| Dorian Gray | ||
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 {{#set:Has image=File:Tumblr mf1sdcVKvL1riif17o1 500.jpg}}
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| Main aliases: | John Gray, Dodo, The Mayfair Monster, Charles White | |
| Species: | Human | |
| Job: | Banker | |
| Affiliated with: | Oscar Wilde, Dorothy Parker, Victoria Lowell | |
| Place of origin: | England | |
| Spouse: | [[spouse::Tobias Matthews]] | |
| First seen in: | This World Our Hell | |
| Appearances: | List of appearances | |
| Main actor: | Alexander Vlahos | |
Dorian Christopher Gray is the lead character of The Confessions of Dorian Gray series. Cursed by unknown forces with immortality at the age of eighteen his physical, spiritual, and moral wounds and degradation are transferred from his body to his cursed portrait.
Biography[]
Family and childhood[]
Born on the 10th of November 1862, Dorian was raised by his mother and father. (The Prime of Deacon Brodie) By the time he was ten years old, his mother gave birth to his sister, Isadora Gray. One of Dorian's resounding childhood memories was of his mother playing Schumann's The Prophet Bird on the piano. Shortly after Isadora's birth, Dorian's father died, the grief of his death causing his mother to suffer a mental breakdown.
Following her commitment to an asylum, Dorian and Isadora were adopted and raised by their aunt and uncle in the family estate in Kew, London. His was a very lonely childhood, with no friends and very little human interaction outside of his family. This forced Dorian to create his own imaginary friend, Brennan Doyle. He also took to keeping a journal, using it to confess his deepest feelings.
By 1879, at the age of sixteen, Dorian's aunt and uncle hired a governess, Constance Harker, to watch over him and Isadora. She was very strict with him, leading him to run away from home on at least one occasion, but was subsequently found and brought back home. On one occasion, while his family were away, Constance seduced Dorian, leading to a sexual encounter that resulted in Dorian losing his virginity. It was this experience that led Dorian to realize that youth was the only thing worth having, and aging should be something to fear.
Shortly after this encounter, Brennan jealously pushed Constance down the staircase to her death, helplessly observed by Dorian himself. Following their return, Dorian's aunt and uncle, among others, suspected he was somehow involved in Constance's death, but stopped short of actual accusation. Over the following years, Dorian subsequently forgot or deliberately repressed his memories of Brennan. (Running Away with You)
The Portrait[]
By the age of eighteen, Dorian made the acquaintance of renowned portrait artist, Basil Hallward, who offered to make Dorian the subject of his very own painting. Accepting the offer, Dorian posed for his portrait, which Basil completed and gave to him. Around the same time, Dorian befriended Lord Henry Wotton, who became a mentor and social companion to him.
Not long after, Dorian met and fell in love with an actress called Sibyl Vane, after seeing her in a performance of Romeo and Juliet. They pursued a relationship and were eventually engaged to be married. Taking Henry and Basil to see Sibyl's performance, Dorian was humiliated by her horrible performance and told her that he did not want to marry her. Heartbroken from Dorian breaking up their engagement, Sibyl commit suicide later that night, with Dorian guilt-stricken for causing her death.
Through Henry's influence, Dorian began to lead a more debauched and self-indulgent lifestyle. This was through heightened exposure to alcohol and narcotics; engaging in violence and aggression, and becoming more sexually involved with prostitutes, betrothed women and other men. These experiences being anathema to the reserved sensibilities of English society of the time. (Ghosts of Christmas Past)
Dorian became obsessed by his own beauty, and the opportunities that presented for him. Making a deal with an unknown force for him to forever retain his youth and handsome features, while his painting would not only grow old in his stead, but would take on any injuries or damage inflicted on his body from that point on. In exchange, Dorian would relinquish his soul, the deal effectively making him immortal, as long as the portrait remained intact. (This World Our Hell)
19th century[]
In the early 1880s, Dorian made the acquaintance of Oscar Wilde when they met in a bookshop during Oscar's honeymoon in Paris. This meeting resulted in a sexual encounter between Dorian and Oscar, Dorian realizing that Wilde himself was a secret homosexual. Some time after this encounter, Dorian meet Oscar and his wife, Constance, once again in London, subsequently growing a close friendship with the writer in the years following their reunion.
