tucker Audio Bev, Brax, Joseph, Rutans April 2003
4.2 Professor Bernice Summerfield and the Draconian Rage Trevor Baxendale Brax, Draconians August 2003
4.3 Professor Bernice Summerfield and the Poison Seas David Bailey Brax, Sea Devils September 2003
Life During Wartime Various Short story anthology Various 13 October 2003
4.4 Death and the Daleks Paul Cornell Audio Brax, Jason, Adrian, Joseph, Bev, Isaac, Fifth Axis, Daleks January 2004

Series 5[[edit] | [edit source]]

Main article: Series 5 (BFBS)
# Title Author Medium Featuring Published
The Big Hunt Lance Parkin Novel May 2004
5.1 Professor Bernice Summerfield and the Grel Escape Jac Rayner Audio Jason, Peter, Joseph, The Grel July 2004
A Life Worth Living Various Short story anthology Various July 2004
5.2 Professor Bernice Summerfield and the Bone of Contention Simon A. Forward Audio The Galyari August 2004
5.3 Professor Bernice Summerfield and the Relics of Jegg-Sau Stephen Cole K1 November 2004
SP Silver Lining Colin Brake Cybermen 9 December 2004
A Life in Pieces Various Short story anthology Various December 2004
5.4 Professor Bernice Summerfield in the Masquerade of Death Stewart Sheargold Audio Adrian March 2005

Series 6[[edit] | [edit source]]

Main article: Series 6 (BFBS)

Starting in series 6, the anthology releases began to alternate between collections of short stories and groupings of three novellas. This continued until series 9.

# Title Author Medium Featuring Published
6.1 Professor Bernice Summerfield and the Heart's Desire David Bailey and Neil Corry Audio Eternals June 2005
The Tree of Life Mark Michalowski Novel Joseph 3 June 2005
6.2 Professor Bernice Summerfield and the Kingdom of the Blind Jac Rayner Audio Jason, Monoids July 2005
6.3 Professor Bernice Summerfield and the Lost Museum Simon Guerrier Jason December 2005
Parallel Lives Various Novella anthology Various 2 January 2006
Something Changed Various Short story anthology Various 3 January 2006
6.4 Professor Bernice Summerfield and the Goddess Quandary[2] Andy Russell Audio Keri February 2006
6.5 Professor Bernice Summerfield and the Crystal of Cantus[3] Joseph Lidster Brax, Jason, Joseph, Peter 25 June 2006

Series 7[[edit] | [edit source]]

Main article: Series 7 (BFBS)
# Title Author Medium Featuring Published
Genius Loci[4] Ben Aaronovitch Novel 19 June 2006
7.1 The Tartarus Gate Stewart Sheargold Audio Jason, Joseph July 2006
7.2 Timeless Passages Daniel O'Mahony August 2006
7.3 The Worst Thing in the World Dave Stone Audio Jason September 2006
7.4 Summer of Love Simon Guerrier Jason, Bev, Adrian, Doggles, Joseph, Hass October 2006
Collected Works[5] Various Short story anthology Various 1 September 2006
Old Friends Various Novella anthology Various 2 November 2006
7.5 The Oracle of Delphi Scott Handcock Audio Jason November 2006
7.6 The Empire State Eddie Robson Jason, Maggie, Brax

Series 8[[edit] | [edit source]]

Main article: Series 8 (BFBS)
# Title Author Medium Featuring Published
8.1 The Tub Full of Cats Daniel O'Mahony Audio Maggie, Brax February 2007
8.2 The Judas Gift Nick Wallace Bev, Adrian, Brax, Doggles, Joseph, Hass, the Mim, Draconians April 2007
8.3 Freedom of Information Eddie Robson Adrian, Brax, Doggles, Joseph, Hass, Jason, Peter, the Mim, Draconians June 2007
Nobody's Children Various Novella anthology Various 3 August 2007
8.4 The End of the World Dave Stone Audio Jason, Brax, Adrian, Mira September 2007
The Two Jasons[6] Dave Stone Novel Jason, Mira May 2007
8.5 The Final Amendment Joseph Lidster Audio Kadiatu, Jason October 2007
Missing Adventures Various Short story anthology Various 19 November 2007
8.6 The Wake Simon Guerrier Audio Peter, Brax, Adrian, Bev, Doggles, Joseph, Hass January 2008

