Line #104 Franchise/IrisWildthyme


1	[[quoteright:349:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jycszdq_3695.jpg]]
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3	->''"Iris is an enigma... She's an enigma wrapped in a mystery. With a shapeless, tasteless hat clamped to her head. She's an enigma wrapped in a mystery, with a shapeless, tasteless hat clamped to her head and she's puffing on a gold-tipped black Sobranie."''
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5	The [[QuirkyWork quirky]] adventures of Iris Wildthyme, transtemporal adventuress, occasionally take place in the Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse and occasionally in different continuities altogether. Iris is an old -- very old -- RebelliousSpirit with a love for booze, music and sex. She's had a slew of different bodies and dashes in and out of universes as a merry, if somewhat ditzy, FourthWallObserver.
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7	Iris originated in the [[MagicRealism magic realist]] ''Phoenix Court'' series of novels by Creator/PaulMagrs, who imported the character of Iris Wildthyme into the Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse novels wholesale when he started writing those as well. After appearing all over the ''Literature/EighthDoctorAdventures'' series (with a hop over into the ''Literature/PastDoctorAdventures'' for good measure), Iris was subsequently transported into the AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho audios and eventually given her own audio spinoff. Creator/BigFinish deliberately chooses to ignore the massive ContinuitySnarl that would be caused by her appearances in the novels ''and'' the audios as though they were all the same timeline -- [[BreakingTheFourthWall which Iris comments on]]. Her unexplained appearances in all of the above are simply considered part of her charm.
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9	The many stories gladly make use of EasyAmnesia, MultipleChoicePast, BroadStrokes and just plain BlatantLies in regards to their internal continuity. The series in general thrives on RuleOfFunny and, where it touches on ''Series/DoctorWho'' continuities, provides a much LighterAndSofter atmosphere than most of the Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse franchise -- albeit with plenty of violence, booze and innuendo.
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11	Iris's adventures even spawned their own series of spin-off novellas starring her Mexican wrestler friend Señor 105.
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13	Has a [[Characters/IrisWildthyme character sheet]].
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15	Recaps of her audio adventures can be found on the [[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho Big Finish recaps page]]; recaps of her written adventures with the Eighth Doctor can be found on the [[Recap/EighthDoctorAdventures Eighth Doctor Adventures]] page.
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17	!!Tropes:
18	* AdventuresInTheBible: Panda notes that Simon getting to see Vince Cosmos perform would be like seeing the rebirth of Christ and notes that he must ask Iris to take him back to see the return of Jesus.
19	* AlienAnimals:
20	** The Poodles of Dogworld can pass for Earth poodles if they cover up their human-like hands.
21	** Pussyworlders can similarly pass for cats.
22	* AliensInCardiff: The town of Darlington attracts alot of weirdness due to being a nexus for multiverse explorers and time travellers.
23	* AliensSpeakingEnglish: Zig-Zagged:
24	** It's mentioned that Terrance can talk to a Vatrexii due to knowing several languages but later on another member speaks to Iris and co in English.
25	** Marvelle has to let the Poodles talk to the Martians because they've worked with them before and know the language.
26	** The neanderthal-like aliens on Valcea speak English but the Glass Men after their own language that only Iris can understand after they used a machine to scan her brain.
27	* AliensStealCable: The Poodle SpaceStation in ''Mad Dogs and Englishmen'' can pick up television broadcasts from Earth.
28	* TheAllegedCar: Iris's TARDIS, disguised as the no. 22 bus to Putney Common, is smaller on the inside instead of larger on the inside like a regular TARDIS.
29	* AllJustADream: The "In The Sixties" short story ends with being a dream of the newborn baby Paul Magrs.
30	* AlmostDeadGuy: Parodied in ''Enter Wildthyme'' when Iris finds it astounding that the dying Vatrexii they interview had been apparently lying there for two weeks then dies while talking to them.
31	* AmazingTechnicolorPopulation: Vatrexiis look like blue-skinned humans.
32	* AmazingTechnicolorWildlife: Dogworld Poodles come in colours like pink, blue and orange.
33	* {{Bowdlerise}}: When "The Dreadful Flap" was reprinted in ''The Further Adventures of Iris Wildthyme'', a time-travelling dildo called the Time Cock was renamed to the "Time Neck Massager".
34	%%* BroadStrokes: Reeeaaally broad.