In 1888, Dorian had become grimly fascinated with the murders in Whitechapel attributed to Jack the Ripper, befriending a fellow enthusiast, Walter Sickert as a result. As Dorian and Sickert continued to take a perverse pleasure in the murders, his friendship with Oscar was tested when he became disgusted at the lack of empathy Dorian had for the victims. Oscar himself became obsessed with the Whitechapel murders, although he began to suffer a mental breakdown believing the dead artist, Richard Dadd, was causing the deaths. When Dorian found Oscar broken after witnessing one of the murders, he tried to console him and finally revealed his true nature to Oscar. (One Must Not Look At Mirrors)
Dorian's hedonistic activities began to gain him a notoriety in London, where Dorian was confronted by Basil Hallward regarding his sinful way of life. In a fit of rage, in part blaming him for the curse he was beginning to regret, Dorian killed Basil with a palette knife. After Basil's death, Dorian blackmailed Alan Campbell; a skilled chemist and acquaintance, into disposing of his body. An investigation into Basil's disappearance followed, led by Sherlock Holmes, who questioned Dorian regarding his involvement with Basil. In the aftermath, Holmes concluded that Alan had murdered Basil and disposed of the body, but with little evidence to support this and Basil's body never discovered, Alan walked free and the official story was that Basil had absconded to Paris. However, despite there being no conviction, Holmes' deduction had been leaked to the press, and Alan was shunned out of practice, supposedly leading to his suicide; an event that Dorian would regret being involved with. (Ghosts of Christmas Past)
Eventually, Oscar wrote a novel based on the experiences of his immortal friend called The Picture of Dorian Gray, making the name 'Dorian Gray' famous throughout the world. (This World Our Hell) When the book was published, Oscar gave Dorian a signed copy, inscribed with the phrase: "To Dorian Gray. May my words outlive you. Oscar." (Blank Canvas)
20th Century[]
By the end of 1900, Dorian stayed in the Hotel D'Alsace in Paris, hearing of the failing health of his old friend, Oscar Wilde. Meeting Oscar on his deathbed, Dorian discovered that the hotel was being occupied by Babylonian demons, thriving on the sinful place that Paris had become, and were taking the lives of those residents who had been left alone in their hotel rooms. After being tormented, but ultimately spared by the demons for having no soul, Dorian interrogated the hotel manager, Madame Moreau, before leaving her to be taken by the demons herself. Before leaving the Hotel D'Alsace, Dorian asked that Oscar be given the last rites to save his soul from torment, shortly before his death on November 30th. (This World Our Hell)
In 1902, taking the opportunity to get away from London following a minor scandal, Dorian accompanied Robert Mardling on a trip to Ireland, where Robert had acquired a dilapidated manor house. While in residents at Mardling Manor, Dorian made the acquaintance of the housekeeper, Mary O'Tubridy, who was being haunted by a banshee following a long-standing family curse. As the banshee caused the manor to fall faster into disrepair, infesting the house with moss and bog water, he realized that the only way to keep himself safe and stop the banshee was to break the curse. Dorian concluded the only way to do this was to kill Mrs O'Tubridy; a fate she willingly accepted, which Dorian achieved by killing her with an axe. (Banshee)
In 1911, he became infatuated with Rosina Sawyer at a music hall where she was singing. She soon became pregnant, but he had lost interest with her by then. She killed herself soon afterwards. (The Houses in Between)
On Christmas 1912, returning to London from a short stay in Madrid, Dorian attended the funeral of his oldest friend, Henry Wotton. Shortly afterwards, Dorian discovered that his portrait had been stolen, being blackmailed to kill Sherlock Holmes while declaring him a liar. Seeking out Holmes to find out who had stolen his portrait, Dorian revealed his connection to the murder of Basil Hallward; the case Holmes investigated several years earlier. Looking into his own leads, Dorian returned to Basil's former home, where he was confronted by a man called James, who claimed to know Dorian. Shortly after, Dorian met a woman who claimed to be Sibyl Vane, saying she had her own portrait painted by Basil, making her immortal following her apparent suicide. Dorian being forced to stage his murder of Holmes, he revealed the thief to be Alan Campbell, who had faked his own suicide years earlier, and his daughter, Gemma Martindale, pretending to be Sibyl. Murdering Henry to bring both Dorian and Holmes back to London, and concocting a revenge plan against them after they had collectively ruined his life, that would result in both their deaths. Dorian assisted in the arrest of Alan and Gemma, before parting company with Holmes. (Ghosts of Christmas Past)