Series 9[[edit] | [edit source]]

Main article: Series 9 (BFBS)
# Title Author Medium Featuring Published
9.1 Beyond the Sea Eddie Robson Audio Peter June 2008
9.2 The Adolescence of Time Lawrence Miles July 2008
9.3 The Adventure of the Diogenes Damsel Jim Smith Mycroft, Straxus, Cwejen September 2008
The Vampire Curse[7] Various Novella anthology Various 2 December 2008
9.4 The Diet of Worms Matthew Sweet Audio Peter October 2008

Series 10[[edit] | [edit source]]

Main article: Series 10 (BFBS)
# Title Author Medium Featuring Published
10.1 Glory Days Nick Wallace Audio Peter, Bev, Adrian, Brax June 2009
10.2 Absence Daniel O'Mahony Peter July 2009
10.3 Venus Mantrap Mark Clapham, Lance Parkin Adrian, Peter August 2009
10.4 Secret Origins Eddie Robson Peter, Robyn, Brax September 2009
Secret Histories Various Short story anthology Various 1 December 2009

Series 11[[edit] | [edit source]]

Main article: Series 11 (BFBS)
# Title Author Medium Featuring Published
SP Dead and Buried Eddie Robson Video Brax 1 September 2010
11.1 Resurrecting the Past Audio Peter, Brax, Bev, Adrian, Robyn, Doggles, Joseph, Hass September 2010
Present Danger Various Short story anthology Various 20 September 2010
11.2 Escaping the Future Eddie Robson Audio Peter, Brax, Bev, Adrian, Doggles, Joseph, Hass October 2010
11.3 Year Zero Jonathan Clements November 2010
11.4 Dead Man's Switch John Dorney, Richard Dinnick December 2010

Epoch[[edit] | [edit source]]

Main article: Epoch (audio anthology)

After series 11, Big Finish began to release new Bernice Summerfield audios in collected "boxsets" rather than spread out over months.

# Title Author Medium Featuring Published
1 The Kraken's Lament Mark Wright Audio Ruth, Acanthus, Jack September 2011
2 The Temple of Questions Jacqueline Rayner Ruth, Leonidas, Jack, Heskith
3 Private Enemy No. 1 Tony Lee Ruth, Leonidas, Heskith, the Epoch
4 Judgement Day Scott Handcock Ruth, Jack, the Epoch, Brax

Road Trip[[edit] | [edit source]]

Main article: Road Trip (audio anthology)

Road Trip began the pattern that would last until the series' penultimate release, where the boxset would include three audio stories and be accompanied by a tie-in novel.

# Title Author Medium Featuring Published
1 Brand Management Christopher Cooper Audio Ruth February 2012
2 Bad Habits Simon Barnard and Paul Morris
The Weather on Versimmon[8] Matthew Griffiths Novel
3 Paradise Frost David Llewellyn Audio Ruth, Brax, Peter, Jack

Legion[[edit] | [edit source]]

Main article: Legion (audio anthology)
# Title Author Medium Featuring Published
1 Vesuvius Falling Tony Lee Audio Peter, Ruth, Jack, Brax September 2012
The Slender-Fingered Cats of Bubastis [8] Xanna Eve Chown Novel Ruth, Jack 28 September 2012
2 Shades of Gray Scott Handcock Audio Ruth, Jack, Dorian September 2012
3 Everybody Loves Irving Miles Richardson Brax, Peter, Ruth, Jack

Many Happy Returns[[edit] | [edit source]]

The audio story Many Happy Returns was released in November 2012 to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of Bernice Summerfield's introduction in Love and War. Its contributors included Xanna Eve Chown, Stephen Cole, Paul Cornell, Stephen Fewell, Simon Guerrier, Scott Handcock, Rebecca Levene, Jacqueline Rayner, Justin Richards, Miles Richardson, Eddie Robson, and Dave Stone. A portion of the proceeds went to the myalgic encephalomyelitis charity "Invest in M.E."

