Doctor Who: Return of the Living Dad

Doctor Who: Virgin New Adventures #53

by Kate Orman

‘It’s me, daddy. It’s Bernice.’

Bernice Summerfield was seven years old when her father disappeared. They said he turned and ran from the Daleks in battle. They said he was a coward.

They were wrong.

For years Benny has searched for her father. Now a clue snatches her from her honeymoon, back to the TARDIS, and on to England in the year 1983. There she at last discovers Admiral Isaac Summerfield, leading a motley crew of aliens, psychics and fanboys. Their mission: to save extra-terrestrials stranded on Earth.

But what is Benny’s father doing five hundred years in his own past? And why has he been waiting for the Doctor to arrive? Can Benny really trust the man she’s been looking for all her life?

Genres: Doctor Who, Science Fiction, Fiction, Novels

256 pages, Paperback

First published August 15, 1996

About the author

Kate Orman studied biology at Sydney University and worked in science before becoming a professional author. Orman is known for her sci-fi work, and especially her frequent collaborations in the "Doctor Who" universe. For Virgin Publishing and BBC, she wrote more than a dozen full-length novels, as well as numerous short stories and non-fiction pieces related to "Doctor Who". She was the only woman and only Australian to write for the initial range of novels, the Virgin New Adventures.

As of 2022, Orman lives in Sydney and is married to fellow author Jonathan Blum.

Reviews

[Mikey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kate Orman continues to prove she’s one of the best Who writers ever with her fourth New Adventure, which includes a Pyramid and the Doctor being tortured. Iconic!

A bit like Set Piece, this focuses a lot on character and the story almost feels secondary, but that’s not at all a bad thing. Benny and Jason return, and though they’ve only been gone for a few books it’s great getting to reunite with them again. Jason sort of takes a backseat here, but still has a significant role in the way this book explores Benny’s relationships with the three men in her life: Jason, the Doctor, and Isaac - her father.

Isaac and his motley crew are a good supporting cast, with Joel, Mrs Randrianasolo, and Graeme the sentient spatula as particular standouts. Their operation in Little Caldwell is an interesting one, and the way this links into several loose ends from the Doctor’s past is great, though one loose end from the very early NAs in particular is slightly eyebrow-raisingly brushed over.

While Benny does get a good focus in this story, Chris and Roz don’t miss out either, as we get a chance to take another look at their friendship and the way they’ve changed and grown closer during their travels. It seems there’s an interesting tease of events to come here too.

Similarly on that count, we get the Doctor facing his past and - briefly - his future. Published only a few months after the TV Movie, this seems to be where we really see the Doctor starting down the path that will lead him to his eventual next regeneration, including changing his outfit from his usual New Adventures white linen suit to something more akin to his TV Movie outfit. There’s also a few moments in the latter half of the book where the atmosphere feels almost somber as the Doctor considers his life.

Overall, while the kind of main focus of this is about looking to the past, this is also used effectively as a chance to reflect on what this means for the future, and what lies ahead for the Doctor and his friends.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was reading this at a steady pace and then university happened! I didn't read a lot for a while, so my memory was a bit foggy by the time I got to the last 30 pages.
Kate Orman is a consistently solid VNA writer, though. I'm not sure she's fully clicked with me to five star level but I've liked all her books, which is more than I can say about some on this range. Plus I appreciate anyone with the audacity to introduce a vital character called Graeme the spatula, so there's that.

[Jade · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. This one was pretty good! Benny cried a lot, but it was nice to see a more human side of her and less of the annoying Benny. I absolutely love her and Jason together. I want more books with them before (spoilers).

[Arthur B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent gambit to bring Benny back into active adventuring and also to put the Doctor and his effect on others under the microscope towards the end of the New Adventures. Full review: https://fakegeekboy.wordpress.com/202...

[Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book, it is a fun read, and the pacing is decent and this book really makes me really like Benny as this book does focus on her and her family

[Luke Sims-Jenkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good solid adventure that's made better by the fantastic character work. Return of the Living Dad is more about the characters than the plot, when the characters are this good who cares?

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny, at times, how much of an impact Ace has in nearly all of the Seven NA books where she's absent.

