The latest release for Doctor Who fans from Big Finish Productions is the audio drama adaptation of one of the most beloved Who novels of the 1990s, the 1994 novel Goth Opera written by Paul Cornell. This fan-favourite from the Virgin Missing Adventures range has been adapted by Lizbeth Myles into a three-part audio play and, if the image hasn’t given it away, features a lot of vampires.
In Goth Opera, the Time Lady Ruath arrives in 1993 Manchester she informs Earth’s vampires that they will be visited by their legendary messiah and that his arrival will herald in an era of perpetual night. All that is needed for this to happen is the blood of a Time Lord.
Meanwhile, the Fifth Doctor and his companions Tegan and Nyssa arrive in Tasmania, but it isn’t long before they are attacked by the vampires and an unfortunate Nyssa getting that fatal bite. Warned by her attacker not to tell anyone, Nyssa remains silent but the Doctor is determined to find out why his old friend is so determined to see the descendants of the Great Vampire rise to power.
The Fifth Doctor is played by the wonderful Peter Davison, with Janet Fielding as Tegan and Sarah Sutton as Nyssa. The cast also includes Richard Armitage (The Hobbit) who reads the prologue as Rassilon, Natalie Gumede (Titans) as Time Lady Ruath and Micah Balfour 9The Bill) as Yarven.
Peter Davison said: “It’s a fun story, and the Doctor has a history of fighting vampires, which I was never aware of. Vampires and his strange love of tea are the two things that the Doctor has to cope with in this story!”
Janet Fielding added: “It’s a corker of a story. Very good plot, it’s very action packed, the sense of jeopardy is quite high. And Sarah does very good evil. I’m not looking at her in the same way again.”
Doctor Who – The Novel Adaptations: Goth Opera is available now from the Big Finish website for £22.99 for the collector’s edition CD box set + download, or £18.99 for the download only.
