Audio Adaptation of Goth Opera out in July!

Yesterday I logged onto Twitter to discover that my audio adaptation of Goth Opera had just been announced (as a lowly writer, Twitter is my main resource of finding out what stuff I wrote is coming out.) It’s had a pretty amazing response, and it’s wonderful to see how many people are excited about a new novel adaptation from Big Finish.

If you’re not familiar with Doctor Who book history, Goth Opera was a novel that came out about thirty years ago and was the first in a new range of Past Doctor Adventures. This first entry was a Fifth Doctor story written by Paul Cornell and featured Nyssa, Tegan, and a lot of vampires. The book’s been long out of print, though is available second-hand for varying prices. But in July this shiny new audio version is released into the wild!

This was my first time adapting one media for another, and while I’ve written quite a few audio scripts, this was easily the longest at an epic three hours. So, a little bit intimidating, but also tremendously exciting getting to tackle such an immense project. I very much hope I’ve done it justice. Before I started I remembered enjoying reading the novel, now I can tell you in painful detail every little thing I love about it. And there is such a lot to love. (Including one brilliant thing I couldn’t get into the audio, which I’m very sad about.)

Goth Opera was actually the very first Doctor Who novel I tried to buy. I’d seen New Adventures novels in my local WH Smith, but the covers never appealed to me. But when I saw magnificent cover above I was all wide-eyed with interest. I picked it up and flicked through and asked my Mum if I could have it. She took one glance at the beautiful cover and said absolutely not. Apparently bloody vampire fangs did not suggest suitable reading material for eight year olds. Alas. But the image did linger in my memory for years after, so kudos to the cover artist.

So, yes, you can pre-order it now from Big Finish, and it will be out in July!