85-736: The Virgin New Adventures (NA series, or NAs) 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. From 1991 to 1997, all the books except the final one involved the Seventh Doctor , who was portrayed on television by Sylvester McCoy ;
170-470: A Gallifrey in ruins, writing her story which she left among the ruins. The last entry of Dead Romance states that she believed that the "real" universe was just a bigger bottle within bigger and bigger bottles; and maybe she could keep traveling upwards through the different bottles until she found the real universe. However she did not seem to achieve this goal as she sent a letter to Bernice in Twilight of
255-592: A 90% stake in the company in March 2007. In November 2009, Virgin became an independent imprint within Ebury Publishing , a division of the Random House Group. Other popular ranges have included various erotic fiction lines: Dead Romance Professor Bernice Surprise Summerfield , or simply Benny , is a fictional character created by author Paul Cornell as a new companion of
340-636: A baby boy whom she named Peter . The Killorans appear in the Doctor Who audio plays Arrangements for War (where they invade the planet Világ) and its sequel Thicker than Water . The novella Hiding Places by Stewart Sheargold , published in the anthology Parallel Lives , reveals that Adrian was present on Világ. This section includes characters who will appear or have appeared in at least one season. The first season of Bernice Summerfield audio plays are all adaptations of New Adventures novels originally published by Virgin Publishing . Each of
425-424: A crossover with Arthur Conan Doyle 's characters Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson , and also with H. P. Lovecraft 's Cthulhu Mythos . Editor Peter Darvill-Evans initially told Lane that Holmes and Watson were to become the Doctor's new companions, but this did not happen. As well as introducing new characters, the range also provided a showcase for new writing talent. Notable was Paul Cornell who wrote five of
510-571: A darker, more mysterious past than the audience has previously been led to believe. The other two plays that comprise the third season focus more specifically on Bernice. The Greatest Shop in the Galaxy remains the most light-hearted play of the season, while The Dance of the Dead reintroduces the Ice Warriors from Doctor Who . While not officially part of the third season (at least as far as
595-563: A degree from Heidelberg University. She published an archaeological book called Down Among the Dead Men in the year 2566. Theatre of War features the first encounter between Bernice and Irving Braxiatel (from her perspective). He later becomes a regular character in the Bernice Summerfield-only New Adventures. In Sanctuary Bernice falls in love with Guy de Carnac, a former Knight Templar . He
680-471: A full-length original Doctor Who novel had been adapted for television, although Cornell (who also wrote the teleplay) had to make substantial changes to transform his Seventh Doctor novel into a story featuring the Tenth Doctor. Big Finish Productions produced audio drama adaptations of the novels Birthright and Just War , altering them to remove the Doctor and his various companions and focus on
765-616: A job as professor of archaeology at the St Oscar's University on the planet of Dellah. A meeting was held at Virgin in mid-July 1996 with the New Adventures editorial team, Peter Darvill-Evans, Rebecca Levene and Simon Winstone, and several regular writers for the series: Paul Cornell, Gareth Roberts, Andy Lane, Lance Parkin and Justin Richards. This was to plan the basics of the Benny books. Parkin's The Dying Days as then tasked with getting
850-551: A missile to destroy a Dalek spy satellite. In the audio drama Death and the Daleks , Summerfield is portrayed by Ian Collier , who voiced Omega in Arc of Infinity and Omega . Narrator of the standalone novel Dead Romance , which did not feature Bernice. Christine found out her entire world was a bottle universe being used by Time Lords as a bolt hole to escape the Gods. During
935-721: A monthly publication schedule. In July 1994, Virgin began a companion range of novels, the Missing Adventures , which told stories of previous incarnations of the Doctor. Following the Doctor Who television movie in 1996 the BBC chose not to renew Virgin's licence to produce Doctor Who novels, choosing instead to publish their own line of original Doctor Who fiction. After 61 New Adventures and 33 Missing Adventures, Doctor Who fiction came to an end at Virgin with The Dying Days , their only Eighth Doctor novel. However,
SECTION 10
