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“OH NO IT ISN’T! – PANTO, PLOT TWISTS, AND PROFESSOR SUMMERFIELD’S GRAND ENTRANCE”

It all begins here – not with a bang, but with a pantomime. Oh No It Isn’t! marks Big Finish’s very first commercial audio drama, adapted from Paul Cornell’s 1997 Virgin New Adventures novel by Jacqueline Rayner. It introduces us to Professor Bernice Summerfield in her very own spin-off series, and as opening salvos go, it’s a surreal and chaotic mixture of genre pastiche, sharp wit, and gleeful absurdity.

The setup is relatively straightforward at first: Benny and her students are en route to an archaeological expedition, passing the time with drinks and banter aboard a spaceship. But the story takes a sharp left turn into madness when the ship is attacked by the war-hungry Grell – and Benny wakes up in a reality governed by pantomime logic, where her crewmates now play characters from classic fairytales.

What follows is a heady blend of Cinderella, Aladdin, Sleeping Beauty and other familiar stories all mashed into a surreal, storybook-esque afterlife. It’s a clever conceit, but also one that assumes at least a basic familiarity with British panto traditions – those without that cultural background may find themselves scratching their heads during the more bizarre segments.

A FAIRYTALE FULL OF FANTASY, FARCE AND… FURRY FELINES?

There’s an odd tension in the tone – Rayner’s adaptation preserves the snappy dialogue and irreverent humour, but doesn’t shy away from a few surprisingly crude jokes that feel a bit out of place given Big Finish’s usual restraint. Still, the sharpness of the writing keeps things buoyant, even as the plot begins to wobble under the weight of its own madness.

Among the most bonkers moments? Benny breaking the fourth wall to sing Row, Row, Row Your Boat with the audience, and Nicholas Courtney (yes, the Brigadier!) voicing Benny’s talking cat, Wolsey. If that sentence didn’t tip you off, this isn’t your typical sci-fi audio.

The rest of the cast is just as unexpected. Mark Gatiss shows up as a scheming Grand Vizier, Nicholas Briggs is Prince Charming, and the characters Benny knows in real life have now become exaggerated panto archetypes in this alternate world. It’s both disorienting and amusing, with Benny the only one aware that something isn’t quite right.

THE MYSTERY (SORT OF) UNRAVELS

Much like the world she’s trapped in, the plot loses focus as the story goes on. The mystery of where Benny is and what’s going on keeps things compelling for a while, but there’s little actual tension. By the halfway mark, the surreal setting begins to wear thin, and the momentum dips.

Still, the second half does course-correct slightly when Benny starts questioning the rules of the story itself – noting, for instance, that there aren’t enough songs or audience interactions for it to be a proper panto. Eventually, we get a sci-fi twist: the whole thing is a virtual reality created by a godlike genie-like figure. It fits the story’s tone, sure, but doesn’t exactly stick the landing.

The Grell – initially positioned as major antagonists – are also sorely underused. Their apparent plan to conquer the world with zany alien vices comes to nothing. But perhaps that’s the joke – the threat is never really meant to be taken seriously. This is comedy, after all.

BENNY TAKES THE STAGE

Lisa Bowerman makes her audio debut as Bernice Summerfield and feels right at home, even if she sounds startlingly young compared to the more seasoned portrayal we’d come to know. She carries the whole story with confidence and charisma, balancing the academic smarts and the sharp tongue that made Benny such a fan-favourite in the Virgin New Adventures novels.

It’s also great that the story leans into her archaeological expertise – she eventually figures out her situation because she recognises the pantomime traditions as part of Earth's cultural history. That’s a very Benny thing to do and a lovely character touch that sells her as a Doctor-ish protagonist in her own right.

📝VERDICT: 7/10

Oh No It Isn’t! is a charmingly chaotic first step into Big Finish’s world, as experimental as it is strange. The plot sometimes loses its way and the humour can be hit-and-miss depending on your familiarity with panto, but Lisa Bowerman’s performance, Jacqueline Rayner’s witty script, and the sheer audacity of the premise make this a memorable debut. It’s not perfect – more curious oddity than classic opener – but it’s a bold and fitting start for a character as unorthodox as Professor Summerfield.

Fun, flawed, and fabulously weird – and exactly the kind of gamble that would come to define Big Finish.