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 licensed novels carrying on from where the Doctor Who television series had left off, featuring a number of writers that previously worked on the series, along with several new to the franchise. Summerfield was introduced in Cornell's novel Love and War in 1992, the first companion character original to the series.
Bernice would later go on to take the lead role of the New Adventures book series, upon Virgin Publishing losing access to the Doctor Who licence, in favour of the BBC's in-house publisher BBC Books. Having left the role as companion to the Doctor, the first of this spinoff soft-reboot was the story Oh No It Isn't! in 1997, also by her creator Paul Cornell. This was possible because an unusual contract on Virgin Publishing's front gave character rights to their creators as long as they could be used in future novels by the company, instead of control defaulting to Virgin or the BBC themselves. This marked Summerfield as the first companion to have a full series of licensed spinoff material.
Big Finish Productions would later take an interest in Benny, as their initial attempt to obtain the licence for official Doctor Who audio drama was rejected. In 1998, Big Finish made their first release, an adaptation of Cornell's Oh No It Isn't! done by Jacqueline Rayner for the new self-titled Bernice Summerfield audio range. As her personal debut in a performed medium, Summerfield would be portrayed by British actress Lisa Bowerman, who would continue the role into the modern day. After Oh No It Isn't!, Big Finish would produce five more adaptations of New Adventures novels Bernice appeared in. While Oh No It Isn't!, Beyond the Sun, Walking to Babylon, and Dragons' Wrath were all part of the Summerfield-led spinoff New Adventures, Birthright and Just War were versions of stories from the original Seventh Doctor range, heavily edited to remove the Doctor, Ace, Chris Cwej, and Roz Forrester, Bernice herself and her ex-husband Jason Kane filling their roles instead.
Towards the tail end of the first series of Bernice Summerfield, the final New Adventures novel, Twilight of the Gods, was released, marking the end of work by Virgin Publishing relating to Doctor Who media. Bernice's story would continue after a short time-skip, however, when Big Finish began producing original works in the Bernice Summerfield series, continuing their Bowerman-led audio dramas, in addition to their own books, taking the form of concurrent novels and anthologies, making her officially the lead of a multimedia franchise.
Over the years, Benny would make guest appearances in the mainline Doctor Who ranges, as well as other spinoffs later on, and have occasional crossover encounters with exclusive Doctor Who monsters such as the Daleks and Cybermen. These were rare, however, as the original Bernice Summerfield range was not allowed to even directly reference most material originating from the television series. These stories would follow her life events uninterrupted, story arcs always having direct transitions even when the rest of the cast changed, until the range concluded its main story with the boxset Missing Persons.
In 2014, Bernice Summerfield was rebooted with a time-skip, starting the audio drama series The New Adventures of Bernice Summerfield, now directly under the Doctor Who branding and allowing full crossover with the rest of the franchise. The first two series had her reuniting with the Seventh Doctor and Ace, the third series through to the seventh starring her opposite David Warner's alternative 'Unbound' third Doctor. The pairing was together up until past David Warner's death, the final boxset Blood and Steel and their appearance in the Dark Gallifrey series being released posthumously. Breaks between boxset releases were often filled by official audiobooks of the previously released Big Finish novels, narrated by Lisa Bowerman.
In 2024, Bernice was given another soft-reboot. Starting with The Eternity Club 1, it takes place after yet another time-skip, with a new, full supporting cast. Instead of boxsets, the series would continue as single-disc releases with two shorter audios per part of each four-part series. As she was fully independent of the Doctor again, with the release of The Dalek Eternity 1 in 2025, Bernice's audios quietly dropped The New Adventures from their titles. While officially part of the same series as before, directly continuing from The Eternity Club, and still containing the Doctor Who branding and licenses, promotion and cover art once again became simply Bernice Summerfield.
