Douglas Booth to star opposite Lily Cole in Northanger Abbey audiobook: ‘Period dramas are a window into the past’

Co-stars: Douglas Booth and Lily Cole appear in Audible’s production of Northanger Abbey

Douglas Booth says he loves starring in period dramas because he is obsessed with history — and as a child wished he could time travel.

The actor, 25, has played Pip in Great Expectations, Mr Bingley in Pride And Prejudice And Zombies and Winston Churchill in a Radio 4 show.

Now he has gone back in time again to play John Thorpe in an Audible production of Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey, alongside Lily Cole.

Booth, who will also play Percy Bysshe Shelley in upcoming film Mary Shelley, said: “I enjoy it [period productions] as it is a window into the past.

"I grew up always wanting to time travel. Imagine! I have always loved history and it [reading Austen] is an opportunity to go directly into the mind of someone who was actually there. So it is like going into a time capsule.”

He praised audiobooks for helping him to increase his range as an actor, saying: “That is why audio is so brilliant because I would maybe never have got the opportunity to play Winston Churchill if it was a live action job.”

He also said they had helped him read more novels, adding: “I am severely dyslexic, so I have often relied on audiobooks to get me through great pieces of literature.

"It takes me ages to read a big book. People can read a script in two hours. For me, it takes half a day... at least.”

Download Audible’s Northanger Abbey at audible.co.uk/northanger abbey

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