Dark Shadows Audio Book 28 - Speak No Evil

This audio book from Big Finish Productions thrilled me for two reasons - one, it was a continuation of Dark Shadows, and that is probably my favorite show of all time; and two, it stars one of my two favorite Doctor Who actors - Arthur Darvill! Since David Henesy won't come back for any more Dark Shadows stuff, BFP got Arthur Darvill to fill the role of Tad Collins, the son of Quentin Collins from the 1800s.

This story is set 15 years after the 1840s story that aired on television. Tad is grown up now, and his father is out of town with Daphne, leaving Tad by himself at Collinwood. The circus has come to town, and Tad pays a visit - however, he ends up making enemies of the tattooed woman and a clown who is very protective of her. The story really gets moving when the clown breaks into Collinwood and steals a book of the occult, along with six "wands," as Tad calls them. Of course, those wands turn out to actually be the I-Ching, which anyone who watched the show will recall were used to allow Barnabas, and later Julia, go back into the past.

I'll readily admit that I got excited as soon as the I-Ching were mentioned.  I've always been a big fan of time travel in stories, so I expected it to occur here.  It did not, though - yet, it didn't leave me disappointed. The writers took it in a different direction, and there was a rather unexpected result in the end - very much Dark Shadows-esque.

I just can't get enough of these audio books, and thankfully, Big Finish is continuing to put them out. My love for Dark Shadows stays alive with these books, and it's always so exciting to put each CD in and hear that opening voice over, then the opening credits, and the ending credits when the story finishes.  I'm definitely looking forward to the next one!

RATING:  10 crazy clowns out of 10 for Arthur Darvill (Rory!!!!) alone!