Big Finish has stated that Bernice Summerfield's audios unofficially hold the record for longest-running female-led science fiction audio series, as well as longest running female-led audio series. This would also have made her hold the title of longest-running science fiction audio series as a whole, however the official Guinness World Record is held by the Doctor Who: The Monthly Adventures due to her aforementioned brand reboot in 2014. Both of these statements are contestable however, as Ruby the Galactic Gumshoe by the ZBS Foundation has been running sporadically since 1982 and had a release in 2025, with no brand changes.
Books
Doctor Who – The New Adventures
- Love and War by Paul Cornell
- Transit by Ben Aaronovitch
- The Highest Science by Gareth Roberts
- The Pit by Neil Penswick
- Deceit by Peter Darvill-Evans
- Lucifer Rising by Andy Lane and Jim Mortimore
- White Darkness by David A McIntee
- Shadowmind by Christopher Bulis
- Birthright by Nigel Robinson
- Blood Heat by Jim Mortimore
- The Dimension Riders by Daniel Blythe
- The Left-Handed Hummingbird by Kate Orman
- Conundrum by Steve Lyons
- No Future by Paul Cornell
- Tragedy Day by Gareth Roberts
- Legacy by Gary Russell
- Theatre of War by Justin Richards
- All-Consuming Fire by Andy Lane
- Blood Harvest by Terrance Dicks
- Strange England by Simon Messingham
- First Frontier by David A McIntee
- St Anthony's Fire by Mark Gatiss
- Falls the Shadow by Daniel O'Mahony
- Parasite by Jim Mortimore
- Warlock by Andrew Cartmel
- Set Piece by Kate Orman
- Infinite Requiem by Daniel Blythe
- Sanctuary by David A McIntee
- Human Nature by Paul Cornell
- Original Sin by Andy Lane
- Sky Pirates! by Dave Stone
- Zamper by Gareth Roberts
- Toy Soldiers by Paul Leonard
- Head Games by Steve Lyons
- The Also People by Ben Aaronovitch
- Shakedown by Terrance Dicks
- Just War by Lance Parkin
- Warchild by Andrew Cartmel
- Sleepy by Kate Orman
- Death and Diplomacy by Dave Stone
- Happy Endings by Paul Cornell
- Return of the Living Dad by Kate Orman
- Eternity Weeps by Jim Mortimore
- The Dying Days by Lance Parkin
The New Adventures
- Oh No It Isn't! by Paul Cornell
- Dragons' Wrath by Justin Richards
- Beyond the Sun by Matt Jones
- Ship of Fools by Dave Stone
- Down by Lawrence Miles
- Deadfall by Gary Russell
- Ghost Devices by Simon Bucher-Jones
- Mean Streets by Terrance Dicks
- Tempest by Christopher Bulis
- Walking to Babylon by Kate Orman
- Oblivion by Dave Stone
- The Medusa Effect by Justin Richards
- Dry Pilgrimage by Paul Leonard and Nick Walters
- The Sword of Forever by Jim Mortimore
- Another Girl, Another Planet by Martin Day and Len Beech
- Beige Planet Mars by Lance Parkin and Mark Clapham
- Where Angels Fear by Rebecca Levene and Simon Winstone
- The Mary-Sue Extrusion by Dave Stone
- Dead Romance by Lawrence Miles (Bernice Summerfield does not appear)
- Tears of the Oracle by Justin Richards
- Return to the Fractured Planet by Dave Stone
- The Joy Device by Justin Richards
- Twilight of the Gods by Mark Clapham and Jon de Burgh Miller
Big Finish paperback novels
- The Doomsday Manuscript by Justin Richards
- The Gods of the Underworld by Stephen Cole
- The Squire's Crystal by Jacqueline Rayner
- The Infernal Nexus by Dave Stone
- The Glass Prison by Jacqueline Rayner
Big Finish hardcover novels
- The Big Hunt by Lance Parkin
- The Tree of Life by Mark Michalowski
- Genius Loci by Ben Aaronovitch
- The Two Jasons by Dave Stone
- Terra Incognita by Ben Aaronovitch — originally announced in 2007, this novel remains unpublished save for an extract in Missing Adventures
- The Weather on Versimmon by Matthew Griffiths
- The Slender-Fingered Cats of Bubastis by Xanna Eve Chown
- Filthy Lucre by James Parsons and Andrew Stirling-Brown
- Adorable Illusion by Gary Russell
Big Finish novellas
Each volume comprises a collection of three novellas.
