Bernice Summerfield
Character in the Virgin New Adventures series of books From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Character in the Virgin New Adventures series of books From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Professor Bernice Surprise Summerfield, or simply Benny, is a fictional character created by author Paul Cornell as a new companion of the Seventh Doctor in Virgin Publishing's range of original full-length Doctor Who novels, the New Adventures. The New Adventures were authorised novels carrying on from where the Doctor Who television series had left off,[citation needed] and Summerfield was introduced in Cornell's novel Love and War in 1992.
 | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages)
|
| Bernice Summerfield | |
|---|---|
| Doctor Who character | |
Official image of Bernice Summerfield, as used on the Bernice Summerfield Inside Story book, published October 2007. | |
| First appearance | Love and War |
| Created by | Paul Cornell |
| Portrayed by | Lisa Bowerman (voice) |
| In-universe information | |
| Species | Human |
| Affiliation |
|
| Home | Beta Caprisis |
| Home era | 26th century |
A 26th-century archeologist, Summerfield became a hugely popular character amongst fans of the books,[citation needed] and was present until their end in 1997. She officially stopped travelling with the Doctor in Happy Endings but returned a few times thereafter, including the last Virgin New Adventure, The Dying Days. That year, Virgin had lost the licence to publish Doctor Who fiction, which was not renewed by the BBC. However, range editors Peter Darvill-Evans and Rebecca Levene decided to continue the series with Summerfield as the new lead and without the Doctor Who name, the Doctor or any other BBC copyright characters featuring.
These New Adventures starring Bernice continued until 1999, when the Virgin fiction department closed down. The previous year, however, audio production company Big Finish Productions began issuing full-cast, licensed professional audio dramas starring the character on CD, and they continue to do so, making her the longest-running audio drama series in the world, the longest-running science fiction audio drama series, the longest-running audio drama series with a female lead, and – together with the books – the longest-running science fiction series with a female lead.[1] The character is played in all Big Finish's productions by actress Lisa Bowerman, who also reprised the role in the live-action fan film The Crystal Conundrum and a video advertisement for the audio The Triumph of Sutekh. After they gained the licence to produce Doctor Who audio dramas in 1999, Big Finish thrice featured Bernice in Doctor Who stories set during and after the run of the New Adventures novels.
Big Finish are still regularly producing Bernice Summerfield audio dramas and the company has also published various novels and short story collections featuring the character.
Bernice also appeared in several comic strips in Doctor Who Magazine, with Virgin and the magazine co-operating on her visual depiction. This depiction, which was also applied to novel cover art, was of a slim, statuesque build, with short dark hair, usually shown wearing a catsuit or some similar outfit. Over time the character's appearance has been modified, and recent changes include a longer hairstyle.
The Doctor first meets Benny in Love and War; she is a 30-year-old archaeologist. She was born in 2540 and is the daughter of Admiral Isaac Douglas Summerfield, a high-ranking Spacefleet officer. Her mother, Claire Summerfield, died when Daleks attacked their homeworld of Beta Caprisis, an Earth colony. She has not seen her father for many years and has spent much of her life searching for him. At times she falsely claims to have a degree from Heidelberg University. She published an archaeological book called Down Among the Dead Men in the year 2566.
Theatre of War features the first encounter between Bernice and Irving Braxiatel (from her perspective). He later becomes a regular character in the Bernice Summerfield-only New Adventures. In Sanctuary Bernice falls in love with Guy de Carnac, a former Knight Templar. He is killed later in the novel. In Death and Diplomacy she meets her future husband Jason Kane, who she marries in the next novel, Happy Endings. Bernice leaves the TARDIS after this novel, but she appears in certain subsequent Doctor Who novels. In Return of the Living Dad, Bernice finally resolves the mystery of what happened to her father.
Virgin had long considered a non-Doctor Who spin-off series, but plans were moved forwards when they lost the license from the BBC. A number of preparations were made for the transition to Bernice-led New Adventures (see below). As Virgin felt Bernice would make a better lead as a single woman, she and Jason Kane were split up. Thus, she appears again in Eternity Weeps, a novel which describes the breakdown of her marriage and is also focused on her more than the Doctor as a prototype for the Doctor-free novels to come.
Likewise, the last New Adventure, The Dying Days, is again focused on Bernice more than the Doctor, with the Doctor absent from a substantial portion of the book. The Dying Days also features an ambiguous epilogue which can be taken to imply that the Doctor and Bernice have sex. This same epilogue also has the Doctor indicating that Benny is his longest-serving companion, although exactly how long she travelled with the Doctor has never been firmly established.
Originally published once a month, the New Adventures went to once every two months after The Sword of Forever. The New Adventures continued with Bernice generally in the leading role. Oh No It Isn't! provides the set-up for subsequent stories, with Bernice becoming Professor of Archaeology at St Oscar's University on the planet Dellah. She has now put her failed marriage to Jason Kane behind her. Oh No It Isn't! also re-introduces the People, a highly advanced alien race from the Doctor Who New Adventures.
In Ghost Devices, we meet Clarence (named after the angel in It's a Wonderful Life). Clarence appears in the form of an angel, but is an artificial intelligence from the People who is eventually (in Tears of the Oracle) revealed to be a character from The Also People. In Dragons' Wrath, Bernice meets Irving Braxiatel for the first time (from his perspective). Beyond the Sun introduces another recurring character, Emile Mars-Smith. Emile, Clarence and the People appear in a number of subsequent New Adventures, while Braxiatel appears in both further New Adventures and Benny stories from Big Finish.
