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Post by mark687 on Jan 28, 2021 12:26:06 GMT
Lovely Melancholy with Humor
Regards
mark687
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Post by Kestrel on Apr 1, 2021 21:16:13 GMT
Gotta start by saying this is easily one of the best titles in Big Finish' library.
This story was a bit of a weird one for me. I adored the framing device--especially how the narration would sometime "interact" with the events of the story being told, very clever--and spent much of the story thinking to myself, "It'd be so cool if this Mr. Ashcroft winds up being played by Sylvester McCoy or Paul McGann. It was a fantastic way to keep the story moving at a good clip. (For whatever reason, narration seems to be an unpopular technique lately, and I think that sucks--it's such an effective tool!)
Bianca was also a lot of fun, even if her actress was a bit... over the top in her delivery. It was definitely fun to see the Doctor up against someone who isn't really malicious or greedy or cruel in any way--just very eccentric, and very much out of their depth.
That said, yikes. I cannot stand Iris Wildthyme. Such an irritating voice, such an annoying character. Nevermind the fact that so much of this story was built around the Doctor's romantic life. This is my first encounter with Iris, and it's basically the antithesis of my first encounter with Benny: in the latter case, I immediately wanted more; in the former case, I never want to see Iris again.
And it definitely doesn't help that her illustration on the TARDIS wiki makes her look like a dead clown.
And look, I've never been one of those people to insist the Doctor should never have a romantic aspect to their character, but it's really annoying how, in practice, these attempts never really work very well.
Overall I really loved how the story was told, even if the story itself was a bit generic (or, as the Doctor says, plagiarized). Even with Iris weighing things down, I found it to be very engaging/
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Post by tuigirl on Apr 2, 2021 9:25:13 GMT
Gotta start by saying this is easily one of the best titles in Big Finish' library. This story was a bit of a weird one for me. I adored the framing device--especially how the narration would sometime "interact" with the events of the story being told, very clever--and spent much of the story thinking to myself, "It'd be so cool if this Mr. Ashcroft winds up being played by Sylvester McCoy or Paul McGann. It was a fantastic way to keep the story moving at a good clip. (For whatever reason, narration seems to be an unpopular technique lately, and I think that sucks--it's such an effective tool!) Bianca was also a lot of fun, even if her actress was a bit... over the top in her delivery. It was definitely fun to see the Doctor up against someone who isn't really malicious or greedy or cruel in any way--just very eccentric, and very much out of their depth. That said, yikes. I cannot stand Iris Wildthyme. Such an irritating voice, such an annoying character. Nevermind the fact that so much of this story was built around the Doctor's romantic life. This is my first encounter with Iris, and it's basically the antithesis of my first encounter with Benny: in the latter case, I immediately wanted more; in the former case, I never want to see Iris again. And it definitely doesn't help that her illustration on the TARDIS wiki makes her look like a dead clown. And look, I've never been one of those people to insist the Doctor should never have a romantic aspect to their character, but it's really annoying how, in practice, these attempts never really work very well. Overall I really loved how the story was told, even if the story itself was a bit generic (or, as the Doctor says, plagiarized). Even with Iris weighing things down, I found it to be very engaging/ I find myself agreeing to a lot you say. I really adore the Wormery, the setup, the execution, the characters. I can understand that Iris can be too much, and I personally am not able to put up with her every day. But I had been lucky that when I listened to this the first time, I had an unusual good day (day off, summer and a day at the lake swimming). And I just fell in love with this. I completely agree with you concerning the romantic involvements for the Doctor. It just does not work. But this one at least tries to explain why it does not work, and we never slip into "Rose" territory. I think it was VERY well done in presenting the Doctor as a believable asexual character, who is might/ might not be able to have romantic relationships.
The issue with Iris, her looking "like a dead clown" is maybe exactly what they were going for. She thinks of herself as this glamorous interdimensional heroine, who as friends everywhere, but in reality, she is this old alcoholic loud and annoying hag nobody wants to put up with. There is this contrast between her own world view and what is really there. I think deep down she knows this, this is why she is so extremely clingy towards the Doctor and craves his attention. All this noise she just uses to distract herself and her surroundings from the fact that she is a very sad and broken person. At least, this is how I see it....