Dorian attended a banquet of King Gorge V in 1913, where he got food poisoning. After leaving the banquet he saw a man playing chess on his own, Dorian watched until he saw a younger man play the opponents move. He learnt of the younger man philosophies. The older man thought that Dorian was an experiment when he saw his quick healing properties. He was then accused of killing a Prostitute. (The Immortal Game)
During the first world war, Dorian fought in the war with James Anderson. In 1915 they witnessed a Zeplin raid after they left on leave from the front. He was placed in James platoon as a replacement for a dead soldier. James ordered him on a trench raiding mission. Dorian found it comforting the way James comforted the dying Fraser Collins. He later went into no mans land to save Stuart Knight. He was shot in the head during this mission. They shared their first kiss after they were almost assassinated. He later went on a mission to get a bell for a propaganda advert but when he couldn't find it Knight wanted to shoot him. After they managed to evade capture by the German's James and Dorian had sex in the crypt of a church. (Angel of War) Dorian gave James his gas mask during a gas attack. In 1920, he went to visit James in Edinburgh, he wasn't sure that James would want to meet him. When he met him James rejected him. He went to a department store where he met William Wright who gave him a proposition, to transfer his mind into Rory which he accepted. In this body, he reacquainted himself with James. He then discovered that Wright stole his body and planned to kept it forever. With James' help Dorian regain his body. Dorian then received a letter saying that he couldn't be with him due to his actions. (The Prime of Deacon Brodie)
The autumn of 1929, Dorian Gray was in a relationship with Eva Granger, much to the displeasure or her childhood sweetheart Billy Fielding. After an earthquake a supernatural fog was released from a graveyard that began to kill people who had harmed others, and Billy accused Dorian of being the killer to get Eva away from him though later believed it after Dorian discovered another victim. Dorian decided to leave London and wanted to bring Eva with him, but when he arrived at her apartment he found her dead and quickly figured out that Billy had killed her in a fit of jealousy. Dorian tied Billy up and brought him to the graveyard which drew the fog to them, and it killed Billy before attempting to do the same to Dorian. However Dorian was able to capture it in a bottle. (His Dying Breath)
In 1939, Dorian went to Manhattan, where he met Dorothy Parker. Whilst there, the murder of Julius Metzger, a prominent fascist and they set out to find out who murdered him. They discovered that it was the Golem of legend. Dorian stopped it from murdering anyone else. (Murder on 81st Street)
On the 29th December 1940, Dorian witnessed the destruction of parts of London on top of the Daily Mail building. In doing this he saw The Lost. The only part of this house that didn't burn when a bomb dropped was where is portrait hung. The Lost used this to event to remind him about Rosina Sawyer and to torture him about his actions. They also told him about his unborn son. (The Houses in Between)
Dorothy Parker asked him to come visit her in Hollywood in 1948 when she was adapting a piece of Oscar Wilde's work for film. He was enamoured with the celebrities that Dorothy took him too. He went with Dorothy to bail out Tommy Cooper but thought he was a junkie. When he went with Dorothy to Walter van Kirk's office he got angry that he wanted Charlton Heston to play Dorian in a film. He then helped her to investigate van Kirk but was shot after being taken to him but Mary Harris drugged him. He stopped van Kirk's plans by destroying a set of the skulls van Kirk had. (The Valley of Nightmares)
