Short Trips #02 - “Old Flames” by Paul Magrs

Arriving in snowy 18th Century England, the Doctor and Sarah-Jane quickly make friends with high society and find an old flame of the Doctor’s at odds with a mysterious and unseen predator.

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

I’ve had a somewhat shaky experience so far with Paul Magrs. Having listened to only a few of his stories - one being the dreadful The Wormery - I am yet to form a particularly glowing opinion on the man. However, I am overjoyed to say that Old Flames was an absolute delight.

Immediately, everything is now clear to me on why Magrs is such a beloved writer. Iris, being of course his infamous inclusion to the Doctor Who universe, is an infectiously fun character with a truly one-of-a-kind personality, who brightens every scene she appears in. Beyond that, he has such a clear, light but never shallow style to him that makes his stories move comfortably at the speed of light. In just under thirty pages (that absolutely do not feel even that long), Magrs manages to write a decent episode of Doctor Who with a somewhat large cast, an interesting world and a fantastic pace that really keeps the story going. That alone is a feat worth celebrating but this story itself is just so unbelievably joyous to experience. The dialogue and characters are lively, the plot is fast but underpinned with a nice emotional basis and we have some on brand idiosyncrasy such as having alien tiger people be our antagonists. It’s a ridiculously tight story and emblematic of how all short fiction should be approached.

I did have one or two problems, chiefly with the Doctor who I really couldn’t see as Four here. Magrs writes like how the revival writes the Doctor, which really doesn’t work with arguably his most alien and aloof incarnation;  a lot of Four’s dialogue does not feel like it came out of the mouth of Tom Baker, who is admittedly a hard personality to translate to prose. On top of that, I think the length is a bit of a double edged sword at points, like the relative lack of reaction to Rector’s death or the somewhat loose foundations on which Turner and Bella’s relationship is built, but both are relatively easy to overlook as the Doctor fights a space weretiger.

8/10

Pros:

+ Ridiculously fun and fast paced

+ Boasts a cast of interesting and well characterised personalities, with Iris chief amongst them

+ Manages to fit an episode worth of plot into thirty pages without feeling rushed

Cons:

- Four doesn’t feel particularly in character

- The rapidness of it all sometimes hurts the plot

The first appearance of Iris Wildthyme is next in “Old Flames” which is also Paul Magrs’ first piece of Doctor Who fiction in general.  It’s certainly got more to it than “Model Train Set”, playing off what was considered the Doctor/companion dynamic with the Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith.  What’s interesting is that Iris in creation is very much meant to be a one-off character, a foil and flirtatious force for the Doctor.  It’s the most different Iris has ever really been, because she won’t really crystallize into the character that her fans will entirely know until The Scarlet Empress, she’s almost treated like a joke.  Okay, she is still very much a comedic character today, but the one-off nature really does shine through.  The short story itself is this eighteenth century style affair complete with ball, romance, betrayals, and the Doctor being a true bohemian.  7/10.

Oh this was fun I really didn’t expect a character to turn up too it’s almost a perfect shirt trip

Ooh, what's that? A mysterious red double-decker bus?

Iris! Iris, Iris, Iris, hello!! Ah, dear Iris- wanting to leave her companion behind, to settle down and get married and be safe. She has such attachment issues, I swear. Even to the point where she abandoned him there for his own good! (First Doctor leaving Susan vibes, eh?)

And Four and Sarah, the dears. I adore their interactions, as well as theirs with Iris. <33

As this is Beryl Reid's Iris, we can, of course see the distinction between regenerations, and I love it. This one's not that insane about the Doctor, not like the others. She's trying to be mature, or something, and may I just repeat that she left her companion behind so that he could get married and be happy and safe and not with her!!!! Oh, Iris..

And I love how Lady Huntingdon and Bella turned out to not be from around here as well, and familial disputes, my beloved!! Oh, I adore this story, very much because of Iris!! 

Paul Magrs really does know how to tell a tale :)