Goth Opera (novel)

Goth Opera
Doctor:	Fifth Doctor
Companion(s):	Tegan, Nyssa
Featuring:	Romana II, Flavia, Sabalom Glitz, Dibber
Main enemy:	Ruath, Yarven
Main setting:	Manchester and Tasmania, 1993 Gallifrey
Key crew
Publisher:	Virgin Books
Writer:	Paul Cornell
Cover by:	Alister Pearson
Release details
Release number:	1
Release date:	21 July 1994
Format:	Paperback Book; 13 Chapters, 238 Pages
ISBN:	ISBN 0-426-20418-2
Virgin Missing Adventures
Next →	Evolution

Goth Opera was the first novel in the Virgin Missing Adventures series. Written by Paul Cornell, it featured the Fifth Doctor, Tegan Jovanka and Nyssa. It built on the narrative in the novel Blood Harvest, which was deliberately crafted to build interest in this novel.

Publisher's summary

"The time of humanity on this world has come to an end. The long night is starting. The age of the undead is upon us."

Manchester, 1993. The vampires of Great Britain have received a message: the long-awaited arrival of their evil messiah is imminent. It's time for a recruitment drive.

On holiday in Tasmania with Tegan and the Fifth Doctor, Nyssa is attacked by a demonic child. She escapes unharmed — except for two small wounds in her neck.

Why are the descendants of the Great Vampire so desperate to obtain the blood of a Time Lord? And what is their connection to a forbidden ancient Gallifreyan cult?

Plot

to be added

Characters

• Fifth Doctor
• Tegan Jovanka
• Nyssa
• Romana II
• Ruath
• Yarven
• Flavia
• Spandrell
• Jake Hedges
• Madelaine Worth
• Eric
• Jeremy Sanders
• Victor Lang
• Matthew
• Child
• Sabalom Glitz
• Dibber
• Pogarel
• Agonal

Worldbuilding

The Doctor

• The Doctor is a contributor to the Wisden cricket magazine.
• The Doctor brushes up on his batting skills in the cricket nets.
• The Doctor uses his cricket bag.
• The Doctor also uses a bowling machine.

Individuals

• Tegan thinks cricket players sneak off for a tinnie of beer during a match.

Gallifrey

• Romana II's political rise on Gallifrey is chronicled here.
• The Doctor and Ruath were classmates at the Prydonian Academy on Gallifrey with the Monk.

Notes

The original, unused cover.

• In the original cover artwork for the novel, there was much more blood on Nyssa's clothes. This was considered too graphic a cover image by W H Smith, the UK's largest book retailer, so the image was altered to be less graphic before publication.
• The plot for the novel was originally developed from an unproduced comic strip for Doctor Who Magazine, which would have featured the Fourth Doctor in a fight against Dracula. Cornell revised the story to use the Fifth Doctor for this novel. (REF: I, Who)
• Paul Cornell once called the experiencing of writing this novel "most unpleasant", but did not elaborate. He later called the book obvious pastiche.
• The back cover indicates this story takes place between the television stories Snakedance and Mawdryn Undead.
• In one line, Ruath lists the Doctor's fellow students at the Time Lord Academy under Borusa to have later become "scoundrels": "Mortimus, the Rani, that idiot Magnus… and you, Doctor". This context makes it clear that "Magnus" here refers to the Master, as it would be unthinkable for such a list not to include the Master. This followed the implication and original intent of Flashback, which featured a "Magnus" who lived on Gallifrey with the First Doctor prior to the latter's departure. However, to avoid conflict with The Dark Path's contention that the Master's original name was instead Koschei, Gary Russell later claimed in Divided Loyalties that Magnus was a different Time Lord.

Continuity

• Tegan is still recovering from her second battle against the Mara on Manussa. (TV: Snakedance ^[+]Loading...["Snakedance (TV story)"])
• Following Adric's death, the Doctor swears that he will not allow another of his companions to die during his current incarnation. (TV: Earthshock ^[+]Loading...["Earthshock (TV story)"])
• The Doctor refers to the Xeraphins. (TV: Time-Flight ^[+]Loading...["Time-Flight (TV story)"])
• Ruath was introduced meeting Romana in Blood Harvest, a passage which reappears in this novel.
• Tracking the journeys of the Fifth Doctor, Ruath notes that he has travelled to a deserted planet, (TV: Castrovalva ^[+]Loading...["Castrovalva (TV story)"]) Monarch's ship in deep space in 1981, (TV: Four to Doomsday ^[+]Loading...["Four to Doomsday (TV story)"]) Deva Loka, (TV: Kinda ^[+]Loading...["Kinda (TV story)"]) Earth on several occasions, (TV: The Visitation ^[+]Loading...["The Visitation (TV story)"], PROSE: The Immortals ^[+]Loading...["The Immortals (short story)"], First Born ^[+]Loading...["First Born (short story)"], AUDIO: Smoke and Mirrors ^[+]Loading...["Smoke and Mirrors (audio story)"], TV: Earthshock ^[+]Loading...["Earthshock (TV story)"], Time-Flight ^[+]Loading...["Time-Flight (TV story)"], Arc of Infinity ^[+]Loading...["Arc of Infinity (TV story)"]) Gallifrey (TV: Arc of Infinity ^[+]Loading...["Arc of Infinity (TV story)"]) and Manussa. (TV: Snakedance ^[+]Loading...["Snakedance (TV story)"])
• Ruath sees a point in the future in which Gallifrey does not exist. (PROSE: The Ancestor Cell ^[+]Loading...["The Ancestor Cell (novel)"])
• Ruath takes Yarven to the time stream/possible future of the Haemovores. (TV: The Curse of Fenric ^[+]Loading...["The Curse of Fenric (TV story)"])
• Romana refers to the Minyans. (TV: Underworld ^[+]Loading...["Underworld (TV story)"])
• Ruath traps Romana in a Miniscope containing Drashigs. (TV: Carnival of Monsters ^[+]Loading...["Carnival of Monsters (TV story)"])
• Melanie Bush is no longer travelling with Sabalom Glitz aboard the Nosferatu II. (TV: Dragonfire ^[+]Loading...["Dragonfire (TV story)"]; PROSE: Head Games ^[+]Loading...["Head Games (novel)"])
• Flavia complains about the decor of the presidential suite. (TV: The Invasion of Time ^[+]Loading...["The Invasion of Time (TV story)"])
• The Black Guardian and the White Guardian play chess on Gallifrey. (TV: Enlightenment ^[+]Loading...["Enlightenment (TV story)"])
• The Doctor, Nyssa and Tegan would visit Manchester again in August 1819. (AUDIO: The Peterloo Massacre ^[+]Loading...["The Peterloo Massacre (audio story)"])
• The Doctor has encountered vampires before in TV: State of Decay ^[+]Loading...["State of Decay (TV story)"]. He would encounter vampires again in TV: The Vampires of Venice ^[+]Loading...["The Vampires of Venice (TV story)"].

External links

• Goth Opera at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
• The Discontinuity Guide to: Goth Opera at The Whoniverse
• Doctor Who Bewildering Reference Guide to Goth Opera
• The Cloister Library: Goth Opera
• Beyond the Book: Goth Opera by Paul Scoones (Article) - TSV 43