Where Angels Fear starts the Gods arc, a loose overarching story that finishes in Twilight of the Gods. Along the way, Dellah is destroyed and Bernice is uprooted and loses her memory. Twilight of the Gods finishes with a new set-up for subsequent stories involving Bernice, Emile and others, but this was not used as Virgin stopped publishing the series.
As well as continuing the New Adventures after losing the Doctor Who license, Virgin also continued with their Decalog series. These had been Doctor Who short story anthologies, but Decalog 5: Wonders featured a Benny short story ("The Judgement of Solomon") by Lawrence Miles alongside other shorts not set in the New Adventures continuity.
Big Finish licensed the character of Bernice Summerfield from Paul Cornell, Irving Braxiatel from Justin Richards and Jason Kane from Dave Stone, but other elements of the Virgin New Adventures' fictional universe were not obtained. Instead, Gary Russell, Jacqueline Rayner and Cornell developed a new background and character ensemble, introduced in the anthology The Dead Men Diaries and developed in the initial run of paperbacks. The most notable development in Big Finish's paperback novels was Bernice's pregnancy and the birth of her son in The Glass Prison.
The paperback novels proved uneconomic and Big Finish stopped publishing them, subsequently re-launching their Benny books in hardback with the anthology A Life of Surprises.
Each volume comprises a collection of three novellas.
Bernice also appears in a number of Doctor Who short stories, mostly set during her travels with the Doctor.
Bernice appears in one of the New Series Adventures with the Twelfth Doctor (the novel was originally planned for River Song, but plans for the 2015 Christmas special The Husbands of River Song prompted Russell to use Benny instead).
This is a list of recurring characters from the Bernice Summerfield stories, both the original Virgin New Adventures featuring Bernice and the subsequent and ongoing series of audio dramas and novels by Big Finish Productions.
Clarence is an artificial intelligence from the People. The character was created and introduced by Simon Bucher-Jones for Ghost Devices in which Clarence appears in the form of an angel (he is named after the angel in It's a Wonderful Life) to Benny. Clarence is an agent of God, the artificial intelligence that controls the People's Dyson sphere and is eventually revealed (in Tears of the Oracle) to be a character from The Also People.
God is the super-advanced artificial intelligence controlling the People's Dyson sphere. The character was introduced by Ben Aaronovitch in The Also People and became a frequently recurring character in the later New Adventures based around Bernice. On several occasions, God sought to use Bernice as his agent, often sending his emissary Clarence to visit her.
Joseph is Bernice Summerfield's robotic secretary. He appears in several Bernice stories across the Virgin New Adventures and Big Finish's Bernice stories.
Jason Peter Kane was introduced in Death and Diplomacy. In 1996, 13-year-old runaway Jason is caught in an alien transportation beam, which deposits him in a swamp on the planet t'Kao in the 26th century. After thirteen years, the first human being he meets is Benny. When they discuss their sex lives, Jason candidly discusses having slept with nine women, five men and a number of (to varying degrees) humanoid aliens. He becomes a romantic foil for Benny, with their marriage being the centrepiece for Happy Endings, itself celebrating the New Adventures line as its fiftieth book. They are a happily married couple in Return of the Living Dad, however when the BBC withdrew the Doctor Who licence, and the New Adventures continued with Benny as the lead character, an editorial decision was taken to split the couple up, as depicted in Eternity Weeps. Jason remains an intermittently recurring character. He remarries in Deadfall, but his new wife does not appear again in the series. When the New Adventures came to an end, he was trapped in an alternate dimension equivalent to Hell, but Benny's adventures continued with an ongoing series of novels and audio dramas by Big Finish Productions and, through an agreement with creator Dave Stone, Jason re-appeared (portrayed by Stephen Fewell in the audio dramas) and his relationship with Benny restarted. It is strongly implied in The End of the World that he has been killed.
John Lafayette (from Walking to Babylon) was a Victorian translator who was exploring the ruins of Babylon. There, he stumbled across a time corridor and was drawn back in time to the city in ancient times. There he met with Bernice who was seeking out renegade members of the People and Jason, and becomes romantically involved with her.
Lafayette also appears in the audio play Birthright, although he had not appeared in the New Adventure on which it was based.
Emile Mars-Smith was introduced in Matthew Jones's novel Beyond the Sun in 1997. Beyond the Sun was adapted into an audio drama by Big Finish Productions, in which Emile was portrayed by Lewis Davis.
Emile was brought up by a strict religious father, and at the age of fifteen ran away to St. Oscar's University on the planet Dellah. Emile was one of Benny's students at St. Oscar's, and she took him on a field trip to the planet Apollox 4 where they became entangled with an alien species known as the Sunless. During the adventure, Emile finds himself attracted to another man, and realises he is gay.
Ronan McGinley is an office worker from the early 21st Century. One day, while having a cigarette, he meets Irving Braxiatel who promises him one summer of adventure. Braxiatel brings McGinley to the Collection and instigates a romance between him and Clarissa Jones. She is still mourning the loss of her lover, Bernard Moskoff, who was killed during the events of Death and the Daleks. Clarissa enjoys her time with Ronan but is also suspicious as to his past. Investigating, she finds evidence (planted by Braxiatel) that he was a Fifth Axis soldier. She asks him to leave the Collection but, unknown to her, he meets with Braxiatel who tells him that the one good summer he promised is over. Then, a year later, Jason Kane finds McGinley on the planet Cantus. Braxiatel has connected the man to an army of Cybermen in order to keep them under control. During the events of this story, McGinley dies. In the audio drama The Crystal of Cantus, McGinley is portrayed by Nicholas Briggs.
