‘I’ve done it all wrong!’ howled that idiot bear. ‘I’ve mixed up plain reality with awful whimsy … and now there’s chaos everywhere!’

Teddy Sparkles Must Die! by Paul Magrs

It feels wrong to say I enjoyed The Missy Chronicles, because they contain Missy being murderous and evil, she’s no Doctor, is she? But she is a fun character and must be great to write for. One complaint I have is there are 6 stories and only 1 female writer. I am becoming tired of seeing male names. I want more variety. You are not telling me, only males are capable of writing a Doctor Who story?

In the first story Dismemberment by James Goss, Missy is thrown from a members only club for being female, which I thought was an interesting idea to explore. Missy doesn’t stand for that though and gets her revenge. The Paul Magrs story, titled Teddy Sparkles Must Die! was my favourite of this collection. Magrs has been one of my favourite writers since I was a teenager and his story was brilliant, nuts with it, but brilliant. I was excited about the Cavan Scott story, titled Lords and Masters, but it came before the Paul Magrs story and it was fine, but the Paul Magrs story took the wind from its sails, and made it look ordinary.

Girl Power! By Jacqueline Rayner was another very good story, featuring Missy still locked in the Vault. The story is told through messages to Nardole, requests for bits that Missy wants. Nardole is also communicating with the Doctor, to check that Missy is allowed these bits. Missy’s plan here is to get together a group of famous women from different times in history, and, you know,  simply wants them to help her to take over the world. This story really made me chuckle. There was something in this part of Girl Power! that made me laugh until I had tears in my eyes. Maybe because it is very Missy.

The Liar, The Glitch and the Warzone by Peter Anghelides had the wonderful setting of Venice. Missy gets up to all sorts in Venice, and it felt a long-winded story but enjoyable. Alit in Wonderland by Richard Dinnick was the one story that didn’t work for me. It is set in the television episode The Doctor Falls and I could not place where it fit into that story, it was driving me mad.

All in all, The Missy Chronicles is an exceptional collection of entertaining stories.

contains affiliate links. Doesn’t cost you anything, helps me out if you click on ‘em. Thank you!