The Elixir of Doom

"It's the Golden Age of Hollywood!"

Writer: Paul Magrs

Format: Audio

Released: May 2014

Series: Companion Chronicles 8.11

Featuring: Eighth Doctor, Jo, Iris

Synopsis

Once, Jo Grant travelled in Space and Time with the Doctor. Now, she is travelling with trans-temporal adventuress Iris Wildthyme. 

Arriving in Los Angeles in the 1930s, Jo and Iris are caught up in the glamour of Hollywood. Monster movies are all the rage. 

But sometimes monsters are real...

Verdict

The Elixir of Doom was a delightful Companion Chronicles audio adventure! This was just so much fun and honestly a breeze of an audio to listen to. The pairing of Jo and Iris Wildthyme is joyous with Katy Manning getting double the opportunity to shine, and let's face it she never disappoints. The idea of Jo and Iris bashing about the universe in the big red London bus is marvellous and getting a glimpse of one of their adventures together here was terrific. I enjoyed the setting of 1936 Hollywood so much and it was nice for Jo to have a frame reference having visited there with the Doctor four decades or so later. Jo's excitement about visiting the Golden Age of the famous blockbuster location was lovely to hear and she was rally hoping to attend some premieres and meet some old stars. Iris meanwhile was here to have a good time and she'd already wangled them into a producer's party containing a number of top stars. Vita Monet was a brilliant character and the development of her into the villain was nicely done. She'd turned her five ex-husbands into monsters that would be used on screen which was such a barmy and ridiculous concept, but it was perfect for this kind of story. It's audacious and bold, but it really works well. Iris trying to cause a little bit of mayhem by having herself on a mobile phone getting included in a 1930s film was marvellous as well and it's strange to think how much of a relationship she has with the Doctor considering her actions. There are strong River Song vibes there, but with Iris she just feels a little naughtier. There was once again hints of a physical relationship with the Doctor which is always fascinating, and her reaction when seeing that his eighth incarnation was present was superb. I really wasn't expecting the Eighth Doctor to feature, especially so heavily once he arrived, but it was a nice surprise and I found the CD artwork amusing with Jon Pertwee as the Third Doctor adorning it. He was nowhere to be seen! I love the idea of the Eighth Doctor and Jo meeting and when the former came to save the day and take on the aliens, the latter certainly had her suspicions regarding the identity. That was lovely. Iris essentially being to blame for everything that occurred in this story with the monsters and how they got into that state with the elixir which she provided on a previous outing was a lot of fun, and her blaming having too much to drink didn't go down well as an excuse! I thought the detail of Jo recognising the tune the Doctor used to calm the Lizard Man down was wonderful continuity. It was also quite incredible to have a Human Jelly character and learning how he used to be Harold and a former husband of Monet. She turned out to be a strong villainous character and it took the combined efforts of the Doctor, Jo and Iris to see her off in what was a decent little conclusion. Overall, this had a fantastic setting with a very good plot and turned out to be a joyous listen! 

Rating: 9/10