Magrs, Paul
Entry updated 23 October 2023. Tagged: Author.
(1969- ) UK academic. Radio playwright and author, some of whose early nonseries fiction is nonfantastic, though To the Devil – a Diva! (2004) is about a horror film star, ageless through a Pact with the Devil [see The Encyclopedia of Fantasy under links below], who threatens chaos when she re-ignites her career in a transgressive soap opera. Of more direct sf interest are his various Ties contributed to the Doctor Who universe, beginning with a short story, "Old Flames" in Doctor Who: Short Trips (anth 1998) edited by Stephen Cole, and continuing with several novels, Doctor Who: Eighth Doctor: The Scarlet Empress (1998) being the first of these. An independent sequence – the Adventures of Brenda and Effie beginning with Never the Bride (2006) – is fantasy, featuring the Bride of Frankenstein (see Frankenstein Monster) who runs a B&B in her retirement in the seaside resort town of Whitby, Yorkshire, in the company of a witch. The Iris Wildthyme sequence, which initially imported the character Iris Wildthyme – from Magrs's non-genre novel Marked for Life (1995) – into the Doctor Who milieu, was soon stripped of direct series ties but continues to serve as a playground for Parody of Who tropes [see Checklist below]. [JC/DRL]
Paul Magrs
born Jarrow, County Durham: 12 November 1969
works
series
Doctor Who: Eighth Doctor
- Doctor Who: Eighth Doctor: The Scarlet Empress (London: BBC Worldwide, 1998) [tie to Doctor Who: Doctor Who: Eighth Doctor: pb/blacksheep]
- Doctor Who: Eighth Doctor: The Blue Angel (London: BBC Worldwide, 1999) with Jeremy Hoad [tie to Doctor Who: Doctor Who: Eighth Doctor: pb/blacksheep]
- Doctor Who: Eighth Doctor: Mad Dogs and Englishmen (London: BBC Worldwide, 2002) [tie to Doctor Who: Doctor Who: Eighth Doctor: pb/blacksheep]
Doctor Who (various)
- Doctor Who: Verdigris (London: BBC Worldwide, 2000) [tie to Doctor Who: Doctor Who: Past Doctors: pb/blacksheep]
- Doctor Who: Sick Building (London: BBC Worldwide, 2007) [tie to Doctor Who: Doctor Who: New Series: pb/]
- Doctor Who: The Return of Robin Hood (London: BBC Children's Books, 2022) [tie to Doctor Who: Doctor Who: pb/]
- Doctor Who: Josephine and the Argonauts (London: BBC Children's Books, 2023) [tie to Doctor Who: Doctor Who: pb/]
Adventures of Brenda and Effie
- Never the Bride (London: Hodder Headline, 2006) [Adventures of Brenda and Effie: hb/]
- Something Borrowed (London: Hodder Headline, 2007) [Adventures of Brenda and Effie: hb/]
- Conjugal Rites (London: Hodder Headline, 2008) [Adventures of Brenda and Effie: hb/Edward Bettison]
- Hell's Belles (London: Hodder Headline, 2009) [Adventures of Brenda and Effie: hb/Edward Bettison]
- The Bride That Time Forgot (London: Hodder Headline, 2010) [Adventures of Brenda and Effie: hb/]
- Brenda and Effie Forever (London: Snowbooks, 2012) [Adventures of Brenda and Effie: hb/Bret M Herholz]
- Fellowship of Ink (London: Snowbooks, 2017) [Adventures of Brenda and Effie: pb/]
Iris Wildthyme
See also "works as editor" below.
- Enter Wildthyme (London: Snowbooks, 2011) [Iris Wildthyme: hb/]
- Wildthyme Beyond! (London: Snowbooks, 2012) [Iris Wildthyme: hb/]
- From Wildthyme with Love (London: Snowbooks, 2015) [chap: Iris Wildthyme: hb/]
Lora Trilogy
- Lost on Mars (Cardiff, Wales: Firefly Press, 2015) [Lora Trilogy: pb/]
- Martian Girl (Cardiff, Wales: Firefly Press, 2016) [Lora Trilogy: pb/]
- The Heart of Mars (Cardiff, Wales: Firefly Press, 2017) [Lora Trilogy: pb/]
individual titles
- 666 Charing Cross Road (London: Headline Review, 2011) [hb/]
- The Ninnies (Edinburgh, Scotland: Obverse Books, 2012) [hb/Bret M Herholz]
works as editor
series
Iris Wildthyme
Only the first title here is formally part of the Doctor Who universe. In subsequent books the Iris Wildthyme character was reworked by Magrs to remove direct Doctor Who links. A further Iris Wildthyme anthology was edited by Philip Purser-Hallard (whom see).
- Wildthyme on Top (London: Big Finish Productions, 2005) [anth: tie to the Doctor Who universe: Doctor Who: Iris Wildthyme: hb/]
- Iris Wildthyme and the Celestial Omnibus (Obverse Books, 2009) with Stuart Douglas [anth: Iris Wildthyme: pb/June Hudson]
- The Panda Book of Horror (Edinburgh, Scotland: Obverse Books, 2009) with Stuart Douglas [anth: Iris Wildthyme: pb/Paul Magrs]
- Iris: Abroad (Edinburgh, Scotland: Obverse Books, 2010) with Stuart Douglas [anth: Iris Wildthyme: hb/Paul Hanley]
- A Clockwork Iris (Edinburgh, Scotland: Obverse Books, 2016) with Stuart Douglas and George Mann [anth: Iris Wildthyme: hb/Paul Hanley]
- Iris Wildthyme and the Polythene Terror (Edinburgh, Scotland: Obverse Books, 2019) [Iris Wildthyme: pb/]
individual titles as editor
- Shenanigans: Gay Men Mess with Genre (Edinburgh, Scotland: Obverse Books, 2013) [anth: pb/Mark Manley]
- A Treasury of Brenda and Effie (Edinburgh, Scotland: Obverse Books, 2017) [anth: Adventures of Brenda and Effie: pb/Matthew Bright]
links
- Paul Magrs (blog)
- Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- The Encyclopedia of Fantasy: Pacts with the Devil
- Picture Gallery
previous versions of this entry