Anyone given Iris Wildthyme a spin?

[primsong]

Just learning a bit about what sounds like a suitably crazy character out there in audio land, one Iris Wildthyme. Seems she's a Time Lady whose double-decker bus TARDIS is a bit smaller on the inside, has a penchant for gin and tonic and travels with a stuffed panda? Seeing as she's voiced by Katy Manning/ Jo Grant I'm seriously thinking of just purchasing these sight unseen (er, sound unheard)

Have any of you listened to any of these? Recommendations?

Comments

[thisbluespirit]

I've not - I read a couple of the Iris books, but they were slightly too crazy for me. However, they were both Paul Magrs (who came up with the character) and I suspect Big Finish audios might be less in density of craziness, and she is a fun character. But I'm sure someone round here will have actually listened. She claims that she's the one who had all the Doctor's adventures and he's just claimed them as his.

(I'd still recommend you get Six and Evelyn audios, though, or Eight and Charley ones, above and beyond any others! I'm just hopelessly biased that way. I love both of those TARDIS teams quite as much as any TV ones, if not more.)

[ravenskyewalker.livejournal.com]

Iris Wildthyme was created by Paul Magrs and showed up in several BBC books (EDAs and PDAs). I haven't read them yet, but may get around to rectifying that situation this year... or not.

Yes, indeed, she was then picked up by Big Finish. I've only heard one story she was in, "Excelis Dawns," and my not-particularly-useful reaction notes to this story consist of "Kind of fun, but Katy Manning’s voice as Iris Wildthyme is agonizing."

Honestly, I have nothing against Katy Manning; I actually liked Jo Grant, however ditzy and hopeless she was. (At least I did as a teen. I'd probably have no patience with her now.) It's likely Iris herself -- what do you do with a character who claims that all the Doctor's adventures have actually been hers and he's just lying? -- and the voice that Katy uses for her doesn't help.

[curuchamion.livejournal.com]

All I know about Iris is that she's one of those characters who have had a very few totally hilarious fanfics written about them.

[primsong.livejournal.com]

I appreciate the thoughts here - I know from experience that not every person who made an enjoyable character onscreen makes a good one in narration. I wonder if it might be wiser to keep her in print, rather than going with the audio then.

[primsong.livejournal.com]

Oh, I have every intention of delving into Big Finish as well, there's just so very much of it I almost don't know where to start I think, it's like walking into a candy store! :-)

[livii.livejournal.com]

I haven't heard her audios - well, I have two and listened to the first part of one but didn't get back to it - but read one of her novels and loved the character. Magrs is insane but in a good way. :)

[nentari.livejournal.com]

I haven't heard her audios yet, but I loved the EDAs she was in (all of them by Paul Magrs, of course). Here's a small (non-spoilery) description of the three:
* The Scarlet Empress featured the incarnation of Iris portrayed by Katy in the audios, and is a bit reminiscent of fantasy quests like The Hobbit and The Wizard of Oz.
* The Blue Angel features the next regeneration, who looks like Jane Fonda in Barbarella. She's a really kickass incarnation, though my fangirl side gets a bit outraged with the way she treats Fitz. This particular story can be a bit confusing if you're not used to Magrs' style of writing, but it's a fascinating read nevertheless - and it has a great Star Trek parody! (Barbarella!Iris also has a small cameo in another EDA, but you'll only know it's her if you're already familiar with the character.)
* Mad Dogs and Englishmen is an insane adventure with talking poodles, an unlikely one-shot companion, and Noel Coward. The incarnation of Iris featured in this one looks like Shirley Bassey (only Scottish instead of Welsh), complete with a very sixties beehive.

Iris is very hard to define as a character. All the incarnations smoke like a chimney, swill gin, and are madly in love with the Doctor - but, like him, her personality changes very strongly with each regeneration in every other aspect. It's implied that all her companions were gay men (and the panda used to belong to one of them), and her adventures are oddly similar to the ones lived by the Doctor (for instance, The Five Doctors became The Six Irises), much to his annoyance. In one of the EDAs there's an explanation to how this can be true rather than her making up stories, but it's a bit hard to explain.

[aralias.livejournal.com]

i have heard the iris audios, and i think she's great. iris sounds nothing at all like jo, though, if that's what's drawing you to them. she's much older, and mancunian (i believe) and continuously drunk.

i love the wormery, which is iris and the sixth doctor. there's hardly any plot, it's just about how iris loves the doctor a lot, and there's some singing. it's great.

the excelis audios are largely very dull, though the first one (five and iris) is worth listening to just because of their interaction, and benny's one is ok - again, iris, when she's not around excelis gets really dull.

otherwise i've only listened to the first series of iris, and i don't remember them so well, but i believe they were pretty fun, if light weight. there is a talking panda though. for some reason. he's excellent.

[primsong.livejournal.com]

What little I've seen certainly appears cracky!

[primsong.livejournal.com]

I'll chalk that up to another vote for going with her in print first, thank you!

[primsong.livejournal.com]

Now Six being in the mix would be very fine - the overall impression I'm getting is she's not quite strong enough, character or plotwise, to stand on her own and does better as an 'additional spicy ingredient'. Thank you!

[livii.livejournal.com]

I wanted to listen to more, but baby...takes up all my time! But I think she works well in print, from what I've seen. The book I read was Mad Dogs and Englishmen.

[ponygirl72.livejournal.com]

Here via who_daily.

It just so happens that I recently finished reviewing series 2 of the Iris Wildthyme audios for Unreality SF (http://unreality-sf.net/reviews/iriswildthyme/), so they're fairly fresh in my mind.

I can't speak to series 1, not having heard them, but I'd definitely recommend working your way through series 2 in order-- the series 'theme' is that each audio replicates the feel of a different era of Doctor Who: the 60's, the 70's Third Doctor exile arc, the 80's, and the 1996 TV movie. As you can imagine, there is plenty of material here to work with, in the comedic sense.

If you only buy one, go with The Two Irises. It's hysterical, and much cheaper than actual crack cocaine.

Enjoy-- I know I did!