Review by Frank Plowright

Kelly Castleton is an extremely efficient contract lawyer, a job suited to her analytic and remorselessly logical personality. Spontaneity is a term only known to her in the abstract until the night she drinks half a bottle of wine and bids for a lock-up on which payment has been defaulted. Within is a corked bottle in which Oberon, King of the Faeries has been trapped until Kelly releases him. That being the case, she’s entitled to three wishes, but Faeries are devious and manipulative types and the granting isn’t without strings.

Paul Cornell’s given much thought to the ways a wish can go wrong, and having established Oberon as a tricky sort, in Kelly he’s provided the ideal counterpoint. In the past people who’ve taken faeries up on their offer have discovered wishes granted require absolute precision in the asking, so the wording of the request is all-important. There’s probably never been a better qualified person on the planet to take advantage without unforeseen consequences than Kelly. In addition to her nature, she’s extremely principled.

As this is a comedy drama, Steve Yeowell draws a recognisable world in a naturalistic style. Oberon indulges in excess and has a fondness for loud shirts, but otherwise it may be slightly idealised, but it’s a world we can all recognise efficiently supplied. There are a couple of occasions when Yeowell can depart from the norm, and they’re all the funnier for being supplied without great exaggeration.

Having established early that Kelly’s personality is an effective barrier to a successful love life, it’s nonetheless a surprise when the rom is added to the com. Cornell sets up a clever situation, and considerable pressure on Kelly, and proceeds to play out the will she? or won’t she? This is done in different ways, and Cornell’s also thrown in several other surprises, not least a consideration of real world reactions.

Charming, clever and suspenseful, Three Little Wishes is a superior romcom and you’ll wonder why you’ve never seen it acted out on screen.