Though it originated in the Doctor Who Expanded Universe and still takes place in the world of Doctor Who, the Bernice Summerfield line spun off into its own continuity over a decade ago.The character of Professor Bernice Summerfield, interstellar archaeologist, was created by Paul Cornell (he of "Human Nature / The Family of Blood") in 1992. She was a companion to the Seventh and Eighth Doctors. When Virgin Publishing lost their license to release Doctor Who novels (the Doctor Who New Adventures), they relaunched their line (now called just "New Adventures") around Benny's solo career.In addition to the New Adventures, Bernice has been the star of her own Big Finish Doctor Who spinoff, which began its twelfth season (yes — twelve) in 2011. It is one of the Expanded Universe's most successful spinoffs, and celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2012.For recaps of the audio episodes, see the Big Finish Doctor Who page.Big Finish Bernice Summerfield page is here.
Ancient Astronauts: Very common, and also the subject of Benny's doctoral dissertation.
And I Must Scream: all too often. The fate of the Monoids in The Kingdom Of the Blind, for one, and the nature of the hyperdrive in A Tub Full Of Cats for another.
Creator Cameo: Being audio, there've been quite a few. Director Gary Russell in The Crystal Of Cantus (although fans love to try and spot Russell's cameos, there's so many), writer Joseph Lidster in The Summer Of Love, writer Mathew Sweet in Diet Of Worms and writer Scott Handcock as Plato(!) in The Oracle Of Delphi.
Actually, from Epoch onwards, most of the bit parts are played by Gary Russel's co-director/producer/writer Scott Handcock, who seems to have taken over the role of being Big Finish's Alfred Hitchcock.
Crossover: Frequently. Benny's sometime boss, Braxiatel, is the same character that appears in Gallifrey; Ace occasionally visits; and Iris Wildthyme has popped up a time or two. The Daleks showed up in Death and the Daleks.
By Legion. The cast have definitely become one. Even More so in ''New Frontiers''◊ (From left to right: Ruth (Ayesha Antoine), Springheel Jack (David Ames), Bernice Summerfield (Lisa Bowerman), Irving Braxiatel (Miles Richardson), Peter Summerfield (Thomas Grant)).
Future Imperfect: Benny catches people out on their knowledge of history, and is not infrequently caught out herself. (She thought Star Trek was a documentary.)
Hard Drinking Party Girl: Loves — loves — beer, and has long since given up on the idea of ever having slim thighs.
Ink Suit Actor: Actress Lisa Bowerman has been the voice of Benny since the first audio dramas featuring the character were produced in 1998. She coincidentally resembled the artistic rendering of Benny dating back to the character's first appearance on the cover of the novel Love and War in 1992. As Bowerman became more identified in the role, artistic renderings of Benny began to resemble her more. The 2010 CGI animated short Dead and Buried based Benny's appearance on that of Bowerman (with elements from earlier renderings tossed in). Beginning with the September 2011 release Epoch, Big Finish begins using straight photographs of Bowerman for the cover art.
Actually, the same goes for most of the cast. In The novels, Jason was short haired and blond◊ and then Stephen Fewell◊. was cast. The changes in illustrations that have resulted are obvious◊. Bev Tarrant was sketched to resemble Louise Faulkner and Peter looked a little like Thomas Grant (until they started using photographs on the covers, from which we can conclude that Peter looks exactly like Grant but with dog-ears-and-nose).
The only cast members that have escaped it are those playing non-human characters such as Harry Myers (Adrian/Hass), Stephen Wickham (Joseph/Doggles) and Miles Richardson (Braxiatel), although Richardson escaped it for different reasons: nearly a decade before Big Finish was founded Brax made his first appearence in the novels, described by Benny as 'slightly older than her with angular but still attractive features'. Now look at who they cast◊. It is uncanny. So they didn't bother to change the artistic renderings beyond his suit. (N.B. There is a joke amongst fans that Miles Richardson is the alias for Braxiatel's human self, just waiting to open afob-watch).
Earlier than that, surely. He's been like that since at least The Mirror Effect.
Musical Episode: The Worst Thing In The World, said "worst thing" being Bernice Summerfield singing an obnoxiously cheerful, obnoxiously catchy musical number to save the day.
Nonindicative Name: The People. They're made up of several races, none of which are human beings.
Where Angels Fear... The planet Dellah gets invaded by the Gods. Everyone evacuates. Clarence dies, and Emile becomes possessed by a demon.
The Mirror Effect: Everyone tries to kill each other. And Brax is revealed to be a really evil bastard.
Life During Wartime: The Collection is invaded. By Benny's dad. And the Daleks.
The Wake. Just, The Wake.
Resurrecting The Past: Braxiatel's plans come together. Robyn tries to kill Bernice, but Hass kills Robyn first and accidentally starts a trans-temporal war.
Escaping The Future: Everybody dies. But that's okay, because all of history (and established continuity) is completely rewritten.
What Could Have Been: Bernice Summerfield And The Drop Dead Divas as written by Jim Mortimore. Part jungle trek, part documentary, complete Mind Screw, with healthy doses of reincarnation, pigmies, Dyson Rings, Buddhists, Future Me Scares Me and intergalactic wars.
Not so much this as keeping distance from the parent series - Daleks and Cybermen can appear, but nobody goes any further than occasional accidental references to the 'Doct...' before stopping themselves.
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