The Butler Did It (audio story)

The Butler Did It
Doctor:	Ninth Doctor
Companion(s):	Myra
Main enemy:	Tillier
Key crew
Publisher:	Big Finish Productions
Writer:	James Moran
Director:	Helen Goldwyn
Producer:	David Richardson
Music:	Howard Carter
Sound:	Iain Meadows
Cover by:	Caroline Tankersley
Release details
Number of parts:	1
Release number:	2.2
Part of:	Travel in Hope
Release date:	3 August 2023
Format:	1 CD Download 2nd of 3 stories
Production code:	BFPDW9TH09
ISBN:	ISBN 978-1-80240-130-1 (physical); ISBN 978-1-80240-131-8 (digital)
The Ninth Doctor Adventures
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Next →	Run

The Butler Did It was the second story in the audio anthology Travel in Hope, produced by Big Finish Productions. It was written by James Moran and featured Christopher Eccleston as the Ninth Doctor.

Publisher's summary

The Doctor lands at a spaceship repair port on a dusty planet to tune up The TARDIS engines. But someone has poisoned an old friend of his, and now everyone at the station is a suspect.

It's time to round up the clues, get out the magnifying glass - or sonic screwdriver - and check the butler's alibi...

Plot

to be added

Cast

• The Doctor - Christopher Eccleston
• Myra - Emma Swan
• Relb / Sita - Paul Thornley
• Larch / Kiri - Louise Falkner
• Tillier / Hargenoy - Andrew French

Worldbuilding

• The Doctor states that the gases that the Hargenoy breathes would kill him.
• The Doctor claims this murder mystery is typical of Murder, She Wrote, then later exclaims "take that, Jessica Fletcher".
• Tillier, the chief mechanic, is revealed to be the attempted murderer. Instead of using poison on his victims, he injected them with nanobots for a slow and painful death.
• The Doctor considers visiting The Marshmallow Gardens of Jangalla, the Infinite Waterfall and the Cheese Planet.
• The Doctor tells the TARDIS that he doesn't need anyone else, and that he and the TARDIS are all he needs.

Notes

to be added

Continuity

• The Doctor struggles to get a cup of tea from a machine. On a previous trip to a teleport relay station, Vyx Leeson struggled to get refreshments from her beverage synthesiser. When the Doctor showed up, she offered him a cup of tea the old fashioned way. (AUDIO: Below There ^[+]Loading...["Below There (audio story)"])
• The Doctor states there's a chip shop in Sheffield that he's not allowed to return to. In a later incarnation, they would have numerous companions from Sheffield. Even their sonic screwdriver would be made from Sheffield steel. (TV: The Woman Who Fell to Earth ^[+]Loading...["The Woman Who Fell to Earth (TV story)"], Arachnids in the UK ^[+]Loading...["Arachnids in the UK (TV story)"] et al)
• The Doctor refers to his TARDIS as a she. (PROSE: The Lying Old Witch in the Wardrobe ^[+]Loading...["The Lying Old Witch in the Wardrobe (short story)"], TV: The Doctor's Wife ^[+]Loading...["The Doctor's Wife (TV story)"] et al)
• The Doctor calls his interrogation with the chief mechanic a "barrel of laughs". He would later go on to call Rose Tyler a "bundle of laughs" when her reflection of being in the year 5.5/Apple/26 would mean her family was dead. (TV: The End of the World ^[+]Loading...["The End of the World (TV story)"])
• The Doctor claims his name is "Jamie Sullivan", a portmanteau of "Jamie McCrimmon" and "Harry Sullivan", previous companions of his. (TV: The Highlanders ^[+]Loading...["The Highlanders (TV story)"], Robot ^[+]Loading...["Robot (TV story)"] et al)
• Myra's first reaction to the TARDIS is that it's "inside-out", adding to the many strange reactions to it. Clara Oswin Oswald would later claim it to be "Smaller on the Outside", (TV: The Snowmen ^[+]Loading...["The Snowmen (TV story)"]) whilst Bill Potts would claim it to be many things, such as a kitchen or a lift. (TV: The Pilot ^[+]Loading...["The Pilot (TV story)"])
• The Doctor gathers the staff to explain the outcome of a potential murder mystery. He would later do the same in his tenth incarnation, with the help of Agatha Christie. (TV: The Unicorn and the Wasp ^[+]Loading...["The Unicorn and the Wasp (TV story)"])
• The victims were attacked by nanobots, not poison. Jack Harkness would later be attacked by nanobots whilst stealing a spaceship. (TV: Fugitive of the Judoon ^[+]Loading...["Fugitive of the Judoon (TV story)"])
• Myra advises the Doctor to find someone to travel with. The Ninth Doctor had been previously given this advice from Liv Chenka, and would one day be given that advice by Ali. This advice would one day lead to him meeting Rose Tyler. (AUDIO: Flatpack ^[+]Loading...["Flatpack (audio story)"], PROSE: The Beast of Babylon ^[+]Loading...["The Beast of Babylon (short story)"], TV: Rose ^[+]Loading...["Rose (TV story)"])
• The Doctor, certain that he doesn't need a new companion or friend, talks to his TARDIS, telling her that the two of them are all he needs. The Doctor regularly spoke to the TARDIS. In fact, at the end of his twelfth incarnation, it was his TARDIS would convinced him to regenerate once more. She did this by conversing with him through noises and lights, which he somehow understood. (TV: Twice Upon a Time ^[+]Loading...["Twice Upon a Time (TV story)"]) Shortly after this regeneration, the next incarnation found herself without her TARDIS key. Upon apologising to the TARDIS, the time machine opened her door and allowed her and her new travelling companions inside. (TV: The Ghost Monument ^[+]Loading...["The Ghost Monument (TV story)"])
  • Clara Oswald would find herself falling out with the TARDIS on a couple of occasions. On one such occasion, she would have to speak to the TARDIS in order to gain her trust, enabling her to rescue the Doctor. (TV: Hide ^[+]Loading...["Hide (TV story)"])

Cover gallery

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  Textless cover

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  Alternate cover

External links

• Official The Butler Did It page at bigfinish.com