Parasiel is a student on the Braxiatel Collection. When he first arrives, shortly after the end of the Fifth Axis Occupation, his lack of social skills means he is not particularly popular. As he spends more time on the Collection, his behaviour softens a little, and he has a series of affairs with female students. Bernice tells him about the events of The Goddess Quandary and then The Crystal of Cantus. During the second of these adventures, he also has his memory erased by Irving Braxiatel. He left the Collection in Collected Works after one of his love affairs ended tragically; though he says he might return, Benny doubts she'll see him again.
Admiral Isaac Douglas Summerfield is the father of Bernice. A high-ranking officer in space fleet, he went to fight against the Daleks and never returned to his wife and child. Bernice never gave up hope that he could still be alive, and was eventually rewarded when she found him on Earth in 1983. It was revealed in Kate Orman's novel Return of the Living Dad that, during a battle at Bellatrix, the Admiral's ship had been drawn into a worm hole which deposited him back in time to 1963. There he organised a resistance cell to fight the Daleks. 20 years later, Bernice managed to locate him in the village of Little Caldwell. The Admiral was running an underground network helping stranded aliens to leave Earth. He always worried that he would be discovered and shut down by the Doctor.
However, he also had a more sinister plan to detonate a nuclear device on Earth. This would trigger an arms-race that could lead to the development of weapons capable of defeating the Daleks when they tried to invade Earth in the 22nd century. However, the alien he was conspiring with was revealed to be a Dalek agent, and was uncovered by the Doctor. Managing to forgive her father for his manipulation, Bernice teamed up with him and the Doctor and used a missile to destroy a Dalek spy satellite.
In the audio drama Death and the Daleks, Summerfield is portrayed by Ian Collier, who voiced Omega in Arc of Infinity and Omega.
Narrator of the standalone novel Dead Romance, which did not feature Bernice. Christine found out her entire world was a bottle universe being used by Time Lords as a bolt hole to escape the Gods. During the course of the novel she began a relationship with Chris Cwej and helped him to prepare the bottle for the arrival of the Time Lords. After learning of Bernice Summerfield she became fascinated by her and her history convinced there was a connection between them. The novel ended with her being betrayed by Cwej and deciding to leave the bottle for the "real" universe, she eventually ended up on a Gallifrey in ruins, writing her story which she left among the ruins. The last entry of Dead Romance states that she believed that the "real" universe was just a bigger bottle within bigger and bigger bottles; and maybe she could keep traveling upwards through the different bottles until she found the real universe. However she did not seem to achieve this goal as she sent a letter to Bernice in Twilight of the Gods where it is stated that she took a post at a university on the planet Vremnya. Some point after this she was initiated into Faction Paradox where she adopted the title, Cousin Eliza, and is subsequently quoted in The Book of the War; she is one of the central characters in the Faction Paradox audio dramas.
Peter Guy Summerfield is the son of Bernice and Adrian Wall. His middle name Guy was in honour of Sir Guy de Carnac, a man with whom Benny fell in love in the novel Sanctuary but who then apparently died. The circumstances of his conception were unusual because Benny was being controlled by an alien sorceress. Peter appeared the audio drama, The Grel Escape, in which he was voiced by Dacey Warriner and The Crystal of Cantus in which he was voiced by Thomas Grant.
Adrian Wall is a Killoran construction worker for the Braxiatel collection. Killorans are a species who resemble a cross between a wolf and an ape, and Adrian was seven feet tall with huge claws and fangs. He took his name from Hadrian's Wall, in preference to his native Killoran name, after studying the Roman emperor
During the events of The Squire's Crystal, Bernice was possessed by an alien sorceress. Whilst possessed she became impregnated by Adrian, and later gave birth to a baby boy whom she named Peter.
The Killorans appear in the Doctor Who audio plays Arrangements for War (where they invade the planet Világ) and its sequel Thicker than Water. The novella Hiding Places by Stewart Sheargold, published in the anthology Parallel Lives, reveals that Adrian was present on Világ.
This section includes characters who will appear or have appeared in at least one season.
| Actor | Character | Appearances | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bernice Summerfield | Bernice Summerfield Boxsets | The New Adventures of Bernice Summerfield | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| S1 | S2 | S3 | S4 | S5 | S6 | S7 | S8 | S9 | S10 | S11 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | S1 | S2 | S3 | S4 | S5 | S6 | ||||||
| Lisa Bowerman | Bernice Summerfield | ✓ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stephen Fewell | Jason Kane | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Miles Richardson | Irving Braxiatel | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||||||||||||||||
| Harry Myers | Adrian Wall | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Stephen Wickham | Joseph | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Louise Faulkner | Bev Tarrant | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Thomas Grant | Peter Summerfield | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Ayesha Antoine | Ruth Leonidas | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| David Ames | Jack McSpringheel | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sylvester McCoy | The Doctor | ✓ | ✓ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| David Warner | ✓ | ✓ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sophie Aldred | Ace | ✓ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mark Gatiss | The Master | ✓ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The first season of Bernice Summerfield audio plays are all adaptations of New Adventures novels originally published by Virgin Publishing. Each of the plays spans two CDs, except for Dragon's Wrath, which was issued on a single CD.
The plays deviate from the original novels, in terms of plot and characters, to varying degrees. This is particularly evident with the productions of Birthright and Just War, both of which were originally Doctor Who novels. These changes were necessary because, at the time of their production, Big Finish Productions weren't licensed to produce Doctor Who audio plays.
Actor and photographer Lisa Bowerman was cast in the role of Bernice Summerfield. Bowerman had previously appeared in the Doctor Who story Survival (1989). The first series also co-starred Stephen Fewell as Jason Kane. A variety of actors familiar to Doctor Who fans played guest roles in many of the plays, including Colin Baker, Sophie Aldred, Nicholas Courtney, Elisabeth Sladen, Anneke Wills and Richard Franklin.
