The transtemporal adventuress returns in a new Doctor Who audio drama from her creator Paul Magrs. 

The long history of Doctor Who is sprinkled with big characters, some with even bigger personalities. Two of the largest are surely Colin Baker’s Sixth Doctor and Katy Manning as Iris Wildthyme.

Iris Wildthyme

While onscreen, Ms Manning played Jo Grant (later Jo Jones), who is a little scatty, big-hearted and compassionate, Iris Wildthyme is something else entirely.

Born of the show’s so called wilderness years, Iris has enjoyed adventures in prose and on audio, with and without the Doctor. Fast talking, hard-drinking, she’s a  reality-shattering force of nature who describes her herself as a “transtemporal righter-of-wrongs.”

Last seen in Paris with the Seventh Doctor, now she returns for ‘The Key to Many Worlds’. The story forms part of the forthcoming Sixth Doctor box set The Cosmos and Mrs Clarke.

The Cosmos and Mrs Clark

The Doctor meets old friends – and old enemies. But which is which – and who is Who? One thing is sure: they all have a story to tell…

Details of this latest box set of The Sixth Doctor Adventures come ahead of Colin Baker’s appearance at the annual Gallifrey One convention in Los Angeles.

‘The Key to Many Worlds’ begins with the Doctor and Constance (Miranda Raison) arriving in thirteenth-century Baghdad, where they meet an ageing Marco Polo. His adventures at an end, the legendary traveller has been tasked with transporting a certain enchantress back to Venice. But Iris Wildthyme doesn’t take well to being kept prisoner, and so performs her greatest trick yet – she swaps bodies with the Doctor!

As an added treat, Terry Molloy – best known for his role as Davros – plays Marco Polo. Of course, the historical character knows the Doctor, having appeared in an early Hartnell era story.

While ‘The Key to Many Worlds’ is preceded in The Cosmos and Mrs Clarke by ‘The Story Demon’ by Julian Richards, and followed by ‘Inconstancy’ by Ian Potter. Further details are promised in due course.

Writer Paul Magrs said:

“The Key to Many Worlds was a great chance to reunite two great voices – Katy and Colin – from The Wormery all those years ago, and to twine them not only in one of my favourite Doctor Who genres, the historical saga, but also in one of my favourite science-fiction tropes, the mind-swap.”</p>

Colin Baker added:

“Upon reading this script, my first reaction was, oh, good, another one that’s good and clever and touching and rather exciting. Things get turned on their head!”

And, Katy Manning said:

“It’s been an absolutely joyous day and I actually climbed into the skin of Colin Baker! I’ve got grin-ache! We’re so lucky, Paul Magrs is a wonderful writer.”

Doctor Who – The Sixth Doctor Adventures: The Cosmos and Mrs Clarke is out in May 2025. It’s available to pre order now, exclusively from Big Finish.