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Post by Deleted on Apr 2, 2021 9:30:59 GMT
Gotta start by saying this is easily one of the best titles in Big Finish' library. This story was a bit of a weird one for me. I adored the framing device--especially how the narration would sometime "interact" with the events of the story being told, very clever--and spent much of the story thinking to myself, "It'd be so cool if this Mr. Ashcroft winds up being played by Sylvester McCoy or Paul McGann. It was a fantastic way to keep the story moving at a good clip. (For whatever reason, narration seems to be an unpopular technique lately, and I think that sucks--it's such an effective tool!) Bianca was also a lot of fun, even if her actress was a bit... over the top in her delivery. It was definitely fun to see the Doctor up against someone who isn't really malicious or greedy or cruel in any way--just very eccentric, and very much out of their depth. That said, yikes. I cannot stand Iris Wildthyme. Such an irritating voice, such an annoying character. Nevermind the fact that so much of this story was built around the Doctor's romantic life. This is my first encounter with Iris, and it's basically the antithesis of my first encounter with Benny: in the latter case, I immediately wanted more; in the former case, I never want to see Iris again. And it definitely doesn't help that her illustration on the TARDIS wiki makes her look like a dead clown. And look, I've never been one of those people to insist the Doctor should never have a romantic aspect to their character, but it's really annoying how, in practice, these attempts never really work very well. Overall I really loved how the story was told, even if the story itself was a bit generic (or, as the Doctor says, plagiarized). Even with Iris weighing things down, I found it to be very engaging/ I find myself agreeing to a lot you say. I really adore the Wormery, the setup, the execution, the characters. I can understand that Iris can be too much, and I personally am not able to put up with her every day. But I had been lucky that when I listened to this the first time, I had an unusual good day (day off, summer and a day at the lake swimming). And I just fell in love with this. I completely agree with you concerning the romantic involvements for the Doctor. It just does not work. But this one at least tries to explain why it does not work, and we never slip into "Rose" territory. I think it was VERY well done in presenting the Doctor as a believable asexual character, who is might/ might not be able to have romantic relationships.
The issue with Iris, her looking "like a dead clown" is maybe exactly what they were going for. She thinks of herself as this glamorous interdimensional heroine, who as friends everywhere, but in reality, she is this old alcoholic loud and annoying hag nobody wants to put up with. There is this contrast between her own world view and what is really there. I think deep down she knows this, this is why she is so extremely clingy towards the Doctor and craves his attention. All this noise she just uses to distract herself and her surroundings from the fact that she is a very sad and broken person. At least, this is how I see it....
God....she is me šššššš |
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Post by tuigirl on Apr 2, 2021 9:32:12 GMT
I find myself agreeing to a lot you say. I really adore the Wormery, the setup, the execution, the characters. I can understand that Iris can be too much, and I personally am not able to put up with her every day. But I had been lucky that when I listened to this the first time, I had an unusual good day (day off, summer and a day at the lake swimming). And I just fell in love with this. I completely agree with you concerning the romantic involvements for the Doctor. It just does not work. But this one at least tries to explain why it does not work, and we never slip into "Rose" territory. I think it was VERY well done in presenting the Doctor as a believable asexual character, who is might/ might not be able to have romantic relationships.
The issue with Iris, her looking "like a dead clown" is maybe exactly what they were going for. She thinks of herself as this glamorous interdimensional heroine, who as friends everywhere, but in reality, she is this old alcoholic loud and annoying hag nobody wants to put up with. There is this contrast between her own world view and what is really there. I think deep down she knows this, this is why she is so extremely clingy towards the Doctor and craves his attention. All this noise she just uses to distract herself and her surroundings from the fact that she is a very sad and broken person. At least, this is how I see it....
