The Maelstrom

The Maelstrom was a hazardous, noisy, millennia-old meta-dimension that offered travellers a shortcut between times and destinations. It appeared to look like a coruscating whirlpool of violet, clementine, and verdant green colour, which was filled with time winds, as well as being the home to the Roadkill. (PROSE: Enter Wildthyme) It was later described by a narrator as a "tempero-spatial swirl". (PROSE: Iris Wildthyme and the Unholy Ghost)

In a letter, Iris Wildthyme described the Maelstrom to her companion Panda as "that mysterious region in which Space and Time are completely buggered up". (PROSE: From Wildthyme with Love) It was one of the mediums through which one could travel through time, (PROSE: Elementary, My Dear Sheila) similar to the Time Vortex (TV: A Good Man Goes to War) or the Very Fabric of Time and Space. (PROSE: Mad Dogs and Englishmen)

History
Piloted by Iris, the Celestial Omnibus traversed through the Maelstrom, between 21st century Darlington, a spaceship in Earth's orbit, Montmartre 1894 and London 1973 in an alternate timeline, and Valcea. (PROSE: Enter Wildthyme)

Trying to meet Panda in 1979 Paris, Iris Wildthyme set the coordinates in the Celestial Omnibus but "went a bit off-kilter" while traversing the Maelstrom. As a result, she ended up on a jungle planet where assembled galactic delegates were awaiting some evil space robots, instead. (PROSE: From Wildthyme with Love)

Behind the scenes

 * The Maelstrom is designed to be an alternate take on the Time Vortex, as Paul Magrs lacks the rights to use the Time Vortex. When First Meetings was reprinted in Obverse Books' charity anthology A Second Target for Tommy as When Iris Met Billy, several phrases were replaced with more Doctor Who-familiar terms: "El Jefe" became "the Doctor" or "Billy"; "Alison" became "Susan"; "the Clockworks" became "Gallifrey"; "Wordships" became "timeships"; and "The Maelstrom" became "the Vortex".