Professor Bernice Summerfield and the Heart's Desire (audio story)

Professor Bernice Summerfield and the Heart's Desire, or simply The Heart's Desire, was the twenty-fourth Bernice Summerfield audio story released by Big Finish Productions. It was the first story of the sixth season of audio stories, released in June 2005 and continued the same themes and focus as the 1983 Doctor Who television story Enlightenment, featuring both Enlightenment and the Eternals.

Publisher's summary
Christmas is a time for family, for feeling a bit sick after you've stuffed your face full of food, and for forcing a smile at the musical socks that Braxiatel thought would amuse you. It's not a time for zipping halfway across the galaxy with the wafer-thin hope that you can save your home from being destroyed by a previously uncharted pulsar that's heading your way.

And that's pulsing a message in Morse Code.

Deciphering the message leads Bernice Summerfield to Marlowe's World, a place where death is irrelevant even though it lies at every corner, where the wildlife is just sooo cute — but lethal — and, most important of all, where you must be very, very careful what you wish for...

Plot
Upon learning of a pulsar heading towards the now-evacuated Braxiatel Collection and sending out the coordinates of Marlowe's World in Morse code, Benny travels to the planet and meets Raymond Hardy. Hardy escorts her away from the spaceport in his hovercar and they are attacked by a group of men before Barron and his gang attempt to take the car from them. After the situation is dealt with, Benny and Hardy give their statements to the authorities and head to Hardy's office where Topsy Turvé is waiting for him, claiming that her husband, Maximillian Kachowski, has killed her lover and is now trying to kill her. He declines to help her, however, as he plans on leaving the city because of the people trying to kill him.

A grand piano almost falls on Topsy as she leaves and she leaves in her hovercar with Benny when they are shot at by Barron, despite Benny having seen him killed by the police. Benny and Topsy head towards the Blue Oyster Club, but they are attacked by a crowd and crash in their attempt to escape, forcing them to abandon the hovercar and run to a zoo. They flee from a variety of hostile animals and Benny calls for Hardy, saying that she is done playing his game, after which she is teleported to Hardy and Barron. She learns that they are Eternals and that Hardy is in possession of a shard of Enlightenment which he has to share with Barron as he was able to make Benny aware that she was part of a game. In fact, Benny has been suspicious since she arrived as Hardy referred to the Collection as KS-159 depsite that information not being in Braxiatel's message.

Hardy reveals that he created Marlowe's World using Enlightenment and that everybody on the planet have played the game and failed, including Topsy. He refuses to share Enlightenment with Barron, who is able to shoot and kill Hardy due to him having become Ephemeral thanks to his time spent living as part of Marlowe's World. Benny takes Enlightenment and uses it to give herself a normal life and no memory of her real life, but Barron follows her, kills Topsy and threatens to kill her child if she does not tell him where Enlightenment is. Hardy appears, posing as Jason, tries to get her to take him to a safe place, but she realises the deception and uses Enlightenment to transport back to her shuttle with Barron, soon joined again by Hardy who confirms that he became Eternal again following his Ephemeral death.

Benny gets rid of the pulsar, returns her friends and family home to the Collection and throws Enlightenment from the air lock after making Barron and Hardy mortal. She heads back to the Collection with the two former Eternals, planning on handing them over to the Collection's, and wishes them a Merry Christmas when the clock strikes midnight.

Cast

 * Bernice Summerfield - Lisa Bowerman
 * Raymond Hardy - Conrad Westmaas
 * Barron - Steven Bugdale
 * Ms Topsy Turvé - Lucy Beresford

Worldbuilding

 * Marlowe's World is a G-class planet.
 * Topsy came third in the fourth series of So You Want to Revive a Flagging Career.
 * Topsy assists the Dazzling Darren, an illusionist.
 * Topsy is married to Maximillian Kachowski, also known as One-Eyed Mad Max.
 * Benny meets two Eternals who are battling for Enlightenment.
 * Topsy once had a parakeet called Marvin. He had an accident with Topsy's father's hovercar.

Continuity

 * Both Enlightenment and the Eternals were introduced in Enlightenment.
 * Benny mentions the time she faced an angry mob of veterans on Mars. (PROSE: Beige Planet Mars)
 * The Eternals mention Benny's familiarity with pantomime and mention Aladdin. (AUDIO: Oh No It Isn't!)