Hey, Dalek, what do you think of this?

[lizblackdog]

Bernice Summerfield: Oh, don't tell me that behind the rest of these doors you've got Napoleon... Churchill? Alexander the Great? Because even for the Daleks, that would be an enormous triumph of camp over common sense.

Dalek: *attempts to interrupt, fails*

Bernice: ...It's always something mad, isn't it? You've got the firepower to just wade in and have a go at the rest of the universe but no! You twat about! You make duplicates of people, you come up with plans to pit one galactic empire against another, you get into centuries-long wars with races whose idea of camouflage would only be successful if the universe was one gigantic disco! How did the Movellans outthink you? They haven't figured out that it might not be an idea to build warrior robots which die when you yank their power pack off their belt! Oh dear,have I let a strategic secret slip? Have I just altered the course of centuries of war? No! Because I'm talking to the bloody Daleks who couldn't EXTERMINATE their way out of a tomato!

Dalek: Silence! Daleks are the superior beings! Daleks are destined to rule the universe and control all other forms of life!

Bernice: ...Struck a nerve, did I?

Short extract from this. Seriously, you should all listen to these. I have yet to put my hands on any of the actual books, but the audio dramas are pure gold.

For those who have no idea what I'm talking about: Bernice Summerfield. Long story short: Doctor Who spinoff character, possibly more awesome than any character from the actual TV series. Highly recommended.

Comments

[boywhocantsayno.livejournal.com]

ROFL! What a fantastic scene.

[lizblackdog.livejournal.com]

Isn't it? I've been meaning to quote it for ages. Give the audios a try if you haven't already, I swear you won't regret it.

[boywhocantsayno.livejournal.com]

I've been meaning to - I just haven't had the opportunity yet. (The last time I saw a significant number in one place was the one Gallifrey One I went to, three years ago - and I was actually unemployed at the time. I don't generally spend much time in the dealers' rooms at cons, and even so, I can't remember seeing them in any dealers' rooms recently. Maybe someone will have them at Polaris, and if not, I should be able to find a few minutes at Worldcon in between events I'm responsible for.)

Oh, and... *icon love*

[welshred.livejournal.com]

Love her, she reminds me of Donna, lots of fire and gumption.

[lizblackdog.livejournal.com]

Good point. They're not interchangeable by any means, but the reasons for loving both are often the same.

[myrystyr.livejournal.com]

Have to disagree with you there... the introduction of Bernice marked the point at which the New Adventure novels went from sliding downhill to running full-tilt into unreadable garbage. It's the point at which Ace and the Seventh Doctor went from scarcely recognisable to completely wrong. Sort of like the Volume 2/Volume 3 cliffhanger of Heroes...

And the Movellans didn't outthink the Daleks, the two races were locked in stalemate.

[lizblackdog.livejournal.com]

Not read any of the novels. My experience of her is purely from the audios. Those I love dearly; and I'd like to read the novels whatever the quality, if only to get all the plotline in place.

[myrystyr.livejournal.com]

The one where Bernice is introduced, Paul Cornell's Love And War, is okay... if you can get over the Doctor being so heartlessly manipulative he kills one of Ace's and Bernice's friends to accomplish his kill-alien-invaders scheme, Ace leaving to join the space marines so she can develop an "it is okay to enjoy killing people" attitude, and Bernice being a fraud who has nothing better to do than get drunk and tag along with the Doctor as a means of avoiding being found out as a fraud.

Sorry, I hated those books with a passion and consider it my duty as a Doctor Who fan to warn people away from them.

[lizblackdog.livejournal.com]

That does sound a tad out of character for Ace and the Doctor. Still want to read it for myself, mind.