Iris Wildthyme and Jo Jones discover that not everything in 1930s Hollywood is created with special effects…
I recently spent some time trying to sort out the ins and outs of the time travel element of Terminator 2: Judgment Day with my 12 year old daughter. In the end, we worked out something that we thought fitted. But we’re not even going to try to work out the ins and outs of Iris Wildthyme and how she fits into the Doctor’s life – and in her last appearance in the Companion Chronicles (which I believe is also her swansong for Big Finish?) her creator Paul Magrs manages to muddy the waters yet further.
That being the case, I strongly advise switching off the part of your brain that thinks about continuity issues from wondering why if one adventure in the BBC Books line is treated as having happened, another isn’t (or worse, how all of that fits with Iris’s comments to Jo at the end of the story about her own background). Just relax and enjoy Katy Manning giving a tour de force performance as both Iris and Jo (and a few other people as well) with some help from Derek Fowlds. It’s a lovely tribute to that golden age and Manning has fun with the divas and their entourages – and given the throw-forward to the final Chronicle, a nice piece of fun before the end.
Verdict: Even if Iris irritates you, there’s much to enjoy in this penultimate Chronicle. 8/10
Paul Simpson
IF YOU HAVE COME HERE PLEASE REDIRECT YOUR BROWSER TO WWW.SCIFIBULLETIN.COM 