The Monthly Adventures #97a - "The Wishing Beast" by Paul Magrs

There’s something particularly singular about Paul Magrs and the way he writes, something that lands both in the realms of bizarre and relatable and so far, my experience with him has been both good and bad. Whilst he has written some absolutely stunning stuff like Old Flames or Horror of Glam Rock, he has also written some significantly worse stuff, like the utterly abysmal The Wormery. This has left me with very few expectations surrounding his stories so, when I saw that The Wishing Beast had an incredibly low rating, I could only prepare myself. Now, having listened to it, it definitely wasn’t as bad as I was expecting, it is definitely one of Magrs’ lesser outputs.

On a nameless asteroid lives two old women, who know of a great dragon that can grant you your deepest desire. But when the Doctor and Mel arrive, and find themselves offered an audience with the Wishing Beast, they begin to suspect something is very wrong indeed.

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

This might be the most Paul Magrs Paul Magrs story I’ve listened to so far, if that makes sense. The Wishing Beast is bizarre, to say the least, a sci-fi retelling of old fairy tales that aims to capture that classic mystique old Grimms’ tales exude. And I think in that department, it definitely succeeds; you have old witches alone in the woods, a great dragon, ghosts, mystical powers, tricks and traps alike, I can see what Magrs was aiming for tonally and he definitely achieves it. However, I still think there’s something lacking. This is a story that feels like it should be more atmospheric than it was and whilst I definitely liked what we were shown and the elements we were given, it never truly managed to capture the ethos I think it was going for, instead feeling somewhat flat. A kind of off kilter whimsy is par for the course for Magrs and bizarrely, in a story where it tries to go all in on that style, it comes off as one of his flatest stories.

There are still moments of greatness here and there and I think the thing that he managed to get completely right was the sense of humour. Magrs is definitely a writer with comedic leanings and this is very much one of his lighter stories. I mean, we have old ladies going around sucking up ghosts with a vacuum cleaner, it definitely isn’t a serious script. And I think this part of The Wishing Beast works quite well, I was laughing a good few times and Geraldine Newman and Jean Marsh’s performances were strong throughout.

But The Wishing Beast for me feels very insubstantial, the story really hasn’t got much to say and so neither do I. The plot is thin and relatively unimpressive, consisting of some basic set up and pay off with very few unique or stand out factors. The mystery is good, I was definitely intrigued in the first half but it doesn’t last long and there’s very little to follow along with after that. Nothing here’s bad, it’s an enjoyable story but it’s a pretty uninteresting one. 

The Wishing Beast definitely had a good idea behind it but with a hollow script and great, big atmosphere-shaped hole in the centre of it, it more just feels like the skeleton of a Paul Magrs story; wacky and eccentric but without the heart that makes so many of his works so good. I enjoyed it but you won’t see me recommending it to anybody any time soon.

Pros:

+ Feels like a twisted take on a fairy tale

+ Good sense of humour

+ Good mystery

Cons:

- Thin and predictable story

- A lack of decent atmosphere

There's nothing special about The Wishing Beast, but I do appreciate it being a three-parter. The Doctor and Mel meet too kooky old ladies who turn out to be luring people to evilly turn into ghosts to feed and support their younger brother who has been turned into a dragon monster. The ladies are not terribly interesting, and we've seen that trope before. The Doctor also has a tearful goodbye to Mel as he supposedly sacrifices himself, but come on, we know the Doctor's not going to be bested by two old women and a vacuum cleaner. Overall, it's totally fine but forgettable. Also does feel very much in the 'house style' of the 2006-2009 era of Big Finish.

This is part of a series of reviews of Doctor Who in chronological timeline order.

Previous Story: Thicker than Water

It has a nice atmosphere at the start. Very eerie and mysterious. That quickly falls apart and this turns into a boring, incomprehensible mess. The old ladies who were so intriguing in their motives become plain two-dimensional villains. Basically all the characters are forgettable, which is impressive considering Jean Marsh is a member of the cast.

Nothing that stands out about this story but at the very least it's only an hour long so it was over and done with quickly.

Next Story: The Vanity Box