#17328018474261020-402: A nuclear device on Earth. This would trigger an arms-race that could lead to the development of weapons capable of defeating the Daleks when they tried to invade Earth in the 22nd century. However, the alien he was conspiring with was revealed to be a Dalek agent, and was uncovered by the Doctor. Managing to forgive her father for his manipulation, Bernice teamed up with him and the Doctor and used
1105-552: A series of affairs with female students. Bernice tells him about the events of The Goddess Quandary and then The Crystal of Cantus . During the second of these adventures, he also has his memory erased by Irving Braxiatel . He left the Collection in Collected Works after one of his love affairs ended tragically; though he says he might return, Benny doubts she'll see him again. Admiral Isaac Douglas Summerfield
1190-477: A spin-off of his own published by Arcbeatle Press. The series would also cross over with Faction Paradox , a spin-off of the Eighth Doctor Adventures. Notes: The adventures of Bernice Summerfield continued in a series of novels and short story anthologies published by Big Finish Productions from 2000. The New Adventures significantly expanded the Doctor Who universe . The character of
1275-464: A worm hole which deposited him back in time to 1963. There he organised a resistance cell to fight the Daleks. 20 years later, Bernice managed to locate him in the village of Little Caldwell. The Admiral was running an underground network helping stranded aliens to leave Earth. He always worried that he would be discovered and shut down by the Doctor . However, he also had a more sinister plan to detonate
1360-543: Is Cthulhu . The early New Adventures were explicitly linked in story arcs , indicated in the books' titles. Later novels in the series were often, but not always, linked in looser story arcs, which were noted in publicity materials but not in the titles. Virgin Publishing Virgin Books is a British book publisher 90% owned by the publishing group Random House , and 10% owned by Virgin Group ,
1445-520: Is Benny. When they discuss their sex lives, Jason candidly discusses having slept with nine women, five men and a number of (to varying degrees) humanoid aliens. He becomes a romantic foil for Benny, with their marriage being the centrepiece for Happy Endings , itself celebrating the New Adventures line as its fiftieth book. They are a happily married couple in Return of the Living Dad , however when
1530-541: Is Bernice Summerfield's robotic secretary. He appears in several Bernice stories across the Virgin New Adventures and Big Finish 's Bernice stories. Jason Peter Kane was introduced in Death and Diplomacy . In 1996, 13-year-old runaway Jason is caught in an alien transportation beam, which deposits him in a swamp on the planet t'Kao in the 26th century. After thirteen years, the first human being he meets
1615-591: Is a Killoran construction worker for the Braxiatel collection. Killorans are a species who resemble a cross between a wolf and an ape , and Adrian was seven feet tall with huge claws and fangs. He took his name from Hadrian's Wall , in preference to his native Killoran name, after studying the Roman emperor During the events of The Squire's Crystal , Bernice was possessed by an alien sorceress. Whilst possessed she became impregnated by Adrian, and later gave birth to
1700-440: Is also suspicious as to his past. Investigating, she finds evidence (planted by Braxiatel) that he was a Fifth Axis soldier. She asks him to leave the Collection but, unknown to her, he meets with Braxiatel who tells him that the one good summer he promised is over. Then, a year later, Jason Kane finds McGinley on the planet Cantus . Braxiatel has connected the man to an army of Cybermen in order to keep them under control. During
1785-420: Is an office worker from the early 21st Century. One day, while having a cigarette, he meets Irving Braxiatel who promises him one summer of adventure. Braxiatel brings McGinley to the Collection and instigates a romance between him and Clarissa Jones . She is still mourning the loss of her lover, Bernard Moskoff, who was killed during the events of Death and the Daleks . Clarissa enjoys her time with Ronan but
SECTION 20
#17328018474261870-519: Is killed later in the novel. In Death and Diplomacy she meets her future husband Jason Kane , who she marries in the next novel, Happy Endings . Bernice leaves the TARDIS after this novel, but she appears in certain subsequent Doctor Who novels. In Return of the Living Dad , Bernice finally resolves the mystery of what happened to her father. Virgin had long considered a non- Doctor Who spin-off series, but plans were moved forwards when they lost
