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The Trials of Tara: or, Would That It Were The Comedie of Count Grendel The Master of Gracht With The Life and Death of his New Executioner was a play written by Paul Cornell. It was acted with great applause at the private house in Buckingham Road and first printed in 1653 for Rebecca Levene, when it was to be sold at her shop at the sign of the Virgin in Ladbroke Grove.
The play was set in the land of Tara and concerned a bid by Grendel of Gracht to take the Taran throne by murdering Queen Strella, following the the disappearance and suspected death of her husband King Reynart some time prior. Fictionalised versions of the Seventh Doctor and Bernice Summerfield featured prominently. On multiple occasions, dialogue alluded to an unseen historical attempt by Grendel to seize the throne and the Doctor's part in foiling it, (PROSE: The Trials of Tara [+]Loading...["The Trials of Tara (short story)"]) referencing the real Fourth Doctor and Romana's visit to the planet while in search of the Key to Time. (TV: The Androids of Tara [+]Loading...["The Androids of Tara (TV story)"]) Likewise, the Kandyman was introduced as Grendel's executioner in Act III, his backstory with the Doctor on Terra Alpha remaining largely unspoken in the play (PROSE: The Trials of Tara [+]Loading...["The Trials of Tara (short story)"]) but reflecting an actual previous encounter between the pair. (TV: The Happiness Patrol [+]Loading...["The Happiness Patrol (TV story)"])
Behind the scenes[[edit] | [edit source]]
The Trials of Tara [+]Loading...["The Trials of Tara (short story)"] was written and formatted as if it were truly a 17th century play save for a few anachronisms to accomodate its sci-fi aspects. Paul Cornell, to whom the in-universe play is attributed, also wrote the short story for Decalog 2: Lost Property. The Virgin was a reference to the publisher Virgin Books, with the real Rebecca Levene working as an editor for the Virgin New Adventures.
Although not explictly referenced in the play, The Trials of Tara includes several elements from the works of William Shakespeare. Fairy King and Queen Oberon and Titania respectively featured in A Midsummer Night's Dream, which also contained a subplot involving a potion with the ability to induce love at first sight, and the Three Witches had previously appeared in Macbeth. A second sequel to The Androids of Tara [+]Loading...["The Androids of Tara (TV story)"] written in play format, this time by the in-universe pen of Shakespeare himself, later materialised in the form of Coriolanus [+]Loading...["Coriolanus (short story)"].