Oh No It Isn't!

Oh No It Isn't! is a novel published in 1997 by Paul Cornell from the Virgin New Adventures featuring the fictional archaeologist Bernice Summerfield. The New Adventures were a series of novels based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who, made by the BBC. They had originally been licensed Doctor Who stories, but in the wake of the return of Doctor Who to television screens with the 1996 movie, the BBC did not renew publisher Virgin Books' licence. Virgin had for some time planned for a spin-off series based on the characters and settings created in the Doctor Who New Adventures. With the licence gone, they continued the monthly release schedule of the New Adventures, but switched to stories featuring the character of Bernice Summerfield (known as Benny), beginning with Oh No It Isn't!. The author, Paul Cornell, had originally created Benny as a companion for the Doctor. She appeared regularly in the Doctor Who New Adventures for a period, before ceasing travelling with the Doctor in another Cornell-penned work, Happy Endings. She was re-introduced as a regular character in the last Doctor Who New Adventure, The Dying Days, which led into Oh No It Isn't!. Oh No It Isn't! also provided the initial set-up and background to the Benny-led New Adventures that followed, including re-introducing the Doctor's pet cat Wolsey (originally from Cornell's New Adventure Human Nature) and the artificial intelligence known as God (originally from the New Adventure The Also People). The book also introduces the alien race the Grels, who would re-appear in later Benny stories.