1955-573: Is the father of Bernice. A high-ranking officer in space fleet, he went to fight against the Daleks and never returned to his wife and child. Bernice never gave up hope that he could still be alive, and was eventually rewarded when she found him on Earth in 1983. It was revealed in Kate Orman 's novel Return of the Living Dad that, during a battle at Bellatrix, the Admiral's ship had been drawn into
2040-731: The Doctor Who New Adventures novels, officially licensed full-length novels carrying on the story of the popular science-fiction television series following its cancellation in 1989. Virgin published this series from 1991 to 1997, as well as a range of Doctor Who reference books from 1992 to 1998 under the Doctor Who Books imprint. In recent times the company is best known for its commercial non-fiction list, which includes business, health and lifestyle, music, film, and celebrity biographies. Richard Branson 's autobiography Losing My Virginity , released in 1998,
2125-594: 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. A 26th-century archeologist , Summerfield became a hugely popular character amongst fans of
2210-660: The "classic Who monsters" season, with each play featuring an alien adversary that previously appeared in the Doctor Who television series. The Bellotron Incident predominantly features the Rutan Host (their major enemies, the Sontarans , are also referred to but don't actually appear), The Draconian Rage features the Draconians , The Poison Seas casts a more sympathetic light on the Sea Devils , while Death and
2295-611: The BBC Eighth Doctor line. The links between the NA Dead Romance (a standalone volume in which Bernice Summerfield does not actually appear) and the two-volume Eighth Doctor novel Interference (all written by Lawrence Miles) are particularly close. The New Adventures were self-described as being "stories too broad and deep for the small screen," and purported to take Doctor Who into "previously unexplored realms of time and space". What this meant, in practice,
2380-769: The BBC withdrew the Doctor Who licence, and the New Adventures continued with Benny as the lead character, an editorial decision was taken to split the couple up, as depicted in Eternity Weeps . Jason remains an intermittently recurring character. He remarries in Deadfall , but his new wife does not appear again in the series. When the New Adventures came to an end, he was trapped in an alternate dimension equivalent to Hell, but Benny's adventures continued with an ongoing series of novels and audio dramas by Big Finish Productions and, through an agreement with creator Dave Stone, Jason re-appeared (portrayed by Stephen Fewell in
2465-471: The Daleks (the first double CD release in the series since Just War ) sees the first appearance of the Daleks within the Bernice Summerfield series. Prior to its release, Death and the Daleks was entitled The Axis of Evil to keep the appearance of the Daleks a secret. Big Finish also published an anthology of short stories, entitled Life During Wartime , that was specially written as
2550-491: The Doctor has never been firmly established. Originally published once a month, the New Adventures went to once every two months after The Sword of Forever . The New Adventures continued with Bernice generally in the leading role. Oh No It Isn't! provides the set-up for subsequent stories, with Bernice becoming Professor of Archaeology at St Oscar's University on the planet Dellah. She has now put her failed marriage to Jason Kane behind her. Oh No It Isn't! also re-introduces
2635-622: The Doctor was recast as Time's Champion, which was sometimes interpreted figuratively and sometimes literally – Time, Death and Pain are occasionally seen as personified beings (possibly Eternals ), who were worshipped as gods in Ancient Gallifrey. The Doctor was also shown to have a link to the Other , a figure from the time of Rassilon and Omega ; the nature of this link was most explicitly shown in Lungbarrow . Many new parts of
Virgin New Adventures - Misplaced Pages Continue
2720-538: The Doctor. Bernice appears in one of the New Series Adventures with the Twelfth Doctor (the novel was originally planned for River Song , but plans for the 2015 Christmas special The Husbands of River Song prompted Russell to use Benny instead). This is a list of recurring characters from the Bernice Summerfield stories, both the original Virgin New Adventures featuring Bernice and
2805-627: The Gods where it is stated that she took a post at a university on the planet Vremnya. Some point after this she was initiated into Faction Paradox where she adopted the title, Cousin Eliza, and is subsequently quoted in The Book of the War ; she is one of the central characters in the Faction Paradox audio dramas. Peter Guy Summerfield is the son of Bernice and Adrian Wall. His middle name Guy