[Harry · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty good read. Not my favourite new adventure from the ones that I have read (I've only recently started properly reading them) but still a pretty good book. There were a couple of times where I wasn't sure what was going on as there are quite a lot of characters to remember even if they are written well. Orman had written a good story here with help from Paul Cornell constructing the plot. A really well paced new adventure and one which you don't have to take too seriously. A solid 7/10 from me!

[Gary Hilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Doctor Who: Return of the Living Dad
By Kate Orman / Virgin / August 1996

‘It’s me, daddy. It’s Bernice.’

Bernice Summerfield was seven years old when her father disappeared. They said he turned and ran from the Daleks in battle. They said he was a coward.

They were wrong.

For years Benny has searched for her father. Now a clue snatches her from her honeymoon, back to the TARDIS, and on to England in the year 1983. There she at last discovers Admiral Isaac Summerfield, leading a motley crew of aliens, psychics and fanboys. Their mission: to save extra-terrestrials stranded on Earth.

But what is Benny’s father doing five hundred years in his own past? And why has he been waiting for the Doctor to arrive? Can Benny really trust the man she’s been looking for all her life?

Although I had to pan Kate Orman's efforts on So Vile A Sin, I think Return of the Living Dad has to be one of the best New Adventures I have read since the series began.

Orman has proven to have the ability to weave humor, adventure and good storytelling together to create a great NA, and Return of the Living Dad is no exception.

At last, Bernice has the opportunity to find her father, and the result is a novel strong on both characterization and plot. There are also plenty of surprises in store for everyone, including Chris and Roz.

As usual, Orman writes the Doctor as a three-dimensional character, and uses the entire NA cast to their fullest, including Jason Kane. This book is also a good indicator of what's possible with the character of Benny as she sets out as the main star of the NAs beginning with Oh No It Isn't! by Paul Cornell.

The verdict: Read it!

[Nicholas Whyte · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2280408.html[return][return] In Return of the Living Dad, Orman (with input from Paul Cornell) brings back Bernice Summerfield, several books on from her departure as a regular character, and tracks down her father, who apparently escaped the future Dalek war in which she thought he had been killed, and has settled in England in 1983 where he is involved in a convoluted alien plot. I suspect non-fans wouldn't get as much out of this, but I really liked both the fairly intricate plotting (involving a potential nuclear war), and what Orman does with the characters, taking most of the regulars (Seven, Chris, Roz, and Benny andd Jason) a little beyond where they had been before. Having said that, I see one reviewer complaining that nobody who wasn't a rec.arts.sf.drwho reader in the early 1990s could possibly enjoy the book; I propose myself as a counterexample. There's also some interesting treatment of the question of the Doctor's true name - nothing inconsistent with new Who, but coming at it from a different direction.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a very love/hate relationship with this particular Kate Orman book, but I must say I did find it rather engrossing...which says a great deal about how endearing Bernice Summerfield became as part of the expanded "Doctor Who" universe. Perhaps a few too many people are put off by the soap-opera aspects surrounding Benny's family issues, but I found it all very authentic. It also deserves a lot of credit for a plot that deals with the consequences of the Doctor's actions when he visits Earth: who cleans up the messes he leaves behind? It's a very Russell T. Davies/Steven Moffat plot point, ten years ahead of its time.

[Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rereading this, it is much better than I remember it being.
You do have to accept some strangeness. The plot is a bit thin, it is weird to have Benny returning so soon after Happy Ending, it interrupts psi-powers arc & I don't believe Roz and Chris getting together ever gets mentioned.
But it is a lot of fun, the character stuff is great and it has a lot of interesting thematic stuff going on.
Also Graeme needs to appear in more stories.

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Devoured it in 2 hours. A great example of the late NAs--Not sure why I never got around to reading this one until now. Orman weaves a story that stands well on its own, but is outstanding for those who read the NAs and were immersed in the DW fan culture of 90s. Some of the in-jokes were a bit too much, though.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another strong read from Orman that rises above its origins as a TV tie-in. The plot is almost secondary to the strong characterization we get of Benny and her father, as they come back together and see how their lives might intersect.

This is an even better send-off to Benny than Happy Endings, and it makes me eager to read her continued adventures on her own.

[Kerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this reread.