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Oh No It Isn't!" | Nicholas Briggs | Paul Cornell | Wolsey, Grel | September 1998 | |
| 2 | "Beyond the Sun" | Gary Russell | Matt Jones | Jason Kane | September 1998 | |
|
Bernice Summerfield takes her two students Emile and Tameka on a field trip, but when her ex-husband Jason turns up, they all become embroiled with the dangerous super-weapon of a lost civilisation. | ||||||
| 3 | "Walking to Babylon" | Gary Russell | Kate Orman | Jason Kane, John Lafayette | November 1998 | |
|
Bernice Summerfield travels back in time to ancient Babylon to try to prevent the powerful race known only as the People from destroying the city with a singularity bomb. | ||||||
| 4 | "Birthright" | Nicholas Briggs | Nigel Robinson | Jason Kane, John Lafayette | February 1999 | |
|
After the TARDIS malfunctions and then explodes, the Doctor's companions find themselves in two different time zones. | ||||||
| 5 | "Just War" | Nicholas Briggs | Lance Parkin | Jason Kane | August 1999 | |
|
The Doctor and his companions land in German-occupied Guernsey in 1941 where the Nazis are pursuing a top-secret weapon which could change the course of the war. | ||||||
| 6 | "Dragons' Wrath" | Edward Salt | Justin Richards | – | September 2000 | |
|
Bernice meets the Time Lord Irving Braxiatel and soon becomes involved in the hunt for a jewel thief who is after a rare artefact. | ||||||
For the second season of Bernice Summerfield audio plays, Big Finish Productions experimented by developing ongoing character arcs that alternated between two different mediums—the audio plays and novels. Fans who did not collect the novels were initially confused to discover that Benny was pregnant during the final audio play of the season, The Skymines of Karthos. The pregnancy was explained in the novel The Squire's Crystal by Jacqueline Rayner.
The run of plays from the second season onwards take part in what has become known as the Collection continuity, as they are set primarily on the Braxiatel Collection, a combined museum and university located on the planetoid KS-159. A number of regular characters are introduced, most notably Irving Braxiatel. First referenced in the 1979 Doctor Who story City of Death (written by Douglas Adams and Graham Williams), Braxiatel first appeared in person in the New Adventures novel Theatre of War.
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Secret of Cassandra" | Gary Russell | David Bailey | – | December 2000 | |
|
On the Earth colony Chosan, Bernice finds herself caught up in war between two nations. Close to death, she is rescued by the captain of the Cassandra only to find herself in even more danger. | ||||||
| 2 | "The Stone's Lament" | Ed Salt | Mike Tucker | Adrian | May 2001 | |
|
Reclusive billionaire, Bratheen Traloor, has invited Bernice to examine a mysterious artefact but is there another reason for his interest in the archaeologist? | ||||||
| 3 | "The Extinction Event" | Gary Russell | Lance Parkin | Brax | July 2001 | |
|
Only one object survived the destruction of the planet Halstead - a harp. Bernice visits an auction house to buy the Halstead Harp but finds that someone else also has an interest in it - and they're willing to kill... | ||||||
| 4 | "The Skymines of Karthos" | Ed Salt | David Bailey | Brax | September 2001 | |
|
Caitlin Peters, a friend of Bernice's, disappears on the mining colony of Karthos. When Bernice visits the planet, she finds herself under attack from a race of vicious alien creatures. | ||||||
Whereas the previous seasons had focused primarily on the character of Bernice Summerfield, Big Finish used the third season as an opportunity to introduce an ensemble feel to the productions. This is most evident in The Green-Eyed Monsters and The Mirror Effect where the characters Jason Kane, Adrian Wall and Irving Braxiatel are significantly developed. The latter, in particular, suggests that Braxiatel has a darker, more mysterious past than the audience has previously been led to believe.
The other two plays that comprise the third season focus more specifically on Bernice. The Greatest Shop in the Galaxy remains the most light-hearted play of the season, while The Dance of the Dead reintroduces the Ice Warriors from Doctor Who.
While not officially part of the third season (at least as far as the numbering is concerned), the Bernice Summerfield audio play The Plague Herds of Excelis (the fourth play in Big Finish's Excelis series; the first three plays fall under the Doctor Who umbrella) takes place between The Green-Eyed Monsters and The Dance of the Dead. Chronologically, the short story anthology A Life of Surprises also falls within this gap.
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Greatest Shop in the Galaxy" | Alistair Lock | Paul Ebbs | Joseph | February 2002 | |
|
Bernice visits the Gigamarket to buy shoes but, typically for her, ends up facing time anomalies and rampaging monsters. | ||||||
| 2 | "The Green-Eyed Monsters" | Gary Russell | Dave Stone | Jason, Adrian, Peter | June 2002 | |
|
Bernice gets caught up in the machinations of psychotic Lady Ashantra du Lac as Jason and Adrian try to babysit Peter. | ||||||
| – | "The Plague Herds of Excelis" | John Ainsworth | Stephen Cole | Iris Wildthyme | July 2002 | |
|
Bernice Summerfield travels to the ruined world of Artaris where she meets a mysterious traveller in time and space known only as … Iris Wildthyme. | ||||||
| 3 | "The Dance of the Dead" | Edward Salt | Stephen Cole | Ice Warriors | October 2002 | |
|
Bernice finds herself hungover on a space cruiser. Suddenly, explosions rock the ship and she has to join forces with Ice Warriors and a bored steward in order to survive. | ||||||
| 4 | "The Mirror Effect" | Gary Russell | Stewart Sheargold | Brax, Jason, Adrian, Joseph | March 2003 | |
|
Inside the derelict remains of an old mining station, there's a mirror. And inside the mirror, trapped with distorted versions of her friends, is Bernice Summerfield. | ||||||
The fourth season was unofficially dubbed the "classic Who monsters" season, with each play featuring an alien adversary that previously appeared in the Doctor Who television series. The Bellotron Incident predominantly features the Rutan Host (their major enemies, the Sontarans, are also referred to but don't actually appear), The Draconian Rage features the Draconians, The Poison Seas casts a more sympathetic light on the Sea Devils, while Death and the Daleks (the first double CD release in the series since Just War) sees the first appearance of the Daleks within the Bernice Summerfield series. Prior to its release, Death and the Daleks was entitled The Axis of Evil to keep the appearance of the Daleks a secret.