2890-540: The New Adventures novel Theatre of War . Whereas the previous seasons had focused primarily on the character of Bernice Summerfield, Big Finish used the third season as an opportunity to introduce an ensemble feel to the productions. This is most evident in The Green-Eyed Monsters and The Mirror Effect where the characters Jason Kane, Adrian Wall and Irving Braxiatel are significantly developed. The latter, in particular, suggests that Braxiatel has
2975-646: The People and Jason, and becomes romantically involved with her. Lafayette also appears in the audio play Birthright , although he had not appeared in the New Adventure on which it was based. Emile Mars-Smith was introduced in Matthew Jones 's novel Beyond the Sun in 1997. Beyond the Sun was adapted into an audio drama by Big Finish Productions , in which Emile was portrayed by Lewis Davis . Emile
3060-678: The People's Dyson sphere and is eventually revealed (in Tears of the Oracle ) to be a character from The Also People . God is the super-advanced artificial intelligence controlling the People's Dyson sphere . The character was introduced by Ben Aaronovitch in The Also People and became a frequently recurring character in the later New Adventures based around Bernice. On several occasions, God sought to use Bernice as his agent, often sending his emissary Clarence to visit her. Joseph
3145-549: The People, a highly advanced alien race from the Doctor Who New Adventures. In Ghost Devices , we meet Clarence (named after the angel in It's a Wonderful Life ). Clarence appears in the form of an angel, but is an artificial intelligence from the People who is eventually (in Tears of the Oracle ) revealed to be a character from The Also People . In Dragons' Wrath , Bernice meets Irving Braxiatel for
3230-676: The Seventh Doctor briefly appears as "the Evil Renegade" in Chris's tampered memories. Almost the entirety of the book is set within a bottle universe, a concept most fully explored in Miles's two-book cycle Interference , and it is implied that it is the same bottle universe. A second edition of Dead Romance contained some minor alterations making the book more consistent with Miles's later Faction Paradox mythos. However, this idea
3315-841: The Seventh Doctor, Chris Cwej and Roz Forrester respectively, released in May 2015; Theatre of War and All-Consuming Fire in December 2015; Nightshade in April 2016; and Original Sin and Cold Fusion in December 2016. The Bernice Summerfield novel Dead Romance was republished in 2004. In 2014, the novel Shakedown was republished by Penguin as part of The Monster Collection , followed in 2015 by Human Nature , republished as part of The History Collection . BBC Audio published audiobooks of Human Nature and Shakedown in 2015 and 2016, narrated by Lisa Bowerman and Dan Starkey respectively. Along with Bernice Summerfield, Chris Cwej would also receive
3400-560: The TARDIS were seen in the New Adventures, including a tertiary console room made of stone. The Doctor was also seen to have a house in Kent which he used as a base of operations at different points in the 20th and 21st centuries; this "House on Allen Road" first appeared in Cat's Cradle: Warhead . Also appearing in Warhead and its sequels, Warlock and Warchild (all by Andrew Cartmel ) are
3485-516: The Virgin range and many elements from this series appeared in later Doctor Who stories. With Big Finish Productions acquiring the licence to produce both Doctor Who and Bernice Summerfield audio plays and short fiction, they have been able to set audio plays within the universe of the Virgin novel line, as is the case with The Shadow of the Scourge and The Dark Flame , for example. Although
Virgin New Adventures - Misplaced Pages Continue
3570-522: The audio dramas) and his relationship with Benny restarted. It is strongly implied in The End of the World that he has been killed. John Lafayette (from Walking to Babylon ) was a Victorian translator who was exploring the ruins of Babylon. There, he stumbled across a time corridor and was drawn back in time to the city in ancient times. There he met with Bernice who was seeking out renegade members of
3655-614: The author of many Target episode novelizations and a writer and script editor for the TV series going back to the 1960s, contributed a number of novels. Barry Letts , former producer of the series during the Jon Pertwee era, contributed to the Virgin Missing Adventures line. Despite moving to the BBC line of novels, the writers (many who cut their teeth with the Virgin series) attempted to maintain continuity with
