Doctor Who: Bernice Summerfield coloring-in and dot-to-dot book to be released!
By James Aggas
No, you didn’t misread that. A coloring-in and dot-to-dot book – based on popular Doctor Who character Bernice Summerfield – will be released next month by Big Finish!
Benny in Wonderland – which, as you can probably guess by the title, is inspired by Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland – features former Doctor Who companion and adventurer Bernice Summerfield, as she enters a world of fantasy, coloring-in and dot-to-dot!
The new book will tell a story (naturally written in verse) of Professor Bernice Summerfield entering a strange fantasy land. During this story, there are over fifty pages of both pictures to color-in by illustrator Fraser Geesin, as well as dot-to-dot puzzles to complete.
Wondering how something like this even happened? Editor and writer Xanna Even Chown reveals how.
"The idea came at the end of a long planning session about Big Finish books with Jason Haigh-Ellery, David Richardson and Sue Cowley. It made us all laugh so much that I ran it past Bernice Summerfield creator, Paul Cornell, the next day. He thought it sounded like fun so we decided to go for it!"
While Benny has been an iconic character for over two decades – ever since Paul Cornell’s Seventh Doctor story Love and War – this will be her first adventure that involves coloring-in and dot-to-dot puzzles! (To be honest, this probably won’t be the strangest adventure she’s had.)
(Image credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.
Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)
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A strange(ly suitable) adventure for Benny
Initially, this idea sounds incredibly left-field for a character who’s spent life mainly on audio for over the past two decades, many of which have been made with a mature audience in mind.
But we also need to consider who this is. Both Benny’s first solo novel and even Big Finish’s first ever audio was Oh No It Isn’t!, a story by Paul Cornell that was heavily inspired by pantomime. So Benny entering a world inspired by Wonderland filled with pictures to color-in and dot-to-dot puzzles actually kind of fits. Xanna Even Chown describes it best.
"I think Benny has always had that sense of fun and craziness – and that helps when you are pitching a dot-to-dot book! People are used to picturing Benny in their heads as they listen to her on audio. Now they can colour her in!"
Paul Cornell, the creator of Benny, unsurprisingly seems more than happy with this strange new release.
"I commend this edition unto you. I’ve tried the dot-to-dot, and let’s just say I wouldn’t want to catch that from a Cornish pastie!"
While Lisa Bowerman – the woman who’s played Benny for over twenty years – is both surprised and happy to hear that such a book has been created.
"Well color me pink… (actually – don’t!)… Benny’s made it to a coloring book!"
Benny in Wonderland will be on sale as a paperback in October 2019. This is one release I’m definitely curious to check out!
Next. Moffat’s double gift to Big Finish with Clara. dark
Are you glad to hear that Benny finally has a coloring-in book, like so many other heroes in sci-fi? Are there any other characters in Doctor Who who should get the same treatment? Let us know in the comments below.