Doctor Who: Excelis Dawns

Doctor Who: Excelis Saga #1

by Paul Magrs

That terrible old reprobate and transdimensional adventuress Iris Wildthyme has gone and locked herself up in a nunnery on the savage world of Artaris. Here she is discovered by the Doctor and the reasonably brutal warlord Grayvorn. Together - with a peculiar nun they pick up en route - they must travel the forests and swamps of this ghastly world in Iris's double decker bus in order to tussle - to the death - with a horde of flesh-eating zombies for a mysterious and holy relic of unfathomable value and questionable pedigree. But what is the Mother Superior's part in all this?

Chronological Placement: This story takes place during the television adventure, Frontios.

Genres: Doctor Who, Science Fiction, Audiobook, British Literature, Time Travel, Media Tie In, Fiction

Audio CD

First published February 1, 2002

Reviews

[Duncan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Katy Manning's take on Iris Wildthyme and especially her interaction with Peter Davison's 5th Doctor is the best part of this entertaining tale. It loses its way a little at the very end but it is engaging and incredibly witty and fun

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Doctor finds himself on the planet Artaris, in the city of Excelis, and he’s not alone, to his chagrin he discovers Iris Wildthyme incongruously sequestered in a convent and thus begins a strange quest to find … The Beloved? This is one of those stories that only The Doctor and Iris Wildthyme could be involved with. Weird. Wacky. And just plain silly.

Also includes a short isolated music track as a bonus feature.

The story, part 1 of 4, continues, with the Sixth Doctor, in Doctor Who: Excelis Rising; then with the Seventh Doctor in Doctor Who: Excelis Decays; before concluding with Dr. Bernice Summerfield in Professor Bernice Summerfield and the Plague Herds of Excelis.

[Danny Welch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Iris Wildthyme finds herself in a nunnery in the city of Excelis, soon she is to be sent on a quest with her old friend The Doctor and the vicious warlord Lord Grayvorn. They will hunt for a lost relic and fight through zombies whilst travelling across the world with her old faithful bus. Just another day for Iris Wildthyme.

This was a fun story but even though it was a two parter, it did feel like it was rushed for half way through the quest itself they just decide to dematerialize and end up at their destination making the first half of the journey feeling utterly pointless and not much of a quest at all. I understand the dematerialization circuit was broken for half of the story but I feel it should have been broken until right at the end. The humour however was good and made me chuckle a few times and I did enjoy it. Overall a fun but heavily flawed beginning to The Excelis trilogy with good performances. 7/10

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

As the first instalment of the Excelis trilogy (technically tetralogy) and also the first audio appearance of Iris, this was a great start. The sound design is particularly excellent and as such the world feels developed to the hilt, and the iconography of a London bus rolling over a medieval set of hills speaks for itself. The plot itself perhaps takes a backseat so as to allow the 5-Iris interaction to shine, and it really does (indeed, it carried the story for me). The quest narrative itself is nothing new, but the contrast between the Fifth Doctor and Iris is enough to carry it through. The dialogue concerning the Doctor’s recent tragedy is easily a highlight. Anthony Stewart Head is also marvellous, as per.

[Mole Mann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am quite a fan of Magrs' writing style, and this shows that that style can work quite well in script form as well as in prose. It's an extremely inventive fantasy story, with the world of Artaris in this story sharing some of Eco's The Name of the Rose (the Medieval trappings and the convent) with Tolkien and various other fantasy inspirations. I also quite like the sort of metafictional narration of Grayvorn - it adds a charm to the story and humanizes (though not really makes agreeable) the warlord. Torn between four and five stars.

[Shaun Collins · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a conflux of good and bad this is. First the cast... Anthony Stuart Head is fantastic, and Katy Manning makes Iris a hurricane to deal with. Peter Davison raises his bemused Doctor to the occasion to deal with the two of them. The plot is interesting, and fun to listen to, (mainly due to the characters on display) but while it sets up Excelis to be interesting, it's not a place we really want to return to once this one is done. For more, check out www.travelingthevortex.com

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

War ロードのグレイボンに誘われ手に入れれば世界を支配できるというレリック探しを手伝うことにしたドクター。レリックの調査をし、地図を手に入れたという修道院に立ち寄ると、尼僧二人が同行するという。そのうちの一人がアイリスで一行はアイリスの二階建てバス型ターディスに乗ってレリック探しに出かける。