3740-474: The books, and was present until their end in 1997. She officially stopped travelling with the Doctor in Happy Endings but returned a few times thereafter, including the last Virgin New Adventure, The Dying Days . That year, Virgin had lost the licence to publish Doctor Who fiction, which was not renewed by the BBC. However, range editors Peter Darvill-Evans and Rebecca Levene decided to continue
3825-679: The character of Benny Summerfield. In October 2012 a special adaptation of Benny's debut story, Love and War was published with Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh Doctor and Sophie Aldred as Ace, to mark the 20th anniversary of the character's début. Due to the success of what was planned to be a one-off release, Big Finish continued the line with an adaptation of The Highest Science , again featuring Sylvester McCoy and Lisa Bowerman in their respective roles, in December 2014. Also produced were Russell T. Davies ' novel Damaged Goods , starring Sylvester McCoy , Travis Oliver and Yasmin Bannerman as
3910-399: The character of Benny to 2593. The new line was written by many of the writers that had written for the New Adventures and continued to feature elements of both the Doctor Who New Adventures and, to a lesser extent, television continuity. Indeed, its concluding arc – the so-called "Gods arc", which sees an alien race with god-like powers devastating Dellah – ties in with concurrent events in
3995-613: The character of Bernice Summerfield from Paul Cornell, Irving Braxiatel from Justin Richards and Jason Kane from Dave Stone , but other elements of the Virgin New Adventures' fictional universe were not obtained. Instead, Gary Russell , Jacqueline Rayner and Cornell developed a new background and character ensemble, introduced in the anthology The Dead Men Diaries and developed in the initial run of paperbacks. The most notable development in Big Finish's paperback novels
4080-455: The character on CD, and they continue to do so, making her the longest-running audio drama series in the world, the longest-running science fiction audio drama series, the longest-running audio drama series with a female lead, and – together with the books – the longest-running science fiction series with a female lead. The character is played in all Big Finish's productions by actress Lisa Bowerman , who also reprised
4165-582: The character's appearance has been modified, and recent changes include a longer hairstyle. The Doctor first meets Benny in Love and War ; she is a 30-year-old archaeologist. She was born in 2540 and is the daughter of Admiral Isaac Douglas Summerfield , a high-ranking Spacefleet officer. Her mother, Claire Summerfield, died when Daleks attacked their homeworld of Beta Caprisis, an Earth colony. She has not seen her father for many years and has spent much of her life searching for him. At times she falsely claims to have
4250-490: The company has also published various novels and short story collections featuring the character. Bernice also appeared in several comic strips in Doctor Who Magazine , with Virgin and the magazine co-operating on her visual depiction. This depiction, which was also applied to novel cover art, was of a slim, statuesque build, with short dark hair, usually shown wearing a catsuit or some similar outfit. Over time
4335-578: The company originally set up by Richard Branson as a record company . Virgin established its book publishing arm in the late 1970s; in the latter part of the 1980s Virgin purchased several existing companies, including WH Allen , well known among Doctor Who fans for their Target Books imprint; Virgin Books was incorporated into WH Allen in 1989, but in 1991 WH Allen was renamed Virgin Publishing Ltd. Virgin Publishing's early success came with
SECTION 50
#17328018474264420-401: The continuity of the audio plays and the BBC's Eighth Doctor Adventures diverge sharply from each other, they both broadly appear to maintain continuity with the Virgin series; Big Finish's early Bernice Summerfield works did not. Paul Cornell's 1995 novel, Human Nature , as noted above, formed the basis of a two-part episode of the television series broadcast in 2007. This was the first time
4505-460: The course of the novel she began a relationship with Chris Cwej and helped him to prepare the bottle for the arrival of the Time Lords. After learning of Bernice Summerfield she became fascinated by her and her history convinced there was a connection between them. The novel ended with her being betrayed by Cwej and deciding to leave the bottle for the "real" universe, she eventually ended up on