Big Finish also published an anthology of short stories, entitled Life During Wartime, that was specially written as a prelude to the Death and the Daleks audio play. Paul Cornell, the anthology's editor, described Life During Wartime as "a novel written by multiple authors". Each of the collection's stories are told in chronological order, detailing events that occur when the Collection is occupied by a powerful alien force. The anthology ends on a cliff-hanger that is resolved in Death and the Daleks.
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Bellotron Incident" | Gary Russell | Mike Tucker | Bev, Brax, Joseph, Rutans | April 2003 | |
|
On the primitive planet of Bellotron, Bernice finds herself caught up in the Sontaran/Rutan conflict. | ||||||
| 2 | "The Draconian Rage" | Edward Salt | Trevor Baxendale | Brax, Draconians | August 2003 | |
|
Bernice has been invited to the heart of the Draconian Empire to investigate why twenty million of their race have committed suicide as part of an ancient ritual. Soon, she discovers that the event is related to something that happened in her past. | ||||||
| 3 | "The Poison Seas" | Edward Salt | David Bailey | Brax, Sea Devils | September 2003 | |
|
Bernice returns to the planet Chosan to help a Sea Devil colony who are under threat from terrorists. She soon realises that the colony, and the entire planet, is actually in danger from something far worse. | ||||||
| 4 | "Death and the Daleks" | Gary Russell | Paul Cornell | Brax, Jason, Adrian, Joseph, Bev, Isaac, Fifth Axis, Daleks | January 2004 | |
|
The Braxiatel Collection has been occupied by the Fifth Axis. Shortly after the events depicted in Life During Wartime Bernice discovered that the Axis was actually being controlled by the Daleks. She must return to the planet Heaven to rescue her father and overthrow the Daleks. | ||||||
The previous season's tradition of using classic monsters continues into the fifth season, with the Grel (previously heard in Oh No It Isn't!) returning in The Grel Escape, a knowing pastiche of The Chase. The Bone of Contention features the Galyari, who appeared in the Doctor Who audio play The Sandman, while the title and plot of The Relics of Jegg-Sau was inspired by a 1970s Doctor Who licensed jigsaw puzzle that depicted a scene with giant robots identical to the one that appeared in Robot.
The Masquerade of Death brings the fifth season to a close in a dark and surreal fashion.
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Grel Escape" | Gary Russell | Jacqueline Rayner | Jason, Peter, Joseph, The Grel | July 2004 | |
|
The fact-obsessed Grel chase Peter throughout time and space after he manages to use Bernice and Jason's Time Rings. | ||||||
| 2 | "The Bone of Contention" | Edward Salt | Simon A. Forward | The Galyari | August 2004 | |
|
Bernice visits the home of the Galyari to recover an artefact for the Perloran government. The job is complicated when a young Galyari latches onto her. | ||||||
| 3 | "The Relics of Jegg-Sau" | Edward Salt | Stephen Cole | K1 | November 2004 | |
|
Bernice visits the failed colony of Jegg-Sau in search of long-lost treasure. But the planet isn't as lifeless as everyone believes... | ||||||
| 4 | "The Masquerade of Death" | John Ainsworth | Stewart Sheargold | Adrian | March 2005 | |
|
Bernice and Adrian find themselves trapped in a theatrical world where nobody is who they seem to be. | ||||||
By the end of The Crystal of Cantus, the true dark and manipulative nature of Braxiatel was revealed and he left the Collection. Its future is now uncertain, with the Draconians claiming they own the planetoid on what it is based. The entire series was directed by Gary Russell.
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Heart's Desire" | Gary Russell | David Bailey & Neil Corry | Eternals | June 2005 | |
|
Bernice visits Marlowe's World to try and stop a pulsar that threatens to destroy the Braxiatel Collection. There she meets some ancient beings who can grant her every wish. | ||||||
| 2 | "The Kingdom of the Blind" | Gary Russell | Jacqueline Rayner | Jason, Monoids | July 2005 | |
|
While asleep, Bernice hears a voice in her head which leads her to a strange planet where a race of one-eyed monsters keep a slave race subdued by mutilating them. | ||||||
| 3 | "The Lost Museum" | Gary Russell | Simon Guerrier | Jason | September 2005 | |
| 4 | "The Goddess Quandary" | Gary Russell | Andy Russell | Keri | February 2006 | |
|
Bernice visits the unstable planet Etheria to help a group of monks verify their claim to have found the last resting place of a mighty warlord. Soon she finds herself under threat from both the planet, its inhabitants and even from an old friend. | ||||||
| 5 | "The Crystal of Cantus" | Gary Russell | Joseph Lidster | Brax, Jason, Joseph, Peter | June 2006 | |
|
Bernice, Jason and Irving Braxiatel visit the planet of Cantus to locate its fabled Crystal. There, they unearth what seems to be a tomb of Cybermen. When even that isn't what it first appears to be, Bernice discovers that she can no longer trust one of her oldest friends. | ||||||
The seventh season follows the staff of the Collection as they attempt to keep things running smoothly in Braxiatel's absence. Collected Works and Old Friends, two books published during this season's run, also develop the running plots that planetoid KS-159 is under threat from the Draconians and Mim, and that the Collection itself is falling apart literally as well as figuratively without Braxiatel at its helm.
