Stories Audio Drama Bernice Summerfield Oh No It Isn’t! 1 image Overview Characters How to Listen Reviews 9 Statistics Related Stories Quotes Overview Released September 1998 Written by Jacqueline Rayner, Paul Cornell Cover Art by Jon Sullivan Publisher Big Finish Productions Directed by Nicholas Briggs Runtime 111 minutes Time Travel Future Tropes (Potential Spoilers!) Breaking the Fourth Wall, Virtual Reality Synopsis "The King's balls get bigger every year!" What could possibly go wrong on Professor Bernice Summerfield's investigation into the lost civilisation of Perfecton? Nothing, it seems - until they leave the planet and spot a dirty great missile heading towards their ship. But instead of oblivion, Benny finds herself plunged into the strange world of... panto. Listen Listened Favourite Favourited Add Review Edit Review Log a repeat Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Owned Save to my list Saved Edit date completed Custom Date Release Date Archive (no date) Save Characters Bernice Summerfield Lisa Bowerman Grel Perfecton Wolsey Show All Characters (4) How to listen to Oh No It Isn’t!: Big Finish Audio Bernice Summerfield: Oh No It Isn’t! Reviews Add Review Edit Review Sort: Date (Newest First) Date (Oldest First) Likes (High-Low) Likes (Low-High) Rating (High-Low) Rating (Low-High) Word count (High-Low) Word count (Low-High) Username (A-Z) Username (Z-A) Spoilers First Spoilers Last 9 reviews 7 April 2025 · 780 words Review by MrColdStream 3 Thworping through time and space, one adventure at a time! “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. MrColdStream View profile Like Liked 3 5 April 2025 · 80 words Review by CommanderBayban 3 It started off great, but around the forty-five minute mark it started overstaying its welcome. This had no business being two hours long. Nothing was really going on and the plot was hardly moving. Bernice seems like a cool character, so there’s that. I also wasn’t expecting to hear all the innuendos, but I didn’t mind it as much as I did in The Kingmaker. It’s fine. It’s definitely one of those audios you could leave on in the background. CommanderBayban View profile Like Liked 3 5 April 2025 · 159 words Review by RandomJoke 5 Oh No It Isn't is a bit of a weird one. It's totally bonkers and not what I expected. Just having Wolsey played by Nic Courtney was a delightful Surprise, which I heard about but totally forgot when I listened to it. He plays the Role great and doesn't feel like the Brigadier, even if his Voice always makes me think of the Brig. I must admit, after listening to this one, I was a bit confused. It does feel a bit odd as a Starting Point for the Benny Audios, but the more I thought about it, the more I ended up liking it. This is thanks to Benny and her attitude throughout the whole Story, which has been already mentioned by some. Bowerman feels right at home in the Audio Drama Medium. It's unusual, it's bonkers, it's more fantasy than Sci-Fi, it's VERY pantomime, but at the End of the Day, Yes It Is a great Story! RandomJoke View profile Like Liked 5 5 February 2025 · 466 words Review by KnuppMello 1 Original (Brazilian Portuguese) Translation (English) Se tratando do primeiro áudio produzido pela BIG FINISH, chega ser difícil não se surpreender com o nível de qualidade apresentado logo em seu produto inicial, ainda mais tomando conhecimento dos poucos recursos que a empresa tinha na época - A própria Lisa Bowerman chegou a declarar em uma entrevista que ao chegar no local da gravação, subestimou o projeto e acabou se surpreendendo positivamente com o resultado final do áudio. Felizmente “Oh No it Isn’t” mostrou o quão a BIG FINISH era algo muito promissor na época, não é à toa que anos mais tarde conquistou popularidade e relevância, conseguindo os direitos autorais para produzir áudios da marca Doctor Who. Vale ressaltar que a primeira temporada da Professor Bernice Summerfield é composta por histórias que não são originais da BIG FINISH, mas sim trata-se de adaptações de alguns dos livros da linha “Virgin New Adventures” obviamente da Virgin Books. “Oh No it Isn’t” é o piloto do spin-off de Benny nos livros, não poderia ser diferente nos áudios – É impressionante como Paul Cornell sempre é firme em suas escritas apresentando uma precisão que beira a perfeição, o escritor te leva a explora seu worldbuiding (criação de mundo) que vai além da imaginação, entregando uma ideia totalmente experimental e surrealista, até mesmo flertando um pouco com “Alice no País da Maravilhas”. Após finalizar uma escavação no planeta Perfection, Benny sobe a bordo de uma nave de transporte junto a sua equipe de alunos, logo todos são surpreendidos com uma espécie de alienígenas parecidos fisicamente com lulas marinhas chamados “Grels”. Um míssil atinge a nave e Benny acorda em um mundo onde toda a realidade que conhece está de cabeça para baixo, seu querido gato “Wolsey” agora pode falar e tem a voz do Nicholas Courtney (Brigadeiro). Não demora muito para notarmos que “Oh No it Isn’t” é uma história