4590-436: The ecological activist Justine and psychic Vincent Wheaton. Alien races created for the New Adventures include the Chelonians (who first appear in The Highest Science ) and the Pakhars (who first appear in Legacy ). Another group of adversaries who appear in several New and Missing Adventures are the Great Old Ones , derived from H. P. Lovecraft 's Cthulhu Mythos . In the New Adventures, these beings are survivors of
4675-411: The events of this story, McGinley dies. In the audio drama The Crystal of Cantus , McGinley is portrayed by Nicholas Briggs . Parasiel is a student on the Braxiatel Collection. When he first arrives, shortly after the end of the Fifth Axis Occupation, his lack of social skills means he is not particularly popular. As he spends more time on the Collection, his behaviour softens a little, and he has
4760-419: The final Doctor Who book actually published by Virgin was So Vile a Sin , featuring the Seventh Doctor; it had been scheduled for release several months before The Dying Days but was delayed due to difficulties with the manuscript. The New Adventures series continued with Bernice Summerfield , one of the new companions introduced for the New Adventures, as the lead character, starting with her taking up
4845-433: The final book, The Dying Days , involved the Eighth Doctor , who was portrayed in the 1996 television film by Paul McGann . In further books published between 1997 and 1999, the New Adventures series focused on the character Bernice Summerfield and the Doctor did not appear. Virgin had purchased the successful children's imprint Target Books in 1989, with Virgin's new fiction editor Peter Darvill-Evans taking over
4930-407: The first time (from his perspective). Beyond the Sun introduces another recurring character, Emile Mars-Smith . Emile, Clarence and the People appear in a number of subsequent New Adventures, while Braxiatel appears in both further New Adventures and Benny stories from Big Finish. Where Angels Fear starts the Gods arc, a loose overarching story that finishes in Twilight of the Gods . Along
5015-413: The last New Adventure, The Dying Days , is again focused on Bernice more than the Doctor, with the Doctor absent from a substantial portion of the book. The Dying Days also features an ambiguous epilogue which can be taken to imply that the Doctor and Bernice have sex. This same epilogue also has the Doctor indicating that Benny is his longest-serving companion, although exactly how long she travelled with
5100-435: The license from the BBC. A number of preparations were made for the transition to Bernice-led New Adventures (see below). As Virgin felt Bernice would make a better lead as a single woman, she and Jason Kane were split up. Thus, she appears again in Eternity Weeps , a novel which describes the breakdown of her marriage and is also focused on her more than the Doctor as a prototype for the Doctor-free novels to come. Likewise,
5185-419: The main editors of the line, Peter Darvill-Evans or Rebecca Levene took the Masterplan as an absolute, preferring to develop those themes by tone rather than plot. Only a handful of books in the line are heavily based around the Masterplan. One novel in the series, Shakedown , was in fact a novelisation of an independent video production that had featured the Sontarans . The production team had licensed
SECTION 60
#17328018474265270-509: The major contributor to Target's book range; Nigel Robinson had been Darvill-Evans' predecessor as editor of the Target books; and Paul Cornell , although new to professional publishing, had been an active contributor to the Doctor Who fanzine scene and was beginning a career as a television scriptwriter. The initial four Timewyrm books were successful, and the range quickly became a regular bi-monthly series. Starting with book #11, The Highest Science , in February 1993, Virgin switched to
5355-529: The new direction. Among the developments were a "hardening" of Ace , with a story arc that had her leave the Doctor for three years (from her perspective) and returning as an older and more cynical character, more morally ambiguous endings and the introduction of new companions, such as Bernice and the Adjudicators Chris Cwej and Roz Forrester. Bernice, in particular, proved so popular that in addition to appearing in her own novels, she has gone on to star in her own audio plays as well. The novels were guided by
5440-524: The novel The Squire's Crystal by Jacqueline Rayner . The run of plays from the second season onwards take part in what has become known as the Collection continuity, as they are set primarily on the Braxiatel Collection, a combined museum and university located on the planetoid KS-159. A number of regular characters are introduced, most notably Irving Braxiatel. First referenced in the 1979 Doctor Who story City of Death (written by Douglas Adams and Graham Williams), Braxiatel first appeared in person in