35	* CanonWelding;
36	** Paul Magrs created her as a DistaffCounterpart parody of the Doctor. When he started writing ''Franchise/{{Whoniverse}}'' novels, he wrote her in as one of the Doctor's fellow rogue Time Lords/Ladies.
37	** The Ninnies from ''The Ninnies on Putney Common'' originated in Paul Magrs's book ''The Ninnies'' the previous year.
38	* CarnivoreConfusion: On his first trip to Hyspero, Simon is disgusted at Iris killing and cooking a lobster that can talk.
39	* CastFullOfGay: Two of Iris's companions, Tom and Jenny, are gay. Iris's very first appearance had her as a lesbian, although she definitely also likes men in later incarnations.
40	* ChristmasEpisode: "The Claws Of Santa". (He's her ex).
41	* ContinuitySnarl: All over. Mostly because for Iris, ''all of it'' happened. Even the bits that contradict the other bits.
42	* CultClassic: InUniverse we see a parallel universe where ''The Iris Wildthyme Show'' lasted one season in the '60s and was mostly hated but had a loyal fanbase decades later.
43	* DimensionalCutter: Iris has Blithe Pinking Shears that can cut holes in reality that lead to elsewhere in time or the multiverse.
44	* DoctorWhomage:
45	** Iris herself was written as a female Doctor Who.
46	** She sometimes interacts with a man nicknamed El Jefe, a parody of the First Doctor who worked for the Lords Temporal but got bored and stole a wordship. When the "First Meetings" short story was reprinted as "When Iris Met Billy" he's renamed The Doctor as Magrs was allowed to use names from the ''Doctor Who'' franchise.
47	** The "In the Sixties" short story had Iris attend a party held by a man called Dr Oho who later takes his guests home in a phonebox. He seemed to be based on the Creator/PeterCushing and Creator/PatrickTroughton incarnations of The Doctor.
48	* ElaborateUndergroundBase: [=MIAOW=] has one under the Darlington Market to capture anything that emerges from The Dreadful Flap.
49	* ExtradimensionalShortcut:
50	** The Celestial Omnibus travels through a dimension called The Maelstrom and emerges elsewhere in time and space. This was a copyright friendly version of the Time Vortex from ''Franchise/DoctorWho''. When "First Meetings" was reprinted in Obverse Books' charity anthology ''A Second Target for Tommy'' as "When Iris Met Billy", several phrases were replaced with more Doctor Who-familiar terms and the Maelstrom became the Vortex.
51	** The Very Fabric of Time and Space, (usually just called the Very Fabric for short) often appears as a dimension that time travellers have to pass through in Paul Magrs stories. Notably Iris' Blithe Pinking Shears.
52	* FanonDiscontinuity: It's mentioned in an InUniverse web forum that a lot of ''The Iris Wildthyme Show'' fans don't consider the novels canon.
53	* FisherKing: Hyspero can be changed at the will of the reigning Scarlet Empress.
54	* FreakyFridayFlip: [[spoiler: This happens to Iris in "The Iris Wildthyme Appreciation Society" when she unwittingly swaps bodies with an obsessed fan, Wayne Bland III. That's only the beginning.]]
55	* FunWithAcronyms: [=MIAOW=] usually stands for "Ministry for Incursions and Alien Ontological Wonders" or some variation of it.
56	* GenreShift: Simon, Kelly and Terrence from ''Enter Wildthyme'' originated in Magrs' novel ''Exchange'' that had no science fiction elements.
57	* HyperspaceIsAScaryPlace: The Maelstrom is populated by Time Zombies. Basically the ghosts of people who tried to harness the power of time. They'd be able to force the gang to let them onboard the Omnibus if they made eye contact for too long.
58	* InnBetweenTheWorlds:
59	** ''[[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho051TheWormery The Wormery]]'' is set in ''Bianca's Cabaret''. A bar on a distant planet full of wormholes for bringing in customers from all over time and space. It turns out to be [[spoiler:a future incarnation of the Celestial Omnibus]].
60	** In ''Enter Wildthyme'' they visit an alternate 19th Century Paris where a NegativeSpaceWedgie links to other parts of time and space. The nearby Moulin Rouge has a clientel of time travellers and aliens.
61	* InnOfNoReturn: Variation. When an innkeeper on Valcea finds out the gang are going to see the New Gods, [[spoiler:he hides a bomb in Barbra.]]