アイリスとアイリスに押され気味のドクターがもう面白くていつまでも聞いていられる感じだった。
レリック探しは、天国や地獄の扉を開く鍵のようなものらしいのだけれども、レリックを見たものはそのパワーに取り憑かれてしまうということで、修道院の修道長もジョーリーンもグレイボンもレリックに魅入られ、まだレリック探しの旅はこの後も続く模様。

ドクターはアドリックを失いたてで意気消沈気味。
アイリスが自分達のことをeldaly hooliganと言ったのが言い得て妙すぎて！
またアイリスとドクターの冒険のオーディオがあれば聴きたい

[Anneli · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was really fun to listen to!
Katy Manning in rare form as Iris.
A rare tale of The Doctor being the chill element of the tale, Peter Davison is great!
Anthony S Head such a dramatic delight. Warlord Grayvorn a fab character.

[Sara Habein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Normally, I'm less into the Fifth Doctor stories for whatever reason, but having him be exasperated by Iris Wildthyme's gleeful shenanigans is a great place for him to be. This is a good first part to the story, so I'm looking forward to listening to the next installments.

[Steven Shinder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though The Doctor is annoyed with Iris Wildthyme, I found her to be a lot of fun. To be honest, I got these Excelis audios to hear Anthony Head, and stayed for Katy Manning, I guess.

[Marius · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paul Magrs' Big Finish stuff is always.. weird in ways I can't really put into words. I like it, though.

[Luiz Santiago · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,5

[Jamieson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Back in 2002, Big Finish produced the Excelis Saga. Made up of three stories (and a coda), it revolved around the planet Artaris and its primary city, Excelis. Each release featured one of the three Doctors that Big Finish had at the beginning (the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh). Remember, this was ten years before they secured Tom Baker and well before they got the license for the New Series. The through-line of the series was a character played by Anthony Stuart Head, and a mysterious relic.

Anyway, Excelis Dawns is the first story and features the Fifth Doctor (Peter Davison) on his way to pick up Turlough from Frontios, and renegade Time Lady, Iris Wildthyme. The two end up joining with Grayvorn (Anthony Head) and a sister Jolene on a quest to find the relic which is being guarded by a zombie horde. This was surprisingly fun. It's not the greatest Doctor Who story, but it's not bad. Iris is an... interesting character. She's kind of meta (in a Deadpool sort of way, though not to that extent). She loves to drink, smoke, shop, and insert herself into various Doctor Who stories. She's also played by Katy Manning. I'm kind of on the fence with Iris. If she pops up in a Doctor Who story, that's fine. But I don't plan on hunting down any of her solo stuff. Anyway, the story here is fine wraps up okay for the Doctor, but leaves things open for the rest of the series.

[Nicholas Whyte]

Excelis Dawns is not a bad start. I love the framing narrative by Anthony Stewart Head's warlord Grayvorn ("Mortifiying for me, a warlord of the highest self-appointed order, having his horse drawn by some foreign sandy-haired devil in striped trousers, who wore some sort of vegetable pinned to his lapel"). Iris Wildthyme is a bit of a one-joke character, but I did like her line about being transported to the Death Zone to do battle with Mechanoids, the Voord and the Zarbi before confronting Morbius (this was my first, though not my last, encounter with her; I haven't read any of the books in which she features). And Peter Davison delivers rather a good meditation on being the Fifth Doctor and the nature of the hero. The comedy aspects of the whole thing threaten at times to overwhelm the plot (such as it is), and the final bathos of the relic being a gold lam

[J.E. Remy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The funniest of the Excelis Saga. Really, the only funny episode of the Doctor Who Excelis Trilogy, and very much a Paul Magrs story. Iris Wildthyme, the 5th Doctor, Warlord Grayvorn (as played by Anthony Stewart Head), and Sister Jolene go in search of “The Relic.” A romp in the double-decker bus through a medieval land to the land of the zombies.

You know you want to listen.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Iris is in a convent but shes not sure why. The Doctor meets a warlord on the way to the convent. They all team up to find a relic that is defended by zombies. This is quite a fun story, seems inconsequential though. There's some nice bits with the Doctor talking about Adric's death. It did feel shorter than than the normal releases, though that could have been the fast paced plot. A good listen.

[Anne Barwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this, especially the banter between Iris and the 5th Doctor. Good to see the Doctor post Adric's death, and trying to come to terms with it too.

I had to roll my eyes over the origins of the relic, but it's very IC and part of why I do enjoy the Iris stories.

[Debra Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story intrigued me. A relic that makes people obsessed and physically possess them. The Doctor as usual stumbles into trouble but followed by another Time Lord called Iris Wildthyme. Can't wait for the next book in the 4 part series.