Today sees the release (hooray!) of Doctor Who: The Auntie Matter, written by yours truly, and starring Tom Baker as the fourth Doctor, Mary Tamm as his companion Romana. It also features a fabulous guest cast, consisting of the legendary Julie McKenzie (of Marple, sitcom and Sondheim fame), Robert Portal, Lucy Griffiths, Alan Cox and Jane Slavin.
The story is set in 1920s Hampshire and is a kind of a
what-if, the what-if being ‘What if PG Wodehouse had written a Doctor Who story
in 1978?’ Well, The Auntie Matter endeavours to be the answer to that question.
It’s a frothy, silly, summery, farcical comedy, but with grisly undertones. I’m
immeasurably proud of it and can’t recommend it too highly; you can download it from this site, and I hope it brightens your day. I think, through attempting
to channel the voice of the master, it contains some of my wittiest writing.
Sadly, of course, this release is overshadowed by the
knowledge that Mary Tamm passed away soon after this series of Doctor Who audio
adventures were recorded. There’s a very moving tribute to her included on the
end of the CD/download. There’s not much
more I can add, except to say that it was honour to write for her and to hear
her performing words I had written, and performing them so beautifully, so
precisely, with such joyful lightness of touch. I feel privileged to have been
associated with her, even in a small way. We Doctor Who fans love all the actors
and actresses from the show dearly, and I hope Mary realised how admired and
appreciated she was.