- A Life in Pieces by Dave Stone, Paul Sutton and Joseph Lidster
- Parallel Lives by Rebecca Levene, Stewart Sheargold and Dave Stone, with linking material by Simon Guerrier
- Old Friends by Jonathan Clements, Marc Platt and Pete Kempshall
- Nobody's Children by Kate Orman, Jonathan Blum and Philip Purser-Hallard
- The Vampire Curse by Mags L Halliday, Kelly Hale and Philip Purser-Hallard
Big Finish anthologies
- The Dead Men Diaries, edited by Paul Cornell
- A Life of Surprises, edited by Paul Cornell
- Life During Wartime, edited by Paul Cornell
- A Life Worth Living, edited by Simon Guerrier
- Something Changed, edited by Simon Guerrier
- Collected Works, edited by Nick Wallace
- Missing Adventures, edited by Rebecca Levene
- Secret Histories, edited by Mark Clapham
- Present Danger, edited by Eddie Robson
- True Stories (2017), edited by Xanna Eve Chown
- In Time (2018), edited by Xanna Eve Chown
- The Christmas Collection (2020), edited by Xanna Eve Chown
Short Trips
Bernice also appears in a number of Doctor Who short stories, mostly set during her travels with the Doctor.
- "The Trials of Tara" by Paul Cornell (Decalog 2: Lost Property)
- "Continuity Errors" by Steven Moffat (Decalog 3: Consequences)
- "The Judgement of Solomon" by Lawrence Miles (Decalog 5: Wonders)
- "Virgin Lands" by Sarah Groenewegen (Short Trips: Zodiac)
- "Of the Mermaid and Jupiter" by Ian Mond & Danny Heap (Short Trips: Past Tense)
- "Cold War" by Rebecca Levene (Short Trips: Steel Skies)
- "...Be Forgot" by Cavan Scott and Mark Wright (Short Trips: A Christmas Treasury)set during Big Finish's Bernice audio series
- "Too Rich for My Blood" by Rebecca Levene (Short Trips: Seven Deadly Sins)
- "How You Get There" by Simon Guerrier (Short Trips: A Day in the Life)
- "Larkspur" by Mark Stevens (Short Trips: Transmissions)
New Series Adventures
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).
- Big Bang Generation by Gary Russell
Audio plays
Cast and characters
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" width="100%"
|-"
! rowspan="3" | Actor
! rowspan="3" | Character
! colspan="27" | Appearances
|-
! colspan="11" | Bernice Summerfield
! colspan="6" | Bernice Summerfield Boxsets
! colspan="6" | The New Adventures of Bernice Summerfield
|-
! S1
! S2
! S3
! S4
! S5
! S6
! S7
! S8
! S9
! S10
! S11
! 1
! 2
! 3
! 4
! 5
! 6
! S1
! S2
! S3
! S4
! S5
! S6
|-
|
| Bernice Summerfield
| colspan="23"
|-
|
| Jason Kane
| colspan="1"
| colspan="1"
| colspan="1"
| colspan="2"
| colspan="1"
| colspan="2"
| colspan="8"
| colspan="1"
| colspan="6"
|-
|
| Irving Braxiatel
| colspan="1"
| colspan="1"
| colspan="1"
| colspan="1"
| colspan="1"
| colspan="2"
| colspan="1"
| colspan="1"
| colspan="2"
| colspan="2"
| colspan="1"
| colspan="2"
| colspan="1"
| colspan="6"
|-
| Harry Myers
| Adrian Wall
| colspan="1"
| colspan="1"
| colspan="1"
| colspan="2"
| colspan="1"
| colspan="1"
| colspan="1"
| colspan="1"
| colspan="2"
| colspan="12"
|-
| Stephen Wickham
| Joseph
| colspan="2"
| colspan="1"
| colspan="3"
| colspan="2"
| colspan="2"
| colspan="1"
| colspan="12"
|-
| Louise Faulkner
| Bev Tarrant
| colspan="3"
| colspan="1"
| colspan="2"
| colspan="1"
| colspan="1"
| colspan="1"
| colspan="1"
| colspan="1"
| colspan="12"
|-
| Thomas Grant
| Peter Summerfield
| colspan="5"
| colspan="1"
| colspan="1"
| colspan="1"
| colspan="2"
| colspan="1"
| colspan="1"
| colspan="1"