62	* IntercontinuityCrossover: Iris is always the same character, even when appearing in different canons. She also teams up with Literature/CarnackiTheGhostFinder on one occasion.
63	* JuliusBeethovenDaVinci: In ''Marked For Life'', Iris says that she and Peggy were Cleopatra and Anthony in a past life.
64	* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: Fans of the TV show InUniverse had to wait decades for ''The Iris Wildthyme Show'' to get a VHS or DVD release.
65	* LighterAndSofter: Some of the most carefree and sweet stories in the Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse.
66	* {{Lunarians}}: The "Minions of the Moon" short story had Lunaries, 15 foot tall [[WingedHumanoid Winged Humanoids]].
67	* MagicalLand: The planet Hyspero in an obscure part of space where magic works.
68	* MagicLibrarian: Seems to be a theme:
69	** Magda runs a failing bookshop but her wheelchair hides a mermaid tail and her shop hides the entrance to an ElaborateUndergroundBase owned by TheMenInBlack.
70	** Terrance runs a second hand bookshop but he's actually a refugee from Hyspero and owns transmat technology that lets him beam onto an alien spaceship in orbit.
71	** There's an off-hand reference in ''Enter Wildthyme'' to one of the few remaining [=MIAOW=] agents being a Fae librarian called Alan.
72	* MagicRealism: Her stories are frequently in this mode, particularly when Paul Magrs is writing.
73	* {{Martians}};
74	** Iris likes to dine at a restaurant in an AlternateHistory France where the Martian invasion from ''Literature/WarOfTheWorlds'' actually happened.
75	** The ''Green Mars Blues'' short story has Iris summon Martians from various fictional worlds (see MassiveMultiplayerCrossover below) in order to stimulate the imaginations of human colonists and keep the fictional worlds alive.
76	** "The Ninnies on Putney Common" has Ninnies, Martians with purple skin and rugbyball-shaped heads.
77	* MassiveMultiplayerCrossover: ''Green Mars Blues'' has;
78	** Green and Red Martians from ''Literature/JohnCarterOfMars''.
79	** Tripods from ''Literature/WarOfTheWorlds''.
80	** A Martian stripper from [[Creator/PhilipJoseFarmer Philip José Farmer's]] short story, ''My Sister's Brother''.
81	** Two telepathic Martians and a Fire Balloon from [[Creator/RayBradbury Ray Bradbury's]] ''Literature/TheMartianChronicles''.
82	** The insectoid Martians from ''Film/QuatermassAndThePit''.
83	** Various aliens from ''[[Literature/TheSpaceTrilogy Out Of Silent Planet]]'' by Creator/CSLewis.
84	** Giants from [[Creator/MichaelMoorcock Michael Moorcock's]] ''Kane Of Old Mars''.
85	** Octopus from ''Literature/MenMartiansAndMachines' by Creator/EricFrankRussell.
86	** Merpeople from ''Doctor Omega'' by Arnould Galopin.
87	** Christmas Visitor who's likely Dropo from ''Film/SantaClausConquersTheMartians'', or the Alien Super-Being from ''Music/TheFlamingLips'' independent movie, ''Christmas on Mars''.
88	** The Man From Mars from the ''Music/{{Blondie\|Band}}'' song, "Rapture".
89	** The robots from the [[https://youtu.be/TBRCZLzn5pM Smash mashed potato]] adverts.
90	** And of course the Ice Warriors from ''Series/DoctorWho''.
91	* TheMenInBlack: Iris sometimes works with or goes up against a government agency called [=MIAOW=] that deals with aliens and the supernatural.
92	* MultipleChoicePast: Constantly {{invoked}}.
93	* MyOwnGrandpa: When Simon asks why Iris can't just go back in time to stop people dying, Panda says that if she messes too much with the TimeyWimeyBall, everyone will end up being everyone else's grandfather.
94	* NegativeSpaceWedgie: An anomaly called The Dreadful Flap deposits creatures from across space and time to Darlington to be captured by a [=MIAOW=] base underneath it. A similar setup to another ''Doctor Who'' spin-off ''Series/{{Torchwood}}''.
95	* NoodleIncident: One of the main sources of comedy in the franchise.
96	* NoSuchThingAsAlienPopCulture: It's mentioned that The Clockworks had public access [=TV=] where visiting aliens would become celebrities for a month or so before being executed.