God....she is me šššššš Only things missing are the hat and the feather boa...  |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 2, 2021 9:58:19 GMT
Gotta start by saying this is easily one of the best titles in Big Finish' library. This story was a bit of a weird one for me. I adored the framing device--especially how the narration would sometime "interact" with the events of the story being told, very clever--and spent much of the story thinking to myself, "It'd be so cool if this Mr. Ashcroft winds up being played by Sylvester McCoy or Paul McGann. It was a fantastic way to keep the story moving at a good clip. (For whatever reason, narration seems to be an unpopular technique lately, and I think that sucks--it's such an effective tool!) Bianca was also a lot of fun, even if her actress was a bit... over the top in her delivery. It was definitely fun to see the Doctor up against someone who isn't really malicious or greedy or cruel in any way--just very eccentric, and very much out of their depth. That said, yikes. I cannot stand Iris Wildthyme. Such an irritating voice, such an annoying character. Nevermind the fact that so much of this story was built around the Doctor's romantic life. This is my first encounter with Iris, and it's basically the antithesis of my first encounter with Benny: in the latter case, I immediately wanted more; in the former case, I never want to see Iris again. And it definitely doesn't help that her illustration on the TARDIS wiki makes her look like a dead clown. And look, I've never been one of those people to insist the Doctor should never have a romantic aspect to their character, but it's really annoying how, in practice, these attempts never really work very well. Overall I really loved how the story was told, even if the story itself was a bit generic (or, as the Doctor says, plagiarized). Even with Iris weighing things down, I found it to be very engaging/ I find myself agreeing to a lot you say. I really adore the Wormery, the setup, the execution, the characters. I can understand that Iris can be too much, and I personally am not able to put up with her every day. But I had been lucky that when I listened to this the first time, I had an unusual good day (day off, summer and a day at the lake swimming). And I just fell in love with this. I completely agree with you concerning the romantic involvements for the Doctor. It just does not work. But this one at least tries to explain why it does not work, and we never slip into "Rose" territory. I think it was VERY well done in presenting the Doctor as a believable asexual character, who is might/ might not be able to have romantic relationships.
The issue with Iris, her looking "like a dead clown" is maybe exactly what they were going for. She thinks of herself as this glamorous interdimensional heroine, who as friends everywhere, but in reality, she is this old alcoholic loud and annoying hag nobody wants to put up with. There is this contrast between her own world view and what is really there. I think deep down she knows this, this is why she is so extremely clingy towards the Doctor and craves his attention. All this noise she just uses to distract herself and her surroundings from the fact that she is a very sad and broken person. At least, this is how I see it.... I think it's there in one of her first lines to the Doctor, an unexpectedly bitter: "Of course, I'm drunk. I'm always drunk." I don't think Iris wanted what she thought she wanted. The impression I got was that she just wanted to be understood as a person. Behind the frippery and the fluff. Like a lot of The Wormery, the shoe's on the other foot, now that I come to think of it. The Wormery picks up the Sixth Doctor in something of an identity crisis. He's unusually sombre and quite melancholy, but the bombast hasn't quite left him, rather it's been given to Iris. Slinging into Bianca's from the Berlin street under the guise of a rowdy troublemaker. She reminds me a lot of the post- Trial Sixie on Torrok and Agora (the Steve Lyons MAs), a point in his lives where he was terribly angry at the universe for taking away his best friend, ruining any hope for goodness he had for his People and obliterating his future. The two characters side-by-side with Iris going through her own trial by ordeal make a good contrast. (I might potentially be in the minority here, but... Katy Manning's natural charm carries the character for me. She's an effortlessly likeable confusion, ol' auntie Iris. ) |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 2, 2021 10:07:39 GMT
