Excelis Dawns

The Doctor discovers Iris Wildthyme in a nunnery, on a medieval world called Artaris.

• The Doctor — Peter Davison
• Iris Wildthyme — Katy Manning
• Warlord Grayvorn — Anthony Stewart Head
• Sister Jolene — Posy Miller
• The Mother Superior — Patricia Leventon
• The Zombie King — Billy Miller

• This story is set during the last episode of Frontios, after the Doctor has dropped the Gravis off on Kolkokron but before his return to Frontios.
• Iris Wildthyme was a character (created by Paul Magrs) who appeared in several Doctor Who books such as The Scarlet Empress, The Blue Angel, Verdigris and Mad Dogs and Englishmen.[2][3]
• The Scarlet Empress takes place on the planet Hyspero, where Iris claims to have bought the Excelis Relic.[3]
• This is the first Big Finish story to include Iris. She returns in the Bernice Summerfield story The Plague Herds of Excelis, which brings closure to elements of this story.[1] She also meets the Sixth Doctor in The Wormery and even gets her own audio series, Iris Wildthyme.
• Some of the adventures Iris claims to have shared with the Doctor include The Web Planet, The Three Doctors, Genesis of the Daleks and Invasion of Time. She also claims to have had a solo adventure similar to The Five Doctors, but orchestrated by Morbius and involving Mechanoids, Voord and Zarbi.

• Katy Manning, who plays Iris Wildthyme in this story, previously played the Third Doctor's companion, Jo Grant, for three seasons between 1971 and 1973.
• Anthony Head played Mr Finch in the 2006 TV episode "School Reunion" and was the narrator for that year's series of Doctor Who Confidential.

Joe Ford from Doc Oho Reviews wrote that, "If you are not a fan of Paul Magrs and his work you have to at least admire his excellent grasp of whichever Doctor he is exploring," noting that "With Excelis Dawns Magrs takes a powerful look at what makes the fifth Doctor tick, he addresses some of the complaints fans make about his character and gets us to understand why that should be the case. Whilst I don't think this is the best fifth Doctor story, for his characterisation it is definitely one of his stronger tales."[4]

E.G. Wolverson from Doctor Who Reviews praised the story, writing that "Paul Magrs' “Excelis Dawns” is every bit as good as most of the regular monthly releases, and is actually quite a bit better than the vast majority of the fifth Doctor's audio outings to date." Wolverson also made special mention to the music, writing that "David Darlington's music has a very different feel compared to most of the stuff that Big Finish have used in earlier stories, and particularly when combined with Anthony Stewart Head's excellent narration it really gives “Excelis Dawns” its own distinct sound and identity."[5]

• Big Finish Productions – Excelis Dawns