Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde was a 19th century Irish poet and playwright. He was a good friend of the Paternoster Gang (PROSE: The Importance of Being Strax) and encountered the Doctor on several occasions throughout his lifetime. (COMIC: Bat Attack!, Dead Man's Hand, PROSE: The Scarlet Empress, The Gallifrey Chronicles)

Biography
Born in the mid-19th century, Oscar Wilde was still only a young boy in 1865, according to the Sixth Doctor. (AUDIO: Assassin in the Limelight) During his days at the University of Oxford, an alien infected Oscar with a disease that turned him into a vampire. Returning home to Dublin, he passed the disease to Florence Balcombe. (COMIC: Bat Attack!)

In January 1882, Wilde embarked on a lecture tour across the United States of America, in which he have lectures on aesthetic design. Three months into the tour, while passing through the town on Deadwood en route to an event in San Francisco, Wilde crossed paths with the Eleventh Doctor and Clara Oswald. After meeting the Doctor, he commented to Clara that he couldn't help feeling as if he'd met him before. At one point, while aboard the Doctor's TARDIS, he found the Eighth Doctor's old Wild Bill Hickok outfit and tried it on, finding it a perfect fit. (COMIC: Dead Man's Hand)



In May 1893, Wilde stayed at the Langham Hotel. (AUDIO: The Adventure of the Diogenes Damsel) It was here in 1886 that he first had the idea that developed into his famous novel The Picture of Dorian Gray. (COMIC: Dead Man's Hand)

He lived in London with his wife Constance and their two children during the early 1890s. By this time, he had written a widely read novel entitled The Picture of Dorian Gray in addition to being a successful playwright. (AUDIO: Beautiful Things)

Following the appearance of metal spheres from the future in London in the 1890s, the Metropolitan Police Service issued the cover story that they were a stunt by a group by Bohemian artists. When Professor George Litefoot raised the possibility that this may, in fact, be the case, Sergeant Quick told him that the police had interviewed Wilde to that end and were confident that he had nothing to do with it. (AUDIO: Chronoclasm)

Having been supplied with tickets by Professor Claudius Dark, Henry Gordon Jago, Leela and Ellie Higson attended the premiere of Wilde's latest play, A Woman of No Importance, at the Haymarket Theatre. Wilde was accompanied to the premiere by his close friend Lord Alfred Douglas. Warren Gadd, who observed him in Douglas' company, threatened to tell Constance that Wilde had a terrible secret which he was keeping from her if he did not cooperate. (AUDIO: Beautiful Things)

Several years before 1895, Wilde befriended Jenny Flint, Vastra and Strax, a trio of detectives known as the Paternoster Gang. He sought out their assistance multiple times and in one of these instances they helped him deal with baskets of rotten fruit that he was receiving. Throughout their acquaintance, Strax regularly challenged Wilde to a bare-knuckled brawl, but he declined on the grounds that they were not enemies. On 14 February 1895, he invited Vastra, Jenny and Strax to the opening performance of his play The Importance of Being Earnest at St James's Theatre. The actress playing Lady Bracknell was actually an alien from the planet Proscenia. She paralysed the audience with laughter. Oscar was able to resist her laughter ray because of his superior intellect. "Lady Bracknell" was defeated when she was punched by Strax. The play continued with one difference; Lady Bracknell was now played by Strax. (PROSE: The Importance of Being Strax) The Sixth Doctor was also present at this performance. (AUDIO: Assassin in the Limelight) A month later in March 1895, Wilde hosted a party attended by both the Doctor and fellow Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw, where the two had a discussion about alcohol. (PROSE: The Gallifrey Chronicles)

Later that same year, Oscar Wilde was the subject of a terrible scandal, which resulted in his two-year prison sentence to Reading Gaol. On top of Wilde's personal scandal, a secret conspiracy to experiment upon him and discover the secrets of his vampirism formed a second underlying motivation. At Reading Gaol, he was known only as Prisoner C.3.3. There he was subjected to harsh treatment and forced into hard manual labour and an hour of exercise daily. As standard practice, he was fed a single bowl of gruel at lunchtime. In addition to the conventional rigours of prison, Wilde was regularly experimented upon by Reading Gaol's doctor. The cruel prison doctor carried out invasive procedures upon his body and recorded Wilde's every response, with the intent of synthesising the vampire virus. In 1897 the Tenth Doctor and Rose Tyler teamed up with Wilde's old flame, Florence, in an attempt to break him free from prison.

After the Tenth Doctor cured Wilde of his vampirism and he was released from prison, Wilde left for self-enforced exile in Paris. Though free from prison and no longer a vampire, he knew he was still unwelcome in a world that did not want him. (COMIC: Bat Attack!) While living in Paris, Wilde once again encountered the Doctor — this time much younger, in one of his first incarnations — along with Iris Wildthyme. The pair spent an afternoon together drinking absinthe and discussing where they had their shirts made. Together, they turned the concept of having a beautiful shirt made for you into a metaphor for everything ranging from life and art to love. Iris listened to the conversation and was astounded by Wilde and the Doctor's interactions. (PROSE: The Scarlet Empress)

Legacy
Oscar Wilde was widely renowned as a writer during his life, and regarded by some contemporaries as the leading poet, playwright and wit of the age, even after his scandal brought him infamy. (COMIC: Bat Attack!) Wilde's works, such as The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Importance of Being Earnest, endured in popularity far beyond his own time. Into the 21st century, Wilde's writings had many admirers, including Clara Oswald. (COMIC: Dead Man's Hand) Performances of his plays continued into the 22nd century, such as a production of The Importance of Being Earnest done in Prague in the year 2181. (PROSE: Suspension and Disbelief)

In addition, Wilde continued to be recognised for his personal life for centuries after his passing. Clara Oswald, born over a century after Wilde, was aware of his sexuality and relationships with other men, (COMIC: Dead Man's Hand) and the 26th century archaeologist Bernice Summerfield knew through her research that Wilde's era was not enlightened or accepting of him in this regard. (PROSE: All-Consuming Fire)

Behind the scenes

 * According to The Brilliant Book 2012 — a book that contains non-narrative based information — in River Song's World, an alternate timeline where all of Earth's history occurred simultaneously, Wilde was available on social-networking sites and was friends with Charles Dickens.
 * He was portrayed by Peter Egan in the 1978 TV series, Stephen Fry in the 1997 film and Steffan Rhodri in the Big Finish audio series The Confessions of Dorian Gray.