Gotta start by saying this is easily one of the best titles in Big Finish' library. This story was a bit of a weird one for me. I adored the framing device--especially how the narration would sometime "interact" with the events of the story being told, very clever--and spent much of the story thinking to myself, "It'd be so cool if this Mr. Ashcroft winds up being played by Sylvester McCoy or Paul McGann. It was a fantastic way to keep the story moving at a good clip. (For whatever reason, narration seems to be an unpopular technique lately, and I think that sucks--it's such an effective tool!) Bianca was also a lot of fun, even if her actress was a bit... over the top in her delivery. It was definitely fun to see the Doctor up against someone who isn't really malicious or greedy or cruel in any way--just very eccentric, and very much out of their depth. That said, yikes. I cannot stand Iris Wildthyme. Such an irritating voice, such an annoying character. Nevermind the fact that so much of this story was built around the Doctor's romantic life. This is my first encounter with Iris, and it's basically the antithesis of my first encounter with Benny: in the latter case, I immediately wanted more; in the former case, I never want to see Iris again. And it definitely doesn't help that her illustration on the TARDIS wiki makes her look like a dead clown. And look, I've never been one of those people to insist the Doctor should never have a romantic aspect to their character, but it's really annoying how, in practice, these attempts never really work very well. Overall I really loved how the story was told, even if the story itself was a bit generic (or, as the Doctor says, plagiarized). Even with Iris weighing things down, I found it to be very engaging/ I find myself agreeing to a lot you say. I really adore the Wormery, the setup, the execution, the characters. I can understand that Iris can be too much, and I personally am not able to put up with her every day. But I had been lucky that when I listened to this the first time, I had an unusual good day (day off, summer and a day at the lake swimming). And I just fell in love with this. I completely agree with you concerning the romantic involvements for the Doctor. It just does not work. But this one at least tries to explain why it does not work, and we never slip into "Rose" territory. I think it was VERY well done in presenting the Doctor as a believable asexual character, who is might/ might not be able to have romantic relationships.
The issue with Iris, her looking "like a dead clown" is maybe exactly what they were going for. She thinks of herself as this glamorous interdimensional heroine, who as friends everywhere, but in reality, she is this old alcoholic loud and annoying hag nobody wants to put up with. There is this contrast between her own world view and what is really there. I think deep down she knows this, this is why she is so extremely clingy towards the Doctor and craves his attention. All this noise she just uses to distract herself and her surroundings from the fact that she is a very sad and broken person. At least, this is how I see it....
I've just listened to Elixir of Doom and I'm sure that's definitely how Iris is portrayed, someone who's putting on a lot of braggadacio as deep inside she's a scared old woman who thinks she's going to be left unloved and alone while gradually losing her physical and mental faculties. Very brave endeavour on behalf of Magrs, Manning and Big Finish. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 2, 2021 10:47:44 GMT
God....she is me šššššš Only things missing are the hat and the feather boa... give me a moment lol...joking |
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Post by grinch on Apr 2, 2021 21:19:56 GMT
Iām someone who personally loves Iris Wildthyme and The Wormery but I will agree that she is a very Marmite character. More so than say someone such as River Song.
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Post by Kestrel on Apr 2, 2021 21:42:12 GMT
My issues with Iris are less about the actual character than the performance... I just couldn't interpret her overall tone and presentation as anything other than excessively grating.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 3, 2021 16:16:36 GMT
My issues with Iris are less about the actual character than the performance... I just couldn't interpret her overall tone and presentation as anything other than excessively grating. Which is precisely how I think we're supposed to find her - when so many people in real life are annoying it's nice to have some fiction acknowledge that annoying people can have adventures too. Not too much though, it becomes wearing, I wouldn't like to have to sit through as 12 disc box set extravaganda of her! |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 3, 2021 16:57:04 GMT
My issues with Iris are less about the actual character than the performance... I just couldn't interpret her overall tone and presentation as anything other than excessively grating. I loved Iris in The Wormery (and Excelis Dawns) but I do find the character pointless without a Doctor around to annoy with extravagant delusions of romance and wild drunken tales... but it's those excesses that work for me when there's a Doctor around which make The Wormery such good fun. |
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Post by mark687 on Apr 18, 2022 15:20:17 GMT
The old familiar Melody
Regards
mark687
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