Professor Bernice Summerfield and the Greatest Shop in the Galaxy (audio story)

, or simply The Greatest Shop in the Galaxy, was the eleventh Bernice Summerfield audio story produced by Big Finish Productions. This is writer Paul Ebbs' first contribution to the Bernice Summerfield range.

Publisher's summary
Benny is not digging up the car park of the Gigamarket for nothing. Oh no. There's no way that she was there for any other reason than to investigate the famed Latrines of Baladroon. Shoes? She was there to buy shoes? Get outta here!

Monsters? Nah! What would they want with the Greatest Shop in the Galaxy? I mean, come on -- what would monsters like the Borvali want to buy?

Time Anomalies? You need the science fiction section of the book department if you want Time Anomalies, mate.

Everything here is under control. Honest...

Plot
Accompanied by Joseph and a group of dormant Archaeobots, Benny heads to a dig on Baladroon despite Braxiatel's lack of interest as she wishes to shop at the Gigamarket. She tries to use Adrian's credit chip to pay for a copy of Sinister Scratchings, an authority on Baladroonian latrines, but finds that Adrian knows that she has taken it and has amended the spending ceiling to lukewarm. Keelor of the Gigamarket Corporation, a fan of hers, gives her the book as a gift and takes her to the Shoe Canyon.

Joseph begins to glitch, giving the date as nine days prior, and the leather shoes transform back into cows. After Joseph informs her that the credit chip no longer has a spending ceiling, Benny purchases an excessive number of shoes and is chased by a Bovali, a monster which has somehow got through the force wall separating the Human Sector and the Bovali Protectorate and is killing the customers. She finds Keelor and they are saved by soldiers whom Keelor recognises as being from a century ago, with Lieutenant Kerlor Tarband Trantz being his grandfather. Tarband agrees to help them save the customers and engage with the Borvali.

Benny finds that the Gigamarket have bags of humans hanging from the ceiling and have been selling them to the Borvali in another time zone. As there has been a temporal accident, a blanking bomb has been automatically primed and will reduce the Gigamarket to its constituent parts once it detonates. Benny and Keelor attempt to disarm it, but Joggon stops them and holds them at gunpoint, revealing that he anonymously paid Keelor to sabotage the time equipment in order to bring down the Gigamarket's stock prices and allow him to take it over. He joins Keelor in defusing the bomb to protect his business interests.

to be added

Cast

 * Bernice Summerfield - Lisa Bowerman
 * Joseph the Porter - Steven Wickham
 * Keelor - David Benson
 * Joggon - Toby Longworth
 * Tarband - Steven Allen
 * Borvali Voices - Robert Lock
 * Shopkeeper - Juliet Warner

Continuity

 * Benny has seen time machinery before. (PROSE: Love and War, etc.)