Manchester, 1993. The Time Lady Ruath, an old friend of the Doctor's, arrives on the planet to inform Earth's vampires that the arrival of their legendary messiah is imminent. His rising will herald an age of endless night where the undead reign supreme. All that is needed is the blood of a Time Lord.
In Tasmania, the Doctor, Tegan, and Nyssa are enjoying the sun and plenty of cricket. When they are attacked by vampires, they escape unscathed, except for Nyssa who suffers two small puncture wounds to her neck. Compelled by her attacker to remain silent, she can tell no-one what she's turning into.
Why is Ruath so determined to see the descendants of the Great Vampire rise to power? If only the Doctor knew the truth, she's certain he would turn to her side, and help to secure the future of Vampire kind, no matter how much humanity must suffer.
Based on the 1994 Missing Adventures novel by Paul Cornell.
Recorded on: 20-21 September and 11 October 2023
Recorded at: The Soundhouse
Producer and director David O'Mahony said: "Goth Opera has got everything: vampires, superpowers, blood, guts, and gore, and of course Peter Davison's Doctor along with Tegan and Nyssa. It's also set in and around Manchester, which gave us a lovely opportunity to bring in young and exciting northern actors.
"Lizbeth Myles has brilliantly adapted Paul Cornell’s novel and, with an incredible voice cast - including the wonderful Richard Armitage giving us a Rassilon prologue - it's a vampiric romp through the Whoniverse not to be missed!"
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!"
Sarah Sutton said: "It's a very good story for Nyssa. The idea of Nyssa with fangs is quite something. I remember when I first saw the cover for this novel, when it was put in front of me to sign at a convention, and I was shocked at the amount of blood on Nyssa's costume. So I made a complaint about that, and the next time I saw it, they'd reduced the amount of blood!"
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."
Sarah Sutton, Peter Davison, Janet Fielding
Mathew McQuinn, Sarah Sutton, Micah Balfour, Janet Fielding, Natalie Gumede
