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Bernice Summerfield to Appear in New Twelfth Doctor Novel

By Barry Rice

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There are a lot of popular Doctor Who characters who have never appeared in an actual episode, existing only in the various forms of tie-in media. None is more popular than archaeologist Bernice “Benny” Summerfield though, and now she’s due to make her first NuWho appearance in an upcoming Twelfth Doctor novel!

Summerfield was first introduced in Paul Cornell’s Virgin New Adventures novel, Love and War. She was a companion of the Seventh Doctor and an adventurer in her own right. Naturally, it was Cornell himself who broke the news on Twitter today:

“@twilightstreets” is the Twitter handle of Doctor Who author Gary Russell, who penned the upcoming novel, Big Bang Generation. As previously reported, the book is part of a trilogy called ‘The Glamour Chronicles’ being released on September 10. The other two books are Royal Blood by Una McCormack and Deep Time by Trevor Baxendale.

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Here’s the publisher’s synopsis for Big Bang Generation:

"“I’m an archaeologist, but probably not the one you were expecting.”Christmas 2015, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.Imagine everyone’s surprise when a time portal opens up in Sydney Cove. Imagine their shock as a massive pyramid now sits beside the Harbour Bridge, inconveniently blocking Port Jackson and glowing with energy. Imagine their fear as Cyrrus “the mobster” Globb, Professor Horace Jaanson and an alien assassin called Kik arrive to claim the glowing pyramid. Finally imagine everyone’s dismay when they are followed by a bunch of con artists out to spring their greatest grift yet.This gang consists of Legs (the sexy comedian), Dog Boy (providing protection and firepower), Shortie (handling logistics), Da Trowel (in charge of excavation and history) and their leader, Doc (busy making sure the universe isn’t destroyed in an explosion that makes the Big Bang look like a damp squib).And when someone accidentally reawakens The Ancients of the Universe – which, Doc reckons, wasn’t the wisest or best-judged of actions – things get a whole lot more complicated…"

Bernice Summerfield is one of the most prolific characters in all the Whoniverse, with appearances in dozens of Virgin New Adventures books before the license reverted back to the BBC. After that, she became the star of her own book series, the Virgin Bernice Summerfield New Adventures. She then appeared in dozens of Big Finish Bernice Summerfield novels and short stories, as well as new Doctor Who audio stories and her own Bernice Summerfield audio series!

Related: First of Four New Twelfth Doctor Audiobooks is Out Now!

Actress Lisa Bowerman has been the voice of Bernice Summerfield throughout all the Big Finish adventures, and it turns out she’s involved with Big Bang Generation, as well:

Bowerman herself tweeted the book’s cover and wondered aloud whether this makes Summerfield canon (no…sorry, it doesn’t):

Exciting stuff! Personally, I’ve already pre-ordered all three books in the ‘Glamour Chronicles’ series, but if you haven’t done so yet, head over to Amazon now!

What say you? Are you excited to see Bernice Summerfield making an appearance in an official Twelfth Doctor book? Sound off in the comments below!

Next: New Series 9 Photos Hint at an Eighth Doctor Connection

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