In the Sixties (short story)

## *In the Sixties*

***In the Sixties*** was a short story published in the charity anthology *Walking in Eternity*, and later reprinted in *Twelve Stories* anthology.

## Plot

A man is waiting at King's Cross station for a train to a spiritual camp up in Wales. At the camp, the man and the other people at the camp are hypnotised by The Master, who tells them that they have to go back to London and destroy Dr. Who. The man finds himself at Dr Who's party in his home in Maida Vale, where a public call box is the centre-piece.

Joe Orton and Jamie McCrimmon have sex, and Angus Wilson, Iris Murdoch, and Dr Who talk about books, an "Iris" attends the party and is intimate with Robin, and the party wages on. Later on that night, the streets flood. The next morning, many of the guests go inside Dr Who's public call box, and they and the box disappear, leaving Maida Vale silent. In the North-East of England, in a hospital in Jarrow, newborn Paul Magrs sleeps happily in a cot, rolling his eyes at his amusing dream.

## Characters

* Paul Magrs
* Dr. Who
* Iris Murdoch
* Iris
* Dusty Springfield
* Mida Slike
* Shirley Bassey
* Tom Jones
* Reggie Kray
* Cilla Black
* Lulu
* Angus Wilson
* Judy Garland
* Marianna Faithfull
* Brian Jones
* Dirk Bogarde
* John and Yoko
* Michael Moorcock
* Angela Carter
* Joe Orton
* Jackie O
* Beryl Reid
* Jamie McCrimmon
* Steed
* Emma
* Mrs Gale
* Jerrt Cornelius
* Susan Sontag
* David Bowie
* Anaïs Nin
* Robin
* Noël Coward
* Patrick Proctor

## References

* The newborn Paul Magrs dreams of the Master, Sylvia Plath, Stevie Smith, the Cybermen, Peter Jones, and peculiar lizard men.
* Dusty Springfield, Mida Slike, Shirley Bassey, Tom Jones, a stern robot dog, Reggie Kray, Cilla Black, Lulu, Angus Wilson, Judy Garland, Iris Murdoch, Marianne Faithfull, Brian Jones, Dirk Bogarde, John and Yoko, Michael Moorcock, Angela Carter, Joe Orton, Jackie O, Beryl Reid, Jamie McCrimmon, Steed and Emma Peel, Mrs Gale, Jerry Cornelius, Susan Sontag, David Bowie, Anaïs Nin, Robin, Noël Coward, and Patrick's Proctor all attend Dr Who's party in Magrs' dream.
* Maida Vale, Sloane Square, King's Road, the University of East Anglia, and Atlantis are locations.
* *Beyond the Valley of the Dolls* is a film.
* *doctorwho:Step Inside Love* is sung by Cilla Black and Lulu, and *The Laughing Gnome* is sung by David Bowie. Either A Day in the Life or *Help* played in the morning after the party.
* An "Iris" is intimate with Robin.
* Paul Magrs is born a hospital in Jarrow, Tyne and Wear, on the twelfth of November, 1969.

## Notes

* *In the Sixties* was originally published in the charity anthology *Walking in Eternity*. When it was reprinted in *Twelve Stories*, copyright-violating names were changed.
* In this story, the protagonist is actually left unnamed. Paul Magrs is definitely the most *likely* candidate, but there is still a possibility that the protagonist could be David (who is actually a stand-in for Paul Magrs in some stories).
* Although it wasn't stated within the narrative, it's highly likely that Magrs' dream was influenced by the *Doctor Who* TV series.

## Continuity

* Paul Magrs would return in PROSE: *Bafflement and Devotion*.
* Mida Slike first appeared in PROSE: *Mad Dogs and Englishmen*.
* Iris Wildthyme would later regenerate into incarnations resembling Shirley Bassey and Beryl Reid. (PROSE: *Bafflement and Devotion*)

## Background & invalidity

As it stands, nearly every charity publications is flat out ignored by the Tardis Data Core, as most do not have the license for the characters used, so they view charity works as fanfic. *However*, sometimes a charity story will be republished, with copyright violating characters removed, or rarer yet, the licenses to those characters are obtained, so those stories are covered by the Tardis Data Core. The version of this story reprinted in *Twelve Stories*, and the Faction Paradox story *Wings of a Butterfly* are two prime examples.

## External links

* The Charity version of ***In the Sixties*** at The Iris Wildthyme Pages