''Oh No It Isn't!'' is a novel published in 1997 by

Paul Cornell Paul Douglas Cornell (born 18 July 1967) is a British writer. He has worked in television drama and ''Doctor Who'' fiction, being the creator of one of the Doctor's spin-off companions, Bernice Summerfield. Other British television dramas f ...

from the

Virgin New Adventures The ''Virgin New Adventures'' (NA series, or NAs) are a series of novels from Virgin Publishing based on the British Science fiction on television, science-fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. They continued the story of the Doctor from th ...

featuring the fictional archaeologist Bernice Summerfield.

Writing and development

The New Adventures were a series of novels based on the long-running British

science fiction television Science fiction first appeared in television programming in the late 1930s, during what is called the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary ...

series ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'', made by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

. 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 Virgin Books is a British book publisher 90% owned by the publishing group Random House, and 10% owned by Virgin Group, the company originally set up by Richard Branson as a record company. History Virgin established its book publishing ...

' licence. 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!''. The author, Paul Cornell, had originally created Benny as a companion for

the Doctor The Doctor, sometimes known as Doctor Who, is the protagonist of the long-running BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. An extraterrestrial Time Lord, the Doctor travels the universe in a time travelling spaceship called th ...

. 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.''The Who Adventures'' by David J Howe, Canterbury: Telos Publishing Ltd., , p. 274 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!''. ''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 Human nature comprises the fundamental dispositions and characteristics—including ways of Thought, thinking, feeling, and agency (philosophy), acting—that humans are said to have nature (philosophy), naturally. The term is often used to denote ...

'') and the

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...

known as

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

(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. The novel title and content reference the traditions of

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment, generally combining gender-crossing actors and topical humour with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or ...

, reflecting Cornell's interest in traditional conceptions and icons of Englishness. Englishness and whimsy were intended to be part of the Benny book series.

Plot

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 "Puss in Boots" (; ; ; ) is a European fairy tale about an anthropomorphic cat who uses trickery and deceit to gain power, wealth, and the hand in marriage of a princess for his penniless and low-born master. The oldest written telling version ...

Audio adaptation

In 1998, ''Oh No It Isn't!'' was adapted by

Big Finish Productions Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and radio drama, audio plays (released straight to compact disc and for download in MP3 and m4b format) based, primarily, on science fiction properties. These include ''Doctor Who'' ...

into an

audio drama Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatised, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...

starring

Lisa Bowerman Lisa Bowerman (born 1 February 1962) is a British actress. She is best known for portraying Sandra Mute, the paramedic, in the first two series of the BBC One medical drama '' Casualty'', and ''Doctor Who'' companion Professor Bernice Summerfie ...

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.”Transmedia Publishing: Three Complementary Cases” by A Horne, in “The Routledge Companion to Transmedia Studies”, edited by Matthew Freeman & Renira Rampazzo Gambarato, 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 Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, generally referred to simply as the Brigadier, is a fictional character in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', created by writers Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln and played by Ni ...

in the television series ''Doctor Who''.

Cast

* Bernice Summerfield —

* Wolsey the Cat — Nicholas Courtney *Jayne Waspo/Bitchy — Jo Castleton *Michael Doran/Cute — Jonathan Brüün *Captain Balsam/King Rupert — Colin McIntyre *Lt Prince/Prince Charming —

Nicholas Briggs Nicholas Briggs (born 29 September 1961) is an English actor, writer, director, sound designer and composer. He is associated with the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' and its spin-offs, particularly as the voice of the Da ...

*Professor Candy/Dame Candy — James Campbell *The Grand Vizier —

Mark Gatiss Mark Gatiss (; born 17 October 1966) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, director, producer and novelist. Best known for his acting work on stage and screen as well as for co-creating television shows with Steven Moffat, he has received ...

*The Grel Master — Alistair Lock

References

External links

The Cloister Library - ''Oh No It Isn't!''

The Whoniverse - Discontinuity Guide entry for ''Oh No It Isn't!''

* {{Authority control 1997 British novels 1997 science fiction novels Virgin New Adventures Bernice Summerfield audio plays Novels by Paul Cornell Bernice Summerfield novels