As legend has it, Mary Shelley and her husband, Percy Shelley were vacationing in Lake Geneva, and were visited by their close friend Lord Byron. Unfortunately, due to constant rain, the group was stuck indoors at the Villa Diodati and had to find ways to amuse themselves. Byron challenged Mary and Percy to a ghost story writing contest. Mary was initially unable to come up with one until stumbling upon the idea of a reanimated corpse. This was the birth of her creation ‘Frankenstein’, a book that is often considered the birth of science fiction.
In the upcoming episode of ‘Doctor Who’, The Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) and her companions visit the Villa Diodati on the fateful night when Mary was supposed to deliver her spooky tale… except in reality, it seems Mary just wants to dance!
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Even though The Doctor has explicitly warned her companions not to interfere with history, it seems that she must step in to coax Mary to come up with ‘Frankenstein’ as history has chronicled.
As Yaz (Mandip Gill) points out:
“Excuse me, Doctor, you broke a rule. Next, you’ll be snogging Byron.”
Check out this sneak peek at the next episode, “The Haunting of Villa Diodati” below:
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“The Haunting of Villa Diodati” will be followed by “Ascension of the Cybermen” on February 23 and “The Timeless Children” on March 1.
How are you enjoying the latest season of ‘Doctor Who’?
In the US, ‘Doctor Who’ airs on BBC America at 8pm EST.