In 1949 Dorian came back to London., and on the way he met Jonathan Moore who looked exactly like him. While Moore assumed they must be related Dorian simply assumed it was some sort of quirk of genetics. The two drank together and Moore asked Dorian to swap placed with him and take his wife Scarlet to a play while he attends to other business. Dorian accepted and afterwards the two decided to make it a regular occurrence, Jonathan finding freedom from his average life as a family man while Dorian getting the chance to see if he was missing out on anything due to his immortality, spending time with Scarlet and her son William. Jonathan began to ask more time away from his family where he began to enjoy a more hedonistic lifestyle while Dorian began to see the enjoyment of such a simple life. He also grew closer to Scarlet, teaching her to drive Jonathan's car and comforting her when her father became ill. On Scarlet's and Jonathan's wedding anniversary Dorian, angered by how Jonathan had been treating Dorian's home and for not caring for Scarlet, seduced her. Jonathan eventually needed the arrangement due to Scarlet's change in personality and Dorian, worried by the state his apartment was left in, came to his house in fear that Scarlet was in danger of Jonathan. Scarlet learned the truth when she saw them together and accused both of them of being the same, taking William and driving away in the car. However she crashed it into a bus and Jonathan passed William to Dorian while attempted to save her, both being killed in the resulting explosion. Dorian passed William onto a paramedic and left, thinking about how both Scarlet and Jonathan wanted their lives to be more excited and that they could have had that together if they tried. (The Living Image)
He started a degree in English Literature at Manchester University in where he met Adam Notting at a faculty party. They had a brief relationship which ended due to Adam's commitment to finishing BEAST while Dorian only saw it as a one time thing. In their last argument Dorian revealed he was immortal, but left even more angry when Adam claimed he was just like the machine he was trying to create and wasn't a real person. (The Enigma of Dorian Gray)
In 1956, he went to Singapore to meet his sister Dora, as he thought that she was dead. He reacquainted himself with her. He was warned by Alasdair Bellamy that something was wrong with Dora. (The Twittering of Sparrows)
Dorian became a member of a band, in 1964. He found out that his fans were getting hypnotised by a strange song. He realised something was wrong when a rival Rocker band acted weirdly when he walked into one of them. He watched one of the Gravediggers gigs and found out that their audience eyes changed colour during appearances. He found out that Otto came from the other side from Lenny Starr. He used narcotic drugs to kill Otto. (The Lord of Misrule)
Dorian was summoned by Adam Notting to the decommissioning of his new computer BEAUTY. He wanted to know where Adam was and eventually discovered that Notting was using the machine to store his memories as he was loosing his memories. (The Enigma of Dorian Gray)
He travelled to Sweden, in 1974 he almost ran over Freya when she was running away from something. She invited him to her house. Dorian thought that she might have drugged him. He discovered that she was being chased by a troll. (Freya) He travelled through the Greek islands whilst the Greek-Turkish war in Cyprus with his girlfriend Alyssa Symes. He told her they shouldn't marry. When the boat stopped he saw something large in the water which scared him to the bone. He realised that the creature was a Kraken when it attacked a Naval ship. He worked out a way to destory it by using the hot water near a volcanic island. (The Abysmal Sea)
In 1986, he attended in a party in Whitby where he met Tobias Matthews. He instantly fell in love with Toby. He waited after Toby and found out that he was a vampire. He found out that being with Toby he no longer wanted to take drugs or be promiscuous. Toby taught him to paint. He watched the sun rise with Toby, before he died. (The Heart that Lives Alone)
In 1998, he decided to have his appendix for the second time out. In the delirium that followed he heard noises. Doctor Madras thought that it was his medication that was causing his bad dreams. Flo said that he shouldn't complain. He found out that his previous appendix tried to start building a body and absorbed the souls of the dead in the hospital. Flo defeated it by showing it in the hospital's furnace. (Human Remains)