97	* NoSuchThingAsSpaceJesus: When heading to confront the New Gods, Panda says that people claiming to be gods usually turn out to be aliens.
98	* TheNthDoctor: Iris has had a number of different bodies and personalities over the years.
99	* OctopoidAliens: The Martians from ''Literature/WarOfTheWorlds'' appear in an AlternateUniverse, Meercocks are a similar race in the main universe.
100	* PlanetEngland: The Glass City is also known as Valcea, the name of the planet it's on.
101	* ProudMerchantRace: The Vatrexiis in ''Enter Wildthyme'' are described as the galaxy's rag and bone men. Shipping rubbish from world to world and striking bargains with occasional thieving.
102	* RecursiveCanon: ''Iris Wildthyme'' sometimes appears as an in-universe media franchise:
103	** We see an AlternateUniverse in ''Wildthyme Beyond!'' where ''Iris Wildthyme'' was a short-lived CultClassic TV show that spun off into a long series of [[TieInNovel Tie-In Novels]] though they don't seem to match any of the real life books.
104	** In ''Parsley Sage, Rosemary and Wildthyme'' Iris and co. find the entire works of Paul Magrs bound in human skin being sold in The Clockworks.
105	* RefugeeFromTVLand: There's an alternate universe where Iris' adventures are a fictional TV show. Due to Iris tweaking with the multiverse, [=MIAOW=] agents are trapped there and Iris and Panda have visited temporarily.
106	* ReincarnationRomance: In ''Marked For Life'' Iris is LongLived but has to find where her lover Peggy reincarnates in each of her new lives.
107	* ARiddleWrappedInAMysteryInsideAnEnigma: The Doctor uses a variant of this turn of phrase to is describe Iris. "She's an enigma wrapped in a mystery, with a shapeless, tasteless hat clamped to her head".
108	* RuleOfFunny: Always in full effect.
109	* RunningGag: While the Doctor faces Daleks, Cybermen and cosmic horrors, Iris keeps running into [[Recap/DoctorWhoS2E5TheWebPlanet the Zarbi]].
110	* SequelInAnotherMedium: InUniverse ''The Iris Wildthyme Show'' lasted one season but continued with hundreds of [[TieInNovel Tie-In Novels]].
111	* SexBot: ''Suitors, Inc.'' has Iris being blackmailed into founding the titular company that makes sex robots that look like the Fourth Doctor.
112	* ShowWithinAShow: Magda watches a parody of ''Series/MidsomerMurders'' called ''Midwinter Murders''.
113	* SpacePirates: Marvelle's Poodles are called Dog Pirates when they attack the Vatrexii ship and take the Empress.
114	* SupernaturalGoldEyes: The Glass Men of Valcea have eyes that shine gold.
115	* TieInNovel: In the alternate reality where ''Iris'' was a [=TV=] show that was cancelled after one season but continued to the modern day with over 300 novels.
116	* TimePolice:
117	** If the work they're in doesn't have the IP rights to mention Time Lords, then Iris and El Jefe will belong to a race from The Clockworks called the Lords Temporal.
118	** The Martians also have Time Agents that travelled through time to assassinate Vince Cosmos.
119	* TrappedInAnotherWorld: Everyone in Kelly's family has been whisked off to Hyspero for an adventure at some point.
120	* ATrueStoryInMyUniverse:
121	** Short stories like ''Bafflement and Devotion'' and ''The Magrs Conundrum!'' have Paul Magrs as an in-universe biographer who writes books based on Iris and The Doctor.
122	** Iris' ex companion, Tom writes a series of novels about her adventures in the ''Wildthyme At Large'' audio play.
123	* WholePlotReference: The ''Iris Wildthyme and the Panda Invasion'' audio story was an AffectionateParody of the 1996 ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoTVMTheTVMovie Doctor Who]]'' movie. Both have the protagonist getting injured and taken to a San Francisco hospital on New Year's Eve 1999 and meeting an attractive doctor.
124	** Early on, the story even takes an affectionate jab over the CaliforniaDoubling of Vancouver as San Francisco, by having Iris ask Panda if he'd reconsider his birthday wish to go to San Francisco, New Years, 1999 and instead go to Vancouver on the grounds that it's cheaper (which is why the TV Movie shot there instead of the real San Francisco).[[invoked]]
125	* WingedHumanoid: The Lunaries can have bird, insect or bat-like wings.

Context Franchise / IrisWildthyme