Title Author Medium Featuring Published
Many Happy Returns Various Audio Joseph, Brax, Adrian, Bev,

Peter, Ruth, Jack, Leonidas, Iris, Panda, The Doctor

November 2012

New Frontiers[[edit] | [edit source]]

Main article: New Frontiers (audio anthology)
# Title Author Medium Featuring Published
1 A Handful of Dust Xanna Eve Chown Audio Peter, Ruth, Jack 30 April 2013
Filthy Lucre James Parsons and Andrew Stirling-Brown Novel Ruth, Jack, Brax 24 April 2013[9]
2 HMS Surprise Alexander Vlahos Audio Peter, Jack 30 April 2013
3 The Curse of Fenman Gary Russell Peter, Ruth, Jack, Brax, Fenman

Missing Persons[[edit] | [edit source]]

Main article: Missing Persons (audio anthology)
# Title Author Medium Featuring Published
Adorable Illusion[10] Gary Russell Novel Jack, Adrian, Bev, Fenman 13 March 2014
1 Big Dig Hamish Steele Audio Ruth, Jack, The Epoch 24 December 2013
2 The Revenant's Carnival Martin Day Peter
3 The Brimstone Kid David Llewellyn Brax
4 The Winning Side James Goss The Epoch
5 In Living Memory Gary Russell and Scott Handcock Peter, Ruth, Jack, Brax, The Epoch

The Story So Far[[edit] | [edit source]]

Main article: The Story So Far

To celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the Bernice Summerfield series in 2018, Big Finish released several boxsets in the Bernice Summerfield range, including Treasury, a collection of narrated Bernice Summerfield short stories narrated by Lisa Bowerman and Andrew Cartmel; and The Story So Far: Volume One and Volume Two, a collection of six new audio stories set throughout Bernice's life.

# Title Author Medium Featuring Published
Treasury Various Narrated anthology Various 7 August 2018
1 Ever After Happy James Goss Audio 25 September 2018
2 The Grel Invasion of Earth Jacqueline Rayner Jason
3 Braxiatel in Love Simon Guerrier Brax
4 Every Dark Thought Eddie Robson The Valeyard
5 Empress of the Drahvins David Llewellyn Ruth
6 The Angel of History Una McCormack The Doctor
In Time Various Short story anthology Various 19 December 2018

Further releases[[edit] | [edit source]]

# Title Author Medium Featuring Published
Benny in Wonderland Xanna Eve Chown Colouring book 3 October 2019
The Christmas Collection Various Narrated anthology Various 2 December 2020

Unproduced stories[[edit] | [edit source]]

Title Author Medium Featuring
Bizarre Love Triangle Matt Jones Audio Emile, vampires, the People
The Children of Shreeva Andy Russell
Figure of Eight Iain McLaughlin
Last of the Drop Dead Divas Jim Mortimore
Terra Incognita Ben Aaronovitch Novel

Special releases[[edit] | [edit source]]

Crossovers[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Bernice Summerfield range occasionally crossed over with other ranges:

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

Footnotes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  1. The Dance of the Dead follows directly from The Plague Herds of Excelis.
  2. The events Benny recounts in this story take place before The Lost Museum. However the framing narrative takes place sometime after The Crystal of Cantus. Despite being published before it, the anthology Parallel Lives follows from Benny's trip to Etheria recounted in The Goddess Quandary.
  3. The main events of this story take place immediately after The Lost Museum. However the framing narrative takes place after the framing narratives for both Death and the Daleks and The Goddess Quandary.
  4. Genius Loci is set not during series 6 or 7 but during Benny's earlier life.
  5. The short story Mother's Ruin is set a few weeks after Summer of Love.
  6. This story tales place contemporaneously with The End of the World and The Final Amendment.
  7. Though this anthology was published between The Diet of Worms and Glory Days, there is no gap between those two stories.
  8. 8.0 8.1 This tie-in novel is set between stories in the accompanying boxset.
  9. This novel leads into HMS Surprise.
  10. This novel is set before Missing Persons despite being published later.