He became suicidal after Toby's death, devising many ways to kill himself. He almost destroyed the painting, after this he just started drinking himself to sleep. In 1999 He met Natalie Isaacs, a painter, he became less suicidal because of it. He started a relationship with her. He became paranoid when he didn't see her. He went to see his portrait in a London Vault. On New Years Eve she returned and told him that she was dying of cancer, so he took her to his portrait. She then killed him and stole the portrait. Due to Natalie's actions Dorian started to age and became old. He employed Tom Sadler to help him. He became talk of the papers as his hideous appearances become worse every second as his actions from the last 130 years caught up with him. When Tom found the location of Natalie's studio, he found out she was forging copies of his portrait. When he touches the copies he remembered his memories, which was painful. Natalie arrived and told him that why she stole his portrait. She wanted to find the reason why his portrait made him immortal. He touched the portrait and was rejuvenated. (The Mayfair Monster)
21st Century[]
Dorian became a banker in 2007. He started taking drugs, drinking excessively and being promiscuous again to pass the time. He was also a drug dealer. He began an affair with Simon Darlow. (The Fallen King of Britain)
TO escape a scandal, Dorian went to Iceland in 2009 to see the northern lights. He almost crashed into a reindeer, though his tires were slashed. He was rescued by Askell Brimson. He was the pursued by werewolves and then escaped back to his lodgings. He was bit by a werewolf and became a werewolf, until his portrait took it away from him. (Inner Darkness)
In 2012, Kayla Grant invited him to Florida. She wanted to know if he were her father. She then told him about the house that they used live at. She planned to once an for all with Dorian to destroy Loretta Delphine's picture once a for all. (The Picture of Loretta Delphine) He converted his family home into flats but his tenants kept hearing strange noises and smells. He discovered that the voice was his old governess Constance Harker. He employed Brennan Doyle to exorcise her. He realised the Brennan was his imaginary friend and he was the reason for the hauntings. He realised that he could stop the hauntings by destroying his painting. (Running Away with You)
In 2014, his portrait haunted Sophia, Richard and Joe, all three of them were killed and Dorian was resurrected. (Blank Canvas) He went to Simon Darlow at The Needle to try and get his money out of the bank. He then suggested selling his house. He got stuck in the lift. He discovered the truth about the building. (The Needle) Dorian then encountered Luke Glass in a coffee shop. Luke then started to kill him, first with a poison. He then left messages for Luke telling him about how he was researching what Luke and his list of executions. Luke then kidnapped him and devised a situation where he was placed in a chamber which fills with water so he would drown. Dorian managed to escape and trap him in the chamber leaving him to die. (We Are Everywhere) He tried to get away from Victoria Lowell by going on a train. Whilst there he encountered Claudia Markham and Father Sumner who tried to convince him to give up his painting. After this ordeal he agreed to work for Victoria. (Echoes) Victoria told him to investigate Gwynne Smith to see if she was a psychic. He discovered that she wasn't but it was the cards that her power came from. He had his Tarrot read and Discovered that in the contract he entered brought Tobias Matthews back to life. (Pandora) Toby went to his house and soon after Ivor turned up looking for Toby. Toby then told him how he became a vampire. Ivor wanted him to be fed to The Siren knowing that he didn't have a soul. (Heart and Soul) He was employed by Victoria to investigate the eternity canvass. In doing this she found the opportunity to poison him so that she could access the bloodstone. He met Henry Wotton there. Victoria used the bloodstone to release his soul from the canvass. (Displacement Activity) His older version of him killed Victoria and then started killing people that were in his way. His younger self was dying of the poisoning when they both met up. It was Toby's love that brought Dorian back to life. He used this against the older Dorian and made him stop loving in him to defeat the older Dorian. (The Darkest Hour)
In December, he was attacked by Santa Claus as he wanted his eyes, Toby helped him escape. He found out where he was and discovered that Santa wanted Toby since he could satisfy his needs. He stopped him by ripping out his heart. (Desperately Seeking Santa) For Christmas he gave Toby a Playstation and the key to the attic. He went to a hotel for Christmas day and saw Isadora Rigby as part of the crew. The Man Upstairs offered Dorian his soul back if he would help him escape. He managed to escape with his soul, but he lost Toby to the Devil. (All Through The House)
