Doctor Who: Royal Blood

Feb 27, 2026 11:03 PM

Author:Una McCormack,David Warner

David Warner reads a new novel featuring the 12th Doctor and Clara, as played by Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman in the hit BBC TV series.

“The Grail is a story, a myth! It didn’t exist on your world! It can’t exist here!”

The city-state of Varuz is failing. Duke Aurelian is the last of his line, his capital is crumbling, and the armies of his enemy, Duke Conrad, are poised beyond the mountains to invade. Aurelian is preparing to gamble everything on one last battle. So when a holy man, the Doctor, comes to Varuz from beyond the mountains, Aurelian asks for his blessing in the war.

But all is not what it seems in Varuz. The city-guard have lasers for swords, and the halls are lit by electric candlelight. Aurelian’s beloved wife, Guena, and his most trusted knight, Bernhardt, seem to be plotting to overthrow their Duke, and Clara finds herself drawn into their intrigue...

Will the Doctor stop Aurelian from going to war? Will Clara’s involvement in the plot against the Duke be discovered? Why is Conrad’s ambassador so nervous? And who are the ancient and weary knights who arrive in Varuz claiming to be on a quest for the Holy Grail…?

Running time: 5 hours approx.

Reviews

'One of the most widely read and influential writers of our generation

—— The Times

An unforgettable read, don't miss it

—— Sunday Times

Works so brilliantly.

—— Daily Telegraph

Brookner has a merciless comic gift.

—— Sunday Times

Fans of Sophie Kinsella will love this effervescent story.

—— Sunday Express

Only Emily Brontë exposes her imagination to the dark spirit

—— V. S. Pritchett

Hers...is the rarest of all powers. She could free life from its dependence on facts...by speaking of the moor make the wind blow and the thunder roar

—— Virginia Woolf

Commonly thought of as 'romantic', but try rereading it without being astonished by the comfortableness with which Brontë's characters subject one another to extremes of physical and psychological violence

—— Sarah Waters

Lambasted when it came out as irredeemably perverse and, I quote, as practically "French"'

—— A. L. Kennedy

The greatest love story ever told, Heathcliff the hero being a wild, stormy, gothic fellow who will not rest until his beloved Cathy is in his arms again, even though she died some years previously. My favourite moment comes when he bribes the sexton who buried Cathy to bury him next to her, with the sides of their coffins left open, so when they're dug up 50 years hence nobody will know which bones are his, and which are hers

—— Patrick McGrath

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