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Tartarus Gate" | Gary Russell | Stewart Sheargold | Jason, Joseph | July 2006 | |
|
Bernice has been removed from time and space and even though the Collection has problems of its own, Jason is doing his best to find her. He receives information that she is on the planet Cerebus Iera, a world that is said to be linked to the gateway to Hell. | ||||||
| 2 | "Timeless Passages" | Gary Russell | Daniel O'Mahony | – | August 2006 | |
|
For years the great Labyrinth of Kerykeion has been home to one of the largest libraries of human incunabula in the galaxy. Here, otherwise lost volumes are all carefully preserved. From tomorrow, it is under new management. Professor Bernice Summerfield is sent to acquire some of the rarest books for the Braxiatel Collection before the new corporate owners bulldoze their way in. She is hoping for a quiet time searching the archives. Some chance. Soon she is investigating a horrible murder and is caught up in a last-ditch scheme to save the entire library. There is a vicious, insane killer cyborg on Benny's heels. And then ancient subterranean powers begin to stir. | ||||||
| 3 | "The Worst Thing in the World" | Ed Salt | Dave Stone | Jason | September 2006 | |
|
The Drome was set ↵Now Benny finds herself in a desperate fight for her life. A fight so desperate that she will be forced to do something she has never done before, a horror that she never imagined she could bring herself to commit. The worst thing in the world. | ||||||
| 4 | "Summer of Love" | Ed Salt | Simon Guerrier | Jason, Bev, Adrian, Doggles, Joseph, Hass | October 2006 | |
|
It's the hottest summer the Braxiatel Collection has ever seen, and as neighbouring aliens try to take advantage of the weakened state of affairs, the inhabitants find themselves with only one thing on their mind - sex. | ||||||
| 5 | "The Oracle of Delphi" | Ed Salt | Scott Handcock | Jason | November 2006 | |
|
Arriving in Athens in 430BCE, Bernice and Jason soon find themselves encountering a mysterious cult, the war with the Spartans, a threat to all of time and a man called Socrates. | ||||||
| 6 | "The Empire State" | Ed Salt | Eddie Robson | Jason, Maggie, Brax | December 2006 | |
In the eighth season, Braxiatel returns to the Collection, which is threatened by crossfire and politics in the war between the Draconians and Mim. The war comes to an unexpected conclusion shortly after his return, and several regular characters pay a heavy price for realising too late that Braxiatel himself is the real threat. The season ends with Benny cutting her ties to the Collection and Braxiatel, and going on the run with her son Peter. The books The Two Jasons and |Nobody's Children also fit into this season's arc.
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Tub Full of Cats" | Ed Salt | Daniel O'Mahony | Maggie, Brax, the Mim | February 2007 | |
|
As the Braxiatel Collection faces destruction, Bernice returns with its founder, Irving Braxiatel... on a ship piloted by a crew of cats. | ||||||
| 2 | "The Judas Gift" | Ed Salt | Nick Wallace | Bev, Adrian, Brax, Doggles, Joseph, Hass, the Mim, Draconians | April 2007 | |
|
he Collection is caught up in the war between the Draconians and the Mim. As Bev tries to ensure they stay neutral, it becomes apparent that the Draconian Ambassador may have other motives for seeing her... | ||||||
| 3 | "Freedom of Information" | Ed Salt | Eddie Robson | Adrian, Brax, Doggles, Joseph, Hass, Jason, the Mim, Draconians | June 2007 | |
| 4 | "The End of the World" | Lisa Bowerman | Dave Stone | Jason, Brax, Adrian | September 2007 | |
|
Jason Kane is on a quest to finally discover the truth about Irving Braxiatel. What he discovers will change the lives of everyone around him forever. | ||||||
| 5 | "The Final Amendment" | Gary Russell | Joseph Lidster | Kadiatu | October 2007 | |
|
Benny meets up with an old friend... | ||||||
| 6 | "The Wake" | Gary Russell | Simon Guerrier | Peter, Brax, Adrian, Bev, Doggles, Joseph, Hass | January 2008 | |
|
Benny looks back on her life, following the devastating events of The End of the World | ||||||
The ninth season is a much looser collection of stories, following Bernice and her son Peter as Benny searches for work away from the Collection.
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Beyond the Sea" | Toby Longworth | Eddie Robson | Peter | June 2008 | |
| 2 | "The Adolescence of Time" | Lisa Bowerman | Lawrence Miles | Peter | July 2008 | |
|
Bernice and Peter find themselves on Earth... after events have started to lead to the extinction of the dinosaurs. | ||||||
| 3 | "The Adventure of the Diogenes Damsel" | Nigel Fairs | Jim Smith | Mycroft, Straxus, Cwejen | August 2008 | |
|
Bernice finds herself marooned in Victorian London where she seeks the help of Mycroft Holmes. | ||||||
| 4 | "The Diet of Worms" | Toby Longworth | Matthew Sweet | Peter | September 2008 | |
|
Bernice applies for a job at the Depository - a place where all the great literary achievements of the human race are stored. | ||||||
The entire series was directed by John Ainsworth.
