Turn Off That Television & Read A Book!, or My First Venture Into Doctor Who Novels: A Semi-Review of Goth Opera by Paul Cornell

Goth Opera by Paul Cornell, the first in
the Virgin Missing Adventures series

     So, you're a Whovian. You've watched all 7 series of the reboot. You've watched all available episodes of the classic Doctor Who series. You've even watched the 1996 Doctor Who movie, even though you wondered how anyone could've expected a movie starring Eric Roberts to succeed (Anyone else catch Will Sasso's brief role?). Now you're stuck waiting for the forthcoming 50th anniversary & Christmas specials, itching for a fresh Doctor Who story. Where do you turn? What can you do, oh woe-begotten Whovian?
     Maybe you already knew there are over 500 Doctor Who novels available for those who still enjoy reading and then again, maybe you didn't. It was certainly a welcome surprise to me to find six different series of books to choose from; I opted to go with the Virgin Missing Adventures line, as new stories set in-between television episodes seemed as good as any a place to start & Goth Opera, by Paul Cornell (the first book in that particular series), seemed the most logical selection.
     Originally intended to be a comic strip adventure for Doctor Who Magazine & feature the Fourth Doctor facing off against none other than Dracula, Cornell revised the story to instead be a Fifth Doctor vehicle. Not only was this story my introduction to Doctor Who novels but, as I had not yet watched all of the original series (I still have a few serials left to watch even now), this was also my introduction to the Fifth Doctor himself, as well as companions Nyssa & Tegan Jovanka. I didn't know it at the time of reading (and it certainly didn't affect the standalone readability) but Goth Opera is a sequel to Blood Harvest, a novel from the Virgin New Adventures series written by Terrance Dicks (who also penned a prelude to the story that appeared in Doctor Who Magazine #214).
     Goth Opera tosses the Fifth Doctor & his companions, on vacation in Tasmania, into the middle of a scheme by Time Lord Ruath to resurrect a vampire named Yarven & set him up as a Vampire Messiah. The story also features Romana, in her second regeneration, who attempts to help the Doctor when she uncovers evidence of Ruath's plan on the Time Lord home planet of Gallifrey.
     Now I won't give away any more of the plot, but I will say that it was a fairly engaging read that did a fantastic job of capturing the personalities of its characters on the page, as I would see when I finally got to see the Fifth Doctor, Nyssa & Tegan on the small screen. I would recommend it as a solid first book to read, as it strikes a good balance between the sci-fi of Doctor Who & a classic sort of vampire tale (albeit one that involved time travel, aliens & world domination), but at the same time I'd say pick up any random book & start there. One of my favorite things about Doctor Who is watching, or reading, the adventures out of order because you are presented with constant examples of how The Doctor, in all his regenerations, has never really changed & yet has never really stayed the same.