5525-497: The novels, including the single most popular one (according to a Doctor Who Magazine poll), Human Nature . Cornell went on to write for the 2005 revival of the television series: " Father's Day " and " Human Nature "/" The Family of Blood ", the latter a two-part adaptation of the 38th New Adventure. Others who later worked on the revived television series include Mark Gatiss , Gareth Roberts , Matt Jones , Simon Winstone and Gary Russell . Even Russell T Davies contributed to
5610-418: The numbering is concerned), the Bernice Summerfield audio play The Plague Herds of Excelis (the fourth play in Big Finish's Excelis series; the first three plays fall under the Doctor Who umbrella) takes place between The Green-Eyed Monsters and The Dance of the Dead . Chronologically, the short story anthology A Life of Surprises also falls within this gap. The fourth season was unofficially dubbed
5695-504: The plays spans two CDs, except for Dragon's Wrath , which was issued on a single CD. The plays deviate from the original novels, in terms of plot and characters, to varying degrees. This is particularly evident with the productions of Birthright and Just War , both of which were originally Doctor Who novels. These changes were necessary because, at the time of their production, Big Finish Productions weren't licensed to produce Doctor Who audio plays. Actor and photographer Lisa Bowerman
5780-445: The range with his novel Damaged Goods . Gatiss and Roberts both did their first ever professional fiction writing for the line, as did others who later found success elsewhere, including Daniel Blythe , Justin Richards , Andy Lane and Lance Parkin . Several writers from the classic television series also got their chance to contribute – one of the best received novels was The Also People by Ben Aaronovitch . Terrance Dicks ,
5865-447: The range. Target's major output was novelisations of televised Doctor Who stories, and Darvill-Evans realised that there were few stories left to be novelised. He approached the BBC for permission to commission original stories written directly for print, but such a licence was initially refused. However, after the television series ended at the end of 1989, Virgin were granted the licence to produce full-length original novels continuing
5950-401: The role in the live-action fan film The Crystal Conundrum and a video advertisement for the audio The Triumph of Sutekh . After they gained the licence to produce Doctor Who audio dramas in 1999, Big Finish thrice featured Bernice in Doctor Who stories set during and after the run of the New Adventures novels. Big Finish are still regularly producing Bernice Summerfield audio dramas and
6035-403: The second season of Bernice Summerfield audio plays, Big Finish Productions experimented by developing ongoing character arcs that alternated between two different mediums—the audio plays and novels. Fans who did not collect the novels were initially confused to discover that Benny was pregnant during the final audio play of the season, The Skymines of Karthos . The pregnancy was explained in
6120-399: The series with Summerfield as the new lead and without the Doctor Who name, the Doctor or any other BBC copyright characters featuring. These New Adventures starring Bernice continued until 1999, when the Virgin fiction department closed down. The previous year, however, audio production company Big Finish Productions began issuing full-cast, licensed professional audio dramas starring
6205-405: The so-called Cartmel Masterplan , which was the backstory that Doctor Who story editor Andrew Cartmel had constructed for the television series when it was cancelled and never brought to fruition. Hints were therefore dropped about the "true" nature of the Seventh Doctor, which culminated in the penultimate novel in the Virgin series, Lungbarrow , written by Marc Platt . That said, neither of
6290-478: The story from the point at which the series had concluded. The range, titled the New Adventures , was launched in 1991 with a series of four linked novels, beginning with Timewyrm: Genesys by John Peel , who had previously contributed to Target's successful range of novelisations. Of the other three initial authors, Terrance Dicks had been both a regular contributor to the television series itself and
