The Auntie Matter (audio story)

It was the first full-cast audio story to feature Tamm reprising her role as Tom Baker's Fourth Doctor companion Romana. For much of this story's narrative the Doctor and Romana have separate, though linked narratives each interacting with the characters in the story but just missing one another during the action.

Publisher's summary

England in the 1920s.

Whilst K9 is off in the TARDIS leading the Black Guardian on a wild goose chase, the Doctor and Romana are enjoying a leisurely lifestyle as the Lord and Lady of a London townhouse. But trouble never stays away from them for long, and before they know it a chance discovery of alien technology leads them deep into the heart of the English countryside where a malign presence lurks.

As the Doctor dodges deadly butlers and ferocious gamekeepers, Romana is faced with a malevolent Aunt and an even deadlier peril — marriage.

Plot

to be added

Cast

References

Individuals

The Doctor refers to George and Ira Gershwin, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway and flappers.
Reggie refers to the Martian invasion from The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells.

Locations

Bassett Hall was built in the late 18th century.

Species

Romana considers Earth to be "harmless, if a bit primitive" as humans have only recently developed the theory of relativity.
The butler Grenville and the gameskeeper Diggery are identical androids.
Lady Florence is a Valjax.

Notes

One of Lady Florence's lines is "Leave the man. It's the girl I want." This is a in-joke as the Rani stated "Leave the girl. It's the man I want," referring to the Seventh Doctor and Melanie Bush, in TV: Time and the Rani.
This story is unusual in that it does not feature the TARDIS.
This audio drama was recorded on 18 July 2011 at Audio Sorcery, The Moat Studios.
The structure and form of the story parodies the work of P. G. Wodehouse, especially the Jeeves and Wooster series. Wodehouse's Bertie Wooster is "mentally negligible," has a number of aunts, and many of the stories revolve around proposals of marriage. Lady Florence Craye and Madeline Bassett are regular characters, and several stories are set in Bassett Hall. Grenville is very similar to Wooster's manservant Jeeves, and in one story it is revealed that Jeeves' Christian Name is "Reginald."
The name "Lady Ligeia Bassett" is a reference to the Edgar Allen Poe story Ligeia. In the story, Ligeia is the name of the protagonist's long lost love who eventually comes back from the dead to possess the body of the protagonist's new wife.
On the extras for this story is a short tribute by Big Finish and the cast to Mary Tamm who died 6 months before this story was released.

Continuity

In an attempt to evade the Black Guardian, the Doctor has activated the TARDIS' randomiser and programmed it to travel to approximately 1,000 planets, which could take up to a month. He left K9 aboard the TARDIS. (TV: The Armageddon Factor)
Reggie asks Romana if her name is short for something. (TV: The Ribos Operation)
The Doctor and Romana previously encountered androids on Tara. (TV: The Androids of Tara)
In an earlier audio drama, the Doctor and Romana are described as being on holiday for several weeks in Anitebes, France, in 1929. This could plausibly take place during the period in which the Doctor and Romana are waiting for the TARDIS to return from distracting the Black Guardian. (AUDIO: The Stealers from Saiph)
The process that keeps Lady Florence alive, as well as some of the Doctor's dialogue is similar to Magnus Greel's process in TV: The Talons of Weng-Chiang.
K9 would later lead the Black Guardian on another wild goose chase across the universe. (AUDIO: Wave of Destruction)

External links

Official The Auntie Matter page at bigfinish.com

Tardis