We were creating our own series using the books as a starting point – and some of them had to be heavily changed out of necessity anyway, as we couldn’t use BBC characters like the Doctor. Back then, Big Finish was new and was trying to create its own identity. My approach to these two new New Adventures adaptations is almost completely opposite to the approach to the original ones though. So it’s no change now from almost the very first day. Given how strongly Lisa Bowerman is identified in people’s imagination as Bernice does this change how you wrote the script or do you still use the original novel as the primary source?įrom the first time Lisa was heard as Bernice the role has been written for her, she’s just wonderful. This will be released in December of this year and I’m interested to know how your approach has developed since your first adaptation. It has just been announced that you have adapted another Bernice Summerfield novel for audio, this time Gareth Robert’s 1993 novel The Highest Science. I think the fact they knew Paul would be on hand to rescue it if need be was probably a factor! But to my delight, after Oh No It Isn’t! was finished, they asked if I’d go on to adapt the rest (apart from Beyond the Sun which had been done alongside the first one), and I was thrilled. Now, Paul was obviously a ‘proper’ writer whereas I was just a person who thought of herself as a writer without having any credits to show for it, but I knew I could do the job – so I asked if I could try out for it, and to my surprise they agreed. He was asked to do the adaptation but didn’t have the time. Jacqueline Rayner: Well, I was ‘in the know’ about Big Finish’s plans because I was living with Paul Cornell at the time. This featured the character of Bernice Summerfield who has gone on to be a firm favourite with listeners. Starburst: Jac, thanks for taking the time to talk, I’d like to start, if I may, with your adaption for the audio of Paul Cornell’s novel Oh No It Isn’t! that was also the first audio release for Big Finish. She kindly broke off from finishing her latest book for the BBC to answer a few questions.

Starburst Magazine caught up with novelist and columnist Jacqueline Rayner in what is proving to be a busy year for her with several new releases to look forward to in the coming months.

Doctor Who by Jacqueline Rayner