In 2016, he was interviewed by a psychiatrist, his portrait, about the events after Christmas Eve 2015. He was strangled by Lucifer in Toby's body. He was later found with his head in a noose after returning to his house. He started to see his imaginary friend. He later saw a vision of Victoria Lowell. As part of coping with his soul being back, he started to hear all the people he had met calling out his name. At night he started seeing The Lost. When he met with Simon Darlow when the portrait thought this would help, but he noticed the bite marks on his neck. He later attacked another patient and was taken to Dr Matthew Tobias, a version of Toby, for a lobotomy but he didn't consent. He then heard the true voice of the Portrait. The following day he was taken for the operation and died on the table, with his ability to resurrect left ambiguous - the events being Lucifer’s torment, or the delusions of a suicidal schizophrenic. (Ever After)
However, he has seemingly returned, as in 2020, during the pandemic, he leaves a series of messages to his answering machine describing a trip home. A mysterious force seems to watch and eventually steals him away, bodily remains on the way demonstrating many others similarly taken. Dorian’s fate is left unknown. (Isolation)
His portrait was mentioned to be no longer in his possession during Ever After, presumably due to Lucifer’s actions, and it’s remarked that his portrait is “out there somewhere” in Isolation, suggesting it hasn't been reclaimed by 2020. This is consistent with his far future appearance in the Bernice Summerfield series, where it mentioned his portrait was stolen a long time ago, that he spent a lifetime searching for it, but had eventually lost track. (Shades of Gray)
Personality[]
Dorian goes through a subtle but noticeable character arc across the series, developing beyond the hedonist described in Oscar Wild's book. In the early part of the 20th century Dorian remains largely unchanged and unaffected by what he experiences, enjoying his immortality to the fullest. He is capable of compassion and some regret, but he seems to be able to shrug it off easily. His character begins to change around the middle of the 20th centruy and continues into the 21st as he starts to feel more and more regret over the deaths of loved ones, the two having the most impact being his sister Isadora and boyfriend Toby. As he enters the 21st century he begins to feel less enjoyment with his lifestyle and even had some measure of awareness that people are becoming more like him, making him less unique and shocking as he once was. These feelings, while also a desire to free Constance Barker from her tortured existence, lead him to commit suicide by destroying the portrait. His death restores his portrait to its original beautiful appearance and Dorian's soul is trapped witnessing the memories of everything he did.
When he is ressurected two years he revealed to a later resurrected Toby that seeing his memories caused him to realise that he was a bad person, to the point that when his portrait was given physical form he was terrified about what it might do. When he regained his soul he felt immense guilt for everything he's ever done to a much greater extent, suggesting that his lack of a soul dampened his ability to feel guilt which would explain why he was so cruel during the early part of his immorality.
Trivia[]
- Alexander Vlahos previously played Dorian Gray in the Bernice Summerfield audio story Shades of Gray which is set in the same universe as Doctor Who in the 27th century. The story heavily implied that he achieved he is immortality through a deal with an entity called the Collector. However according to Big Finish the Confessions series isn't a spin off and is it's own self contained story which is why it ends with Dorian's death. It's important to note that Sherlock Holmes met Bernice Summerfield and the Seventh Doctor in a separate story and was also portrayed by Nicholas Briggs, and the free mini-episode Isolation was set in 2020 despite Dorian previously dying supposedly for the last time. So its possible he eventually returned and the series does exist within the Doctor Who universe.
- Dorian Gray also briefly appeared in the Dark Shadows audio The Darkest Shadow. The Confessions series has had several references to the American show and the Big Finish audios, most notably through Victoria Lowell and her organization, so unlike with the above it's more than likely that they share a universe.
- In 2015 Dorian appeared in The Worlds of Big Finish audio anthology which acted as a crossover between several ranges. Some were direct spin offs to Doctor Who, like the Bernice Summerfield audios, while others were unconnected to the show, like the Sherlock Holmes audios.