assumidamente cômica, uma sátira a mundos surrealistas com direito a ácida personalidade de Benny no meio disso tudo. Por mais que os desenrolares da aventura não seja lá grande coisa, toda a experiência é compensada pelo seu humor precisamente engraçado. É bom esclarecer aos leitores acostumados a ver bastante reviews de Doctor Who aqui, que a linha “Professor Bernice Summerfield” destoa do tom visto da série da BBC, temos situações e diálogos voltado a algo mais maduro. Mas fiquem tranquilos, até o momento não identifiquei nada que pudesse apontar como apelativo, essas coisas são inseridas de forma natural não interferindo a experiência das aventuras. Em resumo, eu passei boa parte do tempo rindo e me divertindo com essa história. Mas confesso que ainda ficou um pouco aquém de ganhar minha nota máxima, grande parcela disso é por conta de seus últimos trinta minutos que acabam se arrastando, cansado com uma narrativa e sequência de eventos desgastantes. When it comes to the first audio produced by BIG FINISH, it's hard not to be astonished by the level of quality displayed right from their initial product, especially considering the limited resources the company had at the time - Lisa Bowerman herself has stated in an interview that upon arriving at the recording site, she underestimated the project and was pleasantly surprised by the final outcome of the audio. Fortunately, “Oh No It Isn’t” showed how promising BIG FINISH was at the time, which is not surprising that years later it gained popularity and relevance, securing the rights to produce Doctor Who audio plays. It’s worth noting that the first season of Professor Bernice Summerfield consists of stories that aren't original creations of BIG FINISH, but rather adaptations of some books from the “Virgin New Adventures” line obviously by Virgin Books. “Oh No It Isn’t” is the pilot of the Benny spin-off in the books, and it couldn’t be different in the audios – It's amazing how Paul Cornell is always firm in his writing, presenting an accuracy that borders on perfection, the writer takes you to explore his worldbuilding that goes beyond imagination, delivering a wholly experimental and surrealistic idea, even flirting a bit with “Alice in Wonderland”. After finishing an excavation on the planet Perfection, Benny boards a transport ship with her team of students, soon they are all surprised by a species of alien resembling marine squids called “Grels”. A missile hits the ship and Benny wakes up in a world where all the reality she knows is upside down, her beloved cat “Wolsey” can now talk and has the voice of Nicholas Courtney (the Brigadier). It doesn’t take long to notice that “Oh No It Isn’t” is a frankly comedic story, a satire of surrealistic worlds with Benny's sharp personality at the centre of it all. Although the developments of the adventure aren't all that great, the entire experience is compensated by its precisely funny humour. It is good to clarify to readers used to seeing lots of Doctor Who reviews here, that the “Professor Bernice Summerfield” line strays from the tone seen in the BBC series, featuring situations and dialogues aimed at something more mature. But rest assured, so far I haven't identified anything that could be pointed out as pandering, these things are inserted naturally not interfering with the experience of the adventures. In summary, I spent a lot of time laughing and enjoying this story. But I confess that it still fell a bit short of earning my top mark, a large part of this is due to its last thirty minutes which end up dragging, tiring with a narrative and sequence of exhausting events. (Translation generated by AI, so mistakes are possible). KnuppMello View profile Like Liked 1 8 January 2025 · 83 words Review by 15thDoctor Spoilers 4 This review contains spoilers! Pantomime is a bit rubbish isn't it? Thankfully the character of Bernice Summerfield is so well drawn, and so perfectly acted by Lisa Bowerman that this still holds up well enough. If you can put up with the dick jokes and painful innuendo. I loved the side characters too (until we got sucked into the pantomime universe). The first 20 minutes felt surprisingly established. Luckily as the concept gets a bit dodgy Nicholas Courtney joins the mix - his performance is a total pleasure. 15thDoctor View profile Like Liked 4 Show All Reviews (9) Open in new window Statistics AVG. Rating99 members 3.66 / 5 GoodReads AVG. Rating144 votes 3.86 / 5 The Time Scales AVG. Rating106 votes 3.95 / 5 Member Statistics Listened 168 Favourited 18 Reviewed 9 Saved 3 Skipped 0 Related Stories Other adaptations of this story: We define an adaptation as a recreation of a similar story but on a different medium or with different characters. Virgin New Adventures Oh No It Isn’t! Rating: 3.52 Story Skipped Book More Actions View Sets Close Related Sets Set of Stories: Virgin Books Set of Stories: Virgin New Adventures Add Review Edit Review Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Save to my list Saved Quotes Add Quote Submit a Quote