The Secrets of Dr. Taverner Audio Series
Project Overview
THE SECRETS OF DR. TAVERNER is a six-episode, full-cast dramatic audio series reimagining the classic stories of Dion Fortune in present-day San Francisco.
We’re seeking an engaging actor to play Dr. Nigel Rhodes, the voice of the series. Recently recruited to the Institute of Applied Consciousness, Rhodes serves as both participant and memoirist, guiding listeners through a succession of extraordinary cases that challenge the boundaries of psychology, consciousness, and reality itself.
This is not a traditional audiobook narrator role. Rhodes is a fully realized character whose storytelling and dialogue forms the backbone of the series. He is intelligent, observant, quietly funny, deeply empathetic, and endlessly fascinated by the world Dr. Claire Taverner reveals to him. Listeners should be experiencing these mysteries alongside him, not being read to.
We’re looking for an actor with natural warmth, presence, wit, and conversational intimacy. Someone audiences instinctively trust and want to spend time with. Think memoir rather than narration. A dry sense of humor and undercurrent of wonder should be present in every scene.
Previous audiobook or long-form narration experience is welcome, but we are equally interested in stage and screen actors who possess strong vocal storytelling skills.
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DR. NIGEL RHODES (Lead)
Male Late 30s–50s Contemporary American Accent
THE SECRETS OF DR. TAVERNER is a six-episode, full-cast dramatic audio series reimagining the classic stories of Dion Fortune in present-day San Francisco.
We’re seeking an engaging actor to play Dr. Nigel Rhodes, the voice of the series. Recently recruited to the Institute of Applied Consciousness, Rhodes serves as both participant and memoirist, guiding listeners through a succession of extraordinary cases that challenge the boundaries of psychology, consciousness, and reality itself.
This is not a traditional audiobook narrator role. Rhodes is a fully realized character whose storytelling and dialogue forms the backbone of the series. He is intelligent, observant, quietly funny, deeply empathetic, and endlessly fascinated by the world Dr. Claire Taverner reveals to him. Listeners should be experiencing these mysteries alongside him, not being read to.
We’re looking for an actor with natural warmth, presence, wit, and conversational intimacy. Someone audiences instinctively trust and want to spend time with. Think memoir rather than narration. A dry sense of humor and undercurrent of wonder should be present in every scene.
Previous audiobook or long-form narration experience is welcome, but we are equally interested in stage and screen actors who possess strong vocal storytelling skills.
Recording: Talent should have personal home recording studio that can connect to director during a live recording session.
Audition: Please select two or three excerpts from the attached Rhodes Audio Selections. We are less interested in performance than conversational acting that creates a connection with the listener.
Note: Dr. Nigel Rhodes is the listeners’ point-of-view throughout the six episodes of The Secrets of Dr. Taverner. A physician and former crisis counselor, he joins the Institute of Applied Consciousness expecting to encounter unusual psychological cases, only to find himself confronting phenomena that challenge his understanding of human consciousness and reality itself. Intelligent, observant, and quietly witty, Rhodes narrates the series as someone recording his personal recollections of extraordinary events. The performance should feel conversational, grounded, and emotionally truthful—as though each memory is being rediscovered rather than recited. He is someone we enjoy listening to in the way that we gravitate to people who can immerse us through their understated skill at weaving together memories and storytelling.
Episode 1, page 4 Dr. Rhodes: Institute Archive. Dr. Nigel Rhodes recording. What follows is a case I’m naming The Insufficiently Dead. These are my private recollections and not intended for public release. I haven’t been able to make up my mind whether Dr. Taverner should be the hero or villain of these case histories. That she was a woman of uncommon brilliance and selfless commitment to the wellbeing of her patients is beyond question. However, her methods in the pursuit of helping those patients differed significantly from anything I’d encountered in my prior education or work experience. What follows are my best efforts at laying out the narratives of these cases with psychological fidelity and clinical accuracy. The manner of my coming to work at the Institute of Applied Consciousness was straightforward enough. After several years in emergency and crisis medicine (counselling victims in the immediate aftermath of mass shootings and natural disasters), I found myself emotionally exhausted and mentally burned out. There was no single incident that had set me off, just the grinding toll of dealing with people suffering catastrophic shock that would persist for a lifetime no matter what I could do or say to them. I wanted to find some quiet, relatively peaceful treatment center where I would have the space to pull myself together. So I contacted a recruiter who specialized in private clinics where the caseloads were smaller and less demanding. “You and everyone else,” said the recruiter. Through my laptop screen, he looked at me thoughtfully. “There is an independent psychiatric practice in San Francisco—we already tried placing two doctors there. Neither of them stayed.” “What was the problem?” I asked. “Well, for one, all employees are required to sign a fourteen-page NDA. Very stringent. And the cases are—unusual. Not the standard stuff.” “Sounds interesting.” “That’s what our other clients said.”
Episode 2, pages 23-24 Dr. Rhodes: She struck a match and lit three candles attached to an iron candelabra. Then she went around and lit wall sconces. As the flames brightened, a room designed with unmistakable intention was revealed. A surprisingly high ceiling stood over wooden alcoves along both walls, carved with the Gothic craftsmanship one sees in medieval monasteries. And then, at the very back of Taverner’s “underground sanctuary,” I saw the altar. A smooth slab of dark granite sat on a raised platform. A hardwood and wrought iron lectern stood in the center. Suspended above it on a chain hung an elaborate oil lamp. Taverner lowered it and lit its multiple wicks. Then she raised it up and secured it seven feet above the altar. The room dimensions and candlelight oriented toward this shrine, compelling the eye to it. Taverner lit two incense cones on the lectern and the smoke rose in upward spirals. Then she went to an ornate wardrobe cabinet, opened it, and drew out two gold-colored robes—heavy, hooded, with corded belts. Approaching us, she addressed Adrian in Italian. He answered in Pierro’s voice. Then my colleague turned to me.
Episode 2, page 22 Dr. Rhodes: Seconds stretched. Then minutes. Neither Taverner nor I spoke. I could tell she was aware of just how high the stakes were. It was the first time I’d seen this level of tension in her and that caused an unease in me. Which I did everything not to show. Suddenly the quiet was broken by the sound of running footsteps. We looked about and spotted Adrian abruptly emerge from between buildings at a full sprint. Taverner threw open the back door. With a leap Adrian flew inside, cradling some object in his arms. As Mr. Zhao pressed the accelerator, I looked back through the rear window. Figures emerged from that same alleyway, realizing they were no match for a Mercedes. Then I saw a car roll up and several of them jumped inside. I could hear the tires screech a block away. Dr. Rhodes: Whatever you took from them, it looks like they want it back. I could see Mr. Zhao’s eyes peer into the rearview mirror. Mr. Zhao: Seatbelt, please. I couldn’t tell what astonished me more, that we were in a car chase across the city in the dead of night or that I’d finally heard Mr. Zhao speak. Taverner leaned over to belt in Adrian and the vellum-bound book he held in his arms, then we belted ourselves. A moment later our car made a sharp turn and the quick uphill acceleration pinned me back against the seat. The car behind us maintained its pursuit. Glancing out the rear window, I saw it taking the same turns we were, its headlights swinging then narrowing at it closed the distance. We crested a hill and Mr. Zhao cut our headlights. For a terrifying few moments we were driving blind down a residential street. Then we made a hard right turn and an immediate left, whooshing past parked cars by mere inches. Behind us, the car in pursuit overshot the turn, having to stop and reverse, giving us precious seconds to extend the distance between us. Dr. Rhodes: You didn’t mention that Mr. Zhao’s last job was a getaway driver.
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