| colspan="2"
| colspan="1"
| colspan="7"
|-
|
| Ruth Leonidas
| colspan="11"
| colspan="4"
| colspan="1"
| colspan="1"
| colspan="6"
|-
|
| Jack McSpringheel
| colspan="11"
| colspan="1"
| colspan="1"
| colspan="2"
| colspan="1"
| colspan="7"
|-
|
| rowspan="2" |
| colspan="7"
| colspan="1"
| colspan="9"
| colspan="2"
| colspan="4"
|-
|
| colspan="16"
| colspan="1"
| colspan="2"
| colspan="4"
|-
|
| Ace
| colspan="17"
| colspan="2"
| colspan="4"
|-
|
| The Master
| colspan="19"
| colspan="2"
| colspan="2"
|}
Bernice Summerfield
Season 1 (1998–2000)
The first season of Bernice Summerfield audio plays are all adaptations of New Adventures novels originally published by Virgin Publishing. Each of 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 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.
<section begin="season1" />
<section end="season1" />
Season 2 (2000–01)
For 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 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 the New Adventures novel Theatre of War.
<section begin="season2" />
<section end="season2" />
Season 3 (2002–03)
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 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 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.
<section begin="season3" />
<section end="season3" />
Season 4 (2003–04)
The fourth season was unofficially dubbed 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 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 a prelude to the Death and the Daleks audio play. Paul Cornell, the anthology's editor, described Life During Wartime as "a novel written by multiple authors". Each of the collection's stories are told in chronological order, detailing events that occur when the Collection is occupied by a powerful alien force. The anthology ends on a cliff-hanger that is resolved in Death and the Daleks.
<section begin="season4" />
<section end="season4" />
Season 5 (2004–05)
The previous season's tradition of using classic monsters continues into the fifth season, with the Grel (previously heard in Oh No It Isn't!) returning in The Grel Escape, a knowing pastiche of The Chase. The Bone of Contention features the Galyari, who appeared in the Doctor Who audio play The Sandman, while the title and plot of The Relics of Jegg-Sau was inspired by a 1970s Doctor Who licensed jigsaw puzzle that depicted a scene with giant robots identical to the one that appeared in Robot.
The Masquerade of Death brings the fifth season to a close in a dark and surreal fashion.
<section begin="season5" />
<section end="season5" />
Season 6 (2005–06)
By the end of The Crystal of Cantus, the true dark and manipulative nature of Braxiatel was revealed and he left the Collection. Its future is now uncertain, with the Draconians claiming they own the planetoid on what it is based. The entire series was directed by Gary Russell.
<section begin="season6" />
<section end="season6" />
Season 7 (2006)
The seventh season follows the staff of the Collection as they attempt to keep things running smoothly in Braxiatel's absence. Collected Works and Old Friends, two books published during this season's run, also develop the running plots that planetoid KS-159 is under threat from the Draconians and Mim, and that the Collection itself is falling apart literally as well as figuratively without Braxiatel at its helm.
