By: Simon Burch
LARA Croft fans from across the world will be jetting into Derby this week to pay homage to their heroine when the city hosts its fifth Tomb Raider Day.
The unofficial event, called TR29, is already a sell-out, with more than 200 people having already snapped up their tickets for day of panel discussions, photos and autograph opportunities at QUAD on Saturday (October 11).
Among the visitors will be fans who will be making a pilgrimage to Derby from as far afield as the USA, with many more drawn from Europe and all four corners of the UK.
And all have the same thing in mind: to celebrate the ongoing legacy of Lara Croft and the Tomb Raider franchise and visit the sights around the city which was home to Core Design, the firm which created her and launched the original game in 1996.
Derby’s Tomb Raider Day is the only event of its kind in the world and was first held in 2021. It attracts a healthy crowd every year, thanks to the ongoing interest in Lara Croft and Tomb Raider, which is one of the best-selling video games of all time, with more than 141 million copies sold across various platforms.
It has also spawned seven spin-off games, three films, starring Angelina Jolie and Alice Vikander, and an animated series, and Lara is now set return to the screen in a live action version on Amazon Prime Video, starring Sophie Turner.
Lara is also in the Guinness Book of Records as the Most Recognised Female Video Game Character and was voted the most iconic video game character of all time to mark the 20th Bafta Games Awards last year.
The TR29 – 29 being the 29th anniversary of the launch of the first Tomb Raider game – is being organised by writer and narrative designer Luke Earle, who is a producer at Tactile Games UK and has been a huge fan of the games since he was a child.
He said: “My first memories of Tomb Raider are watching my Dad play the game in 1996/97 on the PS1.
“I was five at the time and I vividly remember the T-Rex appearing on screen. I’d seen nothing like that before.
“Each year, he would get the new game, and my brothers would watch him play and give bad advice! I went to Ashgate School on Ashbourne Road, and on the way to school, we would walk past Number 55, which was the Core Design office, where my mum would say ‘That’s where Lara Croft lives’.
“At the time, this made no sense, but when I got older, I understood what she meant!”
Luke has brought a wide array of people connected to Tomb Raider together over the years, from Core Design staff who worked on the original games to actors who voiced Lara on the games and models who earned a living attending events dressed as Lara.
This year’s event will feature an appearance from Natalie Cook, who was the first official model for Lara Croft between 1996 and 1997, and Judith Gibbins, who voiced Lara Croft in Tomb Raider II and Tomb Raider III.
There will also be a discussion with Eric Loren, who was the voice actor behind special agent and archaeologist Kurtis Trent, who appeared in the 2003 game Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness.
Luke said: “The event is a total sell-out and we could easily have sold more tickets. We’ve got our regular visitors coming from America and loads from France, as well as from across the UK.
“I think a lot of people who live in Derby don’t realise how important the city is for Lara Croft fans. It’s a special place because it’s where she was born and they come back time and again to visit and go to the locations in the city that are part of her story.
“That includes 55 Ashbourne Road, Core Design’s next office in Pride Park and Lara Croft Way, of course.
“They also come for the people who’ve played a part in Tomb Raider too. Judith was the second voice actor to play Lara, and she’s the one that’s most people recognise, although they don’t necessarily know what she looks like.”
Tomb Raider turns 30 next year and Luke is already looking at ways to make next year’s event extra special, not least because Lara will be set to return on Amazon Prime.
He said: “Lara is a huge part of the 90s revival that’s going on at the moment, alongside Britpop and the Spice Girls. Although she’s never really gone away, she’s hugely popular at the moment.
“Now Amazon are going to be filming a new TV adaptation, with a new Lara and new stories, and that will only win her even more fans.
“As a fan myself and as an event organiser, I think it’s brilliant. It’s also brilliant for Derby itself. I don’t think most people in the city realise what a big deal Derby is to Tomb Raider fans, so I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do this year and next to get more Lara fans coming here.”