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Glory Days" | John Ainsworth | Nick Wallace | Peter, Bev, Adrian, Brax | June 2009 | |
| 2 | "Absence" | John Ainsworth | Daniel O'Mahony | Peter | July 2009 | |
| 3 | "Venus Mantrap" | John Ainsworth | Mark Clapham & Lance Parkin | Adrian, Peter | August 2009 | |
|
Bernice travels to Venus to obtain the secret publishing royalties of her deceased husband Jason Kane and becomes embroiled in the politics of Venus' twin artificial moons, Eros and Thanatos. | ||||||
| 4 | "Secret Origins" | John Ainsworth | Eddie Robson | Peter, Robyn, Brax | September 2009 | |
|
Bernice's son, Peter, is kidnapped by the seemingly immortal Mr. Frost. Bernice travels to the ruined city of Buenos Aires to rescue Peter. | ||||||
The entire series was again directed by John Ainsworth. The animated short Dead and Buried, released online for free, acted as a prelude to this series.[3]
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Resurrecting the Past" | John Ainsworth | Eddie Robson | Peter, Brax, Bev, Adrian, Robyn, Doggles, Joseph, Hass | September 2010 | |
|
Braxiatel's plans seem to be coming to fruition. As Adrian and Peter search for a missing Bernice, Robyn and Bev must investigate to find why Benny has been so important to Braxiatel for so long... | ||||||
| 2 | "Escaping the Future" | John Ainsworth | Eddie Robson | Peter, Brax, Bev, Adrian, Doggles, Joseph, Hass | October 2010 | |
|
The galaxy is in turmoil. As Bernice's friends fight to keep the Deindum at bay, can Bernice and Peter find out who they are, and how to stop them? | ||||||
| 3 | "Year Zero" | John Ainsworth | Jonathan Clements | – | November 2010 | |
|
Bernice is trapped on a planet where archeology is illegal. To return home she must break the law to find out what happened in Year Zero. | ||||||
| 4 | "Dead Man's Switch" | John Ainsworth | John Dorney & Richard Dinnick | – | December 2010 | |
|
Benny continues to fight to get home, but what is so important about the world of Zordin? What is trying to escape from there? | ||||||
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Kraken's Lament" | Gary Russell | Mark Wright | Acanthus, Jack | September 2011 |
| 2 | "The Temple of Questions" | Gary Russell | Jacqueline Rayner | Ruth, Leonidas, Jack, Heskith | September 2011 |
| 3 | "Private Enemy No. 1" | Gary Russell | Tony Lee | Ruth, Leonidas, Heskith, the Epoch | September 2011 |
| 4 | "Judgement Day" | Gary Russell | Scott Handcock | Ruth, Jack, the Epoch, Brax | September 2011 |
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Brand Management" | Gary Russell | Christopher Cooper | Ruth | February 2012 |
| 2 | "Bad Habits" | Gary Russell | Simon Barnard and Paul Morris | Ruth | February 2012 |
| 3 | "Paradise Frost" | Scott Handcock | David Llewellyn | Ruth, Brax, Peter, Jack | February 2012 |
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Vesuvius Falling" | Gary Russell | Tony Lee | Peter, Ruth, Jack, Brax | September 2012 |
| 2 | "Shades of Gray" | Scott Handcock | Scott Handcock | Ruth, Jack, Dorian | September 2012 |
| 3 | "Everybody Loves Irving" | Gary Russell | Miles Richardson | Brax, Peter, Ruth, Jack | September 2012 |
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "A Handful of Dust" | Gary Russell | Xanna Eve Chown | Peter, Ruth, Jack | April 2013 |
| 2 | "HMS Surprise" | Scott Handcock | Alexander Vlahos | Peter, Jack | April 2013 |
| 3 | "The Curse of Fenman" | Gary Russell | Gary Russell | Peter, Ruth, Jack, Brax, Fenman | April 2013 |
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Big Dig" | Gary Russell and Scott Handcock | Hamish Steele | Ruth, Jack, The Epoch | December 2013 |
| 2 | "The Revenant's Carnival" | Gary Russell and Scott Handcock | Martin Day | Peter | December 2013 |
| 3 | "The Brimstone Kid" | Gary Russell and Scott Handcock | David Llewellyn | Brax | December 2013 |
| 4 | "The Winning Side" | Gary Russell and Scott Handcock | James Goss | The Epoch | December 2013 |
| 5 | "In Living Memory" | Gary Russell and Scott Handcock | Gary Russell & Scott Handcock | Peter, Ruth, Jack, Brax, The Epoch | December 2013 |
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Volume 1 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | "Ever After Happy" | Scott Handcock | James Goss | – | September 2018 | |||||||
| 2 | "The Grel Invasion of Earth" | Scott Handcock | Jacqueline Rayner | Jason Kane, The Grel | September 2018 | |||||||
| 3 | "Braxiatel in Love" | Scott Handcock | Simon Guerrier | Brax | September 2018 | |||||||
| Volume 2 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | "Every Dark Thought" | Scott Handcock | Eddie Robson | Valeyard | September 2018 | |||||||
| 2 | "Empress of the Drahvins" | Scott Handcock | David Llewellyn | Drahvins, Ruth | September 2018 | |||||||
| 3 | "The Angel of History" | Scott Handcock | Una McCormack | The Doctor (Unbound) | September 2018 | |||||||
| Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buried Treasures | Jason Haigh-Ellery, Gary Russell | Jacqueline Rayner, Paul Cornell | Keri | August 1999 |
| "Silver Lining" | Gary Russell | Colin Brake | Cybermen | December 2004 |
| "Many Happy Returns" | John Ainsworth, Scott Handcock, Gary Russell | Xanna Eve Chown, Stephen Cole, Paul Cornell, Stephen Fewell, Simon Guerrier, Scott Handcock, Rebecca Levene, Jacqueline Rayner, Justin Richards, Miles Richardson, Eddie Robson, Dave Stone | Joseph, Brax, Adrian, Bev, Peter, Ruth, Jack, Leonidas, Iris, Panda, Seventh Doctor | November 2012 |
Following the conclusion of the Bernice Summerfield box set range, a new range starring Lisa Bowerman as Bernice Summerfield alongside Sylvester McCoy as the Doctor entitled The New Adventures of Bernice Summerfield was launched.
