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Big Finish has released details of the new Bernice Summerfield audio, coming in September.

Welcome to The Eternity Club, where a warm welcome awaits the universe’s greatest explorers. A place of mystery, intrigue and creeping danger. Professor Bernice Summerfield has finally been invited to join. But membership comes at a terrible price.

Lisa Bowerman, who has played the 26th-century archaeologist Professor Bernice Summerfield for Big Finish Productions since 1998, returns for a new series of adventures. This time, Benny finds herself among an elite club of interplanetary explorers, including representatives of a range of alien races from the Doctor Who universe.

The New Adventures of Bernice Summerfield: The Eternity Club is a series of four full-cast audio drama releases, each comprising two half-hour episodes, due to be released monthly from September to December 2024.

The eight stories in the series are:

In September’s release:

The Armageddon Chair by James Goss

Bernice Summerfield is still settling in at The Eternity Club. Secretary Pym sends her on a quest enlisting help from Draconians, Sontarans, Drahvins and the club’s enigmatic Oldest member.

Triumph of the Drahvin by James Goss

An archaeological expedition led by a Drahvin Queen. What secrets has she uncovered in the forgotten deserts of Parroon? And why are people dying?

In October’s release:

Rhubarb by Tim Foley

A small argument between a Sontaran and a Draconian escalates into an interstellar war. Who is manipulating events and can Bernice Summerfield avert disaster?

Please Retain Your Ticket for the Cloakroom by Tim Foley

A threat emerges from deep inside the hidden depths of the Eternity Club. Professor Summerfield and Secretary Pym must voyage into the unknown.

In November’s release:

The Terrible Shame of a Tree by James Goss

Missing for a thousand years, the Endless Arboretum has been found. Are the last survivors of Lucrece still alive? And who is hunting for them?

Mr Pym has an Adventure by James Goss

Secretary Pym has never left the Eternity Club. This will never do. Bernice Summerfield drags him on an expedition. What could possibly go wrong?

In December’s release:

Sanctuary by Tim Foley

A battlefleet has breached the defences of the Eternity Club, demanding the surrender of The Death. Only Bernice Summerfield knows what this is – and even she cannot believe it.

Liturgy of Death by Tim Foley

The Eternity Club has fallen. How long can the survivors endure? The time has come for three members to reveal their true identities.

Alongside Lisa Bowerman, The New Adventures of Bernice Summerfield: The Eternity Club stars Nickolas Grace (Brideshead Revisited), Niamh Cusack (The Tower), Dan Starkey (Doctor Who), Simon Kane (John Finnemore’s Souvenir Programme) and Jaye Jacobs (Casualty).

Writer Tim Foley said: “My first attempt at ever writing a script was a Benny Summerfield for a GCSE school project. I’m delighted that all these years later I’ve helped James Goss set up her new era and new family. I love it when Benny leads a motley crew, and the residents of the Eternity Club can’t get any motlier.

“We’ve a new format too – half hour episodes – which allows us to tell stories of all kinds of scales. My stories will include interstellar war, cupboard cleaning, ancient secrets, and rhubarb. I hope there’s a real cosiness to these epic tales, and vice versa. The Eternity Club may have seen better days, but if anyone can get it back on track, it’s Professor Bernice Summerfield.”

Producer and writer James Goss added: “We’re still really feeling the loss of David Warner’s Unbound Doctor, and we wanted the fans and Benny herself to have a nice sit down and a chance to reflect on what else is in the universe. Tim and I thought it would be lovely to give Benny a bit of recognition – so she finally gets to join a club of the galaxy’s great explorers… only it soon turns out that not all is going according to plan.

The complete Bernice Summerfield: The Eternity Club series bundle is now available to pre-order for just £40 (collector’s edition CD + download) or £32 (download only), exclusively from http://www.bigfinish.com. Please note: the collector’s edition CDs are strictly limited to 1,000 copies each and will not be repressed.

“We’re showcasing several monsters from the worlds of Doctor Who in an unusual way – there’s a Sontaran academic, a Draconian archaeologist and a member of Drahvin royalty in exile. But there’s also something very peculiar about the Eternity Club itself – no-one can remember why it was founded, or even how they got there. Is it all to do with some of the other members?”