<section begin="season7" />
<section end="season7" />
Season 8 (2007–08)
In the eighth season, Braxiatel returns to the Collection, which is threatened by crossfire and politics in the war between the Draconians and Mim. The war comes to an unexpected conclusion shortly after his return, and several regular characters pay a heavy price for realising too late that Braxiatel himself is the real threat. The season ends with Benny cutting her ties to the Collection and Braxiatel, and going on the run with her son Peter. The books The Two Jasons and |Nobody's Children also fit into this season's arc.
<section begin="season8" />
<section end="season8" />
Season 9 (2008)
The ninth season is a much looser collection of stories, following Bernice and her son Peter as Benny searches for work away from the Collection.
<section begin="season9" />
<section end="season9" />
Season 10 (2009)
The entire series was directed by John Ainsworth.
<section begin="season10" />
<section end="season10" />
Season 11 (2010)
The entire series was again directed by John Ainsworth. The animated short Dead and Buried, released online for free, acted as a prelude to this series.
<section begin="season11" />
<section end="season11" />
Boxset 1: Epoch (2011)
<section begin="bs_epoch" />
<section end="bs_epoch" />
Boxset 2: Road Trip (2012)
<section begin="bs_roadtrip" />
<section end="bs_roadtrip" />
Boxset 3: Legion (2012)
<section begin="bs_legion" />
<section end="bs_legion" />
Boxset 4: New Frontiers (2013)
<section begin="bs_newfrontiers" />
<section end="bs_newfrontiers" />
Boxset 5: Missing Persons (2013)
<section begin="bs_missingpersons" />
<section end="bs_missingpersons" />
Boxset 6: The Story So Far (2018)
<section begin="bs_thestorysofar" />
<section end="bs_thestorysofar" />
Specials
<section begin="specials" />
<section end="specials" />
The New Adventures of Bernice Summerfield
Following the conclusion of the Bernice Summerfield box set range, a new range starring Lisa Bowerman as Bernice Summerfield alongside Sylvester McCoy as the Doctor entitled The New Adventures of Bernice Summerfield was launched.
Volume 1 (2014)
<section begin="na_series1" />
<section end="na_series1" />
Volume 2: The Triumph of Sutekh (2015)
<section begin="na_series2" />
<section end="na_series2" />
Volume 3: The Unbound Universe (2016)
Bernice Summerfield in a series of adventures with a version of the Doctor from the Unbound series, played by David Warner. Mark Gatiss returns as a version of the Master from the same series, appearing in The Emporium at the End and The True Savior of the Universe, as well as a brief appearance in a flashback in The Library in the Body.
<section begin="na_series3" />
<section end="na_series3" />
Volume 4: Ruler of the Universe (2017)
<section begin="na_series4" />
<section end="na_series4" />
Volume 5: Buried Memories (2019)
<section begin="na_series5" />
<section end="na_series5" />
Volume 6: Lost in Translation (2020)
<section begin="na_series6" />
<section end="na_series6" />
Volume 7: Blood & Steel (2022)
David Warner died on 24 July 2022. Recording of the series had been completed and was released posthumously.
<section begin="na_series7" />
<section end="na_series7" />
Volume 8: The Eternity Club (2024)
<section begin=na_series8 />
<section end="na_series8" />
Volume 9: The Dalek Eternity (2025)
<section begin=na_series9 />
<section end="na_series9" />
Other audio play appearances
- "The Shadow of the Scourge"
- "The Dark Flame"
- The Company of Friends: "Benny's Story"
- "Bernice Summerfield and the Criminal Code"
- "Love and War"
- "The Highest Science"
- "Theatre of War"
- "All-Consuming Fire"
- "Original Sin"
- "Short Trips: The Hesitation Deviation"
- "The Worlds of Big Finish: The Phantom Wreck"
- "The Eighth of March: The Big Blue Book"
See also
- Doctor Who spin-offs