‘OLD FLAMES’
Please feel free to comment on my review.
Huntington Manor and Iris Wildthyme with the Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane
This story called ‘Old Flames’ is by Paul Magrs. It features the Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith. It also features the ‘Doctor Who’ debut of Iris Wildthyme, a Time Lord character created by Paul Magrs. This isn’t my first encounter with Iris, as she has appeared in the Big Finish audio adventures.
In those, she’s played by Katy Manning. In ‘Old Flames’, this happens to be an earlier version of Iris with a different face. Apparently, according to TARDIS wiki, this happens to be the ‘Beryl Reid’ Iris. I must admit, Beryl Reid didn’t come into my mind when I was reading this certain ‘Doctor Who’ story.
In fact, Paul Magrs describes Iris as being ‘fat’. I wouldn’t describe Beryl Reid as being that when I saw her in ‘Earthshock’, unless I’m mistaken. 😀 Before appearing in ‘Doctor Who’, Paul Magrs had Iris initially appearing in three ‘Phoenix Court’ novels, published by Vintage Books from 1995 to 1998.
There’s an audiobook for ‘Old Flames’ read by Nicholas Courtney, which is available in ‘Tales From The TARDIS: Volume One’. Unfortunately, it’s an abridged audiobook reading, since the original ‘Old Flames’ story in the ‘Short Trips’ book is divided into four staves (mini-chapters) and is quite longer. 😐
Since the prose version of the story didn’t match to the audiobook version, I decided to read the prose version first and check out the audiobook afterwards. I prefer the prose version, although Nicholas Courtney reads the story well, especially as I knew what would occur after reading the story.
It was intriguing to read and hear how the Fourth Doctor met Iris Wildthyme, along with her red double-decker bus TARDIS. I wonder if Iris ever had a clash with Lady Christina from ‘Planet of the Dead’. 😀 It’s also intriguing how and why Lady Huntington wanted her granddaughter Bella married.
‘Old Flames’ rating – 8/10
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For the Fourth Doctor was
For Sarah Jane was
For Iris Wildthyme was
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The next story
For the Fourth Doctor is For Sarah Jane is For Iris Wildthyme is
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| Return to Iris Wildthyme’s Timeline | |
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Bradley's Basement 