The Demon of Paris

"I don't like people playing games with me."

Writer: Paul Magrs

Format: Audio

Released: October 2010

Printed in: Demon Quest 02

Featuring: Fourth Doctor, Mrs Wibbsey

Synopsis 

Someone has painted the Doctor's likeness into a famous poster by Toulouse-Lautrec, leading Mrs Wibbsey and him to Paris in the year 1894. The streets are thronged with artists and their muses – ladies of the night such as the young girl La Charlotte.

But a murderer is also at large, and Lautrec's name is whispered with fear and suspicion. As they become immersed in the lights of the Moulin Rouge and the shadows of Montmartre Cemetery, the travellers gradually uncover the gruesome truth about the missing women of Paris. 

They also realise that someone has been expecting them...

Verdict

The Demon of Paris was a great episode to continue my journey through Demon Quest from AudioGo! I thought this followed up a really strong opener very well and taking things to Paris in the nineteenth century really was a delight. I’m enjoying how Mrs Wibbsey has almost been thrown into the role of companion unwillingly and hearing her thoughts here about her current predicament was amusing as she was far from thrilled to have been thrown into another adventure! It seems she is far from happy with her forced promotion from housekeeper to travelling companion and that’s a fun dynamic. The format of the shared narration really helps with that as well. With the TARDIS grounded in purely spatial terms, the Doctor and Wibbsey had to take a series of trains to get to Paris and despite usually having his trusty TARDIS to get him everywhere he needed to go, he didn’t have a problem navigating the rudimentary transport system! I thought it was fun to have the Doctor mistake as the missing singer Aristide and linking that with the really quirky cover artwork was delightful. The Doctor quickly built up a relationship with La Charlotte which was good and she was a really strong character. The Doctor learned a lot of local knowledge from her and the mystery surrounding Lautrec who was named as the murderer in close circles was great. She had a relationship with him though as a street girl and she just knew that he wasn’t acting himself if he was indeed the murderer. Something must have gotten into him, and she wasn’t far off. The description of the scene in Lautrec’s gallery was spectacular gore as he seemed to have murdered his own models and artwork! It wasn’t a huge surprise to find that Lautrec was not actually the artist who painted the work of Aristide in the Doctor’s scarf holding the spatial geometer part, but his critique of the scarf design was a wonderful moment. The trap was laid but Lautrec using the Doctor’s resemblance to Aristide to cause a commotion and pressure him into a performance was very good, and I loved that Wibbsey took initiative and follows him as he left. Lautrec was one step ahead though as he knew she’d followed him and now wanted to have her as his model immediately. It seems art waits for nobody! The revelation that La Charlotte had been stabbed was a big shock, but she was trying not to sell it and now seemed to accept that it was Lautrec as the culprit of local events. It appeared her position as his muse had now worn off! It was a fun twist to suggest it wasn’t actually Lautrec who destroyed his work, but he was accepting of the possibility that he may be murdering during his drunken blackouts. He even had a part of the TARDIS component without knowing it. The true reveal of the Concierge having bee covering up for him and hiding remains of the girls had him in emotional agony. The description of their remains with all energy being taken from them was gruesome but really fitted in well with the dark atmosphere of the episode. The foreshadowing of events to come with Yates being seen in a fairytale storybook with the Doctor was delightful and I really look forward to those two teaming up again! The suspicions on La Charlotte were good to explore and should have been a little more as her stab wounds seemed to have healed and the Doctor regretted not personally checking her wound the previous night. There was little time to dwell though as it was revealed the Concierge was actually a shape shifter and one and the same as Claudius from The Relics of Time! A demon indeed. It was all a trap to lure the Doctor once again, but it had failed again here. However, the Doctor knew that more meetings were coming and Yates would be involved. His arrival for Christmas at the end was delightful and sets us up nicely for what’s to come next! Overall, a really good listen. 

Rating: 8/10