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Revolution" | Scott Handcock | Nev Fountain | Seventh Doctor | June 2014 |
| 2 | "Good Night, Sweet Ladies" | Scott Handcock | Una McCormack | – | June 2014 |
| 3 | "Random Ghosts" | Scott Handcock | Guy Adams | Ace | June 2014 |
| 4 | "The Lights of Skaro" | Scott Handcock | James Goss | Seventh Doctor, Ace | June 2014 |
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Pyramid of Sutekh" | Scott Handcock | Guy Adams | Seventh Doctor, Ace | June 2015 |
| 2 | "The Vaults of Osiris" | Scott Handcock | Justin Richards | Seventh Doctor, Ace | June 2015 |
| 3 | "The Eye of Horus" | Scott Handcock | James Goss | Seventh Doctor, Ace | June 2015 |
| 4 | "The Tears of Isis" | Scott Handcock | Una McCormack | Seventh Doctor, Ace | June 2015 |
Bernice Summerfield in a series of adventures with a version of the Doctor from the Unbound series. Mark Gatiss returns as a version of the Master from the same series,[4] appearing in The Emporium at the End and The True Savior of the Universe, as well as a brief appearance in a flashback in The Library in the Body.
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Library in the Body" | Scott Handcock | James Goss | The Doctor (Unbound) | August 2016 |
| 2 | "Planet X" | Scott Handcock | Guy Adams | The Doctor (Unbound) | August 2016 |
| 3 | "The Very Dark Thing" | Scott Handcock | Una McCormack | The Doctor (Unbound) | August 2016 |
| 4 | "The Emporium at the End" | Scott Handcock | Emma Reeves | The Doctor (Unbound), The Master (Unbound) | August 2016 |
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The City and the Clock" | Scott Handcock | Guy Adams | The Doctor (Unbound) | September 2017 |
| 2 | "Asking for a Friend" | Scott Handcock | James Goss | The Doctor (Unbound) | September 2017 |
| 3 | "Truant" | Scott Handcock | Guy Adams | The Doctor (Unbound) | September 2017 |
| 4 | "The True Saviour of the Universe" | Scott Handcock | James Goss | The Doctor (Unbound), The Master (Unbound) | September 2017 |
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Pride of the Lampian" | Scott Handcock | Alyson Leeds | The Doctor (Unbound) | September 2019 |
| 2 | "Clear History" | Scott Handcock | Doris V Sutherland | The Doctor (Unbound) | September 2019 |
| 3 | "Dead and Breakfast" | Scott Handcock | April McCaffrey | The Doctor (Unbound) | September 2019 |
| 4 | "Burrowed Time" | Scott Handcock | Lani Woodward | The Doctor (Unbound) | September 2019 |
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Have I Told You Lately?" | Scott Handcock | Tim Foley | The Doctor (Unbound) | September 2020 |
| 2 | "The Undying Truth" | Scott Handcock | JA Prentice | The Doctor (Unbound) | September 2020 |
| 3 | "Inertia" | Scott Handcock | James Goss | The Doctor (Unbound) | September 2020 |
| 4 | "Gallifrey" | Scott Handcock | Guy Adams & AK Benedict | The Doctor (Unbound) | September 2020 |
David Warner died on 24 July 2022. Recording of the series had been completed and was released posthumously.
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Wilkommen" | Scott Handcock | James Goss | The Doctor (Unbound), Cybermen | September 2022 |
| 2 | "Wulf" | Scott Handcock | Aaron Lamont | The Doctor (Unbound) | September 2022 |
| 3 | "Ubermensch" | Scott Handcock | Rochana Patel | The Doctor (Unbound) | September 2022 |
| 4 | "Auf Wiedersehen" | Scott Handcock | Victoria Saxton | The Doctor (Unbound) | September 2022 |
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featuring | Released | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part 1 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | "The Armageddon Chair" | David O'Mahony | James Goss | Bernice Summerfield, Secretary Pym, The Oldest, Starll | September 2024[5] | |||||||
| 2 | "Triumph of the Drahvin" | |||||||||||
| Part 2 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | "Rhubarb" | David O'Mahony | Tim Foley | Bernice Summerfield, Secretary Pym, The Oldest, Starll | October 2024[6] | |||||||
| 4 | "Please Retain Your Ticket for the Cloakroom" | |||||||||||
| Part 3 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | "The Terrible Shame of a Tree" | David O'Mahony | James Goss | Bernice Summerfield, Secretary Pym, The Oldest, Alkaran, Siras | November 2024[7] | |||||||
| 6 | "Mr Pym has an Adventure" | |||||||||||
| Part 4 | ||||||||||||
| 7 | "Sancturary" | David O'Mahony | Tim Foley | Bernice Summerfield, Secretary Pym, The Oldest | December 2024[8] | |||||||
| 8 | "Liturgy of Death" | |||||||||||
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
