 | |
| Author | Paul Cornell |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Jon Sullivan |
| Series | Doctor Who book: The New Adventures |
Release number | 1 |
| Subject | Featuring: Bernice Summerfield |
| Publisher | Virgin Books |
Publication date | May 1997 |
| ISBN | 0426205073 |
| Preceded by | The Dying Days |
| Followed by | Dragons' Wrath |
Oh No It Isn't! is a novel published in 1997 by Paul Cornell from the Virgin New Adventures featuring the fictional archaeologist Bernice Summerfield.
The New Adventures were a series of novels based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who , made by the BBC. They had originally been licensed Doctor Who stories, but in the wake of the return of Doctor Who to television screens with the 1996 movie, the BBC did not renew publisher Virgin Books' licence. [1]
Virgin had for some time planned for a spin-off series based on the characters and settings created in the Doctor Who New Adventures. With the licence gone, they continued the monthly release schedule of the New Adventures, but switched to stories featuring the character of Bernice Summerfield (known as Benny), beginning with Oh No It Isn't!. [2] The author, Paul Cornell, had originally created Benny as a companion for the Doctor. He attended a mid-July 1996 meeting at Virgin with the New Adventures editorial team and several regular authors for the line to plan the basics of the Benny books. [3]
Benny appeared regularly in the Doctor Who New Adventures for a period, before ceasing travelling with the Doctor in another Cornell-penned work, Happy Endings . She was re-introduced as a regular character in the last Doctor Who New Adventure, The Dying Days by Lance Parkin, who had also been at the Benny books planning meeting, which led into Oh No It Isn't!. [3]
Oh No It Isn't! also provided the initial set-up and background to the Benny-led New Adventures that followed, including re-introducing the Doctor's pet cat Wolsey (originally from Cornell's New Adventure Human Nature ) and the artificial intelligence known as God (originally from the New Adventure The Also People ). The book also introduces the alien race the Grels, who would re-appear in later Benny stories. The cover features Benny and Wolsey, and was by Jon Sullivan. [4]
The novel title and content reference the traditions of pantomime, reflecting Cornell's interest in traditional conceptions and icons of Englishness. Englishness and whimsy were intended to be part of the Benny book series. [3]
Bernice Summerfield's investigation into the lost civilisation of Perfection takes a turn for the strange when her cat Wolsey turns into the pantomime character Puss in Boots.
| Oh No It Isn't! | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Big Finish Productions audio drama | |
| Series | Bernice Summerfield |
| Release no. | 1 |
| Featuring | Bernice Summerfield |
| Written by | Paul Cornell adapted by Jac Rayner |
| Directed by | Nicholas Briggs |
| Produced by | Gary Russell |
| Executive producer(s) | Jason Haigh-Ellery |
| Length | 1 hr 50 mins |
| Release date | September 1998 |
In 1998, Oh No It Isn't! was adapted by Big Finish Productions into an audio drama starring Lisa Bowerman as Bernice. This was the debut release by Big Finish, who started with a series of Bernice Summerfield-led adaptations of New Adventure novels before later obtaining a licence to do original Doctor Who stories. [5]
Cornell was asked to do the adaptation but was too busy, instead suggesting his then girlfriend Jacqueline Rayner could do it. Rayner went on to write all but one of Big Finish's New Adventure adaptations.
The audio drama also features actor Nicholas Courtney who is better known for playing the recurring character of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart in the television series Doctor Who.
Paul Douglas Cornell is a British writer. He is best known for his work in television drama as well as Doctor Who fiction, being the creator of one of the Doctor's spin-off companions, Bernice Summerfield.
The Virgin New Adventures are a series of novels from Virgin Publishing based on the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who. They continued the story of the Doctor from the point at which the television programme went into hiatus from television in 1989.
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, and Summerfield was introduced in Cornell's novel Love and War in 1992.
Peter Darvill-Evans is an English writer and editor.
Lance Parkin is a British author. He is best known for writing fiction and reference books for television series, in particular Doctor Who and as a storyliner on Emmerdale.
Kate Orman is an Australian author, best known for her books connected to the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who.
Ace is a fictional character played by Sophie Aldred in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A 20th-century Earth teenager from the London suburb of Perivale, she is a companion of the Seventh Doctor and was a regular in the series from 1987 to 1989 and returned in 2022. She is considered one of the Doctor's most popular companions.
Jacqueline Rayner is a British author, best known for her work with the licensed fiction based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who.
Daniel O'Mahony is a half-British half-Irish author, born in Croydon. He is the oldest of five children, his siblings including Eoin O'Mahony of the band Hamfatter, and Madeleine O'Mahony, who has designed and made hats for Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge.
The Virgin Decalog books were collections of short stories published by Virgin Publishing based on the television series Doctor Who: they gained their name from the fact that each volume contained ten stories. Five volumes were published between 1994 and September 1997, although volumes 4 and 5 did not feature the Doctor or any other non-Virgin copyrighted characters. This is because the BBC decided not to renew Virgin's licence to produce original fiction featuring the Doctor or any characters featured in the TV series. Following this, the BBC began producing their own Doctor Who fiction, including short stories under the name Short Trips.
The Dying Days is an original novel written by Lance Parkin and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was last of the New Adventures range to feature the Doctor and the only one of that range to feature Paul McGann's Eighth Doctor. Thereafter the series centred on the character of Bernice Summerfield. The Dying Days features the classic series monsters, the Ice Warriors and is strongly influenced by The War of the Worlds.
Martin Day is a screenwriter and novelist best known for his work on various spin-offs related to the BBC Television series Doctor Who, and many episodes of the soaps Fair City, Doctors and Family Affairs. Having worked previously at Bath Spa University, he is now visiting lecturer in creative writing at the University of Winchester and the Wessex regional representative of the Writers' Guild of Great Britain.
Paul J. Leonard Hinder, better known by his pseudonym of Paul Leonard and also originally published as PJL Hinder, is an author best known for his work on various spin-off fiction based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who.
Just War is a novel by Lance Parkin from the Virgin New Adventures. The New Adventures were based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The novel featured the characters of the Seventh Doctor, Bernice Summerfield, Chris Cwej and Roz Forrester.
Human Nature is an original novel written by Paul Cornell, from a plot by Cornell and Kate Orman, and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The work began as fan fiction.
Happy Endings is an original novel written by Paul Cornell and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It is the fiftieth book in the Virgin New Adventures series. It features the Seventh Doctor, Bernice, Chris, Roz, Jason, Ace, the Brigadier, Romana II, Kadiatu and Irving Braxiatel, as well as characters from almost every previous New Adventures novel. It centres on the wedding of Bernice and Jason.
The Highest Science is an original novel written by Gareth Roberts and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It features the Seventh Doctor and Bernice and the first appearance of the recurring monsters, the Chelonians. A prelude to the novel, also penned by Roberts, appeared in Doctor Who Magazine #196.
Twilight of the Gods is a novel by Mark Clapham and Jon de Burgh Miller from the Virgin New Adventures with the fictional archaeologist Bernice Summerfield as its main character. The New Adventures were based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Twilight of the Gods was the twenty-third and final New Adventure featuring only Bernice after Virgin lost the licence to publish original Doctor Who fiction.
Lists of books based on Doctor Who cover different types of book in the Doctor Who media franchise. These include novels, audiobooks, and short story anthologies. The lists are organized by publisher and imprint.