6375-428: The subsequent and ongoing series of audio dramas and novels by Big Finish Productions . Clarence is an artificial intelligence from the People. The character was created and introduced by Simon Bucher-Jones for Ghost Devices in which Clarence appears in the form of an angel (he is named after the angel in It's a Wonderful Life ) to Benny. Clarence is an agent of God , the artificial intelligence that controls
6460-742: The universe before this one, who therefore exist in accordance with a different set of physical laws. A being calling itself Azathoth in All-Consuming Fire turns out to be an impostor, but the novel identifies several other Doctor Who monsters with Lovecraftian entities: the Great Intelligence is Yog-Sothoth , the Animus is Lloigor , Fenric is Hastur the Unspeakable , and an Old One encountered in White Darkness
6545-662: The use of the Sontarans and Rutans, but had not included the Doctor due to lack of copyright. The novelisation of Shakedown , however, was expanded to include the Doctor. (Similarly, the NA's sister series, the Missing Adventures, included novelisations of the spin-off production, Downtime and the BBC Radio drama The Ghosts of N-Space .) One novel in the series, All-Consuming Fire , written by Andy Lane , featured
6630-543: The way, Dellah is destroyed and Bernice is uprooted and loses her memory. Twilight of the Gods finishes with a new set-up for subsequent stories involving Bernice, Emile and others, but this was not used as Virgin stopped publishing the series. Though part of this sequence of stories, Dead Romance was released as a standalone, and Summerfield is not in it; and the main character and narrator Christine Summerfield are not connected to her in any way. A former New Adventures Seventh Doctor companion, Chris Cwej , does appear, and
6715-475: Was Bernice's pregnancy and the birth of her son in The Glass Prison . The paperback novels proved uneconomic and Big Finish stopped publishing them, subsequently re-launching their Benny books in hardback with the anthology A Life of Surprises . Each volume comprises a collection of three novellas. Bernice also appears in a number of Doctor Who short stories, mostly set during her travels with
6800-421: Was a shift towards more adult-oriented science fiction writing, and use of the literary form to play around with the standard conventions of the series. From the beginning, the novels were controversial for their use of sex, violence and bad language, although this was never as frequent or as extreme as many people seemed to believe. As the series found its audience over time a greater share of fandom began to accept
6885-654: Was an international best-seller at the time, and continues to sell well. His follow-up title Business Stripped Bare was published in September 2008. Virgin Business Guides included titles by Robert Craven , Paul Barrow and Rachelle Thackray. More recently the company has enjoyed success with Robert H Frank 's The Economic Naturalist , where the author had his economics students pose interesting questions from everyday life and explain them through economics. Random House , through its United Kingdom division, acquired
6970-471: Was brought up by a strict religious father, and at the age of fifteen ran away to St. Oscar's University on the planet Dellah. Emile was one of Benny's students at St. Oscar's, and she took him on a field trip to the planet Apollox 4 where they became entangled with an alien species known as the Sunless. During the adventure, Emile finds himself attracted to another man, and realises he is gay. Ronan McGinley
7055-515: Was cast in the role of Bernice Summerfield. Bowerman had previously appeared in the Doctor Who story Survival (1989). The first series also co-starred Stephen Fewell as Jason Kane. A variety of actors familiar to Doctor Who fans played guest roles in many of the plays, including Colin Baker , Sophie Aldred , Nicholas Courtney , Elisabeth Sladen , Anneke Wills and Richard Franklin . For
7140-417: Was in honour of Sir Guy de Carnac, a man with whom Benny fell in love in the novel Sanctuary but who then apparently died. The circumstances of his conception were unusual because Benny was being controlled by an alien sorceress. Peter appeared the audio drama, The Grel Escape , in which he was voiced by Dacey Warriner and The Crystal of Cantus in which he was voiced by Thomas Grant . Adrian Wall
7225-424: Was never followed up on in any future novels. As well as continuing the New Adventures after losing the Doctor Who license, Virgin also continued with their Decalog series. These had been Doctor Who short story anthologies, but Decalog 5: Wonders featured a Benny short story ("The Judgement of Solomon") by Lawrence Miles alongside other shorts not set in the New Adventures continuity. Big Finish licensed
#425574