Bernice Summerfield was the first series produced by Big Finish Productions, and was a range which combined both audio and prose releases in its ongoing narrative. Beginning in 1998 with adaptations of six Virgin New Adventures and Virgin Bernice Summerfield New Adventures novels that were adapted for audio. The adaptations of Doctor Who stories removed characters such as the Seventh Doctor, Ace and any other Doctor Who character that Big Finish did not yet have the licence for, while the others were simply adapted for the audio medium. The titular character was portrayed by Lisa Bowerman.
After this first season's success, Big Finish began producing audio stories and prose stories simultaneously. These were initially released alternately so that both the audio and the prose (novel and short story) made up the Bernice Summerfield series, with some of the wider arc story only being featured and explained in detail in one medium. Bernice's pregnancy was one such occurrence which began in the novel The Gods of the Underworld and she gave birth in the novel The Glass Prison with minor references to the actual pregnancy in audio stories released around the same time. However, this practice ceased after the third series.
Many characters that had been created or established in the Virgin New Adventures or the Virgin Bernice Summerfield New Adventures appeared in this series, character such as Bernice's ex-husband Jason Kane and Irving Braxiatel both featured in the series. Kane was voiced by Stephen Fewell and Braxiatel by Miles Richardson.
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.
In 2013, the series concluded, but was relaunched in 2014 as The New Adventures of Bernice Summerfield, a new series also featuring both the Doctor and Ace.
Audio stories
Season 1
Season 2
Season 3
Season 4
Season 5
Season 6
- The Heart's Desire
- The Kingdom of the Blind
- The Lost Museum
- The Goddess Quandary
- The Crystal of Cantus
Season 7
- The Tartarus Gate
- Timeless Passages
- The Worst Thing in the World
- Summer of Love
- The Oracle of Delphi
- The Empire State
Season 8
- The Tub Full of Cats
- The Judas Gift
- Freedom of Information
- The End of the World (features Jason Kane rather than Benny)
- The Final Amendment
- The Wake
Season 9
Season 10
Season 11
- Resurrecting the Past
- Escaping the Future
- Year Zero
- Dead Man's Switch
Epoch
Road Trip
Legion
New Frontiers
Missing Persons
Cover gallery
Special releases
- Buried Treasures (limited edition released with Season 1; now can be downloaded from the Big Finish podcasts for free)
- Silver Lining (on free giveaway disc released with Doctor Who Magazine issue 351)
- The Plague Herds of Excelis (Part of the Excelis Saga)
- Dead and Buried (an animated webcast special available on Big Finish's official YouTube channel; later released on DVD as a bonus with the Epoch box set)
- Many Happy Returns (Download only 20th anniversary story with proceeds going to Invest in ME charity)
- The Worlds of Big Finish (A crossover of multiple Big Finish ranges including Bernice Summerfield)
Prose works
Novels
Paperback
These releases intertwined with the second series of audio dramas, forming part of the ongoing narrative.
- The Doomsday Manuscript
- The Gods of the Underworld
- The Squire's Crystal
- The Infernal Nexus
- The Glass Prison
Hardcover
- The Big Hunt
- The Tree of Life
- Genius Loci
- The Two Jasons
- The Weather on Versimmon
- The Slender-Fingered Cats of Bubastis
- Filthy Lucre
- Adorable Illusion
Anthologies
- The Dead Men Diaries
- A Life of Surprises
- Life During Wartime
- A Life Worth Living
- A Life in Pieces
- Parallel Lives
- Something Changed
- Collected Works
- Old Friends
- Nobody's Children
- Missing Adventures
- The Vampire Curse
- Secret Histories
- Present Danger
External links
- Official Bernice Summerfield page at bigfinish.com
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