Doctor Who: The Wormery (2003)
Stephen Cole and Paul Magrs
Big Finish #51
Starring: Colin Baker, Katy Manning
A mysterious gentlemen, using the name of Mr Ashcroft, has come to see an old dancer who worked at a notorious club, Bianca’s, that was a hotbed for radicalism and intellectuals. Bianca, the femme fatale at the heart of this club, has bugged every table and room so she can hear what the guests say about her. Decades later all that survive of this past is these tapes: and Mr Ashcroft wants to hear them all.
The Sixth Doctor, arriving at Bianca’s, quickly becomes involved with Iris Wildtyme who claims to be on a secret mission, a mission that involves her becoming heavily inebriated, for it is while she is drunk that she can hear the voices…
Ones enjoyment of The Wormery is entirely dependent upon how much they like Iris Wildtyme. A character I have come across only through these Big Finish adventures, there is clearly more back story to which I am oblivious – she likes to drink, she travels in time, that seems to be the extent of her character. I must admit to being worn over more by Katy Manning’s performance in this than I have been with her appearances in Excelis Dawn and The Plague Herd of Excelis, though I still do not ‘get’ the Doctor’s fascination with her.
There was much to enjoy in The Wormery, but it’s story was hampered by requiring detailed knowledge of past Colin Baker TV stories, particularly The Trial of a Timelord: I’ve not seen all that serial, which I believe went on a whole season, and so the final revelations of this story failed to have the impact that they must have upon more knowledgeable fans. The construction of this club, Bianca’s, draws heavily upon Cabaret and Casablanca – it is a somewhat seedy downmarket club aspiring to greater things. It is mostly successful. The final twist of the story – the identity of Mr Ashcroft – provides a final coalescing narrative join while at the same time managing to be anti-climactic. Though it was still nice to see.
