The Mirror and the Pomegranate

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Chapter One Review by Elizabeth Medeiros

The second Novella in Doctor Who-the Legacy is a complete contrast to the first, Kuang-Shi. Here there are no vampires, no graphic scenes of brutality. It is a gentler story, a potentially fascinating mystery involving the Doctor and company meeting up the very famous writer Oscar Wilde. But of course there is something more to this story.

The prologue sets the scene effectively with the Doctor, Nick and Alf attending a performance of Wilde's comedy, “The Importance of Being Earnest.” But soon they learn that something else is in play, literally. After redirecting a bouquet of vegetables intended for Wilde, the Doctor discovers that one of Wilde's own characters, a Dr Chasuble, has written a pamphlet condemning him. Later, they encounter another creation of the author roaming around and the Doctor is fairly certain that Wilde is a focal point in these very weird circumstances. Fictional persons coming to life? Bizarre it is, and the Doctor just has to get to the bottom of this mystery. And since the Doctor is an aficionado of Oscar Wilde, he can't wait to meet him in person.

Then the action shifts to the writer Wilde himself. Greg Miller & Sally Wiget convey a portrait of Oscar Wilde as vividly as the picture of Dorian Gray that hangs on the wall. He's a complex man who's suffering both psychologically and physically. In severe pain from a chronic ear infection and showing signs of melancholia, Wilde chooses to blunt his pain in a variety of ways, alcohol being only one. Throughout this entire chapter, it's as if he's in a stupor. The mirror in his room speaks to him, and he also has come across his own characters who are antagonizing him. Yet through it all Wilde is resigned, almost detached. If a strange voice wants to goad him into rewriting his own past and future, Wilde doesn't wonder why too much at this point. Only when the Doctor, Nick and Alf arrive does he show any inkling of life. And of course he does, what writer doesn't like an appreciative audience?

Showing much more passion are the Doctor, Nick and Alf. A new adventure after dealing with the diabolically evil vampires, the Doctor perks up and he's in his element expanding on Wilde and life in 1900. Though these explanations are necessary, I find they slow down the story somewhat. Alf seems bored and impatient a lot in this chapter, it's clear she has changed a great deal from her recent experiences.

But the gregarious, easy going Nick fits in perfectly with Paris in 1900. He soaks up the atmosphere and the ambience of the Moulin Rouge when Oscar Wilde takes him there. Maybe he soaks it up too much. For the ending scene is a very nicely written minidrama of Wilde and Nick getting high on opium laced cigarettes and a drink called a green fairy. Nick starts hallucinating, thinking he is John the Baptist; Oscar Wilde, Herod; and a sexy young woman named Satine is really Salome who wants his head…on a platter! What is real and what is fantasy? Stay tuned for Chapter Two.

Chapter One Review by Paul Clement

The characters of Oscar Wilde have come to life and are roaming the earth; the Doctor decides this needs investigating.

After the late twentieth century London and Planet Styria of Kuang-Shi, we are now treated to Paris in the year 1900 as the location for the next story in the season. Greg and Sally manage to convey so much description in a few short lines, skilfully bringing the city to life and instilling some of it's vibrancy to the reader. A great deal of the writing style appears descriptive, with careful attention being given to the Doctor's companions, and their differing reactions. The impact of recent events upon Alf is plain to see, with her general demeanour affected by it, and her reaction to Nick's attempt to show any affection towards her are obviously causing her concern, a situation that Nick can see and feels he needs to leave her to deal with. In fact, it is the Doctor, who seems to have the least characterization within this chapter.

Perhaps because of the strong basis on descriptive prose within this chapter, the storyline seems to move at a slower pace, with events being built up steadily before they occur. However, after the meeting with Oscar Wilde, this seems to change.

The remainder of the chapter follows Oscar and Nick as they spend time together in Paris. The dialogue between Oscar and Nick is well written with some good light hearted moments interspersed in it. The use of an excerpt from Nick's journal is quite a useful literary device that the writers use well to describe a time from Nick's perspective in which his faculties were impaired. There was also, as a side note, a nice Hitch-Hikers moment there, with the journal having been edited after Nick's death by Oolon Colluphid. However, have they let the cat out of the bag regarding future developments, as they have in doing so mentioned that Nick dies, not likely if he becomes one of the Millennium People again in the future.

The final part of the chapter is perhaps the most disturbing within the chapter as the reader is unclear as to whether Nick is hallucinating or not, and the story seems set to follow a darker path from here on in. I'm looking forward to reading the second chapter with anticipation, is he having a trip or is he about to have a very bad day?

But the big question is, what's the title of Nick's journal? “Where Nick went wrong”? “Some more of Nick's greatest mistakes” or “Who is this Nick person anyway?”