Oh No It Isn't!

This week I went back and listened to the Bernice Summerfield audio play Oh No It Isn't!, the first in the Bernice Summerfield range at Big Finish Productions. This was a re-working of the novel by the same name that was the start of the Benny New Adventures from Virgin Publishing. I must admit that I understood and appreciated the humor in the plot more in the audio medium than I ever did as a novel. There is just something about trying to capture Panto in the written word that just doesn't jive well.

It is also interesting to note that the 'Spot the Nick Briggs voice' game can be played this far back as well. Both he and Mark Gatiss join the cast. Which leads me to the lady herself, Lisa Bowerman. I always have a problem seeing characters on the screen that I first met in print. One of the major issues I have is the voice. It never quite fits.. this is something that bothered me in the Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter films also. It does seem though that Lisa is quite possibly the perfect person to play Bernice. In fact whenever I re-read a New Adventure, I can hear her voice along with Sylvester and Sophie taking me on this journey. I also have Alfre Woodard playing Roz, but that's just me.

All in all I give this version props over the original, though I feel as a season opener it lacks something. Though exactly what that something is I wont know for a while now.